Economy

Illustrious Damnation: I think I might have let us get off to more navel gazing than I intended last week, so now I’d like to talk about something a bit more concrete. I’d like to talk about the economy.

Superman: Ugh. You sure you don’t want to talk to Bruce?

ID: I know it’s not your usual forte, but it’s in crisis, and crises are your business. So from your unique perspective, what do you see? You don’t necessarily have to have a magic bullet, but what can you add to that conversation?

S: Mostly I don’t understand the economy. It’s like magic. Some people know how to make money from it, but personally- and I feel kind of silly about this, but Lois looks after my 401(k)- I couldn’t even tell you what’s in it, let alone how well- or likely poorly- it’s doing. The economy’s something I usually leave in the hands of people who know better than me. But rather than force you to ask prying follow-ups, let’s see if I can’t compare it to something I have put a bit more thought into.

I think you’re right. The economy is in crisis. I think there’s something to the people who say it’s mostly a crisis of faith, because the economy today is largely as healthy (or arguably as weak) as when stocks were high. But that’s a symptom, and one diagnosed through arm-chair psychology at that, so let’s see if we can’t get a little closer… hmm. Honestly, I see a parallel with Darfur.

ID: That’s got to be a first.

S: Not really, I don’t think. And maybe it’s just that I spend an inordinate amount of my time reading the paper, reading lots of papers, actually, at superspeeds, but I think the comparison is completely reasonable. I’m sure you’re aware that the ICC has charged Omar al Bashir with crimes against humanity. He’s basically an international fugitive at this point.

Well, there’s been a debate raging since the head prosecutor, Moreno-Ocampo, looked like he would file charges, about whether or not it was better for the conflict in Darfur for charges to be filed or not. The debate focused on whether or not the fledgling ceasefire would be destroyed by an attempt to arrest the sitting president. People who thought it would said the country needed “Peace before justice.”

While I’m not sure I’m convinced as it applies to the situation in Sudan, I think that refrain sort of works with the economy. Lots and lots of shady dealings have occurred. We should definitely look into how these things happened, and who’s responsible, but at the same time, our focus needs to be on fixing the problems that are crippling our economy, not pointing fingers.

And I don’t say that with any relish. Lex Luthor, and the deregulation he started and George Bush continued, are at the heart of a lot of these problems, and the overall atmosphere he fostered- all of it was toxic for the long-term economic health of this country. But for the moment we need to set that anger and frustration aside. Because right now there are millions of Americans left unemployed; we need answers and solutions now.

ID: You mentioned Bruce, and I know he’s emerged, from the crisis, as someone to watch. He used to make all of his deals in private, try to keep his secrets to himself, but since people started using the “R” word in public, he’s started doing his trading in public, too. I’ve heard that people have been crunching numbers recently, and they think he’s overtaken Warren Buffet.

S: Bruce actually doesn’t like to talk about his finances; I think I understand, because I don’t like to talk about my abilities, at least not when it comes to a conversation with others. I’m an alien, and I’ve made my peace about that, but I don’t like underscoring the things that make me different- I prefer to talk to people about the things we have in common. But if I had to guess, Bruce is richer than Buffet- I know he’s better at investing.

ID: Well here’s a question, since you’re friends or at least friendly with one of the wealthiest men in the country, why’s he been doing what he’s doing during a downturn?

S: I know Bruce has “lost” billions right now. And I also know Bruce is investing- the more money he loses on paper, the more money he invests. Now is the time, when stocks are on the floor, to buy. Nearly everything worth any money is undervalued, as far as stocks are concerned. Which isn’t to say that anyone should suddenly go on a stock shopping spree- for every diamond in the rough there’s at least one financially unstable company with a bleak, at least for the moment, future. Now is certainly the time to invest, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be doing your homework and really being exceptionally cautious about where you put your money, like always, really.

But I think part of it is strategy, with Bruce, calculated. He knows that people watch him, have always watched him, ever since he managed to double his family’s fortune when he was in his twenties- and that’s just from investing, not counting the profits Wayne Enterprises made. But he knows the only way, really, to fix the current problems, is to inject capital into the system. By investing fearlessly into the market, he’s trying to lead by example, show people that he has faith in the market. He’s even been talking to Secretary Geithner about buying up some of those toxic assets- though like most folks he’s worried about banks trying to overvalue the assets, and the tailspin that could cause.

ID: Judging by this, it seems you talk a lot of shop with the Batman.

