Superman has been around a very long time, and in that time has developed a pretty strong cast of supporting characters. From Captain Maggie Sawyer to the Citizens of Kandor, there are a lot of characters out there. Some of them are as famous, or more famous, than Superman himself. But others ,well, just never really clicked. For me anyway. Not every characters is going to work for examples Chloe Sullivan is a complete bore in the comic books. Yeah on Smallville she was great but in the comics, there is just no place for her.
Here are five more characters I just never cared about. Of course, this is just opinion and for fun.
Bizarro
Yeah I guess there are fans for this character, including Jerry Seinfeld, but I never got why he was so popular. Isn’t it basically the same joke over and over? Of course I am going by his silver age appearances, maybe his more modern version is a little more developed. But in the old days, it was simple. Superman’s exact opposite who even lived on a square planet called Bizarro World. Whatever. I did like the John Byrne story he did as part of his “Man of Steel” mini series, because it was done with heart and the character vanished at the end. For a little while. He would return and I never did read those stories.
Krypto
What baffles me here is that this pup is still around. In the Silver Age pretty much every animal on the planet had super powers like Superman. Yes my friends, there really was a Beppo The Super Monkey. Ugggh. Krypto was pretty relegated to the Superboy comics, and while it made no sense it was harmless. After the Crisis Krypto was retired, and even given a nice sendoff, but had made a return to canon over the years. Why? He’s a dog with super powers..so what?
Steve Lombard
Some stupid ideas should stay that way. In the 70’s creators made changes to revive Superman. Some were lame, like depowering him. Others stuck, like making him a TV newscaster. Actually that was a really stupid idea which did finally disappear after the Crisis reboot. How is he supposed to be able to dart off when he has to be in front of a camera every night? But even dumber was adding Steve Lombard to the cast. He was an obnoxious twit who played jokes on Clark. Yeah that’s it. He would disappear after the relaunch in 1986 and basically be forgotten aside from a cameo here and there. I was surprised he got a mention in Man of Steel. Cat Grant kind of took his place but at least she has backstory and character besides just flirting with Clark. Lombard had nothing.
Lori Lemaris
My first exposure to this character was the post-crisis story which established her new backstory with Superman. Simply put, he never was Superman when they courted. And the issue was a bore. What was the point of this character when you had Lois Lane and Lana Lang? I found out later she was around in the silver age, still didn’t care. Later on they tried to make her a regular in the Superman books until she vanished at the end of a story line which ironically involved a revived Steve Lombard. If you don’t know she is a mermaid and had a love affair with a young Superman. Yeah that’s it. So what? I guess she did get a revival as an Aquaman character which makes a lot more sense.
Jimmy Olsen
Well my friends, let’s talk about poor Jimmy. It’s amazing how popular this character was even though he never does anything. I suppose back in the old days it was customary for kids to hang around newsrooms. They were copy boys or delivery boys or paper boys, or whatever. But the truth is as times went on Jimmy has no real place. I guess credit goes to Jack Larson on the old Superman tv show for making this kid so popular. However while popular, writers didn't know what to do with him. So they came up with crazy things to give him a purpose. There was a time when he was being paired with Robin and the two would vex Batman and Superman. Later he would get different powers and abilities, often thanks to aliens, every issue. How he had an ongoing solo series I’ll never know. Seriously check out his many powers he had back in the day, it’s amazing. Then he somehow got tied into the New Gods mythos and the Forever People. In the 90’s his mother provided more drama than he did. He got a story in Countdown which was so ridiculous it was quickly forgotten. Yeah he matured and evolved, but the truth is the character has no real appeal. That’s probably why he keeps getting reworked on live shows and movies. Marc McClure was fine in the old movies but he never really did much, even appearing in the Supergirl move didn’t add anything. Lois & Clark's Justin Whalen was a fine Jimmy but all he really did was comment on what was going on. On Smallville, the character bore so little resemblance to the comics that it was explained that it wasn’t him at all, but a different character with the same name. The familiar character appeared for a second on the final episode. On Supergirl I like Mechad Brooks just fine but this is not Jimmy he is playing, let’s be honest. No making him a photographer does not change that. And Zack Snyder hated Jimmy so much he was gender flipped in Man of Steel then very unceremoniously killed in Batman V Superman. I can’t think of one time when Jimmy was the focus of a story that I liked. His role is to basically comment on things, get into danger, and summon Superman with his signal watch. Lois Lane evolved from that but Jimmy never really did.
Of course, this is all opinion and if you like the characters more power to you. Can you think of a Superman character that is kinda boring? Comment and let me know. Well, guess I gotta do Batman next. That is gonna be a hard one!
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