"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then... he shoots fire from the skies and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him." ~Batman
It has. Many times. Superman, or Kal-El, or his adoptive name Clark Kent, is the mostpowerfulSuper-douche in this or any universe. With his contantly growing list of Awesomepowers, Superman is always one giant leap ahead of any battle, challenger or foe.
Superman's origin story has been rewritten and rebooted so many times over the years; that there are several correct definitive historical versions each valid at a different time in their own way during Superman's career.
Krypton was about to EXPLODE WHAT THE FUCK (probably because of bad space weather around their red sun), people were running around screaming and throwing their babies into firepits and wells, and having a crazed SEX ORGY on the street, all the buildins were fallin into the cracks of Krypton openin up as the planet collasped on itslef and died, its sputering atmosphere dissapating into the night sky, so as with any DISASTER, great and arrogant men and women of mad science, such as Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, were determined shoot their foetal son Kal-El (the last son of the House of El) off into space in a rocket in his gestation chamber pod. As an afterthought, they send another rocket carrying Krypto the Superdog.[23] Not an adult, or one of his parents, or even another baby. Nope. A dog.
So with the final crumbs or his dead planet and Kryptonian culture behind him, his parents sent him to the pathetic and primitive planet Earth, where exposure to the yellow sunlight would supercharge his cells into living solar batteries or something and gift him with incredible powers. It's not clear if they knew this would happen or if it was just a bonus. And if they did know, why didn't they all just go to Earth years before in order to be Superheroes and Gods. This is the opposite of the lame and inferior green lantern, who sucks because yellow is his weakness.
As we all know, Earth is the premier resort planet for alien refugees escaping planetary armageddon as the last of their race. And America is the best nation of all!
Upon landing, the glorious saviour child was discovered by kindly old Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas. Both being barren, the kindly couple decided they would adopt and raise him, announcing the child as their own after months of seclusion during a blizzard and naming him Clark Kent. The kindly elders had tried this previously with a child they kidnapped from a K-Mart parking lot, but that child had died.
Kal-El's abilities increased steadily as he grew up, with super-strength and invulnerability manifesting at an early age and the power of flight developing during high school, alongside his best friends Lana Lang and Lex Luthor, and any other power appearing whenever the writers needed a new device or to write themselves out of a corner. In addition to his... um... "regular" powers, Kal-El has the ability to see the colorful aura of any living creature's soul before it dies, a form of synesthesia, explaining his aversion to death. He would undertake feats without knowing that it wasn't normal, or his alien thoughts weren't how every other child thought (and why would he think any different?) He saved kids from drowning buses, and even taught the Pharisees. Knowing this shit was getting out of hand, his adopted parents finally revealed the massive rocket they had been hiding in their small barn, and his foreign heritage to their son when he was 18, leading Kal-El to the decision that he could impress girls and be popular if he used his powers to protect innocents. He decided not to reveal his alter-ego, since he knew that he would get super-famous and need some form of privacy from the paparazzi.[3] He also felt weirdly betrayed and literally alienated, learning all of this at the age of 18. The Kents really should have told him he was adopted sooner. And that he was an alien with superpowers. But whatever.
Kal-El shared his secrets with Lana Lang and a complex and confusing on-again, off-again relationship blossommed between them. He also became friends with Lex Luthor at a very young age, and Kal-El began operating in his youth as Superboy.[22] ((He is visited in this time by Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 30th Century, an organization of super-powered teens inspired by his legacy, thus creating a paradox. They take him into the future and show him a world where he's not so different from everyone else, after all.)) Lex and Kal-El have a falling out after Luthor Manor burns down with Lex's father inside during an experiment to contact filthy extra-terrestrials.[12] Because Kal-El could have totally just contacted him and told him he was an alien. But whatever.
During this time he pursued his education at Metropolis U on a full scholarship (set aside grant money for superpowered aliens), losing his small-town "dumb hick" accent in the process.[4] He operated this way for seven years (he had to repeat a lot of classes) until he was forced to save a space-plane in front of crowds of people, then meeting the reporter Lois Lane for the first time at age 25. She was 37 (but looked like Teri Hatcher, so it was fine). Deciding that it was finally time for him to become an important public figure, Kal-El and Jonathan designed a symbol for him to wear based on using the Kryptoniansymbol of hope given to him by his parents as his heritage, while Martha created a costume after traditional Kryptonian clothing with no mask so the public might trust him. In his secret identity, he would drastically change his physical appearance and mannerisms by wearing spectacles so that nobody would suspect he led a double civilian life.[3] And amazingly, the spectacle worked.
Superman happens to catch Lois Lane falling off of a LexCorp building in front of crowds of people,[24] they would later count this as their first "date".
During his first costumed adventures in big city Metropolis, he was dubbed 'dreamy' by star-eyed reporter Lois Lane. Kal-El began his new career as a reporter for the Daily Planet working for chief-editor Perry White, alongside Lois and perpetual cub reporter and teened-ager Jimmy Olsen, with Superman's first exclusive interview.[5] The media coverage would eventually attract the attention of corrupt business mogul and 1%erLex Luthor, who tests Superman and tries to get him on the villain's payroll by withholding support during a terrorist attack, which as a private citizen he is under no legal obligation to contribute (though it is still a dick move). Overstepping his authority, Mayor Berkowitz fully deputizes Superman so he can extrajudicially arrest and beat up Luthor while smiling for press cameras, and Luthor swears his just revenge.[6] He is soon let off with no charge for not being read his Miranda rights, committing no chargeable crime, not having access to an attorney, obvious brutality, and the fact that he's rich. We don't charge rich people with crimes in this country.
Repeated attempts to murder Superman eventually led to LexCorp developing an imperfect and affably lovable clone of the Kryptonian named Bizarro. The shareholders, vice-presidents, executives, and employees of LexCorp never seemed to question the sense in this. Superman cruelly destroys the flawed and begging creature, and uses its bizarre chemical structure to somehow "heal" Lois' sister Lucy Lane's split ends.[7] (Lois is the eldest sister, then Lucy, then Lonnie, then Lorie, and finally Lanie Laney-Lane Lane.)
Lil' Jimmy began using a signal watch of his own design to call Superman whenever he felt like it.[8] Returning to Smallville after many years to gloat to his childhood best friend Lana Lang at the expense of her feelings for him, Superman exposes himself to the rocket once again. This time he serendipitously receives a message from his birth parents Jor-El and Lara, learning of Krypton for the first time when Kryptonian technology mind-rapes centuries of knowledge deep into his brain. Superman considers his dual heritage, and decides that no matter where he's from, his life on Earth has made him a human and an American, god-dammit![9] He yells at the automatic pre-recorded message, "You're not my dad" and then punches Ecuador.
This makes him, by definition, more powerful and deadly, but also, more of a douche.
Luthor invites Lois and Kal-El for an interview, refusing to acknowledge his upbringing in Smallville, and announces to the media that he believes Superman is an alien.[17] Testing this theory, he discovers Superman's weakness by exposing him to Green Kryptonite.[11] That was a good guess! Luthor begins to look like a paranoiac by claiming to the public that Superman is an advance alien invader,[18] thus hitting Superman where he really hurts; his public approval. This climaxes in a staged Kryptonian invasion of Metropolis, using real troops and holograms to discredit him, led by a fictional warlord named Van-Gar.[19] Because the battle between Superman and Lex Luthor is not one of brains or brawn, but an arms race of douchiness.
Lois inspires Superman to fight back the Kryptonite poisoning, and Jimmy rallies the populace to his side with pictures of heroic propaganda during the war, because Jimmy Olsen is the most trusted public figure at this point.[20] Superman is ultimately able to end the attacks, exposing Luthor's undies and proving himself as a hero to humanity.[21]
Luthor then "accidentally" creates the super-villain Parasite using Kryptonite by-products, and then challenges Superman as an alien threat to humanity. Once again, Superman is devastated by the negative media portrayal, as his only goal is to be worshipped and adored by the public. The Planet is the only newspaper to portray him in a positive light, with his first recorded photograph taken by Jimmy Olsen.[25] This public distrust leads to intervention by General Sam Lane of the United States Army, and they create the super-villain Metallo to stop Superman.[26] The army takes over Daily Planet headquarters, which is totally constitutional under the Patriot Act, but Superman regains popular approval by pretending that he's interested in saving lives while the army is actively endangering them. The Daily Planet becomes the most popular newspaper in America because it's the only one with Superman exclusives.[27] Every interview is full of complimentary and softball questions pandering to a gullible audience and essentially is just a PR machine for Supes.
Despite 100% support from the people of Metropolis, he is inexplicably considered a public enemy and hunted down in the streets by General Sam Lane and the army's genius and smug consultant Lex Luthor.[28]
Superman and Wonder Woman met during the Legends event, and Superman was surprised to find that he thought of her bodacious bod often. Eventually, the two came together (if you know what I mean), discussing and boning their mutual attraction. After a crisis involving Darkseid and the Olympian gods was resolved, they decided they were not right for each other and would just remain friends. SUPER friends. However, Superman did trust Diana enough to reveal his secret identity to her vagina.[36]
The JLA was formed by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. Superman became one of the first members of the team, along with Batman and Wonder Woman, after the team was first formed. The team was thus formed with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman forming it, as the founders, and others included Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman and most important of all Superman. He is always the alpha and omega, the first and last, none come before him.
Superman 75th anniversary
Modern Adventures[]
In those first early adventures, Superman would often find himself pitted against Lex Luthor, who had vowed to destroy the hated "alien" Superman because Lex is a xenophobic racist out to reclaim his place as the First White Son of Metropolis. Genius (and racist) Luthor also dismisses the suggestion that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same, rationalizing that one of them wears glasses and the other does not.[33] Superman also has his first encounter with the New GodDarkseid, who teleported him to Apokolips[34] because badass. Superman remained on Apokolips for hours, eventually rallying the disgusting dregs of that society in a resistance against their despotic ruler, but the revolution was unsuccessful because none of those weakly worms were anywhere near the magnificent might of Superman, so an embittered Superman returned to Earth.[35]
Superman was shocked to meet a being calling herself Supergirl working at Hooters, someone who first appeared similar to Lana Lang for the same reason. Supergirl explained she was from the Time Trapper's Pocket Universe and pleaded with Superman to come back there with her. Superman agreed and met the Lex Luthor of that universe, a benevolent scientist responsible for creating the Matrix Supergirl. He explained that ten years have passed since Superman's visit, and that the Pocket Universe exists solely so that the Legion of Super-Heroes can come there from the future to get all-you-can-eat chicken wings. You're following all of this, right? Don't worry about it too much. Everyone who lives there is basically an NPC, and not worth your time or consideration.
Superboy had already left for the 30th Century and Luthor dickishly released General Zod, Faora, and Quex-Ul, three Kryptonian criminals, from the Phaaaaaaantom Zone! The Kryptonians proceeded to destroy everything, kill everyone, save for a handful that Lex smugly (and racistly) protected in Smallville. Superman was unable to stop them from killing the rest and badly injuring Supergirl. Superman starts to think maybe he ISN'T THE BEST!?!? OWAIT, But then, Superman exposes the criminals to gold Kryptonite, taking away their powers, and THEN, taking on the role of judge, jury and executioner, decides they must be punished for their crimes -- he exposes them to green Kryptonite, killing them. He then banishes their lifeless Kryptonian bodies into a giant space mirrir. He then takes Supergirl and leaves the dead world, laughing triumphantly.[37]
The guilt of taking life weighs heavily upon Superman. Sort of. He has a minor psychotic break, which manifests in the form of him blacking out and fighting crime in the guise of Gangbusters!, killing many. Guardian discovers this after a brief fight.[38] Superman decides after what he's done that he has to leave Earth. After seeing to a few things and saying good-bye to his parents, Superman uses a breathing mask and a teleporter to begin a self-imposed exile into space. Because when a self-important douche goes off on a self-imposed journey of discovery, IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EMOTIONAL THING EVER TO HAPPEN.
After several adventures in outer space, Superman is captured by Warworld and confronts Mongul for the first time. He meets the Cleric and encounters the Eradicator and it pitted againt the Draaga but then he refuses to kill the Draaga, so Mongul attacks Superman and then Superman is saved from Mongul by the Cleric, who teleports him away, so then Superman accepts the Eradicator device from the Cleric, who dies shortly thereafter, and deposes Mongul as the ruler of Warworld. Having made peace on Warworld with his violent executing the three criminals in the Pocket Universe (and thus renaming it 'Peaceworld'), Superman returns to Earth.[40] Three Earth days have passed.
After beating up a poser, Superman soon learns the Eradicator, way more sentient on the scale of sentience than he initially thought, has a convenient mind link to him and is giving him really good advice and recipes, but occasionally calls him out for being such a dick. He decides to bury it in the Antarctic, but a subsequent visit reveals that the artifact has built a vast underground fortress -- the Fortress of Solitude. Superman learns the whole history of Kem-L, his dumbass ancestor, and how he built the Eradicator and what of its true purpose was of for. The Eradicator begins to melt some of the polar ice cap (because mankind was doing it slightly too slow for his tastes), but after a communication with holographic forms of Jor-El, Lara, and Kem-L, Superman manages to shut that whole thing down. Kal-El, recently fired from the Daily Planet for mysteriously not showing up to work while Superman was gone, accepts the Managing Editor position at Newstime from Collin Thornton.[42] He then takes the Eradicator artifact and his costume and hurls them into the sun in a live TV segment that garnered great ratings.[44] Poor Eradicator.
Luthor's kryptonite ring is eventually stolen from him by a former employee, Amanda McCoy. With some help from Baman, Superman manages to recover the ring. He decides to entrust the ring to Batman for safe keeping, telling the Dark Knight to use it against him if he ever loses control and needs to be put down.[45] He then smiles and winks and says "as if... right FRIEND?" but Batman is just grim and solemn as always and doesn't say a thing.