S: People assume the Justice League is all about punching the next “bad guy” in the face. Justice means a lot of things; at the end of the day, it’s about trying to keep the parts of the world that work from crumbling into chaos, and helping the parts of the world that don’t become better. That means we pay attention to everything; we discuss politics, economics- even the weather, when we think it’s going to have some impact.

Where possible, we try and make ourselves available, for everything from building shelters with programs like Habitat for Humanity, to clean water programs with the UNDP and disaster relief. I guess we’re victims of our own success in that regard, because we so often try and make those contributions quietly, and not trumpet the League’s humanitarian work, that the big shows of force get all the press.

Horribly Ill, hence the posting delay, so forgive any atrocious errors in the transcript. And we’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.

The End of the World

Incestuous Democracy: I’d like to ask you a bit of a hypothetical this time. Normally I don’t like to play these kinds of games, but I think you’re uniquely qualified, for a lot of reasons, to answer. How do you think the world’s going to end?

Superman: Let me say, first, that I don’t believe the world will end in 2012. Ted Kord

ID: The inventor and industrialist who goes by the name Blue Beetle

S: once he came up with this complicated mathematic algorithm. Basically, he’d taken the idea, as developed by, Terrence McKenna, of Novelty theory, and found a basic proof using rudimentary quantum mechanics. It didn’t prove, as some people think, that the world would end in 2012, but, as Ted explained, after that point, “things got weird.” Ted, and he’s I think in line with McKenna on this, but he thinks that at that point technology becomes so rapid in its evolution, that the slight derivations in method amount to exponential fragmentation of divergent realities- basically, that the normal, parallel-world model of the multiverse grows with such a speed that the equation starts to have difficulty distinguishing between differences in realities. One of Ted’s “theories,” there, is that at some point interdimensional travel becomes possible across these realities, so what you see is a technological cross-breeding, which is part of the reason for the odd shifts in the equation. Of course, Ted’s been known to get a little silly when he holes up in his lab for too many hours without food or sleep.

ID: Okay, so not in 2012…

S: I’m thinking. It’s something the League, like every other security-minded organization should probably spend more time doing.

ID: In a post-9/11 world?

S: I hate that term. The world post-9/11 isn’t any different. The only thing we learned was that bad people are willing to do bad things in America just as readily as in other parts of the world. The fact that we Americans, and I’m as guilty of this as anyone, were sheltered from the problems of the rest of the planet doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t the world that changed- it was our ability to perceive the many facets of reality that did.

But it isn’t just that we weren’t able to stop it- though God knows I take that failure very personally- though I take some small comfort from what Ollie told me later, that “while we were stopping a hurricane, humanity got hit by a little rain.” The real issue, I think, is we failed to even imagine it. Even Bruce, who I think could outmaneuver the devil himself, was out-thought that day. And that still scares us all.

But imagination. Hmm. I’m an optimist, but I think I’m an optimistic realist, so you can let that color what I say, or you can join me in my estimation, but I don’t think the world is going to end in a puff of smoke, or a ball of fire. I think that, if we’ve seen anything, it’s that the people on this planet want desperately to survive. And humanity is nothing if not resilient. Even if you take superhumanity out of the equation-which, statistically wouldn’t make sense, as their portion of the population is trending upwards, not down- the species refuses to go quietly into that good night.

So no matter what the threat, whether it’s a planet-killing asteroid or a planet-eating megapredator- I’ve seen the Earth defend itself against the worst threats in the universe; I honestly can’t imagine an outside threat that could pose a genuine danger to the planet as a whole.

And, you know, I’m not one of those people worried about technological hubris, either. Maybe I’m jaded, coming from Krypton, but technology, by and large, can yield a hundred civilian applications for any technology for every military one- the difference is merely that most of our focus and funding tends towards the militaristic because of global instability. I think, as you see things stabilize worldwide, you’ll see the perceived necessity for violence diminish, and the focus on useful rather than vengeful technologies thrive.

I think the end of the world will be quiet. I think humanity’s number will dwindle, because the sun’s power will fade, so the amount of life the planet can sustain will shrink, and humanity will move off-world. So I think the end of the Earth will be witnessed by only a handful of residents. The sun will die, fizzling slowly into darkness, and they’ll sit on their porches watching it go. They’ll go inside, then pick up a book and wait for the end to come, because they figure they’re too old to start over fresh someplace else.

