It takes a creator that really "gets" Superman, to properly subvert the Man of Steel, such as Mark Waid when writing the Plutonian in Irredeemable!
Original Thread: / 1114874925171580928
Original Text: Man... Evil versions of characters are fun. Let's go back to one of the truest #SupermanAnalogue examples that I've been sitting on: The Plutonian from Irredeemable
We're first introduced to the Plutonian as a villain. The series opens with him going rogue and the rest of the heroes of the world in a panic. He's on a rampage, both assassinating specific people and causing massive collateral damage.
A color palette is established to short hand whether we're in the past or present. Stories with the Plutonian in a red body suit with black trim and short hair is the present during his rampage. When he's shown in a white body suit with red trim and longer hair, it's the past.
Through flashbacks we piece together what he was like before and what pushed him over the edge. The Plutonian is shown to be as direct a parallel to Superman as Moore's Supreme (with a similar costume) and his adventures were all takes on Silver Age Superman stories.
But super powers can be a curse. The running theme of the series is that power corrupts even the best. Super hearing let's him pick up every time someone talks behind his back and the various antics of his friends add stress. We're given to understand that eventually he snapped.
Classic Silver Age pranks like his co-workers almost revealing his identity to the world both show how damn powerful he was, beating a radio wave to a satellite, but also highlight the pressure he's under all of the time.
So we as the audience come to at least understand why he snapped, while also seeing the havoc he wrecked in the present. Make no mistake, he becomes a monster, but one with motivations we understand.
In the present, we see the heroes pull out all of the stops to deal with him, crossing many lines and making clear that one of the great themes of the book is the corrupting nature of power.
They make it very clear that fighting a Superman is a terrifying proposition and fear pushes people to violate their moral codes. The story follows twists and turns over it's 3ish year run, with the balance of power shifting about, but the central theme is that power is dangerous
The book revels in the referential nature to Superman. It relies on the audience understanding that archetypal character and how this is perverting those tropes.
The Plutonian could have stood in for Hyperion, Mr. Majestic, Supreme, of Superman himself, but instead he lived in a world that pushed him over the edge and now that world quakes in fear of him.
Master Thread: / 1346189702580342785
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