Garth Ennis and Superman

England is an Island, yet no one's denying the English are Europeans.

England most certainly is NOT an island. As a Scot, I find that hideously offensive.

Britain is an island, which is divided into three regions - England, Scotland, and Wales. The three regions of Britain plus Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or UK for short.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK, but not part of Britain. In contrast, if Scotland gains independence, it will remain part of Britain, but will no longer be part of the UK.

It is mostly the English speaking colonies who treat the Americas as two continents and would rather not be called Americans (Guyana, Canada) while the Spanish speaking ones took the one continent view (Mexico, Venezuela). I think one can make a better case for North and South America being two different continents than one can make for Europe and Asia though, even before the making of the Panama canal.

Anyway I do consider Buffy to be a superhero. She's heroic(usually), has superpowers, and operates out of a (sub)urban environment. I would consider her more of a superhero than Punisher, Ghost Rider or the Incredible Hulk, who seem more like a criminal vigilante, a force of nature(the Ketch version was pretty heroic though) and a rampaging giant who does whatever he wants(except the Professor version). I think the only reason anyone even calls them superheroes is because they happen to submerged in a "universe" full of them.

Yeah, when people talk about superheroes, it's important to clarify whether they're talking about superpowered-heroes, or if they're talking about characters who share certain tertiary characteristics (codename, outlandish costume, secret identity, etc.)

I would say that Buffy isn't a superhero, for two reasons:

1 - no alter ego or code name. Buffy doesn't fight evil under any identity other than Buffy Summers. There is no distinction between Buffy Summers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as opposed the the dichotomy between the likes of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, or even Steve Rogers and Captain America.

Now, this on its own doesn't mean she isn't a superhero; one could point out that the same thing applies to a bunch of the X-Men nowadays. So here's the second, more important reason Buffy isn't a superhero:

2 - no costume.

In order to be a superhero, a character needs a distinctive, memorable, and at least somewhat toyetic costume. Now, when I say costume, I am including things like powered armour and alternate forms; thus, Bruce Banner's Hulk form is considered a costume in this particular context. Since he's weird-looking alien, I would consider Martian Manhunter to be permanently in costume.

Buffy doesn't wear a costume; she fights vampires and demons in normal clothes. This factor is what makes her not a superhero, but an action hero who has supernatural abilities.

Now, just to clarify - if Clark Kent fought criminals, robots, aliens etc in street clothes and was never referred to as Superman, even if he had all his powers, then he wouldn't be a superhero either; he'd be an action hero with powers, like Buffy.

Regarding Punisher, I'm not that familiar with him, but his superhero candidature is borderline at best; I would say he would more accurately be classed as an action hero.

Maybe because many british authors (with some exceptions like Morrison, Moore and Gibbons) seem to dislike the american's machismo mentality and the tendency of american heroes to solve their problems with violent methods. Heck, most policemen in the UK don't even carry guns. Look at Judge Dredd for instance, to angry, left-wing edgelords like Wagner, Mills and Ennis, a square jawed Dirty Harry wannabe with a Stick up his butt operating in a cyberpunk megalopolis populated by fat idiots and cybernetic biker gangs who worship Mc Donald's and Burger King is an obvious satirycal joke on american culture and action movies. And superheroes encapsulate everything they dislike about the USA.

One criticism I've seen in regards to the Superman/Hitman story by Ennis is that it's basically arguing for assimilation. Also, that Superman, unlike, a lot of other immigrants wasn't raised in his home culture and it was destroyed before he could even walk and talk and finally that even if he couldn't so easily assimilate, he has powers that allow him to fight back against oppressors.

One criticism I've seen in regards to the Superman/Hitman story by Ennis is that it's basically arguing for assimilation. Also, that Superman, unlike, a lot of other immigrants wasn't raised in his home culture and it was destroyed before he could even walk and talk and finally that even if he couldn't so easily assimilate, he has powers that allow him to fight back against oppressors.

^ I dislike when people ignore that Supes relates more with humans than kryptonians since he was raised by the Kents, and make him angsty about it.

Superman is a bit more self aware. He knows that the reason he turned out a hero was because Ma and Pa Kent were REALLY good parents. It also helps that his enemies are the kind who level city blocks and so he has a reason to get involved. I also think that he DOES love Earth, but a part of him still feels a little left out.

^ There are whole stories built around how Superman Is one of the most humane and altruistic Heroes ever. All-Star Superman by Morrison and Superman vs. The Elite are the first to come to mind.

It's a shame so many people dismiss Supes as a invincible Gary Stu boyscout. Kinda like how Captain America is often painted by non-comic fans as a symbol of American jingoism.

A lot of folks who say they hate super-heroes actually don't really have much experience with the genre or the characters. They hate the idea of super-heroes that they've built up in their own minds. People, for instance, who have the notion that all super-heroes are super-buff, hyper-masculine thugs who solve every problem by smashing it. Certainly there have been super-heroes like that, but they're hardly representative of the entire genre or the character type.

Ennis, though, seems to really have a problem with some of less-realistic or whimsical elements of super-hero characters. I know he's said that he finds the idea of a man dressing up like a bat to be ridiculous, and he finds the whole concept and execution of Green Lantern to be silly (on the other hand, he loves everything about Judge Dredd, not even ironically). This is less a genuine indictment of super-heroes or anything to do with them than it's just a statement of Ennis's particular tastes.

Neil Gaiman once said that whenever someone says they don't like something, they're always right, but when they explain why they don't like it, they're usually wrong. I have to agree with him.

The part that's missing from that issue of Hitman is Superman coming right back and taking Tommy directly to jail. Because there is absolutely no way, shape, or form that he didn't hear Tommy murder that dude.

Garth's odd in that when he tells a story and just that he's not half bad. The Boys was at it's best when it was poking fun at the overuse of crossovers or having Hughie and Annie. Hell Hughie himself points out that Billy is a supervillain when you get down to it.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman expies get treated with more dignity and Spiderman is treated kindly (hell it's one of the cases where a grossout villain works since that villain's cruelty and selfishness make him a direct contrast to Peter's kindness

I don't recall him caring for Batman that much.

Superman gets the best treatment, and I don't know much of Wonderwoman, but I'm pretty sure he's not too big on Batman.

He’s said once or twice in an interview he liked the concept and wanted to do something with her but never got to.

....Might be better he never got the chance.

I admit, he can show respect, but I don't know if I trust Ennis to write Diana, even if he seems to not hate her.