I think my dad was that kind of guy. Most small farmers got out years ago, but he kept his farm going even though he knew he wasn’t earning sweat equity anymore, just barely keeping the place going with his own blood. He was just too old to learn how to live some other way, so he worked himself to death in a field, because that was the way his dad died, and that was the way he wanted to die, too. He saw a nobility in that, working ‘til his heart burst, but working with his hands, “like a man ought to.”

I think that’s how the world ends, with a few stubborn folks who refuse to be moved from their homes. Humanity, though- humanity’s going to keep going for as long as it can find new places to hang its collective (and dispersed) hats. And that makes me smile, the way I know it’d have made pa smile; there’s something gratifying about knowing the world will go on without you, maybe better for your time and maybe not, but that it’ll go on regardless. It’s why I’m glad the world has Kara, now- I hated the thought that I would be the last of my kind; it’s nice to know that something will survive you.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.

Heroes for Hire?

Innocent Donut: I want to continue by picking up a thread I think we left hanging last week. Why do you think costumed vigilantes tend towards insularity, looking within the community for lawyers and prison guards, people with experience rather than looking outside?

Superman: I think experience may be the operative word, but some of it has to do with trust issues- which, as you can imagine, are more prickly among people who use a separate identity- and some of it just has to do with general skepticism. We’ve seen “normal” police and “normal” corrections officers try to handle superhumans, and, frankly, they’re woefully ill-equipped, sometimes fatally so.

ID: Okay; well what's stopping you from using your expertise to train the regular prison staff?

S: Most of us who do this, and I think it’s become clear I’m reluctant to use the word “hero” because it’s a term I’ve never been comfortable self-applying, but we don’t do this for a living. With a few exceptions, most of us don’t receive a paycheck, or a government stipend- anything. This is a calling, to be sure, but when people are already donating their time on things of life and death importance, it’s hard to further impose upon their lives for what amounts to, at the end of the day, administrative work- for nothing.

Constructing the Super Max cost Bruce nearly a billion dollars, that’s with a b. I love that Bruce has willingly put up vast amounts of cash, not just for Super Max but for everything, and we even talked about it, when we started the League back up, about paying a salary. In the end we decided against it. The problem is, that creates a change in the mentality of what we do- it stops being about helping people, and being an example, and starts being about money. It would cheapen what we do, cheapen the very real sacrifices people have made and will make, and tarnish what the League needs to represent if we’re going to remain a beacon to the world.

I remember we got so far as to bring it up for a vote. I think, from the discussion we were having, that we were pretty divided, but it was Plastic Man who stood up and gave the speech that I think cemented the issue for us. It was odd, because he often affects a materialistic, even greedy demeanor, but he said he was voting against it, that he wouldn’t want to see the greatest people he’d ever known reduced to mercenaries, he wouldn’t want to live in a world where our slogan became the same as the legal profession: “the best justice money can buy.”

What’s that they always say about the wisdom of a fool? Sometimes the least among us, and he often strives to live up to that title, but sometimes the least among us really understand us the best. But I may be too close to it; you’ve been pretty good about affecting the layman- what do you think?

ID: I don’t know. I think I’ve been on both sides of that fence, as a salaried writer and a freelancer- and the money does change, fundamentally, the paradigm. But at the same time, I think a lack of money also changes it, too. I guess what I’d say is if professional politicians can take home a paycheck, I don’t see why the Justice League shouldn’t.

S: But politicians, for a variety of reasons, end up beholden to special interests; even when a politician is able to separate his campaign from his work and legislates without bias, that perception of impropriety still weighs on them. It’s imperative that when members of the League intervene that there never be a question as to what interests they’re serving. We’re here to help. I worry bringing money into the equation would dilute that.

ID: But you’ve already admitted that Bruce Wayne donates billions of dollars to the League for operations. Doesn’t that represent a potential conflict?

S: It could. I think, if Bruce were any other billionaire, it might. But you have to remember that up until a few months ago, Bruce was donating that money anonymously- and there has never been a moment where I felt Bruce’s mind was on business rather than on saving lives.

ID: Okay, I'm curious, given everything you've said, how you feel about heroes who do offer their services for pay. And I'll preface your answer by saying this is nothing new; off-duty policemen work as bodyguards, special forces often leave the military to work for security companies.

S: I'm not going to badmouth anyone who has ever done this work. Frankly, anyone who donates any time whatsoever should be commended- and we all have expenses, a mortgage, car loans, some of us have kids with tuition. Personally, selling my abilities, it just wouldn't feel right- but by and large I'd trust the people I've worked with to make the right decisions about how they conduct themselves. We all have to live- I just hope they're making choices they can live with.