Mister Mxyzptlk (you know) decided to have some fun with Superman through Lex Luthor. He gave Lex a piece of red kryptonite, which removed Superman's powers. It would work so long as Luthor did not tell Superman about it, because that makes sense. When Luthor told Superman, because he just can't help gloating, he inadvertently broke the spell and restored Superman's powers. And so, dying of breast cancer, Lex Luthor decides to fake his death in a plane crash. He's just full of kooky ideas, that one! On the day of Luthor's flight, Jimmy Olsen decides to throw Lois and Clark an engagement party at the Daily Planet. Clark ducks out so that Superman can investigate the remains of the crashed jets. He finds a mangled body, complete with Luthor's prosthetic hand, and it's enough to convince him (and the world) that Lex Luthor is dead.[47] We never said that Superman was super-smart.
Superman eventually discloses to Lois the secret of his double life.[48] Immediately afterward having incredible super-sex that requires her to have reconstructive surgery, Superman is swept away in an adventure across time and time again that takes him from the ancient past to the distant future. When he finally returns to the present, only a few hours have passed.[49] Shortly thereafter, there is a strike at the Daily Planet. Unrelated. But it does make Lois, Jimmy and Clark scabs. Superman declares 'if I had my way, they'd all be making minimum wage!'
The Eradicator then re-emerges, this time in humanoid form wearing stupid yellow wraparounds. He sets out to remake the Earth into a new Krypton, but Superman battles again him yet again, seemingly destroying him for good. [50]
After a couple weeks of keeping Clark's secret, Lois found that she was a little peeved to think that Clark had been using his role as Superman to gain an advantage into her panties for all those years. After Clark beat her up with punches on a story involving the Parasite, Lois was determined to one-up him. The strike organizer at the Daily Planet was a man named Jeb Jebman, a southern "good ol' boy" racist who took a strong interest in Lois and a deep hatred of aliens like Superman, despite and in spite of her engagement to Clark. Lois was initially only interested in Jeb for any Intergang connections he might have, because she is into that. But their time together was... magical. She then challenges Clark to scoop her up on a story without using any of his powers. Superman refuses, because that's ridiculous. "That would be like imagining how another person feels. Impossible!"
Lois went home crying to her parents, her mother Lanella Lane almost completely recovered (was she sick?), and her father Laneman was attacked by Angstrom. You know. Angstom. Anyway, Lois managed to hold him at bay using her journalistic weapons of inquiry until Superman, way better than her in every conceivable way, turns up and subdues him. Using actual powers. Lois quickly offered to call off the bet, but Clark tells her to "keep her woman mouth shut." Despite his clumsy intentions, Lois and Jeb-Jeb actually became friends, although it made Clark more than a little jealous.[51]
And mad.
A young man named Lex Luthor II, the alleged son of the late Lex Luthor, turns up in Metropolis and lays claim to his father's empire. Because that's how corporations work. Superman helps investigate the man's claims and he appears to be the genuine article -- no one suspects that it is really the elder Luthor in a cloned new body![52] What?! Even though no records of him exist before a certain point, and everyone remarks how uncanny the resemblance is, and even though Lex Luthor had spent billions of dollars on cloning facilities.
When Perry White's son, Jerry White (really?), is shot, Superman is forced to actually go to Hell like they always told him to and try and rescue both Jerry and Jimmy (because he always needs rescuing) from the demonic Satan. And he rose again on the third day.
Superman - The Golden Age of Animation
Foes[]
Arguably Superman's greatest foe, apart from Lex Luthor, is Brainiac. Brainiac was a super smartalien guy who inhabited the body of another smart guy who is experimented on by Lex Luthor to become even smarter, and then pilots a brain ship to get even smarter. Each of his adventures end with one of the supporting characters sarcastically telling him, "Thanks, Brainiac!" Cause that's his name.
Brainiac even captured and brainwashed Supergirl into... *ahem*... serving him as he prepared his invasion of Earth. Brainiac has his head... ship come to earth as part of a punitive first engagement (how is it punitive if it's truly their first... um, never mind) -- an arrogant boast of his impending invasion.[58] Wanting to kick some nerd ass, Superman rallies most of the world's heroes in Metropolis to plan a preemptive counterstrike.[59] (What? How is it both preemptive and a counter-strike? Really.)
Brainiac is defeated. As he always is. Lex Luthor was already organizing a victory parade. Superman then decided to join the newly reformed Justice League on a full time basis.[62]
Not only did Superman fight demons, but also vampires![63]
Then that one time Sons of Liberty got busted up by Superman. In exchange for protection, Major Holcroft agreed to testify before Senate hearing. Superman was on scene at Capitol, made sure no one was trying to slip a inside the chamber. He neglected to scan that Senator Pete Rose, however, assuming that could trust senators. Pete was blackmailed by those guys, though, and did do a sneak of handgun inside to kill Holcroft! Pete couldn't go it, but Sons had backup! Another of their grabbed a the gun and shot. Superman had to let assassins go to rush the Major to hospital. Before passing, Holcroft told Superman that the responsible death of Senator Caldwell was Sons. Superman went to visit Pete in jail cell now, but scaredy Pete's afraid with Lana's life at stake.[64] Her again! Judge Kramer, who was secretly a member of the Sons of Liberty. Agent Liberty was gonna get Pete in the court room, but refused to turning against the organization. So Superman took apart most of the rest of the half of the all of the unit, Liberty got leverage. Lana freed Pete confessed, which meant murder charges.[65] And that's the whole story of Pete Rose.
Superman also had to deal with a villain called Bloodthirst, who had a new Bloodsport, and a revamped BloodTech, known as "Bloodblood", all to create more bloodchaos. He tried to bloodmurder Jimmy Olsen, but Superman was able to save his pal and finally stop the bloodkilling. Bloodthirst, before bloodfleeing, hinted that Luthor's bloodpresence in the bloodcity would truly lead to blooddoom.[85]
Superman gets into a fight with Sheriff Lobo which lands him stranded in outer space for a couple weeks[86] While in space, he meets Auron (who at first does not believe he is the real Superman, because Auron had been created to protect Superman's legacy) and encounters Massacre for the first time. Massacre kills Auron and withdraws, promising to come after Superman sooner or later.[87] Superman finally gets some help that sends him back to Earth.
Not long after the event commonly referred to as Panic in the Disco, a beastly monstrous alien monster beast called Doomsday emerged from Canton, Ohio and began to march toward Metropolis.[66] The beast single-handedly defeated the shittiest members of the Justice League when the team rallied to stop it (the regrettable lineup consisted of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Bloodwynd, Maxima, Fire, Ice, and Guy Gardner).[67] Superman battled the creature across several states, eventually drawing the line in Metropolis itself.[68] After a desperate battle, Superman managed to put the monster down, which was mean, because who is the real monster here, anyway? Superman then inexplicably collapsed, dying in Lois's arms.[69]
All foolhardy, pathetic human attempts to revive Superman failed, and so he was pronounced dead -- while Clark was oh-so coincidentally discovered to be MIA as well[70] (one of several hundred people unaccounted for because of Doomsday's rampage). Lois winks. Superman was buried with full moon, with hundreds of heads and several hundred thousand onlookers sacrificed, beneath the large Superman statue that he had forced them to build in his honor in Centennial Park back when he was still alive (not dead). The Justice League, other heroes, thousands of celebrities, millions of adoring fans and grieving lovers, hundreds of his illegitimate babies, a full New Orleans brass band, and at least one ostrich marched behind the casket, following their leader (by his own decree) one last time. Lois, Lana, and the Kents were all devastated and somewhat relieved.[71] It was weird. The family decided to keep the secret that Superman and Clark Kent were one and the same, despite the promise of million$ in book, interview, and movie deals. Ol' Cadmus stole the body from the tomb one weekend. Supergirl retrieved the body from Ol' Cadmus the following weekend.
Lex Luthor gloats that while he may not have killed Superman, by providing the tomb, he at least "buried him." It's something.
Jonathan Kent, suffering from a heart attack, is rushed to the hospital in Smallville, where he is remains in critical condition to this day.[72] Jonathan journeys through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night beforeGood Friday to the Wednesday after Easter. Kismet guides him through Hell and Purgatory; Beatrice, Pa Kent's ideal woman, guides him through Heaven. Beatrice was a Florentine woman whom he had met in childhood and admired from afar in the mode of the then-fashionable courtly love tradition. Jonathan recovers after having a near-death experience in which his soul met with Superman's spirit (plagued by demons) so he convinced him to fight his way back to the land of the living and then Jonathan awakes and tells Lois and Martha that Superman has returned, sightings of four different beings, all claiming to be Superman, emerge in Metropolis: "The Man of Tomorrow," "The Last Son of Krypton," "The Man of Steel," and "The Metropolis Kid." A trip to the tomb itself reveals it to be empty:[73]
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Lois and Martha Kent went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Kal-El, who was killed by Doomsday. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Metropolis. There you will see him.' Now I have told you.
While the first two actually claimed to be Superman (and provided circumstantial evidence that this was true), the latter two did not make the same claim. The young Superboy claimed to be a clone of the original Superman (in fact, he told it to everyone who would listen, soaking up the limelight as much as possible)[74] and the Man of Steel was alleged (by a psychic named Rosie) to have Superman's soul.[75] It was all pretty ridiculous.
Cults began to spring up in Metropolis, worshiping any one of the new four (the visored Superman or the Cyborg primarily) as messiahs. President Clinton is saved by the Cyborg, and officially endorses him as the real Superman. Lois feels all of them, and says Steel is the sexiest and closest to the ideal Superman. And she would knoW!!
It is eventually revealed that all four are false messiahs. The Eradicator, rendered incorporeal, baby, after his last battle with Superman, went to the tomb to try to use Superman's body as a new vessel. Sensing Superman's soul had unfinished business, he fashioned a new body from various sundry items in Superman's image and placed Kal-El's body in a regeneration tank that was bombarded with sunlight. The Eradicator's body could not absorb sunlight the way Kal-El's could, so he used Kal-El's body like a battery to power his own until Superman was successfully revived. Basically like the Matrix. His memory had always been shitty, however, and he then believed that he was actually Superman. He also struggled with the new, squishy human feels in his new body.[76]
When Superman was finally revived was weak and powerless, he used a Kryptonian battle suit to get to Metropolis. When the war suit arrived in Metropolis it was met by Lex Luthor II, Lois, and others, who were shocked when a black Superman emerged and told them all that he is the real McCoy.[77] I mean, Superman. Upon learning that End City has just been destroyed by Cyborg Superman (and that he plans to obliterate Mega City next), he joins Superboy, Supergirl, and Steel and heads for the site, which is now the location of Cyber City. Before they leave, he has a brief talk with Lois, who becomes mostly convinced that this man is the man she fell in sex with.[78]
The assault is hard, but Superman is soon joined first by Hal, and they have to level up and defeat Mongul after Superman and Supergirl could not,[79] and then they have to power up even more off the indicator charts and use new techniques of training to defeat Eradicator. Superman also learns that the Cyborg is really Hank Hacksaw, a total jerk that decided he would assume the identity and have the universe blame Superman when Earth was destroyed. To ruin a dead man's name by murdering billions. During the fight, Superman's powers are restored through self-sacrifice and friendship.[80] The day is saved, with only six cities destroyed! A new record!!
The Death and Return of Superman
Superman returns to Metropolis and fucks Lois, who no longer has any doubts he is the real thing. Superman gets right back into action (we just said that). Unfortunately, he still has to "reacquire" the rights to the name and symbol "Superman," but after much punching, he does that little thing.[81]
Superman, with the help of the shapeshifting Supergirl (can she get any sexier!?) (and also-- what!?), manages to come up with a plausible way of "resurrecting" Clark Kent, who had coincidentally not been seen since Superman's death (one of several hundred people unaccounted for because of Doomsday's rampage). Supergirl takes Clark's form and Superman "finds" Clark in the rubble of a destroyed building. They all wink. You know, months have gone by but he survived in there by himself on dreams and wishes. Jimmy freaks the fuck out and pees hisself. Doctor Occult finally bothers to explain how the fuck the revival occurred, but nobody listened. They were too busy celebrating!
Superman also learns that the Fortress of Solitude has been destroyed by vandalistassholes; he buries what is left of it in the ice and does his best to beat up the cults that have sprung up worshiping him.
Clark is welcomed back to a chorus of cheers at the Daily Planet and Superman is thrown a party by Lex Luthor aboard a blimp, but it is a trap!! Fortunately, Superman leaps back into the good fight with renewed vigor -- he barely even stops. He fought a new punk rock band, Nuclear Waste, and said bye-bye to John Henry Irons, who decided to give up being a superhero and was relocating to Washington D.C. and become an evil lobbyist .[83]
He also takes time to be with Lois -- which has some tragic results because every moment Superman spends fucking Lois is a moment where thousands of people around the world die instead of being saved by Superman.
Superman got that rematch with Doomsday after the monster inexplicably turned up alive and well in Canton, Apokolips (the Cyborg Superman was there as well. He winks). Superman had been troubled by nightmares where the monster was alive and well. Not even Darkseid could stop the monster's rampage! Superman lets it play its way out, with all his villains brutally fuckkilling each other while he watched amused using his telescopic vision, and laughed.
