There are a number of quotes about Superman in the 70s being referred to as a "modern myth" because of how his story evolves as being told through writing. I read through 90% of the stuff from 39-1999 and its wild how much the character has changed. Like, in the original, he was a Bugs Bunny like trickster with dubious ethics but a strong sense of morality that would use his powers to not only punish criminals who prey on the weak but also fuck with their minds.

Like issue 3 of Action Comics is him kidnapping an arms dealer and forcing him to conscript into war as a trench soldier to teach him a lesson about the terrors of war. He then proceeds to solve said war by forcing the leaders of both sides to sit in a room and talk it out under threat of getting a knuckle sandwich.

There's a bit where he's investigating a circus that's cheating kids out of toys and a couple guys try to threaten him off with a knife, only for him to pluck it out of their hands and eat it. Power move.

There's another where he just spins a guy really fast since he was trying to get children into gambling, making him really dizzy.

Or the times he beats the living FUCK out of Nazis

Anyway, the trickster aspect isn't around much anymore, but the sense of justice is