ID: Um, I have heard that the League does, and always has, offered an exceptional benefits package- medical, dental, even a scholarship program.

S: That’s true, as well as an, and I always cringe bringing it up- it seems like bad luck, but a life insurance policy. And for those who aren’t in the League, there’s a pretty cost-effective buy-in program, like what SAG and the Writer’s Guild have.

ID: Speaking of that, I seem to remember a rumbling a few years back of a superhero strike.

S: There were some people agitating for that, actually. Most of us in the community have day jobs. We work a nine to five, although I think Oracle actually did a kind of a census, a few years back, and there were far more blue-collar workers with strange schedules than there were people working strictly nine to five. But we quashed that. Basically, it came down to a few of the, I’ve heard them called “street-level” heroes, wanting a strike. We said, “No,” that it was going to hurt innocent people, and there was really no guarantee state and local authorities wanted us enough to pay us anyway. I really would strongly encourage the government, state, local, whomever, to consider it- some of these people are making the choices between eating dinner and fighting crime- and they already give so much it’s not right to ask them to make that choice.

ID: How did turning down the pay resolution affect the League members who'd been pushing for a strike?

S: It was actually fascinating to see how it divided people. I think the strike, fundamentally, was an attempt to find a socially acceptable place for them- not quite within the classic police force, but in a complementary system to it. And really, if I thought there was a stronger likelihood of pushing it through, I'd have at least been willing to advocate for it politically, because it's an idea I can get behind. But the pay measure was different. Deep as Bruce's pockets are, none of us want him to have to foot the bill; there are some of us, like Ollie, who are reluctant to give him any more influence than he already has, which I personally think is a little paranoid. There are some, like myself, who simply think he does enough already. We may operate in an imperfect system, but it wouldn't be right to ask Bruce to buy us a better one- and it'd be harder to live up to the name on the door if we did.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.

Super Max

Ignominious Dynasty: I want to talk about your Gulag.

Superman: Last week you called it a Guantanamo; ratcheting up the rhetoric, are we?

ID: No. You don’t get to be smug about this- especially after the way you’ve used this interview. Your prison- it’s, it's offensive. You hold people without trial, without access to representation, without the possibility of a writ. Whatever happened to truth, justice and the American way?

S: I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be smug; at worst I was trying to deadpan. But my reply to your second question will come off smug, even though it isn’t meant to be: this is the American way. Guantanamo has been a political and martial reality for closing in on a decade. We have a new president, so that may be changing, but the fact of the matter is the American people knew about Guantanamo and enemy combatants long before they decided to let George Bush stay on as president after finishing Luthor's term.

But that's a side issue- a safe, philosophical discussion that I'm more than happy to engage in, but one whose implications are academic at this point. Because it isn't about civil liberties. It isn't even about justice. It's about safeguarding the public- and not just the American public, but people across the globe. And some of these threats are global- and all of the ones we admit into Super Max are terrorists who the normal criminal justice apparatus can't handle.

ID: Threats, not people? And I've heard the League use that word before, terrorists; so you're playing the “War on Terror” card?

S: I'm not saying it applies to every single metahuman; some are only involved in petty larceny, and frankly, I don't think anyone would want to apply the same extraordinary measures to someone like that. But you let a Dr. Psycho or a Grodd even talk to an attorney and there will be at a minimum a riot- more likely a massive break-out attempt. We’ve seen it happen.

ID: Okay- I’ll grant you criminals who can control minds are a special case, and prosecuting them might take some bending of the normal Constitutional protocols- but the fact remains that most of the superhumans in your Gulag could be granted free and fair trials.

S: They could. Our problem is most of them have. At present, our corrections departments just aren’t able to contain most superhumans; there are even issues holding onto nonsuperhumans who have spent time interacting with the superhuman community. Arkham Asylum in Gotham, which purports to be the most secure institute of its kind in the country, is practically a revolving door for psychopaths. The prison system at large is even worse- even when you don’t take into account government programs like the so-called “Suicide Squad” that encourage early release.

ID: So the ends justify the means once again.

S: This was never meant as a final solution- and don’t use that as an excuse to start drawing Nazi parallels- Super Max is meant to be a temporary holding facility until we can figure out how to provide justice for the inmates, and security for the rest of humanity.

I think our larger failing, and perhaps my largest failing, has been one of leadership. When there’s a flaming monster hell-bent on destroying a continent, the world’s best and brightest come running. But when it’s a complex sociopolitical problem, with necessities in every discipline ranging from legal to technological- there just isn’t the same kind of enthusiasm. And that’s where I think our League has failed, so far; we should have pushed people harder.

