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Anonymous writes...

Why did Superman shun Superboy? Superman's greatest power is supposed to be his empathy. Why didn't he embrace Superboy?

That scene was severely out of character for Superman and contradicts over seventy years of Superman stories.

Greg responds...

"Shun" is not the word I'd use. It's too active a verb to describe what happened. But as I've said to others who already asked the same basic question, I think you're viewing what happened in terms too black and white. I do NOT think that Superman is behaving out of character. He's been violated and is having problems dealing with it, getting his head around it. He's found a rationale in his head to justify his behavior toward Superboy, that for now at least, is working for him. I'm not going to defend his actions, nor will I be unsympathetic to them. It is, by design, a complex problem.

And no real human being has perfect empathy. And Superman is nothing if he's not thoroughly human.

In any case, I doubt I'm going to convince you, so we'll just have to agree to disagree for now. Perhaps, if you stay tuned and see how this thread plays out, you'll appreciate it more. Or perhaps not.

Response recorded on March 11, 2011