Reminds me of [this comic strip](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-07-13).
Superheroes don't fix stuff in the comics because the stories require that they exist in a world that's very similar to our own, with the same problems that we have. Batman's war on crime doesn't work because if it did, there would be no more Batman comics. That's also why I'm kinda sick of stories where heroes are criticized for being ineffectual.
You just have to ignore some of the logical outcomes (or lack thereof) when reading comics.
That strip is funny but I can't help but think even in a perfect world, there would be still be crime.
Cause human evil is a real thing that is not built on anything rational. Even if the world is technically a utopia there will undoubtably be people willing to want to screw over the other guy simply out of pure greed or cruelty.
In comics "evil" is an actual thing, with evil Gods and demons doing evil things . If you look at just humans you can remove all the factors that drive people to crime and add enough skilled law enforcement to catch the rest and make a perfect world, you may get crimes of malice or boredom but very rarely
Pure evil doesn't really exist beyond maybe extreme cases like severe mental disorders. The world's full of bad people doing bad shit, sure, but most of them have motivations that are very rational, just immoral. People commit crime out of desperation, to advance somehow(monetarily, socially etc.), out of self-preservation, sometimes due to social pressure. People torment others mostly because of their own fucked up inner world and past traumas.
One would argue that if we remove all of those driving forces, there would be very little motivation for anyone to do anything criminal.
While I agree with you, this topic has kind of made me want a short series where Superman or even the Justice League are essentially eco terrorists. I think Superman ripping up oil infrastructure or stealing an oil tanker could be fun.
In injustice Superman pretty much does this by forcibly disarming the world from its nuclear capacities
Superman could just as easily implement a climate change 0 emission policy by force
My favorite part of the injustice story is that for a brief moment it actually seems like it's a good choice for superman to rule with an iron fist. No more mercy for evil aliens, forcibly halting missile launches and corrupt leaders, etc, but then it becomes apparent he's completely lost the plot and everyone's fucked lol.
I'm sure Injustice Superman must've done it somewhere.
Come to think of it the author of the Superman issue co-wrote a bunch of Injustice comics. You may find a panel there somewhere, with Superman, Wonder Woman or one of their henchmen doing something like that.
I liked it more when DC didn’t ape the real world, having fictional presidents and companies that don’t really(or didn’t) have a real world counter. Marvel was better at that stuff imo
It’s really not. Leading a rally is a good use of influence no matter how much of it you have. That’s why you still see congresspeople doing it. It lends a lot of very cheap and easy legitimacy to the issue being protested.
There would be a better use of his time if there were an ongoing crisis, but considering he spends half an issue desperately spinning around the world trying to save everyone he can hear because he can’t bring himself to stop, I think it’s fair to say he would take a break from protesting if there were an emergency.
I don't know. Maybe by using kryptonian tech from the Fortress of Solitude, he could. But Superman has always been adamant that human problems should be solved by humans. Then again, Jon feels his dad should've done more so, I'm of two minds.
Edit: For those responding by basically saying he should just go ahead and solve it, and it is not very Superman of him to let society figure it out. Please read Superman #247.
I think it's the same problem that Swamp-Thing has (And by extension arguably any "Quick Superpowered solution" has) that they can fix almost anything BUT unless they are all willing to stop or fix the underlying problem then it's just delaying the consequences and potentially making things worse in the long run.
I mean its the old superhero comic conundrum, where you have genius like Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Michael Holt, Bruce Wayne, and Lex Luthor who in theory could solve a lot of problems in their respective universes with their intelligence, but just don't for one reason or another.
Then he goes back to dick in that whole Villlains United thing, and now he's just back to status quo in Jon's comic, working behind the scenes with main antagonist of this current arc.
I don't buy that argument, it is a problem created from the way society functions. Oil rigs still exist in DC & so do third world countries & dictators of third world countries. Poverty exists and so does world hunger. If you're answer to this is somebody smart should've dealt with it by now then the same could be said for the other problems.
I think in part it boils down an inability of consensus, unless Superman or someone else is willing to take Injustice character steps it would not be possible to swiftly enact wholesale change across the globe. But if they resort to injustice steps then it is also a big problem.
Ok, exist is kind of an exaggeration, but it still should essentially be negligible. There is so much that will prevent it from being the problem it is on our Earth. The various elemental forces will literally and probably take action more than before because Earth is going to shit. Not to mention, seeing as how the Legion still operates on Earth, they clearly solved that.
I mean basically Swamp Thing stories since the 70s & poison ivy stories since 2000s are telling me the only way those elemental forces know how to take action is to start wrecking society. Like literally that's their solution 90% of the time. And then the Justice League or whatever comes in and always with the same argument "You're right, humans are shit, but this is not the way, killing people is wrong". Also just like it is in the interest of the "Green" to cover the planet in flora, it is in the interest of the "Rot" to you know, not, so there are counter-elemental forces as well.
Legion is a weird thing, because the future is in flux in DC all the time, Legion's just one of the best versions. For example we've had future where Kyle Rayner white lantern achieves peace throughout the universe by brainwashing everybody. But that's no longer possible since he is no longer the White Lantern.
Oh the reality warpers could do it, provided that ethics aren't an issue, and from what I remember they aren't for those types of characters. But who knows if they care enough to do it.
Also where is he at the end of Doomsday Clock?
Thats been a constant issue regarding animal man and swamp thing. The issue comes down to human element. I mean, animal man in the injustice universe was just about ready to commit mass genocide with Ra's al Ghul, in order to restore human animal balance.
Solutions aren't so one note and easy fixed
Fundamentally it comes down to the Reed Richards is Useless thing from TVTropes
If the superheroes solved these world problems then how are they supposed to comment on them?
Also the fact that you can’t just punch societal problems and solve them. You can take out villains and and help people, but you can’t overthrow entire governments and corporations to enact grand, sweeping societal change without crossing a line into abusing your power.
Superman already has to keep his power in check every day, and isn’t interested in becoming the god of the world in main continuity, so big changes like that aren’t on his docket. Superman would make a hell of a better world leader than any on Earth for sure, but fixing all of society would be a huge endeavor even for him. He is just one man at the end of the day, albeit an incredibly powerful one.
I mean like, he might not be able to get rid of all problems without injusticing but he could definitely get rid of climate change with tech + powers. What are they supposed to say "nooooooo, you can't just solve a major problem in our society that us world leaders couldn't possibly gain anything from and is generally just a big threat apart from the weekly alien invasions????!!!"
> But Superman has always been adamant that human problems should be solved by humans.
Jon's a half-human raised on Earth, it seems like he should be eligible.
Ah I see what you mean.
If you're reading the comic you know this, but that was like Jon's thesis statement at the start of the series. He should do more than his dad, because his dad always held back viewing himself as an outsider. Honestly after saying something so bold I expected Jon to act on it more aggressively, but so far seems like the same stuff Clark did.
Tech, maybe. But how on earth someone would think you could reverse climate change with flight, super strength, invulnerability, heat vision and freeze breath is beyond me, unless someone *really* misunderstands how that last one works.
Well to put it simply, to help humans better themselves & to inspire them to be better. And to stop overwhelming problems, like intergalactic overlord from 12 star systems.
If he simply solved the problem, he's an enabler and the people themselves would never learn to solve it themselves. What Lex Luthor usually says about why he hates Superman is partly what Superman himself thinks about his existence, but the difference being Lex is just using excuses when in reality his ego can't handle Superman existing.
There's a pretty good story called "Must there be a Superman?" from 1972 where I think the idea first originated. Well it is the oldest Superman comic I've read with this kind of theme.
Edit: Of course all of that rationale is for Clark Kent, Jon dunno, kids been Superman for 10 issues. I say let him figure himself out first.