After, Superman was able to teleport Doomsday into the distant future to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. This allowed him to find a little piece of mind, and he never regretted the creature's apparent death, or anyone's for that matter.[88]
Clone Wars[]
Clone Lex Luthor makes another cloned Supmerman Clone which results in a Bizarro Superman but thhinkis of course that he is the real Superman, Bizarro escapes from Luthor and kidnaps Lois Lane to get married and make super-fuck but he calles it 'DIVORCE AND DEATH'. Lois manages to escape from "Bizarro World," where Bizarro had attempted to recreate Metropolis in his own warped way. A memories fragmented Bizarro flies to Smallville and tries kidnapps Lana Lang to makse super-fuck, not understanding why she resist him. Superman arrives and smiles as he kicks that loser's ass and then gets to fuck both Lana AND Lois in a crazy SUPER THREE WAY, solvint that problem oncet and forall.[89]
After a battle in the city between Superman and his twisted clone, we hate him. Bizarro dies -- but not before Lois Lane learns that Luthor is also dying of mysterious clone cancer.[90]
At the same time, Superman notices a distinct increase in his powers (and his mass as well). He eats too many dirigibles and cheezeburgers. Superman is diagnosed by Chico Hamilton as having his absorption rate being out of control -- he is absorbing far too much energies, and his size and powers begin to grow exponentially, fruitless. After several failed attempts at controlling the situation, Superman is only cured after allowing the Parasite to binge and purge him of the excess energy. Unfortunately, he is unable to defeat the Parasite, who knocks the Man of Steel out clear across Metropolis before laying low, snneekin aroun an waitin.[91]
Superman, once more in control of everything, receives a clean bill of health from Chico Hamilton. He flies. Lex's depravity is that he finally exposes himself to Supergirl after she discovered a plot to clone her. Supergirl leaves Luthor forever, but needs some time to herself to process what has happened.[92] It's weird.
Battle for Metropolis[]
Luthor deteriorates (dying from a mysterious cloneplague). Luthor arms and equips the renegade clones. Luthor goes even further, detonating clonebombs all over the city, prompting an evacuation of most of the city. Luthor orders his Team Luth-or to try to steal the Cure, resulting in the near destruction of the Cure.[93] He laughs with Power Madness.
Luthor's schemes are revealed to the world on live TV, because he had been broadcasting them. Luthor threatens to launch missiles into the heart of Metropolis, but Superman takes him down. &, however, launches them anyway, devastating most of the city, including destroying all of the major skyscrapers (including LexCorp Tower, the GBS Building, and the Daily Planet) save for the Newstime Building. Superman, working with Superboy and Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog and all the Super-Fleas and the whole Super-Family manage to limit some of the damage. Luthor is finally taken into custody (although at this point, he is virtually catatonic).[94]
The Fall of Metropolis[]
Metropolis would lay in ruins forever, having to contend with several "safeguards" left in place by Lex Luthor (giant robots, hallucinogenic gases, etc.) as well as Luthor himself wielding Superman's own war suit (which Luthor recovered from Metropolis Harbor when Superman and his allies had gone to Engine City). Luthor is in a vegetable unable to even blink his eyes.[95] Thanks to the magic of Zatanna, the subconscious of Superman, the power of friendship, and the soul of an old man, Metropolis was restored to its former glory.[97]
President Bill Clinton calls on Superman to confront the Spectre of Japan, wielding the Spear of Destiny, one of the few weapons that can harm the embodiment of God's Wrath. Unfortunately, the Spear is cursed with the taint of Adolf Hitler, and all who bear it are corrupted. Superman has a vision where he uses it conquer the world, and then he does. The Spectre hurls the artifact into orbit and parts with Superman.[98]
Dead Again, Death of Clark Kent, Trial in Space[]
Superman quickly realizes someone is trying to kill him. The would-be assassin is a new villain, Conduit!!!! and Superman is crushed to learn that Conduit is a old friend of his from Smallville, not worth mentioning.[99] Their fight ends up breaching Superman's tomb, and afterwards it is discovered that there is a dead body in the tomb that looks just like Superman. This causes the world to reeeeaaaally wonder if Superman flying around is a Superman really after all![100] Conduit lokks arund all uncomfortable about it, and quickly escapes. Later he attacks Superman (not caring if he's real or not), as now he feels a greater hatred. Superman is able to bring him down again because duh of course he can he's Superman.[101] Superman begins to track down all his enemies and kills them -- traveling across not only the country, but to New Genesis and Apokolips -- as Luthor, the Eradicator (at the time working with the Outsiders), Darkseid, and Mister Mxyzptlk are all eliminated.
As time passed, Superman's flimsy grip on reality began to break down, causing his behavior to become more erratic.
On Christmas Eve, while trying to find a "Blow-Up Debbie" doll, Superman suddenly says he has to stop the "Night of the Hundred Thieves". The thieves were all caught and Superman got the doll. Thorn came out soon after, thinking that the 100 were responsible for the Night of the Hundred Thieves, but he turns out to be dead.[104]
Superman helps free Babe the pig from villainousvampires, and also enlists the aid of Miracle Max when the villain Deepthroat comes after him. Superman meets a new character on the scene, the dragon.[106] Clark, Lois, and Jimmy went to Washington D.C. for a reporter's convention. Jimmy Olsen quits the Daily Planet.[107]
Conduit blows up the Kent's farmhouse, kidnaps Jimmy Olsen, attacks Lana Lang, and confronts Superman himself.[108] Even though he confronts Conduit in his own lair, Superman has to retreat to save his kindlt old folks. He then goes on a rampage on his parents, with a nearly limitless cache of resources. After Conduit apparently kills Lois and the Kents, Superman in his rage violently ripping his suit off and incinerating it with his heat vision[109] is now naked.
Luckily, both his parents and Lois are alive and Superman prepares for the final showdown.
Conduit is dead... long live Superman![]
Superman beats Conduit.[112] Superman and Lois then return to Metropolis for epic super mega fucking. Superman eventually gets around to rescuing Jimmy Olsen, who has been left within a trap prepared by Conduit.[113]
The New Adventures of Lois and Clark... but mostly Superman[]
Superman likes to referee boxing matches that are more like Bloodsport at Stryker's Island, but.. as expected, a riot breaks out and Supermanhas to stop it. Superman murders inmates in their cells. Shortly thereafter, Superman gets on the trail of tracking Luthor, trying to track him down on his trail, but only leads to dead ends (two of which literally blow up in Superman's face). Superman also meets the new CEO of LexCorp, the Contessa Baroness Erika Von Dänniken Alexandretta della Portenzia di Rossi Von Bardas Di Laurentiis Prosciutto, the Heiress to Monaco.
Back on Earth, Superman shortly thereafter has to contend with Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught, two horribly named villains, who are looking for revenge against him and Green Lantern (although they grabbed the wrong ones) and perhaps something more -- from Superman...[116] P.s.>They wanted to have sex with his tight butt.
After a battle with the Parasite (who has been modified, and now has a split personality for no reason) leaves him near death, Superman is put through a show trial in space for the destruction of Krypton (his guilt was already assumed). The Tribunal's argument is that the Kryptonians need not have died if not for the actions of Superman's ancestor, and since they believe that the sins of the father shall be paid by their sons, and Superman is the Last Son of Krypton, then really no matter who on Krypton was responsible then Superman is guilty for the planet's destruction.[117] Job well done, guys.
After several adventures in space, Superman and the Rescue Squad all end up on the Tribunal's home world, each captured by the Cyborg Supermen. When the Cyborg betrays the Tribunal, Superman and his allies have to do battle each group.[119] They get confused and fight themselves. Superman saves the bad Tribunal guy from the Cyborg's bad betrayal and the Tribunal decides to "commit his sentence," by sentencing him to never give up his "never-ending battle," instead of giving up his "never-ending battle," which is what he was going to do. Tribunal has no power to enforce this however, or authority to hold trials. He's just some space guy. Superman and the team return triumphant(?)y to Earth. Lois is happy to see Superman back safe and sound, so they make mighty titanic homecoming-from-space fuck.[120]
Headache and Dark Times[]
Even though Lex Luthor (fully recovered thanks to a deal with Neron) was on the sun, Superman is still troubled. After a near death because of the Joker, and Superman's extensive periods, Lois breaks off their engagement. [121] Jebby Jeb Jebman, not wasting a single nanosecond to try to hit on Lois, works with her to investigate fish involvement in the mob market and is shot and killed and sleeps with the mobsters. This only widens the rift between them, as death tends to do.[122]
Clark is unable to reconcile with Lois, even after Mr. Mxyzptlk tries to patch them up (Mxyzptlk dropped by and decided he wanted to give everybody in Metropolis what they wanted--with disastrous and hilariously zany results).[123] Lois re-evaluates her recent feelings after a talk at Mount Fuji -- interrupted when Superman has to save a NASA shuttle landing on Mars -- she decides that she simply cannot be with Superman.[124] Fuck him anyway.
Superman tells her that he accepts that their relationship is over, although in frustration and despair he punches a hole in Saturn. While there, he has to help save Saturn from a string of deadly tornadoes.[125] He's always on.
The Wedding of Lex Luthor[]
Lex Luthor is not allowed to be happy, so Superman kills him.
Superman is now a sloppy drunk.
Lois, now frustrated, angry and still not ready to come back to Superman, feels that he is "cramping her style" -- that she has grown too dependent on him and that she can no longer be as effective at dating she used to be. This situation is made too clear when he saves her again, this time on a first date with the Parasite. Lois decided to take a foreign correspondent position overseas and leaves Metropolis, although Superman follows her.[128] On the same night, Superman encounters Obsession, who goes on a rampage after Superman does not return her affection, causing him to wonder if he had been smothering Lois in the same way at the end.[129] "Nah" he figures.
Tolos, the alien wizard Superman encountered while on the run from the Tribunal, arrives on Earth attempting to collect Superman in his collectible bottle city of Kandor.[130] Superman manages to defeat the wizard, but when the field around Kandor begins to destabilize, Superman and Chico Hamilton take the bottled city to the Fortress of Solitude hoping to find something in the rubble to save the city. Instead of debris, however, they discover that the Fortress has been completely rebuilt, thanks to a sole surviving Fortress robot. That was a freebie. The robots initially do not recognize Superman, however--with disastrous and hilariously zany results.[132]
The Final Night[]
Without the sun, Superman's powers fade away. Also, everyone else. Superman does his best to keep hope alive, and is willing to sacrifice at least twenty orphans if necessary. Lex Luthor re-emerged at this time and helped the world's heroes come up with a solution to the Sun-Eater menace. Eventually, with the help of Parallax, the sun was reignited and the Earth was saved. But the power was inside Superman all along.[133]
To the Wedding... and Beyond![]
Lois returns to Metropolis immediately after the Final Night (breaking up an international drug ring in the process, naturally) with a kicking' tan (they did not experience the lack of Sun overseas) and reconciles with Supes. The two decide to get married quickly. As you do. Superman has a bachelor party thrown at the Ace O' Clubs. The marriage is arranged in short order, with Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane as best man and jealous maid of honor. Batman arranges for a cadre of heroes to look over Metropolis for him. Batman also happened to own an apartment building where Lois found an ideal place, and so as a wedding gift he allowed for Clark and Lois to move into the home so Batman could watch them have sex with a hidden camera and also never fix that one broken showerhead like he is supposed to according to their rental agreement.[134]
The New Wedding Adventures of Lois and Clark[]
Lois and Clark then went on a Honeymoon in Hawaii for monumental land of fertility 50th state god fucking (by this point, Lois has just had her entire pelvic region replaced with industrial metals and durable plastics), where Clark was shot and kidnapped by puny mortal terrorists and Lois had to come to his rescue -- which she did commando style.[135]
In the meantime, Lex Luthor, restored to celebrity status for his smug aid during ze Final Night, voluntarily and smugly turns himself in to the authorities. Five of Superman's old most famous foes -- Maxima, Barrage, Anomaly, Misa, and Riot, surely you remember them -- form a Superman Revenge Squad and come after him. They do not present much of a challenge to Big Blue (Big Blue = Superman) and also argue over the stupid name of their group, since it unclear if they want Revenge on Superman or are getting Revenge on behalf of Superman. After a long absence, Intergang finally makes a return, filled mostly with the clones of long dead members, because Superman had killed them all so cloning those losers must succeed this time.[137]
All the Supermans of the Rainbow![]
Something odd strikes Superman. His powers begin to fluctuate! A trip to Kandor only seemed to make things worse. Superman found himself as pure energy! He need a containment suit from Dr. Chico Hamilton (the material of which was mysteriously donated). Superman's new form was colorful energy being who could still fly (faster than ever) but who possessed far different abilities. It was dumb.
Superman worked with his terrible powers and attempted to continue to be a hero. He found that he was considerably faster, intangible, and able to interact with computers in this energy form. However, all of this sucked.
Superman is able to make the most of his powers and stop a rampaging Metallo.[140] At this time, goodly old Perry White returns to the Daily Planet, his cancer(!?) now in remission. Clark is demoted back to being a cub reporter.[141] This angers Superman. A bunch of other boring stuff happens.
With Lex Luthor's trial (for saving the Earth one time and not others) approaching, Superman is appealed to turn in the Kryptonite ring Luthor once possessed (which Superman has entrusted to Batman). Batman reluctantly turns over the ring to Superman (and in the process, Superman learns that he is not vulnerable to Kryptonite in his new sucky form) and Superman allows the ring to be tested by Luthor's defense attorneys. Luthor switches the real ring for a fake and returns the fake to Superman (who gives it back to Batman, who doesn't think to test it).[144] Luthor winks.
Morgan Edge creates a new Superman Revenge Squad, one consisting of Rock, Barrage, Parasite, and Cindy and sets them on Superman. Jimmy Olsen, meanwhile, thinks he's figured out Superman's secret identity and plans to announce that it's Larry King on television.[145] Jimmy ends up chickening out, however, and falsely announces that Superman does not have a secret identity at all, sweating and looking around nervously, which causes him to be fired from GBS (and Intergang to decide to come after him... for some reason). Lex Luthor's trial begins: Luthor's defense is that he was really Lex Luthor I, totally innocent and in hiding for over a year, and that Lex Luthor II had been an evil clone created by his assistant. When a mad clone appears (specially created for the occasion), the judge has no choice but to dismiss the case.[146] Because that's how courts work.
