IS George RR martian ghost writing here? (Game of Thrones spoiler inside)

[The Giant]

There's merit to giving Superman enemies who can match his physical power, just because not every villain can be Lex Luthor - when you've got a super-strong, super-fast, invulnerable flying alien who shoots lasers out of his eyes, he's gotta fight somebody with superpowers sooner or later, if only to make sure he can't just grab the guy and bodily deposit him in jail. But again, the moral conflict is still more important than the physical side. Darkseid, for instance, is a great foe for Superman because he's the god of EVIL, not because he's the GOD of evil. If that makes sense.

Agreed, but Darkseid is a great example because he challenges Superman's devotion to the rule of law. Darkseid is the question, "What does Superman do when the laws are unjust?" Because Darkseid is functionally undefeatable; what Superman must defeat is the idea of Darkseid, the idea of slavishly following his cruel dictates just because. He can punch every war dog on Apocalypse, but the huddled masses will still call out for Darkseid.

If Superman and Darkseid himself come to blows, though, it's probably not a very good story.

If I were to liken heroic fantasy to Superman, I'd liken Martin's work to Frank Miller's Batman. Darker, grittier, and less obviously supernatural.

And see, I despise Frank Miller and everything he's ever written. Even when the story is acceptable, I find his conclusions generally repugnant. (Plus, yknow, misogyny.)

A theme wonderfully explored in Justice League Vs Avengers in 2000-ish. The respective teams are manipulated to see the other's world in a specific way. The Avengers accuse the JLA of being gods and lording it over the populace (monuments, the Flash museum), and the JLA see the Avengers as failing to stop evil. (Hulk on a rampage, Latveria, Genosha).

By the end, Superman makes a speech about how the Marvel universe has heroes that overcome their physical limitations to do good (and how much worse Marvel tends to have it), and Cap makes Rich's statement above, that DC involves god like beings doing what's right because they can.

Seriously, that mini series was unexpectedly insightful writing, and did not turn into a cheap fight between teams.

I loved the heck out of that series. Really well done, considering how trite it could have been.

EDIT:

For a good illustration of this point, I strongly recommend the Superman story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?"

One of the best Superman stories ever written, and certainly formative to my ideas expressed above about the character.