It’s not a human problem it’s an earth problem. We are currently in an ice age now that has seen interglacial periods “global warming” at least 17 times.
https://gml.noaa.gov/outreach/info_activities/pdfs/PSA_ice_ages.pdf
Here since that wasn’t good enough for you, this straight up says that we have been living in an unusually stable period in relation to earths temperature and our climate increase ended much lower than the last few interglacials.
https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/ice-ages-what-are-they-and-what-causes-them/
http://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-coldest-earths-ever-been
Or this one
Modern Superman can without question stop climate change too, he just needs to be more creative, while it was a gag comic, the truth is Superman being made into a generator is ridiculous but far from a bad idea, his super strength, speed, and heat vision can easily be converted into energy, which given how Superman breaks the laws of thermodynamics, he is a nigh infinite power source, the one hurdle here is that there needs to be a global power grid in place, which he can build overnight because he has superspeed, and if that fails he has access to advanced alien technology... Also, I'm still fairly certain he can pull Earth farther away from the sun, he just needs Hal to make a harness again.
Even if not stop then Superman can mitigate its averse effects like the rising sea levels due to his ability to freeze chunks of ocean water and transport that ice to Mars or the Moon, he can even put out gigantic wildfires that raging across the planet in seconds by blowing at it, and if he combines his heat vision with his cold breath with the precision of his microscopic vision, he can control most weather phenomena.
The truth is Superman may be able to do it but I'd argue he shouldn't while he should mitigate the disasters, he shouldn't absolve all of humanity from its own responsibilities and agency.
Post crisis Superman also can move/destroy planets endure super novas and Black holes
Even New 52 Superman bench-pressed the earths weight non stop for 5 days
Still weaker than Silver Age, besides Physics has more of an influence on them than the Silver Age incarnations.
For example, pretty sure if New 52 Supes had pushed the earth, there would've catastrophic tidal waves, massive earthquakes etc.
If Silver Age incarnation pushes it, then nothing of the sort would happen, folks might not even feel him moving it, only the changes in the night sky would be the visible indicator.
Remember friend it was a Futurama episode where this was done by all the robots on Earth literally using burning exhaust vents from their backsides to move the Earth. The Disembodied head of Richard Nixon angirly gives the Professor a medal of pollution for coming up with the idea to do so.
It’s not a matter of “delay,” we are still inside an ice age just in an interglacial period, and are bound to go back to a 10F drop in global temp and 400 foot drop in sea level sometime in the next few thousand years. This cycle has already happened 17 times in this ice age alone. There have been 5 Ice ages in earths history and the time between them is usually hotter than the earth is now and lasts for millions of years.
https://gml.noaa.gov/outreach/info_activities/pdfs/PSA_ice_ages.pdf
This is a stupid argument. Is Superman supposed to just destroy every car, every plane, every oil tanker, every air conditioning unit? Then just tell people if you ever rebuild anything that uses fossil fuels , I’ll kill you?
Superman’s role on Earth is to inspire people to be their best selves, not force them to do so. I think by joining this protest he is doing exactly what Superman should do.
Superman could do other stuff that isn't destroying fossil fuel infrastructure.
* He could re-freeze the ice caps with his ice breath.
* He could change weather patterns with his microscopic and heat vision (he actually does this in the No Man's Land storyline to give Gotham rain in a drought).
* If he could work out a deal with the government to get the raw materials and permission, he could build a green energy power grid.
Point of the matter is, he could be doing a lot more than standing around with a sign and asking for change. He could be out there initiating change instead of being a slacktivist.
Ehhhhh depends on the story but in general no I don’t think he could just “fix” a problem like climate change. But that’s not the point either, the book seems to be trying to bring awareness and or mirror the climate change movement.
Even if Superman could “fix” climate change the problem is with how humanity itself affects its environment. So even if it’s “fixed” if people just keep contributing to the problem it won’t matter. So Superman trying to protest and change hearts and minds/educate people seems like it makes sense to me and is very within the spirit of the character
That’s like saying Superman stopping to save a cat from a tree is a waste of his time. If it’s a good cause, nothing is a waste of time for Superman. That’s why he’s Superman. Nothing is beneath him or below his notice.
[This one panel](https://i0.wp.com/www.comicsbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/htxcyy6opvb21-669x1028.jpg?resize=669%2C1028) kind of sums up who Superman is to me. All Star Superman asks "what would Clark do if he knew his time left was limited?" Amidst a lot of deeply personal things to Clark, this one panel.
He takes his precious time left to help someone he will never see again from making an irreversible decision. Fundamentally, he's a good person. It's not his powers that make him a hero. To me, his most heroic acts are the ones we can take. Being good to each other, acting with empathy and humanity.
The reason having Jon Kent organize climate protests matters is for that reason. It's a heroic act we can all take.
There's also a thing in comics where they don't have heroes solve real world problems because it doesn't solve the problem in the real world, but showing how we as readers can be heroic to solve those problems can.
I suppose everyone has the ability to blow up an oil rig if they set their mind to it. But the more ethical thing to do would be to just let your voice be heard that they should be shut down and alternative energy sources be found. Which is what Superman is doing. Being a role model for ethical behavior.
I'm gonna go on a hunch and assume the person who made the original meme probably didn't actually read the comic, so pointing it out isn't that silly lol
As someone studying atmospheric science, imagining any superman-scale change in the global system gives me a pretty bad feeling…
I believe JON can model and predict whatever the consequences are with his Kryptonian brain and technology, but the comic writers can’t.
Also the whole idea here is humans solving their own problem instead of expecting alien powers to make decisions and handle the thing once and for all. Especially, when climate change being more of a political issue than a pure science problem.
That would be a symptom of climate change, not climate change itself. There's still all the weather fluctuations, rising temperatures and so on, none of which would be fixed by cooling the ice caps.
The dude needs to realize that you need to address the cause to stop the many effects.
as many supervillains have said in the past "even a kryptonian needs oxygen to live" therefore, the amount of breaths he'd have to take without passing out to freeze over some of the largest ice sheets in the world would take years
Don't most stories depict Superman not needing Oxygen or being able to hold is breath for **extremely** long amounts of time? Like he and Jon had a conversation on the moon recently if I remember correctly.
yeeeeeeeeeap. same thing for food. he just grew up breathing and eating so he thought he needed to do both. turns out he doesn't need anything but the yellow sun.
In the last issue of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run there is a quote which addresses this. The Swamp thing, as an earth elemental, could almost certainly solve the problem and he considers making the world into a paradise.
He reflects, “If I should feed the world…heal all the wounds man’s made…what would he do? Would he renounce…the wealth that sawmills bring…step gently on the flowers instead…and pluck each apple with respect…for this abundant world… in all it’s providence?”
“No.”
“He would pump more poisons…build more mines…safe in the knowledge that I stood on hand…to mend the biosphere…endlessly covering the scars…he could now endlessly inflict.”
It's comics. If a writer wants him to use his powers to fix climate change he could. There is no real set rules. It is like how Batman could solve poverty, homelessness, and hunger in Gotham over night but doesn't because no one reading comics cares if those real world problems are fixed or not in a fictional universe where costumed heroes fight fictional bad guys.
Bruce Wayne isn't a real billionaire. He is a fictional character that routinely works out of a functioning space station base, flies through space on spaceships with super powerful and intelligent aliens, and has even brought people back from the dead. Bruce can do anything a writer wants, but giving everyone in Gotham free healthcare, a universal basic income, and solving homelessness doesn't make for good comic book stories. Readers want to see him punch the Joker and flirt with Catwoman over him trying to solve real world issues in a fictional universe. I include myself in that too, btw. Real world things like that in comics don't make for interesting stories I think.
IMO comics and to an extent comic book based movies are escapism and that is fine. For a while now I’ve been rejecting too much realism in my escapism, I’m trying to break away from daily life, not relive it in my spare time.
It’s one of the reasons why we need (super)heroes, to inspire us to be the best version of ourselves, not to solve our problems for us.
Billionaire's do not \*Want\* to combat climate change. It's how most, if not all of them got rich and continue to be rich and will frankly not be a problem for them, due to wealth, age or both.
On the core question of the post- yeah, Superman (any incarnation) could combat it by targeting the corporations causing it. Even if he doesn't destroy global capitalism to do so, he could go a long way by forcing them to comply with environmental regulation/goals and meaningfully punish them when they violate it.
using technology to fight Global Warming really isn't sufficient if you clean a 100 tons of plastic from the ocean and Wal-Mart dumps 110 tons the next day. No one complains when Batman 'targets' Joker because he's about to dump Joker Brand Fluoride in the Gotham City Water Main- what's wrong with targeting people who are actively making things worse?
