""I am sure if it was Luthor himself who wielded such awesome power as Superman's he would see himself as fully justified to it.""
Well, yes. That's what makes Lex Luthor a villain. He had the chance to work with Superman and explain his concerns, but instead of sharing information, he killed the alien. It even felt like an accident to Lex, because it wasn't part of a grand scheme. He didn't win, Superman basically broke his own neck by not thinking.
""Find the problem, locate it, analyze the situation from a distance sufficient to negate that pesky Kryptonite (low Earth orbit, anyone?) and then vaporize said problem with heat-vision. Problem solved.""
You are absolutely correct, and Lex even observed the same thing in this story. Two explainations are available: Watsonian Vs Doyalist. Watson: Superman didn't think rationally about what he wanted to do. Doyalist: Superman was holding the Idiot Ball.
One of the points this fic was making was how absurdly under-utilized are the Kryptonian technologies that Clark has access to. Another was how important it is to think ahead. Even Lex, who was the smartest person in the world for this story, didn't think ahead enough to accomplish everything he wanted. Over and over again, Lex would consider how vulnerable he was to the alien, and the only thing that saved his life was the alien's own lack of thought.
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
Might be worth noting that Superman never demonstrated heat vision is this story.
The story\'s main problem is cynicism. Superman is idealistic.
Also we don\'t know how far heat vision\'s range is.
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God Awful, Holier Than Thou human exaltation piece.
I hate it.
It is only my opinion and in no way reflects anyone else's views on this work of fiction. But I hate it just as I hate all other similar works in which Batman effortlessly beats Superman because he is "so smart".
Why, oh why is it always the human captain of industry or the politician who decide who should or should not have this or that amount of power? I am sure if it was Luthor himself who wielded such awesome power as Superman's he would see himself as fully justified to it.
And how in the name of Siegel&Schuster does every writer who takes this pathetic human aggrandizing route figure a mere human, no matter how smart or rich could possibly counter, much less outright beat someone with the powers and abilities of a Kryptonian? G'd!
Super-senses, heat-vision, super-speed, super-intellect, flight, strength and invulnerability. And Kryptonite shouldn't even be an issue, because let's be honest, it is only through the stupidity of its writers that Kryptonians only use on power at the time (mostly). Flight, super-speed, super-hearing, telescopic vision and heat-vision; that right there is the combo solution to most opposition of a physical nature a Kryptonian could have. Find the problem, locate it, analyze the situation from a distance sufficient to negate that pesky Kryptonite (low Earth orbit, anyone?) and then vaporize said problem with heat-vision. Problem solved. This solution is valid for the likes of Luthor, Doomsday, Darkside and whatnot. Period. Good night.