Superman movies like to emphasize the Man of Steel’s larger-than-life powers and persona. To some extent this makes sense. People go to the movies to be thrilled, after all, and a big screen Superman is expected to perform Herculean deeds that wow audiences and strain the special effects budget.
Long-time fans of Superman, however, know that Clark Kent’s greatest appeal isn’t his superpowers. Often, the best Superman stories just show Superman chatting with people and revealing how much he genuinely enjoys connecting with others. Superman’s greatest power has always been his ability to inspire hope and trust after all, and few stories expressed that better than a simple 8-page story in Christmas With the Super Heroes #2 by Paul Chadwick entitled “Ex-Machina.”
The story opens with an old man begging for help on an icy road as cars pass him by. Desperate and freezing, he crawls into his broken-down car and scribbles a suicide note explaining how he can’t stand the cold after being stranded for hours. As he pulls out a gun, however, someone taps on the car door and the man looks outside – only to see Superman standing outside.
Climbing inside, Superman uses his heat vision to warm the man up, then turns the beams onto the engine, explaining he needs to take his time thawing out the engine block and battery to avoid damaging them. As they wait, Superman asks the old man why he was willing to go such terrible extremes to end his suffering. The man admits the cold was only partly to blame, revealing he and his wife had separated and his daughter and him are estranged. To make matters worse, he also has a degenerative disease that's causing his skin and muscles to degrade.
Gently suggesting that he try to reconnect with his daughter, Superman reminds him that anyone who’s lost a parent would often give anything to spend more time with them. He then gets out of the car and fixes the engine by hand, giving the man the ability to drive to safety. Still concerned about his new friend, Superman gives him directions to the Kent home and lets him know they’ll welcome him for Christmas dinner. Sensing that the Man of Steel just gave him some personal information that could potentially put people in jeopardy, the man promises Superman he won’t share this information with anyone else.
What’s truly remarkable about this story is that while Superman does use his powers, all of his actions – from warming up the man to fixing his car to inviting him to Christmas dinner – could have been performed by any non-superpowered person. Moreover, his greatest act involved simply having the patience to talk to someone who needed to reconnect with the world. A different writer may have had Superman simply pick up the car and fly the man to a garage – but those who truly understand Superman know he’s at his most heroic when he’s the most human.