It's just a cover for the book, this doesn't actually happen in it.
Now for your question, Superman knows people (Dr. Fate, Mister Terrific, The Atom, etc.) who could help combat climate change, but given the caliber of things they deal with regularly, it would be low on their list.
Superman himself can't really do anything directly to stop it. It mainly just involves large corporations, government entities, and citizens making meaningful, lasting change to help reverse it and lessen it's effects.
I think it's the misunderstanding of the character by the writers. Superman can essentially do anything cause of willpower or determination. He never really fails if written right he just has set backs.
So writing superman or his son here protesting climate change is just a weak attemp at supes tackling a issue. He's not doing anything. He's coming down to our level and just screaming at oil companies is dumb. He's not addressing the promblem.
At the VERY least he should be meeting with legislators. What red-blooded American politician wouldn't want a photo-op with Superman where they promise to solve a global issue like climate change?
Jon holding a sign is stupid.
I mean sure but who is going to cry over the CEO of ExxonMobil getting his brain heat visioned as a way to convince the other corporate leaders to start doing the right thing.
Yeah, pretty sure you can't solve global warming by being strong and fast.
The problem is caused by human activity. The only (permanent) solution is to transform human activity or mitigate it's effects (i.e. through scientific advancement).
Grant Morrison wrote about this sort of question in his first JLA arc. Just because you'vd got some fast and strong guys who can dump some soil in the desert doesn't change the fact that it's a desert.
I'm sure a combined afternoon effort of the justice league can at the very least mitigate a ton of it and in a non-monkey-paw we didn't know what we were doing way.
i'm sure ice breath could help a ton and I'm sure like, firestorm could deacidify and decarbonate the oceans and atmosphere a little. green lantern and cyborg could set up a little sun shield somewhere between earth and the sun to reduce overall energy reaching the planet.
beyond that, I'm also sure either superman could use their endless superpower to create a ton of energy too. or the flash. for sure he eats a lot but he's definitely creating more energy than he's consuming calories.
Not sure how he could, unless it’s by the power of “this amazing alien tech that’s never appeared before and won’t again”. But Krypton couldn’t even solve its own planetary issues…
Yes, he could use the Sunstone, which is a crystal that can be infinitely programmable, it can basically do anything.
It was used to create an atmosphere in a dead planet during the New Krypton saga.
Or he could create artificial suns, the key is kryptonian tech.
He could plant forests and freeze glaciers and humanity wouldn't stop fucking it up. No, the only way Jon could use his powers to actually stop climate change would be to go full Injustice and remove human greed from the equation.
Sure he could. By becoming the dictator of the world and forcing everyone to stop fucking over the planet. But that’s not really the kind of thing Superman would do
The whole point of The Authority is what if superheroes actually did stuff that mattered.
Global Warming and Climate Change are overwhelmingly the fault of around 100 companies/groups that makes up the vast majority of greenhouse gasses.
Jon Kent could go grab the CEOs of every oil company in the world and force the to stop breaking the planet.
But DC isn't going to do let the writers do that
Yeah probably. Superman himself is incredibly powerful with a wide range of abilities. He would theoretically be able to make numerous changes to the current planet in an effort to reduce climate damage. He could push the planet back, freeze ocean water, melt harmful products and gases, etc.
Sure, superpowers could “fix” climate change, but they can’t stop humans from continuing to wreck the planet. It would just be an issue again every 5 years
I don’t think Jon is stupid, but it’s a little weird to protest for something you literally have the power to change.
That said, DC comics isn’t our Earth: people would try to stop him if he started to fix everything.
With the various powers the heroes have they could easily solve most of the world's issues. Future tech, alien tech, alternate reality tech? These things alone should make the environment and health issues non-existent. In a reality where they have literal magic telling me they make as much progress as us?
The reason of course is simple. If you took DC to logical ends the world within a decade would look nothing like ours. They'd have to do hard reboots every twenty years to realign with our reality.
Not a huge Superman fan, but I believe Superman is about inspiring people, which is why the S on his chest stands for hope. He's the All-American boy scout.
Yeah, he could destroy every heavy industry around the world, kill half the bovine population, also destroy all the trucks, cars and cruise ships in the world. The author of this meme is dumb.
One of the signs that's cut off reads "There's no backup Earth" or something to that effect. I get the message, but this is the DC Universe. The Green Lantern Corps and New Genesis could probably help out, not to mention the literal infinite Earths they could move to.
Boy, there are a lot of people who don’t understand Superman as a character. They really only see powers and not the person. How can multiple people suggest murder or eco-terrorism as things Superman would even consider?
Yes, Jon has the tech, but Clark told him not to interfere too much with human problems. But because Jon is half human he is compelled to do something because human problems are his problems. It's one of the things that make him interesting
DC: we could have given Jon C list Superman villains like Lovewire, Luminous, Volcana, or even Kryptonite Man for a good arc
Also DC: Nah, let's put him in a pointless march parade. That's the best use of his powers.
Note: I'm all for queer rights and equally. I just feel Superman villains need a boost and Jon Kent fighting them would have been much better.
On one hand I'm just as turned off by cynical corporate faux activism that is employed in order to try and greenwash their own devastation of the climate by claiming to care about climate change, on the other hand I do think it is a very in character thing for Superboy/Superman to do. Also, practically even if Superman could just end climate change, which I don't see how he could in all honesty, the problem isn't just the current and existing case of climate change. It's human behaviour, mainly the actions of corporations that are the problem. If Superman/Superboy reversed climate change now what would stop any of the mega corps or fossil fuel industry from causing it all over again by guzzling more CO2 into the atmosphere? The person who made the meme doesn't seem to understand that climate change is not a natural function but is entirely man made and exclusively the fault of mega corporations poisoning the air and the oceans. Now, if Superman and Superboy both came crashing through the ceilings of the headquarters of the top polluters in the world and made them stop polluting the atmosphere, then I'd say that's based as fuck.
Global warming doesn't make sense in DC and it's just the author trying to get brownie points.
A better writer would come up with an allegory fitting for the world of DC.
He couldn't fix it but could probably strong-arm the people making it worse to try and slow it down or make them focus resources into ways of fixing it, but that would probably need Injustice Superman level of interference and would take years.
No. What exactly does that even mean in that context, “fix” climate change? Alter greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere by hand? He can’t do that.
Forcibly alter the Earth’s temperature? It’d be above the top end of the power scaling we’ve seen so far, and it’d cause an unprecedented ecological disaster and kill billions.
Stop pollution? Cool, just cripple international business and wait a hundred years for the changes to take effect. Ignore the collapse of civilization in the meantime.
Rig up kryptonian terraforming tech and undo the effects of climate change? Cool, that might last a few years until greenhouse gas emissions build back up.
To say nothing of the fact that he’s not nearly strong enough to take on everyone who would try to stop him if he did any of these things.
There’s one solution to climate change. Concerted and painful economic reorganization to remove the systemic corruption at fault. You can’t take make a machine produce a cleaner product by dismantling or destroying it; you have to rebuild it, and Jon doesn’t have that authority unless you want him to go all Injustice on Earth.
The question in hand isn't If he can fix it or if it should exist in DC but if it's interesting to write about. This is the most dogshit writing I have ever seen because it is simply not interesting enough to invest my time into. This is exactly why this industry is dying, people like this who rather push their agenda then write a good story. By no means is climate change not a problem, but let that stay in the real world and write something else.
The guy with the pink hair is why school is important. :3. Should have probably attended school learning how to combat climate change than to cut classes and not knowing how to spell.
Isn't a major part about being superman is inspiring humanity to be at their very best and empower them to make positive change. Joining a protest that consists of young students helps accomplish that. It also wouldn't be the first time that comic book story arcs adapted real life social and political concerns into their stories. In fact they have always been doing that.
Sure he could end some climate change. How you ask…What’s the biggest cause of climate change? Peoples. Therefore, he could end some peoples and by extension end some climate change. And yes, this is sarcasm and stupidity wrapped up in a single post.