And maybe it's exposing the somewhat incestuous nature of our community, or perhaps just how insulated from the normal world we can be. Perhaps we've spent too much time lamenting the lack of superhuman lawyers, rather than spending that time recruiting lawyers willing to work with the superhuman community. But we're not starting to think autonomously; we aren't looking to set up tribunals, or presume to mete out sentences and punishments.

ID: We’re straying- which is entirely my fault. You’ve acknowledged that the new president means a change in policy at Guantanamo, which sounds like in your mind the two are linked. Are you saying that Super Max is on American soil, and that the president has sway over its administration?

S: Super Max, and I don’t think I’m overstepping too much, has always been a joint venture with the U.S. Government. It’s not officially a government entity, and no tax-payer funds are used to keep it running, but we regularly cooperate with federal entities. Something like a third of the inmates housed in Super Max are there as a result of federal investigations and arrests.

ID: I would ask why the government can capture these criminals but can’t house them.

S: Which seems like a reasonable question on its face. And with some, um, we’ll call them supercriminals, that makes sense. For Captain Cold, you take away his freeze gun, and he’s basically like any other convict. But for Icicle, basically the same powers, except he is the freeze gun. And this isn’t Powers- we can’t set somebody underneath a violet-tinged “power drainer” lamp and call them neutralized.

With Icicle specifically, we had to take special precautions. For one, he’s in an entirely separate cell block, with its own self-contained HVAC and water systems. The cell is constructed of a specially-developed insulating concrete; outside that is basically a thermal wall, constantly heated; so if Icicle penetrates his cell wall, he can’t freeze through this secondary wall- in fact, the ambient temperature from the thermal wall would keep him from generating freezing temperatures if he ever managed to expose it. And it’s an ongoing process. We were cautious to keep the piping separate- but apparently the water-heater for his cell block was within range of his abilities, and he managed to freeze that- basically flooding the entire cell block. More changes, more money.

The end goal is to create a sort of grudging stalemate, where the inmates realize they can’t escape and will stop trying- which is the usual status quo in the prison system. Then we can hand over the keys to the feds. Once the government has the option of locking them safely away, that’s when the possibility of real trials and real justice becomes viable. But the change in administrations does light a fire under us, one we weren't necessarily expecting, but one I think will help us move through what's been a more darkly gray area than some of us realized.

And obviously, from your reaction, we've made some missteps when it comes to how we communicate our goals to the public- and even our methods. It's something we'll try harder with. But honestly, as a reporter and a citizen- I value free and honest criticism: quis custodiet ipsos custodes. I don't think the League could or should function without it.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.

Honey Pot

ID: I want to talk about the honey pot.

S: I chose you in spite of your work for that magazine, but if this question's going where I think it's going, this interview's done.

ID: No. This interview's a part of the honey pot, central to the idea. In our first segment, you “let slip” that Batman was Bruce Wayne; you also admitted that you were Clark Kent, married to Lois Lane. In the last few weeks, metahuman arrests in the vicinity of your two home addresses have increased ten-fold- and that’s according to the mostly public knowledge city police records, not counting the superhumans you and the government ship off to your superhuman Guantanamo. And I have it from a reliable confidential source

S: It's Ollie.

ID: What?

S: Anytime a reporter has a “confidential” source from inside the Justice League, it's Ollie. Even when he's not an active member, he's plugged into a lot of others in the community. And Ollie's always had a bit of a problem with the League. What was it he called us, a bunch of “floating fascists” looking down on humanity from our “Stalinist space station.” He gets very alliterative when he's perturbed. His basic concern is usually in the way we handle civil rights, due process. And he has a point, actually- that there aren't rules in the superhuman community. True, we're largely bound by the rules of our country of origin, or whatever local regulations apply, but as superhumans most of us aren't naturally subordinated to law and order like a regular citizen would be- if the cops came to arrest let's say Flash, they'd just have to hope that he was willing to come along quietly, because there's really no way on Earth they could forcibly subdue him. But Ollie's also a loud-mouth, and has a tendency to talk to reporters rather than voice his concerns to the rest of the League.

ID: Just for those who don't buy their Justice League trading cards on a weekly basis, you mean Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow.

S: Yeah.