Superman Red[]
The Genesis Crisis strikes! rendering superheroes across the globe powerless. The power is deep inside them all along. Superman joins the world's pathetic other heroes and the New Gods in a desperate battle against Darkseid and Ares that takes them to the Source Wall... and beyond![147] While Superman was at the Source Wall, he has to fight the Cyborg Superman.[148] Back on Earth, Superman then has to fight the Millennium Guards.[149] Lex Luthor resumes his place at the top of the world, ma -- he organizes the assassination of Mayor Berkowitz while his own daugher, Lena Luthor, is born to the Contessa. Luthor then has the Contessa drugged, kidnapped, committed, not wanting to share his daughter even with her mother. [150] It's creepy.
When Cyborg Superman and Toyman join forces to destroy Superman's energies, instead Superman is split into the aggressive Superman Red, the calmer Superman Blue, the eco-friendly Superman Green, the vainglorious Superman Purple, the sexually-confused Superman Violet, the cloyingly cheery Superman Yellow, the deadly Superman Orange, and the spiritual Superman Indigo.[151] The Millennium Guard reawaken, and discovering that Superman is not only still alive but now there are twoooo of dem! They summon the Millennium Giants, who in turn summon the Millennium Leviathan, who in turn summons himself some udon. Superman Blue and Superman Red are not capable of handling anything.[152] The Giants begin to smash the world, causing havoc and destruction, obliterating the inconsequential city of Thiena Na Oge and most of the nation of Markovia in their path. The JLA rallies to take up the fight, and the two Supermen are finally able to destroy the giants -- but at what cost the Earth![153] The two Supermen engage in one last, desperate gamble to save the Earth from total destruction -- even if it means losing their lives in the process.[154]
Some stuff happen.
Not only is the Earth saved, but Superman is restored to his old form and powers (and into a singular being once again) much to the happiness of everyone (especially Lois, if you know what I mean). He gets right back into the thick of things, first by saving a passenger jet from crashing, Superman saves the baby.[155]
Superman had another fight with Doomsday. After a battle with Superman had ruined his body, Brainiac managed to retrieve Doomsday and download his mind into the brute's body, he easily took down the Justice League ---- all while Superman was... erm... *distracted* in Smallville. Superman had gone there because Lana Lang had given birth prematurely and needed Superman to fly the baby to the East Coast. En route, Superman was attacked by Brainiac/Doomsday and the baby was kidnapped. Brainiac, who was being rejected from Doomsday's body, hoped to use the baby to grow a clone of Doomsday. Because if you're going to kidnap a baby to clone, you would definitely go for the one your all-powerful arch-nemesis is charged with protecting. Fortunately, Superman was able to stop this plan, save the baby, and eject Brainiac from Doomsday. While Brainiac was forced into a new robotic body, Brainiac 2.5, Doomsday was taken to the moon and trapped in four transport tubes on the moon, never more than 25 percent integrated in any one tube.[156] It makes it really inconvenient for anyone else who wants to use those transport tubes.
Alternate Realities and King of the World[]
A new, powerful villain named Dominus (who's really into BDSM) next emerges on the scene. Dominus has powerful reality altering abilities and forces Superman to live through alternate realities (in four different flavor packs) as part of a plan to track down and capture Kismet. Three of the four time periods were homages to previous Superman eras: Superman: Man of Steel #80-83 focused on the WWII era, with a lower powered Superman helping the Nazis; Adventures of Superman#558-560 was set in the Silver Age with Superman taking acid and declaring himself to be the "egg man"; Action Comics #745-747 was set in the late 1970's when Superman got super-AIDs; while Superman (Volume 2) #136-137 was set in the distant future during the Hunger Games. Superman learns that he and Kismet have more in common than you'll ever know.[157] This adventure coincided with Superman's 60th anniversary. The CEO of DC winks.
Hard times had fallen on the Daily Planet (as with all print media), and the owners eagerly sell the great newspaper to Lex Luthor, the only prospective buyer -- who promptly closes the doors of the great old paper, firing nearly everyone except for Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen in order to infuriate the former. The employees gather together to toast the Planet as the building is closed down.[158] After the globe on top of the Planet is taken down, Superman has to go back into Kandor with Scorn. Those two things are unrelated. He meets Ceritak's father and sister, but his powers begin to fade without access to a yellow sun. He is even framed for the murder of Cerimul, Ceritak's father. None of this matter, however, because it was all the dream of Hermit the Krog.[159]
Luthor opens a new media business, called LexCom, in Hypersector which reports "all Lex all the time". Lois is given a job there (although she hates it), but Clark is not.[160] Out of work, Clark resorts to drinking cheap vodka with space bums.[161]
Convinced he is having prophetic dreams (and that he is the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy), Superman's behavior continues to get even more increasingly erraticer than previously mentioned, if possible. He stays on patrol nearly constantly, and often confuses his x-ray vision with laser vision, killing many. Lois, the Kents, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel... all try having an intervention, but no one can get through the lead walls he's installed in his new "Fortress of Solitude", or bathroom.[162]
That's right, he's taken to just shitting all over the walls and floors of his ice fortress.
As he kicks things up a notch, he decides to bring Superboy to the Fortress of Solitude and share him with some of his friends. Afterwards, a slurring and drooling Superman offers the Kid the Kryptonian name of a distant relative of his, "Kon-El," saying he feels like they are family. Superboy awkwardly accepts.[163]
His increased "duties" lead him to help Aquaman[164] (which just isn't done by self-respecting superheroes), check in on the new Titans to see what the youngsters are up to and creep on "that young Tamaraneans snatch",[165], and help Flash and Robin find their inner party bro animals.[166] He also learns that Supergirl is "totally bangable, 10/10", despite being his own cousin.[167]
Superman decides to take up a patrol of the Earth 24/7, essentially abandoning his life as Clark Kent and taking up residence in the Fortress of Solitude, building monitors that allow him to watch over the whole globe. His drinking develops from manageable and zany to sad and pathetic to finally disturbing and ominous. Deciding this is not enough, he then proceeds to build an army of Superman Robots to help him keep peace and order.[168] Believing that Lex Luthor is 'laughing at him behind his back', Superman slices the LexCorp Tower in half with his dick, casting the top half and all the employees inside into outer space. The SCU tries to arrest him, but he will not allow them to do so, prompting the JLA to agree that he has crossed the line and must be stopped.[169] The JLA are unable to defeat his robot army (despite them being really shittily made) or breach through the defenses of his new and improved Fortress of Solitude; or bathroom. During the battle, the truth of his recent behavior is made clear -- he has been manipulated by Smirnoff's all along![170] While the U.N. declares war on Superman, Lois Lane manages to enter the Fortress and free Superman from the spell that cheap booze has on him by making disgusting shit-stained twelve-step fuck.[171] Drinking quickly regains control however, and while a horde of Superman Robots attack the U.N. Building, Luthor pees hisself and finally admits that he is waaaaay out of his league with this whole 'fighting superhuman' business.[172] Superman soon emerges, disguised as a filthy hobo, and convinces the world that he is the "real thing, y'all" and that they must band together with him to locate Don Imus, all as part of a ruse to stay in denial about his alcoholism. Having written themselves into a corner, DC eventually has Superman win the day, banishing all vodka to the Phantom Zone once and for all.[173]
Superman is back to normal (for him) -- all but one of the Superman Robots has been destroyed (his 'fuckbot' version of himself), and thus the world is still uneasy. Many people no longer trust him, some questioning if he is indeed the real Superman while others fearing that he may lose control again. Superman realizes that he will have to win back people's trust one day at a time, and that this will then take approximately 7.5 billion days.[174] An alien named Cogito captures Superman, which doesn't even seem physically possible.[176]
A strange woman visitor named Strange Woman Visitor next turns up in Metropolis after her previous appearance nowhere; she is a crappy energy being similar to Superman Blue (who even wears the same costume he did while in that state) and we hate her. Superman is dumbfounded as usual, not suspecting her true origins are intimately connected with his penis.[177]
Shortly before Day of Saving, where Superman had to help save the day, Superman saves the day and firmly regains the trust of the world in doing so.[178]
A bored Superman then saves hell because it had frozen over.[179] Followed by a series of storylines derived from various proverbs, including the flying pig people of Pigabar, and the Mysterious Case of WHO SHIT IN THE WOODS.
A New Direction for the New Millennium[]
Starting in December 1999, the Superman titles got even more awful. Most of the longstanding writers and artists were replaced by clones, and each of the four main titles began to develop independently and contradict one another (often introducing more ridiculous powers that were mutually exclusive from one another).
The new direction began with a return of the Daily Planet. Lex Luthor sold the planet to Bruce Wayne for $1 like a smug asshole. The real reason was that Lois Lane made a deal with him, promising to bury one story -- no matter what it was -- in exchange for him allowing the Planet to return. This presumes that either Lois Lane is the only journalist in existence, or that Luthor was going around making this same sort of deal with every journalist. It's very expensive PR. This is a secret to everybody. Everyone is hired back and surprised to find that Jimmy has been living in the offices the entire time in his soiled underwear. Superman confides in Jimmy that he is actually married (though he does not say to whom) before going off into space while laughing.
As Clark Kent begins his job as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan (winning the war in a single day), a beautiful new villain named La Enchantawhore leads Superman on. Superman manages to capture her like the creeper he is, but not before she delivers a kiss that is more than a simple sign of affection, if you know what I mean. La Enchantawhore escapes and encounters Superman again in Metropolis on Christmas Eve under the mistletoe, but acts aloof. She expresses regret over their last encounter before escaping again.[181] Superman and Wonder Woman are transported to the jealousy dimension , forced to fight in a sexbattle with the Sex gods against an army of sextants for one sextillion years. Superman totally remained faithful to Lois, uh-huh, for real, yep, we believe that (fortunately, after the war was won, Superman was transported to the same day he left, but Lois still wondered why he was covered in sweat and other icky juices).[182]
Despite being estranged from his Kryptonian heritage, Superman still marches in his ethnic parades. The last surviving Superman Robot alerts Superman to its own programmed horniess, and Superman is able to... ahem... contain the situation, but not much else. While there, Lois discovers his Kryptonian cache of pornography. The prono activates in their apartment, recreating a holographic form of Kem-L, who fucks Superman. Fortunately, Lois is able to join in.[183]
On New Year's Eve 1999, Lex Luthor plans a spectacular party in Metropolis to usher in the New Year. Clark, Lois, and the Kents all attend. Unfortunately, Y2K actually occurs -- you remember. Superman kills Lex Luthor again because his party sucked.[184]
Superman takes a B-12 shot, flies around, uses a floppy drive and ends up in Tomorrowland at Disney World, which is actually a pocket universe.
Superman spends some time in Smallville with his folks, crying about the fact that Lois has been acting very cold lately. No matter what he does, Lois continues to grow distant and even hostile toward him. Even a vacation to an alien planet where the love atmosphere should force her to love him doesn't work.[189] Not getting sex is like his-- his--- Idunno, some sort of weakness inducing thing. A "confrontation" at home causes Lois to attack him -- which doesn't really end well for one of the two participants. Superman tells the police that it was not the real Lois. He kills the police before he can reveal where Lois is hidden.[190]
Superman, who had in fact been illin' since just after Y2K, begins to grow steadily worse. He had barely been able to keep up with normal dinner conversation when the Joker dropped by being all Jokery. As he "literally" begins to glow green from his illness, Superman turns to Batman to track down his (Superman's) missing wife. Batman is unsuccessful, and the weakened Superman collapses just as he finds her trapped in the Batcave.[191]
Superman is dying finally.[192] And despite at least one more villain pretending to be some hero in disguise, Superman is able to inexplicably develop a new superpower that coincidentally is the cure for his specific disease.[193] La Enchantawhore reveals it was she who was paid to infect Superman with the venereal super-AIDs, which she administered in the traditional super-fashion. She will not say who paid her, however, because that would be unladylike. Deathstroke has been hired to eliminate her before she could reveal this, because he knows that she is not a lady, (and he nearly kills Lois while he's at it). The operation is successful and Superman is revived and restored to super-health.[194] Superman decides to take a trip around the solar system with Green Lantern to prove that he's still better than him -- near Pluto, they discover a bunch of random people meeting up with Jayvan, but that doesn't really seem to warrant mentioning here.[195]
Mister Mxyzptlk makes his return shortly thereafter, soundin' all like Gilbert Gottfred an' shit. He causes his greatest hit yet when he arbitrarily decides to visit the Joker at the Stab Club and on a whim gives Joker 99.9999999999999 percent of his power. The Joker uses the awesome power of the aforementioned Mister Mxyzptlk to get an undless supply of cotton candy, cure his own madness, apologize for treating Harley Quinn so poorly and make Batman and him be bestest friends![196] Superman tries to rally the JLA and his other allies in a desperate struggle to beat up the Joker, who is committed to building a home for sick puppies. Superman brutally kills Joker's puppies and loved ones with his lazer eyes. A surreal battle ensues before Superman manages to discover the "rule" that lets him defeat the Joker -- the Joker cannot exist without his beloved Batman. Everything is put back as it was, with no one really remembering what had happened (save for Superman), Batman (who had been really into having a good friend like the nice Joker and allowed him to finally relax and let go of his grief), so Superman asks the Spectre to transfer horrible memories of sick, brutal, eternal torture... into the Joker.[197] Because that's exactly what the Joker needs. Superman winks.
Clark Kent manages to ruin the wedding of Lucy Lane and the bland Ron Taupe. Lucy gives birth to their baby shortly thereafter, with an uninvited Lois at her side. Superman gets drawn into an encounter with Lord Demon Satanus, who is trying to steal the soul of Metropolis itself. That's silly. Cities don't have souls. Only Detroit had a soul, and it lost it during the financial crisis along with everything else. Stop being stupid.
