Warning: contains spoilers for Superman #30!
As the most well-known heroes on the planet, Superman just revealed the core philosophy that motivates his heroism, and it turns out that his crime-fighting originates from the exact opposite impulse to his bat-themed colleague.
While presenting their heroism very differently, these two heroes are actually quite similar in their ongoing quests to right wrongs, protect the powerless, and bring evil to justice. But similar though they may be in their practical mission, writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson seems to have finally isolated exactly what separates the two in his latest issue, Superman #30, and it is a fitting contrast that gets to the heart of what makes the Man of Steel so special.
In a small but touching moment in the pages of Superman #30 (written by Johnson with art by Scott Godlewski), Clark Kent is able to pinpoint exactly why he continues his never-ending battle against evil. While out playing miniature golf with his wife, Lois Lane, and their time-tossed son Jonathan Kent, aka Superboy, Clark has a rare moment of peace, where nothing at all is going amiss in his life and he can simply enjoy himself with his family. “Today is perfect”, he thinks to himself. “Why aren’t more days like this? Isn’t this what all the fighting is for? How many battles will it take before everyone gets a day like this one?” This short monologue not only cements his own motivations as clear as crystal, but provides a perfect juxtaposition to his philosophical counterpart, Batman: Superman fights so that everyone can experience the joy he finds in life, while Batman fights so that no-one else has to live through his misery.
Batman famously donned the cowl after seeing his parents gunned down in front of him at an early age, vowing to never again allow the kind of suffering he faced to impact another innocent. Consequently, Bruce's mission is obsessive, taking precedent over everything else in his life. Johnson and Godlewski depict Clark as the perfect contrast by having his true inspiration be the hope that all people can feel safe, happy and contented, if only for a day, by virtue of his eradication of the evils which afflict them.
Since their conception in the late 1930s, the Dark Knight and the Man of Tomorrow have been two of the most enduring icons of selfless heroism within comicdom, spinning hundreds of stories that demonstrate their approach to fighting oppression, crime, and supernatural evil as paragons of heroism. Given their long histories, the lines that differentiate their characters have often blurred, but there’s always been a deeper philosophical precept which, at the core of their characters, keeps them wholly separate. That difference is codified in this simple but important moment.
Sadly, it looks as though Superman's happy life might be on the brink of being torn from him, as he relates at the beginning of the issue that this will be one of the final adventures he has before he departs Earth, perhaps forever. Tragically, the downside of being driven by a much more affirming philosophy than Batman is that while the Dark Knight has already experienced the worst day of his life, Superman's is likely waiting in his future.