ID: But what I was getting at, is I've heard it from a reliable source that the League used this interview to put that information into the hands of supercriminals. In essence, and I think the term comes from computer science, but you created a honey pot, to see who was foolish or opportunistic enough to attempt to attack you- that basically, you wanted people to take their cheap shot while they perceived you as weak. Is that true?

S: Yes.

ID: And are you really dying?

(pause)

S: Yes.

ID: Okay. I'm a journalist, and, as I'm sure you're aware, journalists are whores. But for services rendered, I want you to complete this interview, as outlined. No more funny-business, no half-truths, you want to use me to spread information, that’s fine, but I don’t want to become your propaganda wing.

S: Fair enough.

ID: All right. But out of curiosity, how did you do?

S: We've captured about 78% of our high-priority criminals.

ID: High priority?

S: Repeat violent offenders. I mean, there are plenty of costumed yahoos who knock over banks, steal technology, and generally cause a nuisance, but the high-priority cases are those who have repeatedly shown a preference for using violence, not merely in the commission of a crime, but as an end in itself.

ID: So you're talking the Joker, or a rapist like Dr. Light.

S: Yeah. You know, that still troubles me. The underreporting of rape, in our community both personally and professionally, is a stain on what we do. I remember when J'onn pulled me to the side one day, after the thing with Light came out, and we had a big meeting, and we were all shocked, and dismayed.

ID: J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter.

S: Yeah- and J'onn pulled me to the side. He was very careful to say he doesn't read people's minds without permission, but that there are some emotions that just basically attack him, that are so strong that he sees them without looking. I thought we had just been incredibly lucky, but as it turns out, the League sees roughly the same number of sexual assault cases as anyone in law enforcement, both in the people we help- and even a few League members themselves. And I asked J'onn to share with me everything he'd felt, to show me what he'd seen inadvertently, and he was very reluctant, and said my concern was enough, that he wanted to make sure we took steps, to get everyone counseling and training on dealing with sexual assault and its victims- but I told him it wasn't enough. I needed to know, and he showed me, and- and I actually cried.

I think I've been... insulated in Metropolis. It's a fairly nice city, with an extremely vigilant police force, but being faster than a speeding bullet, it never gets to that point in my city. So long as I'm in town, the moment someone cries out “help,” the attack is over. Of course, after talking with J'onn, I realized how many assaults probably happen quietly at home, date rape, even spousal rape, incest, molestation. As much as we've accomplished in Metropolis, there is still so much more to be done.

And the thing J'onn explained to me, was the statistics are too high. Rape is not an aberration, it isn't just the crazy and immoral people like Light who perpetrate it- the incidence is just too high. It's something normal people engage in- and I'm not even sure how you begin to combat that. How do you fight a culture where people are somehow getting the idea that that kind of behavior is acceptable?

ID: I have no idea.

S: Neither do I. It’s one of the few things I feel genuinely powerless against- and it isn’t a feeling I enjoy. But that’s why Bruce and I conceived the "honey pot." We won’t always be there- I think my illness has put that into stark relief. We wanted to take one last stab at making our friends and family safe. I’m sorry if I was dishonest in my motives, but I think the ends

ID: Justified the means?

S: I recognize that tone; I’ve used it often enough on Lex. But I’d prefer to sacrifice the principle, rather than lose another innocent person. I can stand for my reputation to be slightly tarnished; I couldn't stand “retiring,” knowing there was one more thing I should have done but for pride.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.

Superman Returns

ID: I want to take a break from the heavy stuff. I want to talk about Bryan Singer

S: Oh Lord

ID: Funny choice of words.

S: . Look. I'm not the messiah. I have no pretensions to godhood, and when I signed off on Singer's biopic, with the proceeds purportedly going to charity, I had no idea the turns it would take. Obviously, there were certain things that I shared with them, and other things, like the romance between Lois and I, that were based on rumors and used artistic license to craft what I imagine they assumed would be a more engaging story.

ID: So you’re saying you never left Lois heavy with your bastard (or worse, left her to “deal” with it)?

S: Do you think it’s even possible I’d have an illegitimate son? My own father would have put a shotgun to my head if that happened- besides which, obviously, Lois and I are actually married, and have no children. And I am firmly against abortion.

ID: Whoa.

S: That seems like a revelation to you, and it’s something I’ve tried to keep to myself, but it comes with the super senses. I can hear a fetus- the heartbeat, sounds of its organs, even the noise it makes as its first cells divide. I don't know if that's when life begins or not, and I'm not sure if that makes me anti-choice- it’s an argument I’ve half-had with my wife- but I have trouble saying a woman should be forced to incubate a child she never intended to carry, too. Frankly, it’s a decision I’m thankful isn’t mine to make.