President Luthor[]
Admitted supervillain and bald douche Lex Luthor, regarded as a national hero on FOX News for his perceived role in the Final Night, Y2K and No Man's Land, was elected President of the United States when Karl Rove rigged the voting machines, with gambling addict Pete Rose as his Vice President. Superman was very upset over the news! Batman confronted the President-elect and asked nicely for the return of the Kryptonite ring, but Luthor called his bluff by saying 'no, thank you. I am president' Lana vowed to keep Superman's secret no matter what, and he was all like 'ooookay, I don't remember asking, but thanks(?)' and Batman promised Superman that Luthor promised Lana to promise Lois was promised to Superman. [199] Superman brooded over the turn of events all the way through the twelve days of Christmas, making life miserable for Lois and Lana and Batman and everyone else around him. After giving dollar-store gifts to the members of the JLA, Clark and Lois decided to take a few days off to visit Kandor. [200] Lois would later remark that vacationing in a fucking bottle was about as relaxing as it sounded.
Superman, still angry with Batman for not getting their friendship ring back from Luthor, did not seek his aid when Talia Head arrived in Metropolis. Talia, a smoooking hottie, was estranged from her father, Lliam Neesons, who had vowed to rescue his daughter from the Lazarus Pits with his very specific skill sets. Neesons had kidnapped (or 'Taken') La Enchantawhore's younger brother to force the woman to use her sexy powers. Neesons was planning on ascending to godhood by becoming one with the Living Force, but he didn's sell his pocketwatch or car, and thus could have saved more. Superman was offered godhood, but declared that to be redundant and laughed. [201]
Superman encounters a Kryptonian rocket ship sent by Jor-El in the field near his parents' house. What a coincidence! Jor-El explains that he made up the harsh, brutal history because he wanted his son to fully embrace his new world, and he just wasn't ready to be a dad back them. Superman has trouble reconciling this with everything he knows of Krypton, but Dr. Chico Hamilton tells him that it may be possible to travel through the Phaaaaaaaaantom Zone back in time to Krypton and find out. Superman is pretty peeved at Dr. Hamilton for not telling him he could do this all along and meet his dumb parents. Lois decides to accompany Superman on this adventure. Superman fumes the entire time like a big baby in red diapers. Meanwhile, President Luthor names the newest member of his new team: a Cat, appointed Press Secretary.[202]
Superman encounters a very different Krypton than the one he ever imagined, and yells into his father's face "you're not my real DAD."[204]
A creature called Kancer (ugh) goes on a killing spree, revealing itself to have been grown from the Kryptonite tumor extracted from Superman's body. Superman refuses to fight this villain, finding it too stupid even for him. His jaw hits the ground so hard that his jaw is actually broken.[206]
Well Fuck Then[]
In "Superman, Indian Chief", Supes travels back in time to persuade the early native dwellers of Metropolis to sell their land to the white man. He does this to prevent a modern-day descendent from having a claim to the land.
All signs point to yes for war: a distraught Rainbow Man returns to Earth ranting of a coming disaster (and is subdued when Superman kills his head); an alien armada shows up at Earth, preparing to steal all the water and kill all humans. Apokolips itself warps into earthrealm.[207] President Luthor orders Superman to eat a dick. General Zod shows up and demands a fight with Superman. Superman starts having acid flashbacks to his time in the Pocket Universe. A massive energy beam levels Smallville, Kansas, killing everyone Superman has ever loved.[208] The JLA alert Superman that they are being killed off one by one. [209] Superman watches several of his friends fall. Doomsday shows back up. A deadly probe kills Wonder Woman's hot mom and also destroyed the White House. The only silver lining is that Atlantis is destroyed.[210]
Luthor and the Allies come up with one desperate plan: To merge a specially prepared Strange Woman Visitor with Superman and thus distract and entrap the bad guys with their combined hotness. The plan is successful -- although Strange Woman Visitor sacrifices herself in the effort, but not Superman -- because the moral of the story is that men are inhrerently more valuable lives than women. Luthor just can't fucking help himself and causes LexCorp tower to fire on Apokolips (as buildins do), causing Darkseid to believe that Earth has betrayed him, which it sort of did since Lex is President and all. Darkseid orders an invasion of his own.[213] Superman, distraught over all the death and destruction, flies into the sun and hides there for the rest of the battle. It basically all works out somehow but since we only see things from Superman's perspective, who really knows what happened.[214]
The war is won, but at a high price with so many missing or dead, and so much destruction all over the world. (See Buy War Bonds! for more details about the conflict). Superman adopts a modified costume, with an offensive Native American headdress and confusing Nazi symbols. Thankfully, his parents turn up alive and old and kindly, although his father is suffering from sundowners.[215]
Superman is put through a trial for his desertion in the War -- a trial where nobody is going to realistically be able to enforce any decision against Superman. Really. The Linear Men say that Superman is too dimensional -- having moved along the Z-axis, time will now progress completely unpredictably. The judges declare that is how it should be, that the true age of mortals has begun, and other disjointed declarations that don't make any sense, and ultimately dismiss Superman in the middle of the hearings over the Linear Men's strongest objections.[216]
The world slowly begins to rebuild, starting with its fjords, with Superman taking as minor a role as he can. Among other threats, Superman would have to apologize to Joker for his harsh and unfair treatment. Superman defeated Doomsday for no reason, this time on the grounds of the White House while Doomsday was getting his Medal of Honor, telling the self-aware but still socially-stunted monster that he would never again be afraid of him.[217] "Imma live forever, bitch!"
Never-Ending Battle[]
On the advice of the Martian Manhunter, Superman begins to manhunt him some Martians. He never once shows up to his court-appointed therapy sessions with Dr. Clarice Starling.
The new Zod is same as the old Zod. When Superman finds Zod using Bizarro Superman as his punching bag, they decide to team up and both be dicks together like Kryptonians were meant to be.[219]
Superman uses all of his powers as he helps his parents open up a new general store in downtown Smallville. Wait. Smallville has a downtown? Meanwhile, President Luthor deduces that Clark Kent is Superman using NSA wiretapping.[220] Luthor is not the only one to learn his identity -- the poorly-named creature Kancer does as well, but he trips and falls like an idiot before he can alert General Zod as to what he knows. During this adventure, he breaks his sternum and forgets his own stupid name and is never heard from again.[222]
Lois Lane uncovers proof that Luthor knew about the impending 9/11 attacks long before anyone else (which means he could have called for evacuations and saved more lives) but Luthor, per their deal, smugly orders her to bury the story. Lois winks, but gives the story to Clark thinking she's a clever bitch. Luthor denies the allegations, and a mind scan by Martian Manhunter seems to prove he is innocent, though he was thinking of something else at the time. That clever bitch. Clark is apparently fired over the incident, but Perry keeps him on staff on the down low, in order to keep his tight ass around in the office for eye candy.[223]
Superman is approached by a pantheon of ancient gods who want Superman to bolster their ranks. Superman tells them they are all weak sauce and he could beat their butts, but on the other side of Metropolis Lois is transformed into a goddess by the same(!!) group, hoping this will convince Superman to join. Lois uses her new power to raise her dad from the dead, but he's like a mindless husk and it's all weird. Superman decides they are evil gods and beats up Zeus and Rao (a Kryptonian god) before brunch.[224]
A strange baby with super powers is born in Metropolis.[225]
Superman makes a return trip to "Krypton" via the Phaaaaantom Zone, only now he learns the truth -- it was merely an illusion created by Brainiac 13 ALL ALONG!! But, Krypto was still present on the Earth.... um....[226]
When Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) returns to life, Superman meets him on the Watchtower with the rest of the JLA. Afterwards, Ollie has Clark meet him at a secluded spot in the wilderness where his grave had been. Clark tells Ollie that Perry White managed to buy all the photos someone managed to take of Ollie's funeral. He hands them over to Queen, who can account for everyone in the pictures except one face. Superman does not know who it is either, and he parts with Ollie to help with an earthquake.[227]
After a disastrous stint as the super of Calvin Gardens in Metropolis leaves Superboy homeless, Superman offers to let his "cousin" stay with the Kents in Smallville for a time.[228]
Manchester Black then returns, orchestrating an event known as Ending Battle. Using his vast mind powers, Black manages to control/convince an entire legion of super-villains to attack Superman -- starting with everyone he cares about. Before it's over, Superman has to engage virtually every enemy he has, all while desperately trying to save all his friends and family. Superman has Lois rally most of his friends and family at Steelworks, but she herself slips out and is cornered by Black at their apartment. Superman also learns that Lex Luthor knows his secret identity. In the end, Black makes Superman think that Lois has been murdered in an attempt to force Superman to kill Black (and thereby prove Superman is no better than he is). Black fails, however, for even in his grief, Superman refuses to kill him (although he is seriously tempted). Black's ruse is then up, revealing Lois is alive. Before Black kills himself, he removes the knowledge that Clark Kent is Superman from Luthor's mind and files. Superman restores his original, red-and-yellow S-shield.[229]
While Clark's investigation of Luthor begins to border on obsession, Steel dons the Entropy Aegis from Our Worlds at War! and disappears.[230] Recruiting a team of all Kryptonian heroes (including the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, who has arrived from the past for a brief visit, Superman leads an assault on Apokolips. He challenges Darkseid to a one-on-one battle for the life of John Henry Irons. While they fight, the rest of the team battle Darkseid's forces on Apokolips. Doomsday, handed over to Darkseid after the events of Last Laugh, joins the fray as well, but he is stopped by Steel. Superman defeats Darkseid and everyone returns home alive and well.[231]
War with Zod and the Battle for the Future[]
Clark Kent has an interview with a famous novelist, Ben Conrad. Somehow, a character from Conrad's stories (a nod to the Golden Age Superman) has come to life and is running amok. Conrad erases the character by deleting his story... but he has another manuscript entitled The Hollow Men. Shortly thereafter, Batman alerted Superman to an old government experiment that had been running for the past fifty years in Columbus, Ohio. Superman found a tesserect and inside, Heroville, a community of super beings that had been developed in the wake of WWII. When the JSA resigned, however, the director of the project, Christopher Camel, destroyed all records of its existence and hid the project. For the next half century, it remained hidden.
While Superman was investigating, someone was attacking several heroes (the Ray, the Elongated Man, etc.) leaving them as still as statues and black and white. When Superman returned and discovered them this way, he traced the problem back to Heroville. In the mere hours he had been gone, someone had attacked the village as well. The culprits were a trio of colorless men in suits who surrounded a victim and reduced them to their vegetative state. Camel saved Superman from suffering the same fate as Ray and Ralph. Superman realized that the three were characters from Conrad's book -- they were the Hollow Men, dedicated to preserving the perfect 50's era exactly as it was, and in the story, they succeeded. Superman sent one of the children to Conrad to alert him of what was happening, and Conrad wrote a new ending where the Hollow Men destroyed themselves, realizing they had outlived their usefulness.[232]
The final conflict with General Zod finally occurs. After meta-humans begin to pop up all over the country, General Zod approaches in a feigned gesture of peace, implicating a foreign nation as responsible. He reveals himself at last -- he looks just like Superman. He announces a plan to change the sun from yellow to red -- a plot that seemingly succeeds, which of course he is really responsible for, as his suit really transferred yellow sunlight to red and made him as strong as Superman. With the sun red, he no longer requires the suit, and after taking down a depowered Superman, he masquerades as Big Blue and seizes control of a secret U.S. facility, forcing President Luthor to flee. As most of the Justice League and other heroes are rounded up (as Zod's plan also involved a way of inhibiting the powers of most of Earth's heroes), Superman and Luthor join together with an army of villains from the orbiting prison facility. Luthor makes it clear to Superman that he blames Big Blue for his recent mind wipe and that it served to only reaffirm his hatred for the Man of Steel.
While Superman takes on Zod, Luthor manages to work with Metallo and return the sun to its proper color. Zod tries to get Superman to kill him, but Superman refuses. As the sun turns yellow, restoring Superman to full power, Zod charges full ahead. His powers fade as he connects with Superman, so he is fatally injured and dies shortly thereafter. The day is won, but with his dying breath, Zod is unrepentant, mocking Superman about how they share the same face.[233]
A new Supergirl named Cir-El, who claims to be the daughter of Superman and Lois from the future, arrives and helps Superman battle a nuclear powered villain called Radion. She claims to have been sent back in time by a group called the Futuresmiths. Lois is already feeling conflicted over the possibility of Cir-El being her daughter, but she is angry when she learns that Clark has secretly been working with Perry for months to try to bring down Luthor. Superman breaks into LexCorp, where he finds Hope, a prisoner (who has been badly tortured) and rescues her. Perry openly hired Clark back, just as Lois announces she is quitting to work for Channel 3 News.[234]
Superman is nearly killed by Gaki, now Byakko a vengeful wraith-like being who stabs Superman in the chest. Barely conscious, he escapes and encounters Girl 13, who takes him to Lana Lang's new apartment in Metropolis. Girl 13 is under the impression Lana is Superman's girlfriend. They are quickly joined by Natasha Irons, controlling a giant robotic body (a la the "new" Steel, although it can change sizes), and Cir-El. Byakko and her gang of ninjas attack the group, but Girl 13 and Natasha are able to briefly hold them at bay. Byakko wants revenge against Superman for the death of her husband, Gunshin, who was murdered by Kojiro. The girls get Superman to the Fortress of Solitude, but Byakko follows them there. She maintains the upper hand until she stumbles across a room in the Fortress where thousands of letters sent to Superman are kept -- many loving him, many hating him. She leaves voluntarily. Superman is completely healed and thanks the girls for their help.[235]
Cir-El turns out to be a ploy of the Futuresmiths. They also infect Superman with a Kryptonian virus that nearly kills him. Cured of the virus, he must take the fight into the future, which involves a battle with Brainiac 12 (the precursor to Brainiac 13) and the Futuresmiths), resulting in Metropolis being restored to its former, present day condition. Also, when Superman returns through the time stream, he ends up in a different timeline, one based onSuperman: Birthright.[236]
Superman befriends a priest named Daniel and explains a story of his own pride. One day, after being called out into space to help Green Lantern, Superman returns to find one million people missing from Earth -- including Lois. Superman refers to this event as the "Vanishing" and says that it originated in the Middle East. Flying there, Superman found a city in the midst of a civil war. A man named General Nox and his henchman, Equus, are responsible for the civil war. Superman battles Equus and discovers the machine responsible for the Vanishing. Equus activates the machine, and along with himself, General Nox and another three thousand people disappear.
