Why Superman?

"Come on, Clark. If you had the power to do whatever you want, what would you do?"

"I'd stop people like you."

– Smallville, season 1 episode "Leech"

Short answer

• My favourite character type is apparently "powerful good guys". There's something about their great dramatic powers and/or presence that just tickles my brain. I think it's like how certain people love certain kinds of music? It's a dopamine hit. I get chills.
• I love the contrast between how Superman is perceived by people who don't know him (powerful godlike alien), and who he actually is, in his head (just a guy who grew up human). 

Some elaboration

I have a type

Going by my most loved fandoms and characters through the years, I'm likely to fall for characters that fit under a vague umbrella of either A) "very kind and very powerful", or B) "powerful/special in some way, used to be a bit of a dick, but something changed them for the better". So there you go. Category A.

Marvel, DC and Batman

On the incredibly rare occasion that I talk to IRL people about Superman, I'm likely to encounter the "way overpowered and boring" argument. Ye ye ye, I understand. I completely get that Superman isn't for everyone. He is indeed overpowered and hard to write into a story, and I will probably never try to convince anyone that doesn't like Superman that they're wrong. People like or dislike different things. 

And my reasons for liking Superman is so nerdy and specific that there's no point in even trying to explain to someone who's not a fan.

Then there's the common preference for Marvel. Or Batman. I enjoy those as well. I just don't care about any of the characters the same way I do about Superman. The Marvel films are funny, Batman is cool, and I watch most of those films too. Marvel succeed more often when it comes to personality and charm. But there's nothing for me to properly obsess over there. Batman might get a single blog post out of me. Marvel doesn't get any! I talk about the movie a bit on the way home from the cinema, and then it ends there. 

Clark is "human", and just wants to help

I'm particularly drawn to stories that cover who Superman seems to be to people, vs who he actually is. I've written a lot about this. See "a man of greatness", "you consider us your home team", My thoughts on the DCEU films, Superman fanfic recs...

My favourite Superman posts

• Glasses as a disguise, where I write about the absurdity of how he keeps a secret identity
• My biggest Superman/superhero pet peeves, which I reference a lot, all over the blog