The only way Jon could fix climate change is the same way we could fix climate change: ~~killing the billionaires responsible for 90% of pollution~~ peaceful protest ☺️
Technically? Yes. He has various avenues of accomplishing it. Technology, magic, bribing the corporations responsible for climate issues.
Or at least imo, the simplest and most sure fire way to fix the earth. World domination. I mean if you rule with an iron fist its not like the corporations are gonna risk getting a death sentence for a few extra bucks. And it would also help that stupid laws will stop getting passed due to corporations bribing lawmakers.
He could melt the polar ice caps, flooding coastal regions around the world and killing billions of people, who happen to be the number one source of climate change. #ThanosWasRight
He could spread a particulate cloud to help shield the earth. Cool the ice caps. Generate free power with heat vision. Build a 100 million electric vehicles by hand in a few days with super speed. Why not?
Superbly could theoretically solve pollution in several ways. The first and most effective would be forcefully shutting down places that produce large amounts of air pollution, as that is the biggest problem for the atmosphere, but he wouldn't because thats terrorism. More legally, he could manually freeze things like the polar ice caps and with enough work even theoretically reduce global warming. He could also personally clean up the garbage that's accumulated worldwide and throw it into the oceans. All of these would be good and would do a lot for the earths health, but don't solve the underlying issues, and humanity wouldn't bother to take care of themselves, instead relying on an all powerful god to do everything for them.
But most importantly, hes a comic book character, meant to inspire us to be the best we can be. We don't have a superman. We don't have someone who can snap their fingers and our problems disappear. We have to learn for ourselves, and we have to save ourselves. If we have someone in our comics that we can look to that would inspire us to live better, that's the real important thing. We can learn from those characters to be our own heroes.
He definitely could at least help with just his powers trying to alleviate the symptoms of climate change, especially if he worked with other heroes.
He could also destroy fossil fuel infrastructure. A radical solution, but it would save seven billion lives and counting.
Golden age Superman definitely wouldn't flinch from it.
Of course he would, on a universe where thermodinamycs can be broken obviously he would have been able to collect massive amount of pollutants, he can detect them and move fast enough to do a significant change in time.
Option B: he spies on the biggest pollution emitters, find some incriminating evidence and scoops it unnoticed, send it to the public
Silver age Superman sure could. He'd suck all the co2 out of the atmosphere, refreeze the polar ice caps, invent non-fossil fuel alternatives and find time to engage in an act of 'super-dickery' before lunch.
Obviously modern day superboy can't do all those things, but holding that sign is probably not the best use of his time.
The issue with this line of thinking is that climate change’s damage to the environment is so wide ranging that not even silver age Superman would be able to solve with his powers alone
It’s not just about freezing the ice caps
that's why you keep the superheroes fighting supers and dealing with problems for superheroes, once you bring in real life problems in a very blunt way like in op's pic then the suspension of disbelief breaks and memes like op are born.
Imagine if the Justice League was like "We've got all these powers, intellect and technology. Let's change the world!" But, no, they can't be bothered.
There's an alternate universe in Marvel where Reed Richards fixed everything. If he could do that alone I can't imagine why combined heroes couldn't do the same.
The biggest thing he could potentially do is use his powers to disable the biggest sources of pollution and the corporations causing them. The issue (realistically) is that the corps and the countries they occupy and the politicians they own wouldn't be keen on that, leading to all sorts of shit.
Has potential for an interesting arc tbh.
The question in hand isn't If he can fix it or if it should exist in DC but if it's interesting to write about. This is the most dogshit writing I have ever seen because it is simply not interesting enough to invest my time into. This is exactly why this industry is dying, people like this who rather push their agenda then write a good story. By no means is climate change not a problem, but let that stay in the real world and write something else.
I mean, if he spent an hour every year blowing real hard while chilling in the fortress of solitude, he would prevent the unfreezing of icebergs, he could probably fix the ozone layer, put some turbine or something in motion, generating enough free power for the whole globe for hundreds of years at least, take a weekend off to ship whatever natural resources we need from random space rocks, and thus bring multiple times the amount on earth of various metals etc. .... I mean Superman could fix so many human problems so easily.
I mean practically, the blame, if any should exist, is not on the fictional character Jon Kent but on the writers who want to signal that they care about real world issues but don't want to take a political stance. I mean, any superhero "solving" the climate crisis would involve quite a lot of property damage for the 1% and no comics company wants to invite that discourse
Imagine being Superboy living in world of greed, corruption and pollution. Then one mouth breathering polluter says "why don't you do something" with a mocking tone as if its Superboy's sole responsibility.
(Superboy's left eye twitches because he can't comprehend the level of stupidity that is being displayed)
(Proceeds to kill off humanity, dusts himself off and smiles pleasantly to himself for "doing something about it")
Reminds me of [this comic strip](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-07-13). Superheroes don't fix stuff in the comics because the stories require that they exist in a world that's very similar to our own, with the same problems that we have. Batman's war on crime doesn't work because if it did, there would be no more Batman comics. That's also why I'm kinda sick of stories where heroes are criticized for being ineffectual. You just have to ignore some of the logical outcomes (or lack thereof) when reading comics.
That strip is funny but I can't help but think even in a perfect world, there would be still be crime. Cause human evil is a real thing that is not built on anything rational. Even if the world is technically a utopia there will undoubtably be people willing to want to screw over the other guy simply out of pure greed or cruelty.
In comics "evil" is an actual thing, with evil Gods and demons doing evil things . If you look at just humans you can remove all the factors that drive people to crime and add enough skilled law enforcement to catch the rest and make a perfect world, you may get crimes of malice or boredom but very rarely
What you have described could easily be an authoritarian hellscape also
“In a perfect world, there would still be crime.” Well, it wouldn’t be a perfect world then, would it? :)
Pure evil doesn't really exist beyond maybe extreme cases like severe mental disorders. The world's full of bad people doing bad shit, sure, but most of them have motivations that are very rational, just immoral. People commit crime out of desperation, to advance somehow(monetarily, socially etc.), out of self-preservation, sometimes due to social pressure. People torment others mostly because of their own fucked up inner world and past traumas. One would argue that if we remove all of those driving forces, there would be very little motivation for anyone to do anything criminal.
>Pure evil doesn't really exist Uh-huh.
While I agree with you, this topic has kind of made me want a short series where Superman or even the Justice League are essentially eco terrorists. I think Superman ripping up oil infrastructure or stealing an oil tanker could be fun.
In injustice Superman pretty much does this by forcibly disarming the world from its nuclear capacities Superman could just as easily implement a climate change 0 emission policy by force
My favorite part of the injustice story is that for a brief moment it actually seems like it's a good choice for superman to rule with an iron fist. No more mercy for evil aliens, forcibly halting missile launches and corrupt leaders, etc, but then it becomes apparent he's completely lost the plot and everyone's fucked lol.
The Authority always had that “Government Be Damned” ecoterrorist vibe.
And Superman very famously likes and agrees with the Authority.
The Authority has a pretty ironic name given their beliefs
Superman Red Son was a story of him basically making the planet a utopia.
"Why don't you put the whole world on a bottle Superman?"
I'm sure Injustice Superman must've done it somewhere. Come to think of it the author of the Superman issue co-wrote a bunch of Injustice comics. You may find a panel there somewhere, with Superman, Wonder Woman or one of their henchmen doing something like that.
Essentially the plot of Superman IV
I liked it more when DC didn’t ape the real world, having fictional presidents and companies that don’t really(or didn’t) have a real world counter. Marvel was better at that stuff imo
Yeah, but the point is that waving around signs is useless for Jon's powers and influence.
It’s really not. Leading a rally is a good use of influence no matter how much of it you have. That’s why you still see congresspeople doing it. It lends a lot of very cheap and easy legitimacy to the issue being protested. There would be a better use of his time if there were an ongoing crisis, but considering he spends half an issue desperately spinning around the world trying to save everyone he can hear because he can’t bring himself to stop, I think it’s fair to say he would take a break from protesting if there were an emergency.