A man claiming to work for the government, Mr. Orr, demands that Superman turn over the device, but Superman refuses. After a short chat with the Justice League, Superman heads back to Metropolis to fight off a giant water-based monster. The water monster is soon joined by three others (each based upon an element) and attempt to get Superman to leave the planet. After bluffing that he will destroy the planet if they carry through their threat to wipe out all human life, the elementals disband. Superman takes Father Daniel to the Fortress of Solitude, even as Wonder Woman heads there to stop Superman. Wonder Woman seeks to prevent Superman from activating the Vanishing machine, thinking it will be the equivalent of suicide.
As Fr. Daniel is taken back by Orr and treated for cancer, Superman activates the machine and disappears. Superman realizes that the Vanishing was caused by a device he originally created should anything ever happen to Earth -- it created a "perfect" city inside a pocket of the Phantom Zone and would teleport some people there (including Lois). Superman finds Lois and the others living in a city there -- but the city is under siege by Equus and his new master, an all-new General Zod. Zod had managed to activate the device to draw Superman there. After a battle with Zod involving Father Daniel (who has been turned into a Borg thanks to Orr), Superman manages to return everyone lost in the Vanishing back to Earth. Superman builds a new Fortress of Solitude in the Amazon Jungle.[237]
Clark resumed his job at the Daily Planet -- but suffered a demotion. Jack Ryder was his replacement. Clark was angry at Lois, for she had known about it beforehand and did not tell him. Trouble was brewing for Superman, however. Darkseid dropped by Metropolis, announcing that Doomsday had escaped his custody and was presumably back on Earth. Over in Smallville, Gog shows up and attacks Superboy and some of his friends, hoping to draw Superman's attention. It worked, and Superman showed up to battle Gog (and seemingly did not recognize him). After a massive brawl, Gog manages to inject Superman with some liquid Kryptonite, nearly killing him. Superboy manages to take him to STAR Labs for treatment. When word of his injuries gets out, STAR is attacked by several villains, causing Wonder Woman, Superboy, and other heroes to defend the injured Superman. Superman is cured but still weak, so he is promptly injured again by Weapons Master. He and his allies manage to turn the tide, however, before he collapses again from his injuries. Lana helped him as he slowly recovered (Lois being overseas at this time) and she told him she was divorcing Pete because she had settled for him the way Lois settled for Clark, but really Lois loved Superman.[238]
Clark is visiting his parents in Smallville when he learns Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, has been murdered. Superman attends her funeral in Central City before getting to work at helping tracking down her killer. Like most of the other superheroes, he is shaken at the murder. Sue was killed in her home, a place covered with Justice League-certified alarm systems. When one group goes after Doctor Light and is taken down by him andDeathstroke, Superman arrives afterwards, wondering what prompted the team to go after Light in the first place (though they do not disclose everything they know). When the Atom's wife, Jean Loring, is nearly hanged, Superman is the first on the scene and identifies the knot used, though it ends up being a red herring. After the attack on Loring, someone sends a note to Lois hinting she will be next (and that the killer knows who her husband is). No attack comes, however, as it was merely a ruse while Jack Drake ends up being the real next victim. Superman's role in tracking down the killer is minor, though he does assist in bringing down Deadshot and some other thugs.[239] See Identity Crisisfor more details on this event.
Fractures and Ruin[]
Per his demotion, Clark is assigned to "the Shack," working a graveyard shift covering the Special Crimes Unit. He meets the new S.C.U. team leader, Lupe, who makes it clear that she thinks of Superman as one of her deputies. On his first night out Superman has to turn up and battle Replikon, who does not seem totally in control of himself, and once defeated, Replikon self-destructs. Meanwhile, Lois gets herself assigned to cover a U.S. led invasion of Umec. She and Clark spend a last night together before she goes overseas (and before she goes, she asks Wonder Woman to check on Clark if she ends up being gone too long).
With the help of Green Lantern, Superman investigates Replikon and finds one of Replikpon's children murdered and another missing. The child turns up as a new Replikon, being controlled by an unknown party, and although Superman manages to defeat him, Replikon's weapons are shown to interfere with Superman's powers. Replikon then turns up with the villain manipulating him, Ruin, as they take hostages and force a confrontation with Superman. During the battle, Clark is teleported to the 5th dimension by Mister Mxyzptlk, who warns him about an impending doom and that he should be sure to look after Lois. Mxyzptlk then teleports Superman back to the exact instant he left, where Ruin's beam manages to drain Superman's power. Superman manages to free Replikon from Ruin's control, and subsequently manages to capture Ruin, who is turned over to the S.C.U. (although he escapes, murdering several officers, before his identity can be revealed).
In Umec, Lois and the squad she is assigned to cover, get trapped in a war zone and a sniper shoots her in the chest. Superman is there a moment later -- to catch her as she falls. He flies her to the nearest medical encampment, where he waits while she undergoes hours of surgery. Luckily, the Justice League becomes aware of the situation, and Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter get to work. Once Lois is stabilized, the JLA teleport her to the Watchtower where Doctor Mid-Nite works on her further. Clark stays at his wife's side after the surgery. Lois recovers at home for a couple of months, surrounded by friends and family.
Ruin, meanwhile, has transformed a brother and sister into new versions of the Parasite. The twins attack Lois at home, where Mxyzptlk tries to intervene, but is unsuccessful. Superman borrows a suit of armor from Steel to confront the pair, who are recklessly endangering lives. Lupe is desperate to stop them, and find Ruin, who murdered some of her crew. Superman learns Ruin's location and flies off alone to face him. Ruin manages to best Superman with lamps that use red sunlight and escapes for a meeting with Lex Luthor, who tells him to start spilling blood. [240]
Who Shot Lois Lane?[]
Tension had been growing between Lois and Lana, which nearly boils over while Clark and Lois visit the Kent farm. A fight breaks out when a Repo Man (literally, a man who is there to repossess Pa's truck, despite his protests that he made every payment) suddenly grows super-strong and attacks Superman and Superboy. Repo Man's powers suddenly fade away, and Superman knocks him out. Repo had made comments about getting his powers from a "strange white-haired guy" who also apparently gave him a chunk of kryptonite. Superman, baginning to age somehow, heads to the local S.T.A.R. lab to have himself checked out. He was poisoned by the liquid Kryptonite injected in him by Gog.
After going to the Watchtower, a visibly aged Superman has to battle Preus, who has captured J'onn J'onzz and Jimmy Olsen. Superman is able to defeat him, but collapses from the effort. Gog arrives -- not just a single Gog, but many of them. Gog explains that he was a young boy whose family and home was destroyed when Imperiex leveled Topeka (making him similar, yet distinct from The Kingdom's Gog). Becoming a master of time, he had tried for two centuries to save his family, but when that failed, he decided to kill Superman for letting it happen. Realizing he could not do it himself, he recruited an army of his selves from different points in time. The dozens of Gogs overwhelm Superman, but then Doomsday arrives and declares that no one will kill Superman but him.
Gog successfully fights off Doomsday and apparently kills Superman. Cut to the future, where for centuries, Gog has Superman in chains, while a reformed Doomsday leads a League of Supermen (heroes inspired by the Man of Steel) in a never-ending battle against Gog. In the end, Superman's nobility wins over Gog, and he travels back in time with the future Doomsday to set things to right, stopping the battle before he can win it and healing Superman. Before the future Gog and Doomsday disappear, they warn Superman about an upcoming crisis.[241]
Superman flies to the Fortress of Solitude for a meeting with Batman and Wonder Woman, where he confesses that he knew what the League had done to Doctor Light (per Identity Crisis) and Diana speculates that the only way to stop Ruin may be to kill him. Batman theorizes that Ruin must be someone who knows Superman's identity and hates him very much. Lois, meanwhile, believes that she was not in Umec just to get Superman to come and stop the war and begins to investigate who would be behind such manipulation. Ruin shows up at the Shack and attacks Jimmy Olsen and the S.C.U., but Superman manages to save them -- however, Ruin teleports away before he can be unmasked. Clark gets two surprises that same day: The first is from Pete Ross, who wants him to talk to Lana, and the other is from Lois, who announces she thinks they should have a baby. While they are discussing it, Mxyzptlk shows up and shows them a possible future involving a child, before repeating his warning about an upcoming crisis.
Clark tries to talk to Lana about stopping her divorce, but she is not interested in listening. Ruin then shows up at Steelworks and attacks both John Henry and Natasha, but Superman again is on scene and this time manages to unmask the villain -- the world is shocked to find it is none other than Pete Ross! Thrown in jail, Pete is beaten by Lupe, who lies to Superman when he shows up and says that Pete was trying to escape. Talking to Pete alone, Superman learns that Pete knows Superman's secret identity (having learned from Lex while he was president and before he "forgot") and that he has been set up. Superman vows to prove Pete's innocence. The prison then suffers a power outage, resulting in the twin Parasites being freed -- but then they are attacked by an Omac Unit. When the dust clears, one of the twins is dead and the other missing -- and so is Pete Ross.[242]
Sacrifice: Conclusion[]
As a tie-in with the OMAC Project, there was a four-part storyline entitled "Sacrifice." Superman discovers Brainiac manipulating Lois -- or so he thinks. After a battle with Brainiac in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman discovers blood on his hands; then the JLA and the JSA turn up, ordering him to surrender himself for what he has done.[243]Superman tries to remember what happened, but instead of a battle with Brainiac, he recalls a fight with Darkseid. The JLA concede that it seems like Superman is being manipulated. When he asks whose blood is on his hands, the team takes him to the Watchtower and shows him the badly beaten body of Batman.[244]
The League determines that Maxwell Lord is responsible for manipulating Superman with the false memories, but before they can put Superman in a transporter tube, Max begins his manipulations anew and compels Superman to flee the Watchtower, with Wonder Woman hot on his heels.[245] Superman, believing that he has just seen Doomsday murder his wife, attacks Diana with all his might. Diana puts up a good defense, and proves to be a match for Superman, pulling out all the stops. She manages to stun and even injure him, and then proceeds to wrap Lord up in her Lasso of Truth, demanding to know how to free the Man of Steel from his control. Max replies the only way to do so is to kill him (Lord). Diana snaps Max's neck -- an event recorded by the Brother Eye satellite and broadcast around the world. Superman is freed -- but at a terrible price.[246]
Superman is called away from the scene to deal with a nuclear missile. After pitching it into space, he has to fight off two OMACs and discovers that they are really people inside the metal OMAC suits. He flies to the Batcave to talk to Batman about what has happened, but Batman is not interested. Superman returns to Metropolis, where even Lois agrees with what Diana did. Superman can't help but think of everything that's happened, particularly the events of "Crisis of Conscience" in JLA, so he goes to see Zatanna. She tells him that she altered the Toyman, and together they find him, locked in his own fantasy world. Zatanna clears his delusion just before he apparently dies in a collapsing building. In Metropolis, the world is unsure of how to react to the tape of Wonder Woman killing Lord. Lois goes to Umec to figure out who was behind the hit on her and deduces that it must have been Lord himself. Lex Luthor shows up at the Daily Planet, trying to get information on Ruin. Ruin himself then shows up for a fight, teleporting all throughout the battle. Superman realizes he is using the Phantom Zone to teleport. Before he can unmask Ruin again, the villain flees. Superman responds to his JLA alert, flying to the Watchtower -- only to find it in ruins.[247]
Shifting through the ruins of the Watchtower, Superman can find no trace of J'onn J'onzz. Wonder Woman and Batman both turn up. Batman coldly tells Diana to leave, that she has no business there after killing Lord. They are interrupted by Mongul, and they are so fractured that they barely are able to take him down. Afterwards, Batman tells Superman how the whole world is afraid of them because of Wonder Woman, and that the last time he truly inspired anyone is when he died. All three go their separate ways.[248]
Coming back to Metropolis, Superman finds Mister Mxyzptlk in the form of an old man lying in the gutter. Mxyzptlk's magic is not working right (presumably because of the crisis) and Clark takes him to a diner to talk. With some cues from Mxyzptlk, Clark begins to piece together who Ruin could really be: a scientist, access to the Phantom Zone, knowledge of red sunlight -- it must by Chico Hamilton. With Mxyzptlk's help, Superman finds his lair. It is well guarded, however, and Superman has to contend with red solar lamps. Mxyzptlk sacrifices himself, taking a Kryptonite arrow meant for the Man of Steel. He whispers his name backwards and disappears.
