Let’s face it, for every God particle and Mars Rover we as a society celebrate, there are a ton of unjust things and outright “wrongness” in the world. In a lot of ways, people have compared the world today with the Great Depression of the 1930’s. I don’t think we’re there just yet, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t take lessons learned from that dire time and apply them to today. Case in point: Superman.
Now, when most people think of Superman, they think “Strange Visitor from Another Planet”. Of course this is true, but of all the monikers given to him over the years, the one that seems to have disappeared is perhaps the most important: “Champion of the Oppressed”! That is to say, before he took on the likes of Brainiac and Mr. Mxyzptlk, The Man of Steel was more concerned with looking out for the little guy.
In his first appearance, Superman forces a Governor to pardon an innocent woman from the electric chair, stops a serious case of spousal abuse, and ends two countries’ needless war-for-profit scheme. In the middle of all that, as Clark Kent, he becomes a reporter so he can fight injustice on two levels. It was inspiring then, and it’s inspiring now, and we desperately need a character like this now. Not only did Superman reflect society, society reflected back. While there is no real proof that Superman help usher in social change, I’d be loathe to live in a world without his example to live by.
The worst part is that we almost had Superman back to his roots there for a while, in the New 52’s Action Comics. From the first panel there, we’re shown that Superman/Clark Kent is there to help the people and expose corruption in all its forms. Sadly, all too soon the book became more about alien suits, and otherworldly threats. No, I prefer Superman as the workingman’s hero. And we could sure use him now.