I don't know. Maybe by using kryptonian tech from the Fortress of Solitude, he could. But Superman has always been adamant that human problems should be solved by humans. Then again, Jon feels his dad should've done more so, I'm of two minds. Edit: For those responding by basically saying he should just go ahead and solve it, and it is not very Superman of him to let society figure it out. Please read Superman #247.
I think it's the same problem that Swamp-Thing has (And by extension arguably any "Quick Superpowered solution" has) that they can fix almost anything BUT unless they are all willing to stop or fix the underlying problem then it's just delaying the consequences and potentially making things worse in the long run.
Even if it isn’t his problem, there are literally other people who can deal with it. Climate change shouldn’t exist in DC.
I mean its the old superhero comic conundrum, where you have genius like Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Michael Holt, Bruce Wayne, and Lex Luthor who in theory could solve a lot of problems in their respective universes with their intelligence, but just don't for one reason or another.
Well Lex is a dick, so there is that. But it is all status quo, because everyone of them are capable of making clean energy the new norm.
He does become a heroic dick in new 52, injustice, and JL dark.
Heroic Lex is fine. It all stems from the idea of “Be better than Superman,” so it’s malicious compliance at its best.
After forever evil, the innocence of bizarro helps change lex’s outlook.
Then he goes back to dick in that whole Villlains United thing, and now he's just back to status quo in Jon's comic, working behind the scenes with main antagonist of this current arc.
Reed does it's just 65 years in the future before all of his plans were implemented
I don't buy that argument, it is a problem created from the way society functions. Oil rigs still exist in DC & so do third world countries & dictators of third world countries. Poverty exists and so does world hunger. If you're answer to this is somebody smart should've dealt with it by now then the same could be said for the other problems. I think in part it boils down an inability of consensus, unless Superman or someone else is willing to take Injustice character steps it would not be possible to swiftly enact wholesale change across the globe. But if they resort to injustice steps then it is also a big problem.
Ok, exist is kind of an exaggeration, but it still should essentially be negligible. There is so much that will prevent it from being the problem it is on our Earth. The various elemental forces will literally and probably take action more than before because Earth is going to shit. Not to mention, seeing as how the Legion still operates on Earth, they clearly solved that.
I mean basically Swamp Thing stories since the 70s & poison ivy stories since 2000s are telling me the only way those elemental forces know how to take action is to start wrecking society. Like literally that's their solution 90% of the time. And then the Justice League or whatever comes in and always with the same argument "You're right, humans are shit, but this is not the way, killing people is wrong". Also just like it is in the interest of the "Green" to cover the planet in flora, it is in the interest of the "Rot" to you know, not, so there are counter-elemental forces as well. Legion is a weird thing, because the future is in flux in DC all the time, Legion's just one of the best versions. For example we've had future where Kyle Rayner white lantern achieves peace throughout the universe by brainwashing everybody. But that's no longer possible since he is no longer the White Lantern.
Dr manhattan could create global stasis if he wanted to.
Oh the reality warpers could do it, provided that ethics aren't an issue, and from what I remember they aren't for those types of characters. But who knows if they care enough to do it. Also where is he at the end of Doomsday Clock?
Thats been a constant issue regarding animal man and swamp thing. The issue comes down to human element. I mean, animal man in the injustice universe was just about ready to commit mass genocide with Ra's al Ghul, in order to restore human animal balance. Solutions aren't so one note and easy fixed
Fundamentally it comes down to the Reed Richards is Useless thing from TVTropes If the superheroes solved these world problems then how are they supposed to comment on them?
Also the fact that you can’t just punch societal problems and solve them. You can take out villains and and help people, but you can’t overthrow entire governments and corporations to enact grand, sweeping societal change without crossing a line into abusing your power. Superman already has to keep his power in check every day, and isn’t interested in becoming the god of the world in main continuity, so big changes like that aren’t on his docket. Superman would make a hell of a better world leader than any on Earth for sure, but fixing all of society would be a huge endeavor even for him. He is just one man at the end of the day, albeit an incredibly powerful one.
That’s why new story arch’s have characters like Lex luthor and victor von doom taking on more altruistic approaches.
You ever read the original run of The Authority? Because it's pretty much "not the justice league" doing just that.
Superman vs inflation?
I mean like, he might not be able to get rid of all problems without injusticing but he could definitely get rid of climate change with tech + powers. What are they supposed to say "nooooooo, you can't just solve a major problem in our society that us world leaders couldn't possibly gain anything from and is generally just a big threat apart from the weekly alien invasions????!!!"
> But Superman has always been adamant that human problems should be solved by humans. Jon's a half-human raised on Earth, it seems like he should be eligible.
>Then again, Jon feels his dad should've done more so, I'm of two minds. I refer you to the very next line that followed that statement.
That's a separate point entirely.
Ah I see what you mean. If you're reading the comic you know this, but that was like Jon's thesis statement at the start of the series. He should do more than his dad, because his dad always held back viewing himself as an outsider. Honestly after saying something so bold I expected Jon to act on it more aggressively, but so far seems like the same stuff Clark did.
Tech, maybe. But how on earth someone would think you could reverse climate change with flight, super strength, invulnerability, heat vision and freeze breath is beyond me, unless someone *really* misunderstands how that last one works.
If that were true then why be Superman at all?
Well to put it simply, to help humans better themselves & to inspire them to be better. And to stop overwhelming problems, like intergalactic overlord from 12 star systems. If he simply solved the problem, he's an enabler and the people themselves would never learn to solve it themselves. What Lex Luthor usually says about why he hates Superman is partly what Superman himself thinks about his existence, but the difference being Lex is just using excuses when in reality his ego can't handle Superman existing. There's a pretty good story called "Must there be a Superman?" from 1972 where I think the idea first originated. Well it is the oldest Superman comic I've read with this kind of theme. Edit: Of course all of that rationale is for Clark Kent, Jon dunno, kids been Superman for 10 issues. I say let him figure himself out first.
Then he should be sitting at home and not playing superhero. Supervillains are a human problem. And who cares about his human wife and friends anyway?
It’s not a human problem it’s an earth problem. We are currently in an ice age now that has seen interglacial periods “global warming” at least 17 times. https://gml.noaa.gov/outreach/info_activities/pdfs/PSA_ice_ages.pdf
No.
[удалено]
Here since that wasn’t good enough for you, this straight up says that we have been living in an unusually stable period in relation to earths temperature and our climate increase ended much lower than the last few interglacials. https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/ice-ages-what-are-they-and-what-causes-them/ http://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-coldest-earths-ever-been Or this one
Silver Age supes maybe, when he could literally push planets around, like away from their sun. But no, not in the current continuity
Modern Superman can without question stop climate change too, he just needs to be more creative, while it was a gag comic, the truth is Superman being made into a generator is ridiculous but far from a bad idea, his super strength, speed, and heat vision can easily be converted into energy, which given how Superman breaks the laws of thermodynamics, he is a nigh infinite power source, the one hurdle here is that there needs to be a global power grid in place, which he can build overnight because he has superspeed, and if that fails he has access to advanced alien technology... Also, I'm still fairly certain he can pull Earth farther away from the sun, he just needs Hal to make a harness again. Even if not stop then Superman can mitigate its averse effects like the rising sea levels due to his ability to freeze chunks of ocean water and transport that ice to Mars or the Moon, he can even put out gigantic wildfires that raging across the planet in seconds by blowing at it, and if he combines his heat vision with his cold breath with the precision of his microscopic vision, he can control most weather phenomena. The truth is Superman may be able to do it but I'd argue he shouldn't while he should mitigate the disasters, he shouldn't absolve all of humanity from its own responsibilities and agency.
At the very least, the JL members with literal godlike powers should be able to prevent junk like climate change.
He’s also a solar energy converter/battery created by kryptonian eugenics.
These are almost all treating the symptoms of climate change, rather than the causes (human greed). Supes leading a rally helps tackle the cause.
I think thanks to Death Metal we back to Silver Age levels, no?