ID: Hmm. Okay, let’s back up a little bit. How did you feel when you heard the Superman Charity Movie Project, as it was called then by Warner Bros., was going to be headed by Bryan Singer?

S: Singer’s a really excellent director. He’s good at taking very cerebral, complicated and complex stories and ideas and blending them with action into a cogent whole that’s satisfying over a 2-hour span.

ID: So there wasn't any trepidation that he would use the movie as a commentary on the gay experience in America, in much the same way he did in the X-Men films.

S: You know, I never really thought about it like that. I guess he did in certain scenes underscore the mutant conflict in such a way to draw parallels to homosexuality, but it never really felt burdensome

ID: Except maybe in that Iceman scene.

S: Yeah, maybe then.

ID: So you weren’t troubled when you heard rumors Singer had an agenda with the movie, that he was perhaps going out of his way to find a gay Superman who would then come out during publicity for the film.

S: You know, I wasn’t, really. I think, when I was younger, fresh out of school, still uncertain about myself and untested, and still largely ignorant of what being a homosexual was, I think it might have bothered me, that people might have inferred that I was gay, or assumed that I was part of pushing a homosexual agenda. But I’m to a point in my life now where I don’t care. In fact, if I could lend some of my, uh,

ID: Credibility

S: right, to the idea of homosexual rights, then that would be a positive thing.

The only uncomfortable part would be that I'd be pushed to answer whether or not I was a homosexual, which is something I don't want to do, because the denial assumes there’s something wrong with being gay; I’m comfortable enough with myself and my sexuality that I don’t care what people whisper behind my back, but there are people, here and abroad, who would view me differently, might even be more reluctant to accept my help. But as far as personally, anyone who might decide to treat me differently because of a perceived flaw- particularly where the flaw was in their thinking and not in mine or anyone else’s lifestyle- I just don’t have time to concern myself with that kind of person.

And, I mean, Lois has a way of reassuring me, and I don’t just mean that in a dirty kind of way, but she’s just, anything that’s bothering me, she can make it all okay.

ID: I have to ask: what was with the Kryptonite island?

S: You know, what’s funny is the original script for the movie was darker. I’ve read parts of it, particularly the heroic moments, and it featured Luthor and a robotic menace which was based pretty faithfully on something he actually did, and he got a court order banning them from using it. I mean, his legal team tied up a dozen different drafts of the film, to the point where I think they just gave up, and went for something a little bit silly, because they figured they could sell that without Luthor raising a stink. Of course, his final lawsuit was simply for points on the gross. The ending amount that went to charity was a few hundred thousand dollars; Bruce ribbed me that I’d let them violate my legacy for the amount he weekly writes a check for for combating AIDS in Africa. And it wasn’t actually Hollywood accounting this time; the FX budget was enormous, and Luthor cost them a good chunk with all his legal challenges. And, you know, people just didn’t see it like Warner thought they might.

ID: But what about the... undertones of the film?

S: I’ll say this again, once more, for the record: I have no overarching messiah complex. I want to help people, I believe, with my abilities, I have a responsibility to help people- I believe that it's the purpose for which I was brought to this planet.

ID: So you believe in fate?

S: I believe in order. I'm not certain enough of what that order's purpose is- even if there's any kind of consciousness behind the organization of things- but I've seen enough of the Universe to say that entropy isn't the only force at work in shaping things. There's some meaning out there, even if you sometimes have to get out there and make it.

ID: But isn't it's true that you've been the center of your own religious tradition.

S: There was a cult that emerged around the time of my “death” fighting Doomsday, but I certainly never cultivated it, never encouraged it- in fact, at every opportunity, I've encouraged people not to follow it as a religion. Religion is something bigger than me, bigger than the things even I do. Some days I struggle to be a good husband and man- I'm just not up to the task of being someone's God.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.

Last Son

Indirect Distraction: I kind of feel like we’ve been straying from the point- it’s interesting to hear you talk, candidly, about your relationships, but I think we should refocus. You’ve been called ‘the man of tomorrow’ and ‘the last son of Krypton,’ but how do you think your illness impacts either of these?

Superman: I think there was still a sense, when I first, um, arrived on the scene, as it were, that we were still on the cusp of the future. That jetpacks and an end to disease were coming, soon, if we could just hold our breath a little longer. I think that’s where the whole ‘man of tomorrow’ thing comes from. People thought, in a few years, that will be me, or at the least in a few years that’ll be my kids. When people learned that I was from another planet, that I had future technology in my hands, well, that just played into it all the more.