Superman confronts Ruin -- who is indeed Prof. Hamilton. Ruin taunts Superman, showing him a scene playing out across town: he has Pete Ross tied up in one of his suits, standing over a machine that will kill Lana Lang and her baby son. Det. Lupe is at the scene and has a gun aimed at the back of Pete's head, thinking he is the real Ruin. Though weakened, Superman tears across town to stop it -- but he arrives too late to stop the bullet. Lupe did not aim for Ross, however, knowing that she was being set up. Pete and Lana are freed and escape, although Lupe is injured saving them in the process. Ruin arrives and battles Superman for the last time. Superman forces him outside, destroying his teleporter and his weapons. Hamilton reveals that his suit has a bomb that will take out half the city. Superman rips the suit off him and lets it detonate high in the air. After Hamilton is taken in, Clark Kent has a talk with Lana and Pete (now they both know his secret), and promises Pete he will clear his name.[249]
Alexander Luthor continues with his machinations to find "the perfect Earth." In order to keep most of the world distracted, he orders the Secret Society of Super-Villains to drop Chemo over Blüdhaven. Chemo detonates, killing over 100,000 people instantly, and leaving the city irradiated with poisonous clouds. Superman arrives, leading a cadre of heroes who can withstand the toxicity to try to rescue who they could. Chemo began to reform, and Superman engaged, knowing that Chemo would reform quicker as he reabsorbed the poison back into himself. Once it was all gone, Superman hurled Chemo into space.[250]
New Earth Superman vs. Earth-Two Superman.[]
As the Crisis continued, Earth-Two was brought back into existence. Superman heard a scream from that world, and flying there found Kal-L from Earth-Two, standing over the body of Earth-Two Lois Lane, who had just died. Kal-L blamed Kal-El for her death and attacked her, leading to a brutal fight across the Earth-Two Metropolis. As they battled, their lives flashed before each other's eyes in an instant - and they would change it. Due to this, Superman would realize that Earth-Two was too "soft" for New Earth's actions. The fight was finally stopped whenWonder Woman arrived, grabbing Kal-L in her Lasso. She and Kal-El helped him see the truth -- that Alexander Luthor was really manipulating the strings.[251]
Alexander Luthor is stopped from creating his "perfect universe" when his tower is destroyed by Kon-El during a battle with Superboy-Prime. Unfortunately, Kon-El dies of his injuries just before Superman, Kal-L, Wonder Woman, and Batman arrive. Superman is deeply affected by the loss, but is determined to put an end to the madness that Luthor has created. Alexander's machinations have disrupted history, causing some changes to Superman's history (see Kal-El (New Earth) for details). Nearly every super-villain on the planet converges on Metropolis, desiring to conquer Superman's home city. Kal-El and Kal-L lead the charge with the other heroes in their wake. The first villain they take down is Doomsday himself. Kal-L confronts Alexander, but he is unrepentant. Superboy-Prime, driven totally insane by this point, decides the only solution is to destroy this universe completely by flying straight through Oa at lightspeed.
J'onn J'onzz, aware of his plan, alerts everyone who can fly to try to stop the insane Prime, but he is too fast. In deep space, Guy Gardner and a coalition of Green Lanterns manage to stop him long enough for Kal-El and Kal-L to grab him. Not fast enough to take him back to the speedforce, the two Supermen fly him to Krypton's solar system -- and straight through its red sun. After they fly through it, they crash on Mogo. Prime's suit was destroyed and his powers were failing, but he still managed to beat Kal-L, fatally injuring him. Kal-El tore the S-shield off Prime's chest, and managed to knock him out before collapsing (there was Kryptonite all around them). The Green Lanterns swoop down, destroying the kryptonite fragments and incarcerating Prime. Kal-L dies in Power Girl's arms, and a powerless Superman is taken back to Earth. Batman and Wonder Woman decide to take some time off. Superman is not discouraged, however, knowing that his powers will return in time, and in the meantime, the Earth is in good hands.[252]
After living a normal human life as Clark Kent for a year, Superman's powers suddenly came back. When he returned to action as the Man of Steel, there was much public speculation as to whether or not he was an imposter. However, his daring actions, broadcast across the globe, while driving the Auctioneer from Earth, convinced the world that he was the real deal.[253]
The sorcerer Arion came to Metropolis to implore Superman to stop fighting for the benefit of mankind, saying that he was disrupting the proper course of human history by pushing back an inevitable devastating event, and in the process, causing that event to be much worse, resulting in the end of civilization. This revelation troubled the Man of Steel, and caused him to consider his place in the world.[254]
Arion gave Superman two weeks to consider stop being a Superman, and prevent that disaster from occurring. In those two weeks, Superman helped Lightray and Fastbak to control a group of teenage New Gods during a field trip on Earth. The teenage gods had begun causing trouble in Metropolis, and Superman discovered that Arion was the one who set the teenage gods in a rampage in the first place.[255]
After the two-week period ended, Superman informed Arion of his choice to continue being a Superman. However, Arion cast a mind-control spell on Superman, planning to use him as a weapon against other alien heroes. But Superman managed to resist the spell, and went after Arion, who began unleashing a massive disaster on the world. Phantom Stranger told Superman that Arion had unleashed the very disaster he was trying to prevent.[256]
Superman and Phantom Stranger went to the future, where they saw the disaster had wiped out humanity. Phantom Stranger told Superman that if he were to accept Arion's suggestion, humanity would survive the disaster, but at the cost of a significant amount of wisdom. So, Phantom Stranger told Superman that he had to find another way. Superman and Phantom Stranger returned to the present, and Phantom Stranger gave Superman a magic shield to protect himself from Arion's attacks.
Superman found Arion's lair in the Atlantic Ocean. After a lengthy fight, Superman defeated Arion and handed him to the authorities.
Unknown to Superman, the Arion that the police arrested was an impostor, while the real Arion escaped.[257] Ayoung boy, seemingly from Krypton, landed in Metropolis in a ship. Although initially the government worked with Superman on studying him, they later moved the boy without informing the Man of Steel. Angered, Clark hijacked the truck transporting the child and took him.[258] Lois and Clark decided to take the boy in as their son, naming him Christopher.[259]
When General Zod and numerous other Kryptonian criminals broke free from the Phantom Zone, he sent Superman there.[260]
Zod was defeated when Superman was able to break free of the Zone. Zod was stunned to find that his own biological son Lor-Zod rejected him, preferring Kal-El and his wife as his parents. Confronted with this betrayal, Kal-El decided to accept the boy as his own and along with his wife Lois are raising the boy on Earth as their own. Later, Chris sealed himself in the Phantom Zone to prevent Zod from conquering Earth.
Superman was recently reunited with some of the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes during the Lightning Saga event. Sometime later, Superman battled a Brainiac robot, until it proved to contain a message from Brainiac 5 of the Legion. The message read that Superman should go to the 31st century again. While Superman was there, he discovered that the sun had turned red, thus he lost his powers. Earth had also become a place that did not welcome aliens at all, due to the fact taht a warped version of Superman's origin was spread (in which Superman was not from Krypton, but from Earth) and the origin's messengers, the Justice League of Earth, led by Earth-Man.
Brainiac[]
The Daily Planet is having a meeting, introducing the new members of the Daily Planet, including Cat Grant, Steve Lombard and Ron Troupe. Clark hears a mysterious noise with his super hearing and goes to investigate as Superman. He discovers the noise was a Brainiac drone, sent to try to locate Superman. Superman promptly defeats the drone and takes it back to the Fortress of Solitude. With help from Supergirl, it is revealed that Superman has never truly fought Brainiac before, and all earlier encounters Superman has ever had with Brainiac has been with one of his probes. It is also revealed that Kara was on Krypton when Brainiac stole Kandor, and because of this, she is terrified of Brainiac.
After visiting the Kents, Superman goes flying all through the galaxy in an attempt to track down Brainiac. He discovers his probes on one planet, and witnesses Brainiac capture a city as he did with Kandor. Brainiac also fires a missile into that planet's sun, causing the sun to explode and destroy the planet. The explosion knocks Superman unconscious and he is brought upon Brainiac’s ship. When Superman awakens, he escapes and makes his way around Brainiac's ship.
There, he discovers a room full of thousands of bottled cities, including Kandor. At this point, the true Brainiac reveals himself. It is revealed that Brainiac has been collecting information of all the planets he has been destroying and the next planet he decides to attack is Earth, including capturing Superman and Supergirl as the last remnants of Krypton. The Brainiac ship arrives over Metropolis and sends out probes to attack Metropolis, while everyone, including Supergirl, does their best to fend them off. Meanwhile Superman fights with Brainiac. After knocking him out, Superman hears a voice that sounds distinctly like his father; it turns out it is the voice of Zor-El, Supergirl's father, who is alive inside the bottled city of Kandor.
As Superman and Zor-El talk, Brainiac attacks Superman from behind. Supergirl is also caught at this point and brought upon Brainiac’s ship just as Metropolis is encased in a bottle and a solar-aggressor missile is fired toward the sun. Superman is unconscious and held captive by the ship, being hooked up to all the bottled cities, hearing their cry for help. Superman escapes and attacks Brainiac, before taking the bottled Metropolis and Kandor, he then frees Supergirl and convinces her to stop the solar-aggressor from hitting the sun, which would cause it to go supernova. Superman then attacks Brainiac and knocks him out of the ship, forcing Brainiac to land on Earth.
Brainiac is overwhelmed by Earth bacteria and micro-organisms. As a result, he cannot control anything on Earth and is promptly defeated by Superman. However, Brainiac reveals that the cities cannot be sustained outside of the ship, and Superman flies off and returns Metropolis before flying to the Arctic and releasing Kandor to its normal size. Supergirl also manages to stop the Sun from being destroyed. However, Brainiac has one final trick left. After reading Superman’s mind while he was kidnapped, he knows where Superman’s parents live, and he promptly fires a missile that explodes on the Kent farm. Although no one is hurt by the explosion itself, Jonathan Kent suffers a fatal heart attack and dies, just as Clark arrives. The Epilogue begins with his funeral. Clark looks over and sees Bruce Wayne and Alfred are standing under a tree nearby.
Lois and Perry are caught in an explosion triggered by Clayface, destroying the Daily Planet and apparently Lois is seriously injured, or possibly even dead. In the third issue, it is revealed that only Clark's heat vision is keeping her heart beating. Clark is visited by a mysterious phantom who insists that Superman must depart Earth immediately if he is to save his wife's life. The story is continued in the 3D tie-in comic Superman Beyond, where the female Monitor Zillo Valla stops time around Lois, allowing Superman to leave her side for a while, recruiting him and several of his multiverse doppelgangers in a mission to save the entire Multiverse, promising immediate care for Lois. After facing off against the dark Monitor Mandrakk, Superman brought back a distilled drop of The Bleed, and administered it through a kiss, restoring her to full health.
After saving Lois, Superman is transported to the 31st century by the Legion of Super-Heroes. As he arrives in the Legion clubhouse, the Legionnaires show him an image of Takron-Galtos with an S-shield burning in its surface, explaining that a riot caused every prisoner to be released. Cosmic Boy tells Superman that a similar incident happened in Smallville. Then, Phantom Girl shows him an image of the culprit, and Superman realizes that it is Superboy-Prime. Superman explains to the Legion about Prime's origins, saying that he is from a parallel universe.
To combat this new threat, Brainiac 5 suggests contacting the Legions from two parallel worlds. Mon-El supports the plan, but Superman believes that the only way to stop Prime is by redeeming him.[261]
Some of the Legionnaires, including Lightning Lad, disagree with this idea. Lightning Lad suggests breaking the Legion code and killing Prime, but Cosmic Boy disagrees. The discussion between the two then becomes a fight, until Cosmic Boy says that the reason he became the leader of the Legion is because he wanted everyone but him to have a life outside the team.
Then, White Witch, Blok, Wildfire and Dawnstar appear right before everyone's eyes. Blok and Dawnstar explain that White Witch teleported them from Sorcerer's World, except for Rond Vidar, who is fighting Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains.
Mon-El suggests going to Sorcerer's World but Lightning Lad replies that they won't make it in time if they use their ship. Cosmic Boy asks White Witch if she can teleport them, and she says she can. Suddenly, White Witch feels the death of Vidar. Dawnstar then senses that the Legion of Super-Villains, along with Earth-Man and the Justice League, are headed for Earth. Brainiac takes a team to find an artifact in the Justice League's headquarters in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, while Superman and the rest of the Legion faces off against the Legion of Super-Villains.[262]
As the fight continues, Superman tries to reason with Prime, reminding him of his life in Earth-Prime before theFirst Crisis, but Prime burns a hole in his hand with his heat vision and continues attacking him. Suddenly, Brainiac 5 appears with the Post-Zero Hour Legion and the Earth-Prime Legion, turning the tide. M'Onel and Andromeda help Superman in the fight against Prime. However, Prime escapes them.[263]
Superman wraps the injury in his hand with a piece of his cape. With Prime's temporary retreat from the battle, Superman fights Mordru. Suddenly, Superman sees an explosion coming from the clubhouse and goes to help. Then, he realizes that Brainiac 5 brought Kid Flash back to life. Suddenly, a portal opens behind Superman and a giant hand grabs him along with Lighting Lad, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl, taking them to the end of time.
There, they encounter the Time Trapper, who reveals that since the First Crisis, he wanted to destroy Superman, and although he attempted to erase any true memory of Superboy from the Legion, he still could not erase him. So he decided to replace him, and he has brought the three founders of the Legion to witness the end of the Superman dynasty. Suddenly, the Time Trapper blasts them with an energy burst.
Superman then witnesses Superboy's return to life and encourages the Legionnaires to fight the Time Trapper. After the four attack the Time Trapper, Superman rips his hood and the four heroes discover that the Trapper is in fact an aged Superboy-Prime.[264]
Superman and the Time Trapper fight, and Superman tells him that he won't gain anything by holding onto hate. In the 31st century, Superboy blasts Prime in the chest, causing a burn to appear in the Time Trapper's chest. Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy bring the three Legions to the end of time, and they all knock the Time Trapper out. Superman and the founding Legionnaires then return to the 31st century with the Time Trapper. As soon as he sees the Time Trapper, Prime becomes repulsed by what he will become, so he punches the Trapper, causing both to cease to exist.
Superman and Superboy reunite and the two Legions return to their respective universes. Superman, Superboy and Kid Flash return to the present, where they are reunited with their teammates.[265]
In his stay in the 31st century, Superman is given access to the reality-alteringMiracle Machine by Brainiac 5. When he returns to the present, Superman finds that Darkseid has taken over Earth. [266] In a fit of desperate rage, Superman attacks Darkseid's bunker, finding Batman's charred corpse within. After being mocked by Darkseid, Superman nearly kills him, but hesitates when he realizes that Darkseid is possessing Dan Turpin, allowing the Anti-Life slaves to surround him. Superman then witnesses Darkseid fire the Radion bullet that kills Orion through time, and also Darkseid's defeat when Barry Allen and Wally West led the Black Racer to him. As reality breaks down around him and the universe slowly dies, Superman, with the help of the rest of the remaining superheroes and humanity, completes construction of a copy of the Miracle Machine.