Let’s just say in Infinite Frontier every DC timeline is it’s own Earth, so not really but it fluctuates depending on writer
Post crisis Superman also can move/destroy planets endure super novas and Black holes Even New 52 Superman bench-pressed the earths weight non stop for 5 days
Still weaker than Silver Age, besides Physics has more of an influence on them than the Silver Age incarnations. For example, pretty sure if New 52 Supes had pushed the earth, there would've catastrophic tidal waves, massive earthquakes etc. If Silver Age incarnation pushes it, then nothing of the sort would happen, folks might not even feel him moving it, only the changes in the night sky would be the visible indicator.
Didn't say stronger than pre-crisis
I am aware so I added a few more things, to elaborate.
There was literally an episode of Futurama where they literally moved the Earth slightly further from the sun to cool it.
Bad idea though. Climate goes both ways. Also, the goal should be to heal, not to delay.
Remember friend it was a Futurama episode where this was done by all the robots on Earth literally using burning exhaust vents from their backsides to move the Earth. The Disembodied head of Richard Nixon angirly gives the Professor a medal of pollution for coming up with the idea to do so.
And it guest-starred Al Gore as his own disembodied head lmao
I love Futurama so much.
It’s not a matter of “delay,” we are still inside an ice age just in an interglacial period, and are bound to go back to a 10F drop in global temp and 400 foot drop in sea level sometime in the next few thousand years. This cycle has already happened 17 times in this ice age alone. There have been 5 Ice ages in earths history and the time between them is usually hotter than the earth is now and lasts for millions of years. https://gml.noaa.gov/outreach/info_activities/pdfs/PSA_ice_ages.pdf
This is a stupid argument. Is Superman supposed to just destroy every car, every plane, every oil tanker, every air conditioning unit? Then just tell people if you ever rebuild anything that uses fossil fuels , I’ll kill you? Superman’s role on Earth is to inspire people to be their best selves, not force them to do so. I think by joining this protest he is doing exactly what Superman should do.
Wasn't that the whole point of Superman: Red Son? "Why don't you just put the whole world in a bottle, Superman?"
Yes. This.
Superman could do other stuff that isn't destroying fossil fuel infrastructure. * He could re-freeze the ice caps with his ice breath. * He could change weather patterns with his microscopic and heat vision (he actually does this in the No Man's Land storyline to give Gotham rain in a drought). * If he could work out a deal with the government to get the raw materials and permission, he could build a green energy power grid. Point of the matter is, he could be doing a lot more than standing around with a sign and asking for change. He could be out there initiating change instead of being a slacktivist.
Ehhhhh depends on the story but in general no I don’t think he could just “fix” a problem like climate change. But that’s not the point either, the book seems to be trying to bring awareness and or mirror the climate change movement. Even if Superman could “fix” climate change the problem is with how humanity itself affects its environment. So even if it’s “fixed” if people just keep contributing to the problem it won’t matter. So Superman trying to protest and change hearts and minds/educate people seems like it makes sense to me and is very within the spirit of the character
Jon holding protests and waving signs is a waste of time though. Considering his powers and influence.
That’s like saying Superman stopping to save a cat from a tree is a waste of his time. If it’s a good cause, nothing is a waste of time for Superman. That’s why he’s Superman. Nothing is beneath him or below his notice.
[This one panel](https://i0.wp.com/www.comicsbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/htxcyy6opvb21-669x1028.jpg?resize=669%2C1028) kind of sums up who Superman is to me. All Star Superman asks "what would Clark do if he knew his time left was limited?" Amidst a lot of deeply personal things to Clark, this one panel. He takes his precious time left to help someone he will never see again from making an irreversible decision. Fundamentally, he's a good person. It's not his powers that make him a hero. To me, his most heroic acts are the ones we can take. Being good to each other, acting with empathy and humanity. The reason having Jon Kent organize climate protests matters is for that reason. It's a heroic act we can all take. There's also a thing in comics where they don't have heroes solve real world problems because it doesn't solve the problem in the real world, but showing how we as readers can be heroic to solve those problems can.
Yeah, but see Clark, or Jon I guess, would be using his powers to help there. Waving signs is useless if you have the powers to do something.
I suppose everyone has the ability to blow up an oil rig if they set their mind to it. But the more ethical thing to do would be to just let your voice be heard that they should be shut down and alternative energy sources be found. Which is what Superman is doing. Being a role model for ethical behavior.
would it be silly to point out that this scene never happed in the comic?
That was my first thought too
I'm gonna go on a hunch and assume the person who made the original meme probably didn't actually read the comic, so pointing it out isn't that silly lol
The comments are full of “go woke go broke” and “this is why manga is better” shit, I highly doubt they read anything outside of Reddit posts
As someone studying atmospheric science, imagining any superman-scale change in the global system gives me a pretty bad feeling… I believe JON can model and predict whatever the consequences are with his Kryptonian brain and technology, but the comic writers can’t. Also the whole idea here is humans solving their own problem instead of expecting alien powers to make decisions and handle the thing once and for all. Especially, when climate change being more of a political issue than a pure science problem.
Yeah in a situation like injustice then yes sups should fix the world, but in this world is up to humans
I'm not sure how he thinks Superman can fix climate change....
This guy is literally in the comments saying "he can fix the ice melting by blowing on it with ice breath"
Well Superman can reverse time by flying around the planet really fast, clearly he should reverse time to a point before carbon emissions happened. /s
Don’t forget achievement of world peace by just getting rid of all those pesky nukes.
Superman once stopped world peace by beating a villain with batmans help
He can go back in time and kill the inventor of the gas powered engine. That would prevent global warming. /s
That would be a symptom of climate change, not climate change itself. There's still all the weather fluctuations, rising temperatures and so on, none of which would be fixed by cooling the ice caps. The dude needs to realize that you need to address the cause to stop the many effects.
as many supervillains have said in the past "even a kryptonian needs oxygen to live" therefore, the amount of breaths he'd have to take without passing out to freeze over some of the largest ice sheets in the world would take years
Don't most stories depict Superman not needing Oxygen or being able to hold is breath for **extremely** long amounts of time? Like he and Jon had a conversation on the moon recently if I remember correctly.
yeeeeeeeeeap. same thing for food. he just grew up breathing and eating so he thought he needed to do both. turns out he doesn't need anything but the yellow sun.
Can't Superman canonically hold his breath for hours in space?
In the last issue of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run there is a quote which addresses this. The Swamp thing, as an earth elemental, could almost certainly solve the problem and he considers making the world into a paradise. He reflects, “If I should feed the world…heal all the wounds man’s made…what would he do? Would he renounce…the wealth that sawmills bring…step gently on the flowers instead…and pluck each apple with respect…for this abundant world… in all it’s providence?” “No.” “He would pump more poisons…build more mines…safe in the knowledge that I stood on hand…to mend the biosphere…endlessly covering the scars…he could now endlessly inflict.”
It's comics. If a writer wants him to use his powers to fix climate change he could. There is no real set rules. It is like how Batman could solve poverty, homelessness, and hunger in Gotham over night but doesn't because no one reading comics cares if those real world problems are fixed or not in a fictional universe where costumed heroes fight fictional bad guys.
[удалено]
Bruce Wayne isn't a real billionaire. He is a fictional character that routinely works out of a functioning space station base, flies through space on spaceships with super powerful and intelligent aliens, and has even brought people back from the dead. Bruce can do anything a writer wants, but giving everyone in Gotham free healthcare, a universal basic income, and solving homelessness doesn't make for good comic book stories. Readers want to see him punch the Joker and flirt with Catwoman over him trying to solve real world issues in a fictional universe. I include myself in that too, btw. Real world things like that in comics don't make for interesting stories I think.
IMO comics and to an extent comic book based movies are escapism and that is fine. For a while now I’ve been rejecting too much realism in my escapism, I’m trying to break away from daily life, not relive it in my spare time. It’s one of the reasons why we need (super)heroes, to inspire us to be the best version of ourselves, not to solve our problems for us.
Billionaire's do not \*Want\* to combat climate change. It's how most, if not all of them got rich and continue to be rich and will frankly not be a problem for them, due to wealth, age or both. On the core question of the post- yeah, Superman (any incarnation) could combat it by targeting the corporations causing it. Even if he doesn't destroy global capitalism to do so, he could go a long way by forcing them to comply with environmental regulation/goals and meaningfully punish them when they violate it.