As to being the last son of Krypton… I’m not. At least, not strictly. Because there’s Kara.

ID: Your cousin, Supergirl.

S: That’s… always a really weird thing for me to hear her called. I don’t remember much about Krypton- at that age the world was mostly shapes and colors- but I remember quite distinctly my mother, my father, and Kara. She used to, I guess babysit, would be the word. And when my father sent me to Earth in a rocket, he sent Kara, too, to look after me. It was rotten luck that caused her ship to be damaged in the planet’s explosion. At the time, physically, and emotionally, she was about the equivalent of 16. So at least chronologically, she’s older than I am- it’s odd for me to think of her as a girl.

ID: Yet she is a girl, though she’s blossoming, becoming a woman. How’s, how is your relationship, now? Do you find yourself mentoring her?

S: Obviously, yes. It’s a very odd state of affairs. When it comes to Krypton or things Kryptonian, when I’m with her, I feel very much like I’m a Native American kid raised off the reservation, who’s been playing cowboys and Indians because that’s the closest reasonable facsimile I had. But she knows the people and the culture that I largely missed out on. The robots and the technology my father sent me with taught me how to read, write and speak Kryptonese, but she taught me my first Kryptonian swear words, and tells me stories about Kryptonian food, the way it tasted, the way it smelled. She’s still working with Earth ingredients, trying to capture the proper flavor and texture. Kara really is the last Kryptonian survivor- and I’m happy its legacy rests with her- I always felt like I was a fake- I know Krypton from books and pictures, and video archives- she smelled its air, felt its wind on her skin- Krypton’s a fairy tale to me, but for Kara, it was home.

Of course on Earth, especially interacting with humans, the tables are completely reversed. I’ve lived on Earth more than twice as long as she was on Krypton- and I was raised by human beings. And she has lots of questions, which she’s finally gotten comfortable enough to ask- though it’s mostly just culture shock.

ID: About that, I actually sort of wanted to ask, who was responsible for the design of her costume, or is it based on traditional Kryptonian garb, and the planet really was the paradise it’s sometimes described as?

S: Careful.

ID: Aww- you’re defending your cousin’s honor.

S: Not at all. Kara’s a big girl- with an exceptional left hook. I speak with absolutely no hyperbole when I say she could take your jaw clean off- and might. She’s still learning about human customs and vulnerabilities.

But you’re pouring a bit of salt in a wound there, actually. Kara’s had a rough time adjusting. I don’t want to… go into her past- I think revealing certain things would be breaking her trust. But suffice it to say that she has lingering issues with her father.

ID: All right. Let me ask a hard question. Kara’s certainly had a rough time, including some rather nasty press coverage coming out of the Daily Planet. But putting that S on her chest, it’s a lot to live up to- you’ve made it a lot to live up to. And with your illness, she isn’t just there to augment you, pretty soon she’s going to be the standard bearer of that symbol. Do you think she’s up to the task?

S: I do. I’ve seen a lot of people try to do this, and it’s really, really tough work, emotionally. It grinds some people to dust, and consumes others. But what it takes to succeed in this is an unwillingness to bend in the face of adversity. Kara’s held on a lot longer than most, through some of the toughest times I’ve seen, and I think if she can go just a little longer, she’ll break through, and be the kind of hero she wants to be, which will put her on the path to the hero the world is going to ask her to be.

ID: So you think she’ll make a suitable replacement for you when you’ve passed?

S: God, I hope not. Because Kara’s her own person. I want her to be who she is, to find that place that I’ve been lucky enough to find, where the kind of person the world wants you to be and the kind of person you want to be aren’t mutually exclusive, and at least for me, have been complementary. I don’t want Kara shoe-horned into my roles in the community, because they wouldn’t suit her; she has to find her own path and her own way. I mean, I’m proud of her already, as proud as any father could be, but I’m disappointed, too, that I won’t get to see it all the way through.

ID: God. Um, I’m sorry. I’d forgotten, my condolences, about your own father.

S: Yeah, thank you. He… he was my dad, you know? There were times we disagreed, hell, even fought, over the right direction for me, for my life. But any time we argued, and he didn’t know if I was right, didn’t know if it could ever be right to interfere in such a massive way, I’d tell him, “I may not always be right, dad, but I’ll always do right by those who depend on me. Because that’s the kind of man you raised me to be.” I’m going to miss him, so much.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.