Section: English

Question 2 of 200

2) The Personality of Superman

In the original Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster "Superman" stories, Superman's personality is rough and aggressive. He was seen stepping in to stop wife beaters, profiteers, a lynch mob and gangsters, with rather rough edges and a looser moral code than we may be used to today. In later adventures he became, softer, and had more of a sense of idealism and moral code of conduct. Although not as cold-blooded as the early Batman, the Superman featured in the comics of the 1930s is unconcerned about the harm his strength may cause, tossing villainous characters in such a manner that fatalites would presumably occur, although these were seldom shown explicitly on the page. This came to an end when Superman vowed never to take a life.

Superman is an extremely moral person, believing it immoral to kill anyone under any circumstances, and will do whatever he can to avoid it. Clark's upbringing in the Midwest largely contributes to this, as his adoptive parents raised him to do the right thing.

In Superman/Batman #3, Batman says, "It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then … he shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him."

Superman is also a bit of a loner, in that, for much of his life, he doesn't reveal his true identity and powers to anyone, not even his closer friends. Many times they come close to figuring it out on their own, but often he will arrange an elaborate deception to trick them into believing Clark Kent and Superman are entirely separate. He's known to collect mementos of his adventures and his life in the Fortress of Solitude, and has even been known to have wax statues of all his friends their.

Select the Answer that best completes the corresponding underlined portion of the passage.