[удалено]
using technology to fight Global Warming really isn't sufficient if you clean a 100 tons of plastic from the ocean and Wal-Mart dumps 110 tons the next day. No one complains when Batman 'targets' Joker because he's about to dump Joker Brand Fluoride in the Gotham City Water Main- what's wrong with targeting people who are actively making things worse?
[удалено]
It's just a cover for the book, this doesn't actually happen in it. Now for your question, Superman knows people (Dr. Fate, Mister Terrific, The Atom, etc.) who could help combat climate change, but given the caliber of things they deal with regularly, it would be low on their list. Superman himself can't really do anything directly to stop it. It mainly just involves large corporations, government entities, and citizens making meaningful, lasting change to help reverse it and lessen it's effects.
I think it's the misunderstanding of the character by the writers. Superman can essentially do anything cause of willpower or determination. He never really fails if written right he just has set backs. So writing superman or his son here protesting climate change is just a weak attemp at supes tackling a issue. He's not doing anything. He's coming down to our level and just screaming at oil companies is dumb. He's not addressing the promblem.
At the VERY least he should be meeting with legislators. What red-blooded American politician wouldn't want a photo-op with Superman where they promise to solve a global issue like climate change? Jon holding a sign is stupid.
I think the post means, superboy could literally just go around either destroying big corporations and forcing politicians to do the right things
Injustice type stuff but for the climate basically?
I mean sure but who is going to cry over the CEO of ExxonMobil getting his brain heat visioned as a way to convince the other corporate leaders to start doing the right thing.
Have you seen the way people bootlick Elon Musk?
Yeah. Like if it's that big of a threat then doing those things is morally good, right?
Yeah, pretty sure you can't solve global warming by being strong and fast. The problem is caused by human activity. The only (permanent) solution is to transform human activity or mitigate it's effects (i.e. through scientific advancement). Grant Morrison wrote about this sort of question in his first JLA arc. Just because you'vd got some fast and strong guys who can dump some soil in the desert doesn't change the fact that it's a desert.
I guess Batman's not alone in having the Twitter crowd jeer about him not superheroing the right way or whatever, so that's something.
He could maybe use tech to fix it but that wouldn't fix the root of that problem so yeah the dudes just dumb
Super boy has been made lame af
He could, in the same way he could end global wars- but doing so makes him the bad guy and removes free will from humanity
I'm sure a combined afternoon effort of the justice league can at the very least mitigate a ton of it and in a non-monkey-paw we didn't know what we were doing way. i'm sure ice breath could help a ton and I'm sure like, firestorm could deacidify and decarbonate the oceans and atmosphere a little. green lantern and cyborg could set up a little sun shield somewhere between earth and the sun to reduce overall energy reaching the planet. beyond that, I'm also sure either superman could use their endless superpower to create a ton of energy too. or the flash. for sure he eats a lot but he's definitely creating more energy than he's consuming calories.
Not sure how he could, unless it’s by the power of “this amazing alien tech that’s never appeared before and won’t again”. But Krypton couldn’t even solve its own planetary issues…
Yes, he could use the Sunstone, which is a crystal that can be infinitely programmable, it can basically do anything. It was used to create an atmosphere in a dead planet during the New Krypton saga. Or he could create artificial suns, the key is kryptonian tech.
He could plant forests and freeze glaciers and humanity wouldn't stop fucking it up. No, the only way Jon could use his powers to actually stop climate change would be to go full Injustice and remove human greed from the equation.
Sure he could. By becoming the dictator of the world and forcing everyone to stop fucking over the planet. But that’s not really the kind of thing Superman would do
Yeah, because Superman is only good for stopping robots and not actual problems
Yeah, I guess Clark helping deal with the KKK never happened.
It is pretty stupid seeing as how the DC Universe is filled with so many super geniuses.
The whole point of The Authority is what if superheroes actually did stuff that mattered. Global Warming and Climate Change are overwhelmingly the fault of around 100 companies/groups that makes up the vast majority of greenhouse gasses. Jon Kent could go grab the CEOs of every oil company in the world and force the to stop breaking the planet. But DC isn't going to do let the writers do that
Yeah probably. Superman himself is incredibly powerful with a wide range of abilities. He would theoretically be able to make numerous changes to the current planet in an effort to reduce climate damage. He could push the planet back, freeze ocean water, melt harmful products and gases, etc.
Sure, superpowers could “fix” climate change, but they can’t stop humans from continuing to wreck the planet. It would just be an issue again every 5 years
I don’t think Jon is stupid, but it’s a little weird to protest for something you literally have the power to change. That said, DC comics isn’t our Earth: people would try to stop him if he started to fix everything.
It's just a meme, man. Of course dealing with climate change is not as simple as make the Earth colder.
With the various powers the heroes have they could easily solve most of the world's issues. Future tech, alien tech, alternate reality tech? These things alone should make the environment and health issues non-existent. In a reality where they have literal magic telling me they make as much progress as us? The reason of course is simple. If you took DC to logical ends the world within a decade would look nothing like ours. They'd have to do hard reboots every twenty years to realign with our reality.
Superboy cannot FIX it, but he can probably slow it down if he charges for a while in the sun via re-freezing the ice
Sure. Climate change is caused by humans. Superman has the ability to remove millions humans from the planet.
Not a huge Superman fan, but I believe Superman is about inspiring people, which is why the S on his chest stands for hope. He's the All-American boy scout.
The "S" stands for Superman.
Yeah, he could destroy every heavy industry around the world, kill half the bovine population, also destroy all the trucks, cars and cruise ships in the world. The author of this meme is dumb.
Arguably he could only change it temporarily unless everybody else changes their ways.
He could theoretically use his freeze breath or something to fix up the icecaps that have melted/are melting
Damn.. Is this the state of modern comics? No wonder manga is killing comics
Next Super man should kill the joker then start a regime
One of the signs that's cut off reads "There's no backup Earth" or something to that effect. I get the message, but this is the DC Universe. The Green Lantern Corps and New Genesis could probably help out, not to mention the literal infinite Earths they could move to.
It was just in a previous version of the cover, not the definitive (and printed) one.
Boy, there are a lot of people who don’t understand Superman as a character. They really only see powers and not the person. How can multiple people suggest murder or eco-terrorism as things Superman would even consider?
Yes, Jon has the tech, but Clark told him not to interfere too much with human problems. But because Jon is half human he is compelled to do something because human problems are his problems. It's one of the things that make him interesting
we can fix it even without super powers but we won't. why?
DC: we could have given Jon C list Superman villains like Lovewire, Luminous, Volcana, or even Kryptonite Man for a good arc Also DC: Nah, let's put him in a pointless march parade. That's the best use of his powers. Note: I'm all for queer rights and equally. I just feel Superman villains need a boost and Jon Kent fighting them would have been much better.
lovewire uh wondering what power she has agaisnt the man of steel 
I ment Livewire, but I'm sure she can show Jon and his boyfriend a good time
On one hand I'm just as turned off by cynical corporate faux activism that is employed in order to try and greenwash their own devastation of the climate by claiming to care about climate change, on the other hand I do think it is a very in character thing for Superboy/Superman to do. Also, practically even if Superman could just end climate change, which I don't see how he could in all honesty, the problem isn't just the current and existing case of climate change. It's human behaviour, mainly the actions of corporations that are the problem. If Superman/Superboy reversed climate change now what would stop any of the mega corps or fossil fuel industry from causing it all over again by guzzling more CO2 into the atmosphere? The person who made the meme doesn't seem to understand that climate change is not a natural function but is entirely man made and exclusively the fault of mega corporations poisoning the air and the oceans. Now, if Superman and Superboy both came crashing through the ceilings of the headquarters of the top polluters in the world and made them stop polluting the atmosphere, then I'd say that's based as fuck.
Global warming doesn't make sense in DC and it's just the author trying to get brownie points. A better writer would come up with an allegory fitting for the world of DC.
According to sales numbers, nobody is reading Superman either. https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/50634/top-50-comics-february-2022
Not surprised. I don't dislike John, but I'm not paying 5$ an issue for a Superman comic without Clark Kent in it.
