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Supermanmovies care to underline the Man of Steel ’s bombastic - than - aliveness office and persona . To some extent this makes sense . hoi polloi go to the motion-picture show to be inebriate , after all , and a big covert Superman is ask to performHerculean deeds that wow audiencesand strain the special effects budget .
prospicient - sentence fans of Superman , however , know that Clark Kent ’s slap-up appeal is n’t his superpowers . Often , the full Superman story just show Superman chatting with people and reveal how much he genuinely enjoys connecting with others . Superman ’s sterling power has always been his ability to inspire hope and trust after all , and few stories expressed that better than a simple 8 - varlet history inChristmas With the Super Heroes # 2by Paul Chadwick entitled “ Ex - Machina . ”
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The story opens with an sure-enough man begging for supporter on an icy route as cars pass him by . Desperate and freezing , he crawls into his broken - down car and scribble a suicide note explaining how he ca n’t stand the cold after being strand for hour . As he pulls out a triggerman , however , someone taps on the car doorway and the man look outside – only to see Superman standing outside .
wax inside , Superman uses his hotness visionto warm up the man up , then turns the beams onto the engine , explaining he require to take his time thawing out the engine blockage and bombardment to avoid damage them . As they wait , Superman ask the old gentleman why he was willing to go such terrible extremum to end his suffering . The man admits the coldness was only partially to fault , revealing he and his married woman had carve up and his daughter and him are estranged . To make matters worse , he also has a degenerative disease that ’s causing his tegument and muscles to degrade .
Gently suggesting that he attempt to reconnect with his girl , Superman reminds him that anyone who ’s lost a parent would often give anything to expend more time with them . He then gets out of the cable car and fixes the railway locomotive by hand , giving the man the power to drive to safety . Still concerned about his new friend , Superman gives him way to the Kent nursing home and let him sleep with they ’ll welcome him forChristmas dinner . Sensing that the Man of Steel just gave him some personal info that could potentially put mass in jeopardy , the gentleman’s gentleman promises Superman he wo n’t share this information with anyone else .
What ’s truly noteworthy about this account is that while Superman does use his ability , all of his actions – from warm up the man to fixing his railroad car to invite him to Christmas dinner party – could have beenperformed by any non - superpowered person . Moreover , his greatest act involve just having the patience to talk to someone who needed to reconnect with the humankind . A different writer may have had Superman simply pick up the elevator car and take flight the humankind to a garage – but those who rightfully understandSupermanknow he ’s at his most heroic when he ’s the most human .
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