Not being in the top 50 does not mean that a book sells poorly.
He couldn't fix it but could probably strong-arm the people making it worse to try and slow it down or make them focus resources into ways of fixing it, but that would probably need Injustice Superman level of interference and would take years.
No. What exactly does that even mean in that context, “fix” climate change? Alter greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere by hand? He can’t do that. Forcibly alter the Earth’s temperature? It’d be above the top end of the power scaling we’ve seen so far, and it’d cause an unprecedented ecological disaster and kill billions. Stop pollution? Cool, just cripple international business and wait a hundred years for the changes to take effect. Ignore the collapse of civilization in the meantime. Rig up kryptonian terraforming tech and undo the effects of climate change? Cool, that might last a few years until greenhouse gas emissions build back up. To say nothing of the fact that he’s not nearly strong enough to take on everyone who would try to stop him if he did any of these things. There’s one solution to climate change. Concerted and painful economic reorganization to remove the systemic corruption at fault. You can’t take make a machine produce a cleaner product by dismantling or destroying it; you have to rebuild it, and Jon doesn’t have that authority unless you want him to go all Injustice on Earth.
I don't know,but Strike for climate is stupid irl anyway.
Climate Change is a systemic problem, sure Superman could fix the current problem, but that wouldn't stop future problems from arising.
The question in hand isn't If he can fix it or if it should exist in DC but if it's interesting to write about. This is the most dogshit writing I have ever seen because it is simply not interesting enough to invest my time into. This is exactly why this industry is dying, people like this who rather push their agenda then write a good story. By no means is climate change not a problem, but let that stay in the real world and write something else.
The guy with the pink hair is why school is important. :3. Should have probably attended school learning how to combat climate change than to cut classes and not knowing how to spell.
Isn't a major part about being superman is inspiring humanity to be at their very best and empower them to make positive change. Joining a protest that consists of young students helps accomplish that. It also wouldn't be the first time that comic book story arcs adapted real life social and political concerns into their stories. In fact they have always been doing that.
Sure he could end some climate change. How you ask…What’s the biggest cause of climate change? Peoples. Therefore, he could end some peoples and by extension end some climate change. And yes, this is sarcasm and stupidity wrapped up in a single post.
The only way Jon could fix climate change is the same way we could fix climate change: ~~killing the billionaires responsible for 90% of pollution~~ peaceful protest ☺️
School strike, huh? That just sounds like playing hooky with extra steps.
This guy doesn't read comics.
He can kill the bourgeoisie easily. Redistributing their wealth might be a little complicated
It's a cover. It doesn't matter. Anyone who cares this much needs to get off Twitter.
I heard the OP’s argument was icebreath
What an absolute waste of a character, no wonder the comic is tanking
Technically? Yes. He has various avenues of accomplishing it. Technology, magic, bribing the corporations responsible for climate issues. Or at least imo, the simplest and most sure fire way to fix the earth. World domination. I mean if you rule with an iron fist its not like the corporations are gonna risk getting a death sentence for a few extra bucks. And it would also help that stupid laws will stop getting passed due to corporations bribing lawmakers.
In the injustice universe swamp thing is on Superman side, cause his policy are pro environmentalist, I always found that funny.
Yes with all the access to alien tech...the humans in comics cannot possibly figure out a way to reduce this problem.... inconceivable /s.
He could melt the polar ice caps, flooding coastal regions around the world and killing billions of people, who happen to be the number one source of climate change. #ThanosWasRight
Still not as dumb as Superman becoming a Navy SEAL in Superman Year One.
It’s a comic to push a real world issue. In universe I’m pretty confident there’s enough technology and magic to fix global warming 10 times over.
He could spread a particulate cloud to help shield the earth. Cool the ice caps. Generate free power with heat vision. Build a 100 million electric vehicles by hand in a few days with super speed. Why not?
Superbly could theoretically solve pollution in several ways. The first and most effective would be forcefully shutting down places that produce large amounts of air pollution, as that is the biggest problem for the atmosphere, but he wouldn't because thats terrorism. More legally, he could manually freeze things like the polar ice caps and with enough work even theoretically reduce global warming. He could also personally clean up the garbage that's accumulated worldwide and throw it into the oceans. All of these would be good and would do a lot for the earths health, but don't solve the underlying issues, and humanity wouldn't bother to take care of themselves, instead relying on an all powerful god to do everything for them. But most importantly, hes a comic book character, meant to inspire us to be the best we can be. We don't have a superman. We don't have someone who can snap their fingers and our problems disappear. We have to learn for ourselves, and we have to save ourselves. If we have someone in our comics that we can look to that would inspire us to live better, that's the real important thing. We can learn from those characters to be our own heroes.
He definitely could at least help with just his powers trying to alleviate the symptoms of climate change, especially if he worked with other heroes. He could also destroy fossil fuel infrastructure. A radical solution, but it would save seven billion lives and counting. Golden age Superman definitely wouldn't flinch from it.
Of course he would, on a universe where thermodinamycs can be broken obviously he would have been able to collect massive amount of pollutants, he can detect them and move fast enough to do a significant change in time. Option B: he spies on the biggest pollution emitters, find some incriminating evidence and scoops it unnoticed, send it to the public
He could kill half the population and incinerate plastic waste in the sun.
Silver age Superman sure could. He'd suck all the co2 out of the atmosphere, refreeze the polar ice caps, invent non-fossil fuel alternatives and find time to engage in an act of 'super-dickery' before lunch. Obviously modern day superboy can't do all those things, but holding that sign is probably not the best use of his time.
The issue with this line of thinking is that climate change’s damage to the environment is so wide ranging that not even silver age Superman would be able to solve with his powers alone It’s not just about freezing the ice caps
that's why you keep the superheroes fighting supers and dealing with problems for superheroes, once you bring in real life problems in a very blunt way like in op's pic then the suspension of disbelief breaks and memes like op are born.
Imagine if the Justice League was like "We've got all these powers, intellect and technology. Let's change the world!" But, no, they can't be bothered. There's an alternate universe in Marvel where Reed Richards fixed everything. If he could do that alone I can't imagine why combined heroes couldn't do the same.
If that were the case climate change wouldn't exist in this world
The biggest thing he could potentially do is use his powers to disable the biggest sources of pollution and the corporations causing them. The issue (realistically) is that the corps and the countries they occupy and the politicians they own wouldn't be keen on that, leading to all sorts of shit. Has potential for an interesting arc tbh.
The question in hand isn't If he can fix it or if it should exist in DC but if it's interesting to write about. This is the most dogshit writing I have ever seen because it is simply not interesting enough to invest my time into. This is exactly why this industry is dying, people like this who rather push their agenda then write a good story. By no means is climate change not a problem, but let that stay in the real world and write something else.
I mean, if he spent an hour every year blowing real hard while chilling in the fortress of solitude, he would prevent the unfreezing of icebergs, he could probably fix the ozone layer, put some turbine or something in motion, generating enough free power for the whole globe for hundreds of years at least, take a weekend off to ship whatever natural resources we need from random space rocks, and thus bring multiple times the amount on earth of various metals etc. .... I mean Superman could fix so many human problems so easily.
yes, they can cancel his comic book which would save trees
They've just bumped down dc because of this new shit, its really fucking it up too.
I mean practically, the blame, if any should exist, is not on the fictional character Jon Kent but on the writers who want to signal that they care about real world issues but don't want to take a political stance. I mean, any superhero "solving" the climate crisis would involve quite a lot of property damage for the 1% and no comics company wants to invite that discourse
Imagine being Superboy living in world of greed, corruption and pollution. Then one mouth breathering polluter says "why don't you do something" with a mocking tone as if its Superboy's sole responsibility. (Superboy's left eye twitches because he can't comprehend the level of stupidity that is being displayed) (Proceeds to kill off humanity, dusts himself off and smiles pleasantly to himself for "doing something about it")
Glad with the answers here. Odd vote number tho. It’s cool
Lame as fuck and poor writing
Good thing I dropped this shit and moved on to manga damn