Darkseid's essence attempts to claim the Miracle Machine in a last ditch effort to defeat Superman. However, Superman sings a note at a frequency that counters Darkseid's own vibrational frequency, shattering his essence. At this point, Mandrakk the Dark Monitor arrives to consume Superman, the last and greatest Protector of Life, at his weakest. He taunts Superman, saying he has nothing to start the Miracle Machine with, so Superman should come to Mandrakk and embrace the death of everything. Superman counters this, and uses the solar energy in his body to power the Miracle Machine. Then, Hal Jordan arrives to Superman’ side, leading an army of heroes ready to fight Mandrakk. The Green Lanterns kill Mandrakk with a spear created from their rings. The Miracle Machine is fully charged and Superman wishes for a “happy ending.” Superman’s wish causes the Miracle Machine to recreate the Multiverse as it was before Darkseid’s ascension, ending the Final Crisis. [267]
The entire city of Kandor now resides near the Fortress of Solitude in the North Pole, populated by 100,000 Kryptonians. Although distracted by the recent death of his adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, Superman attempts to aid the Kryptonians in their assimilation with the rest of the Earth -- something very few Kryptonians seem interested in, including the city’s leaders, Zor-El and Alura, Supergirl’s parents. After the first televised meeting between the President of the United States and a delegation from Kandor is interrupted by a rampaging Doomsday, Zor-El and Alura form a task force determined to pre-emptively end any future threat to Kandor by capturing Superman’s worst villains and trapping them in the Phantom Zone. However, several human police officers are killed when they refuse to hand over the Parasite, enraging Superman.
At the same time, Lex Luthor, who has been recruited by General Sam Lane to halt the Kryptonian “invasion,” gains control of Brainiac and unleashes his robot army from within the depths of the alien’s spaceship, currently being held in Kandor. During the fight, Metallo and Reactron, who are working for Luthor and General Lane, are brought into Kandor as Trojan horses containing Kryptonite. Reactron manages to kill Supergirl’s father, Zor-El. Alura’s anger causes her to denounce humanity. Members of the Justice League and Justice Society arrive in Kandor, led by the Guardian, demanding the city turn over those who murdered the police officers, and a large-scale battle erupts, with Superman in the middle. It only ends when Kryptonian scientists manage to use Brainiac’s technology to lift Kandor off the Earth and grow an entirely new planet underneath it, called “New Krypton,” on the other side of the solar system, directly opposite the Earth, and therefore hidden by the sun. Alura tells Superman that he is not welcome on New Krypton, although Supergirl takes up residence there with her mother. In the end, Alura frees General Zod from the Phantom Zone to help her lead their people.
Superman accepts his aunt Alura In-Ze's offer to begin a new life on New Kryptonin exchange for renouncing his life on Earth, and places a Labor Guild member named Tyr-Van as his guide. Because of his superior mastery over their special abilities, he is drafted into the Kryptonian Military Guild as a Commander working directly underneath General Zod.[268] Kal is placed in charge of the Red Shardtactical response unit, and Asha Del-Nar is appointed as his XO. Placed under his command are Jeq-Vay, Kir-Ta, Non and Sem-Re.[269]
Following his successful handling of a hostage situation involving the Labor Guild demanding equality led by Tam-Or, he is forced to duel his fellow officerCommander Gor over a tactical humiliation and wins through superior technique.[270] The Green Lantern Corps is sent to New Krypton on a fact-finding mission; Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Sodam Yat assist the Red Shard in taking down Kryptonian serial killer Greyline who has escaped from the Phantom Zone. Kal and Asha are charged with treason for refusing to put the man to death and ceding him to the Lanterns' authority.[271]Dyn-Xe of the Artists Guild is appointed their defense counsel, and they are sentenced to death. Zod convinces theReligious Guild to grant him a pardon when he realizes that Kal is more than willing to die for his ideals if it will make the army stronger. Zod is shot through the chest during an assassination attempt.[272]
The shooter is identified as a patriotic soldier named Ral-Dar, although he escapes custody and travels to Earth; this forces Kal to become Superman again so he can pursue him with Supergirl during Codename: Patriot.[273]Superman and Mon-El meet Guardian and the Science Police to explain Ral-Dar's plot and the attempted assassination of Zod. Lois explains to Clark that Chris Kent has returned to Earth.[274] Superman and the Guardianbrief the Science Police about Ral-Dar.[275] Superman pursues Ral-Dar all the way to Markovia, where the U.S. President is meeting with the Markovian president. Superman stops Ral-Dar, only to be confronted by General Lane with members of Squad K and his own troops, with kryptonite-infused weapons and Kryptonian battlesuits. Lane orders them to open fire, and the hail of bullets kills Ral-Dar. Superman demands answers, but is called away by Alura. Superman takes Ral-Dar's body and returns to New Krypton.[276]
Kal-El is temporarily promoted to General with Zod out of commission, and the council discusses going to war based on revelations that Ral-Dar's weapon was Earth-made. There is a massive military conflict involving aThanagarian attack during a Kryptonian operation to take one of Jupiter's moons for their terra-forming.[277] General El mediates the conflict by opening diplomatic channels with wing-master Vetalla Dae, personally leading the Red Shard on a mission to save her ship.[278] Jemm, Son of Saturn is outraged at their rearrangement of the solar system, and is barely convinced not to declare war on Krypton.
Adam Strange is found in the home of a murdered councilor.[279] Strange explains that he arrived via Zeta Beam to protest New Krypton's charter with Thanagar on behalf of Rann, but he agrees to help General El solve the murder to prove his innocence.[280] Tam-Or is their main suspect, although Kal and Strange believe him to be framed. Zod recovers and returns to active duty; Gor charges them with aiding and abetting a fugitive, and attempts to execute them as traitors on the spot.[281] They escape death using another Zeta Beam, although Tam-Or is killed in the shooting. Zod demotes Gor and allows Strange to leave, initiating a deeper internal investigation.
Commander El discovers that the murders were caused by Wri-Qin, part of a cabal attempting to weaken Krypton internally on behalf of General Lane and Superwoman; they were led to believe that this would end the inevitable war sooner, and ultimately preserve Kryptonian lives. They had been promised power in the new order, and Qin had begun eliminating the other conspirators to secure more of it for himself. Kal's efforts to institute governmental change from within Kryptonian society finally have a positive effect, with Tyr-Van elected to become the first Labor Guild council representative.[282]
Clark temporarily leaves New Krypton to spend Thanksgiving with Martha, Conner and Krypto in Smallville. While Clark, Conner and Martha talk at the table, Krypto hears something outside. Superman and Superboy go to investigate, telling Krypto to stay in the farm and protect Martha. The two heroes go to the graveyard and find Kal-L, who has been transformed into a Black Lantern, taking Jonathan Kent's coffin out of the grave. Kal-L attacks them, but Superman and Superboy fight back.[283]
As Superman and Superboy fight Kal-L, Martha is held hostage by Earth-Two Lois Lane, who is also a Black Lantern. Superman tells Superboy to save Martha while he fights Kal-L. Superman tries to reason with Kal-L, but he refuses to listen. Suddenly, Psycho-Pirate, also a Black Lantern, appears and brainwashes Superboy, telling him to attack Superman.[284]
Superman is forced to fight Conner while defending himself from Kal-L. Superman tries to reason with Conner, but he simply keeps fighting. However, just when Kal-L is about to kill Superman, Superboy breaks free of Psycho-Pirate's control and attacks Kal-L with his tactile-telekinesis. Then, Krypto meets up with Superman and Superboy, after having defeated Earth-Two Lois. Superman and Krypto fight Kal-L while Superboy takes Psycho-Pirate's mask and uses it to disintegrate Kal-L. Although Kal-L is destroyed, the mask is destroyed as well. Superman believes that what happened in Smallville is happening across the world, so he, Superboy and Krypto decide to investigate.[285]
Things, however, take a turn for the worse for Superman and Superboy when Nekron, the leader of the Black Lantern Corps, arrives at Earth. Nekron reveals himself as the one behind all resurrections across the universe, including Superman's return to life after his death at the hands of Doomsday. Then, Nekron transforms Superman into a Black Lantern, inducting him into his Corps.[286]
Hal Jordan finds the White Entity of Life and merges with it, gaining the necessary power to defeat Nekron. Hal resurrects Superman and inducts him into the new White Lantern Corps. With their combined power, the White Lanterns resurrect Black Hand, Nekron's link to the world of the living. Having lost his herald, Nekron is banished from the world of the living and the Blackest Night ends. The White Entity then disappears and Superman is returned to normal.[287]
Last Stand of New Krypton[]
As Brainiac's warship flies overhead, the Kryptonians remember Brainiac's attack on old Krypton years ago. Zod ruminates about that first Brainiac attack, and how the knowledge from that defeat will make him more prepared this time around. He also acknowledges that their yellow-sun-induced powers will make the Kandorians much more formidable than last time. Zod vows to lead his people to victory over Brainiac.
The Kandorians' initial shock turns to determination, and the citizens rise up and use their powers against Brainiac's robotic "probes."
Commander El takes time out to rescue Lan-Drom, a young teenage boy who is under attack from several of the probe bots. A couple of his Red Shard team members are there to help out.
Zod gives orders for the Red Shard to stay away from Brainiac's ship, so as not to interfere with Zod's plan. Kal-El, watching from a distance using his telescopic vision, is horrified to see Zod giving the order to arm his Global Defense Canons; horrified because so many soldiers in the vicinity will likely be killed if that WMD is fired.
Zod fires the weapon without hesitation, looking very self-satisfied. But when the smoke clears, the soldiers have become the victims of collateral damage, and Brainiac's ship does not even have a scratch.
Zod's reckless behavior sets Kal-El into a bit of a rage. Without hesitation, Kal-El flies to Zod and unleashes a verbal assault, scolding Zod for his recklessness and murderous actions. Kal-El holds nothing back. Zod chides Commander El for his "insubordinate" remarks. But Kal-El, still furious, resigns his military post; tossing his military insignia on the ground. Then, Kal-El rips off his military uniform in defiance, to reveal a familiar outfit underneath. Gone for good is Commander El, replaced by the famous hero, Superman.
Superman explains to Nar his plan to get past the force field on Brainiac's ship, using a technique based on his knowledge from past encounters with Brainiac's technology. Alura speaks to Zod in an attempt to get military protection for the members of the Council who are still alive. Supergirl, wondering why her battle with the bots is not easier, discovers that the probe bots are using red sunlight in battle to weaken the Kryptonians.
Help arrives for Supergirl in the nick of time, in the form of Superboy, Mon-El, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. But when Zod shows up, he sends Kara off to help elsewhere, and Mon-El tags along. With them out of the way, Zod orders the arrest of Superboy and the Legionnaires, calling them "maniacs."
Superman breaches Brainiac's ship and is inside doing considerable damage until he gets slowed down by a burst of kryptonite radiation. Superman looks up and gets a very unpleasant surprise in the form of Brainiac standing alongside Lex Luthor, who is holding the smoking kryptonite weapon.[288]
Superman and Mon-El continue to try and free the trapped cities and break out. Brainiac however re-energizes and fights Superman. During the brawl, Superman is able to get hold of the telepathic Lanthians, but Brainiac teleports away with all the others. The Legion manages to enter Brainiac's ship thanks to Brainiac 5. But even this does not seem to help and New Krypton is put back into a bottle. Superman is pummeled by Brainiac's weapons system and is declared dead. But Zod says that Brainiac has lost.[289]
Superman recovers and tries to fight Brainiac again. During the fight, Brainiac's ship is damaged and begins falling toward New Krypton. Eventually, with the help of several Kandorians, the ship is destroyed before hitting the ground. However, Luthor has begun growing one of Brainiac's bottled cities. Superman is also wounded by pieces of Brainiac's ship, but manages to fully recover with the help of Brainiac 5. The attack on New Krypton ends when Zod defeats Brainiac and steps forward to kill him, but Brainiac 5 appears and teleports Brainiac and himself away. Later, Zod gathers the entire Kryptonian army to attack Earth.[290]
War of the Supermen[]
Superman has come to stop Zod, after he just told 100,000 Kryptonians to declare war on Earth. Zod tells him that his opinion doesn't matter, since he gave up his position in the Kryptonian Military Guild. Superman punches Zod, but other Kryptonians come and help him up. Zod then has his wife Ursa attack him. She uses a Kryptonite knife and slashes Superman in the chest. She reveals to him that even though it hurts her to wield the weapon, it gives her a lot of satisfaction. Superman shatters the knife by using his heat vision. Just as Superman is about to continue his attack on Zod, Non crashes through the roof on top of Superman, and manages to hold him down, with Ursa putting the Kryptonite knife to his neck.
Zod tells Kal-El that he is no longer a superman anymore, now that there is a whole planet full of people with the same abilities, which has leveled the playing field between him and New Krypton. He reveals to Superman that when he first came to New Krypton and renounced Earth, he allowed Kal-El to join the Military Guild, so that he could keep an eye on him, which was exactly what Superman was trying to do, get close to Zod so that he could spy on him. He also tells Superman that he is going to level Earth and kill everyone on the planet, especially the one he loves the most. Kal-El tells Zod that he was wrong on one thing -- he never renounced Earth -- and breaks free and attacks Zod, but Ursa and Non hold him down again. He tells Zod that a war between Earth and New Krypton would spell the destruction of both worlds, and that he will stop the attack. However, Zod asks Superman how he's going to stop him from attacking Earth, when he has already sent the order to attack: The Kryptonian military descends upon Earth.[291]
Superman frees himself from Ursa and Non's hands and goes into space to fight them. Meanwhile, in Zor-El's tomb, where Alura is torturing Reactron for information about what Earth is planning against New Krypton. Her daughter, Supergirl, walks in on her actions, realizing what her father's last words meant about her mother. Both discuss the current actions. Then Reactron tells both of them that it was planned that he be brought to New Krypton, also telling them they could have killed Supergirl in Los Angeles, but did not do it so that she might capture him and bring him to their planet. Alura quickly puts her daughter into a safe room to protect her while she tries to stop a bomb planted by Reactron. But it is too late, and the explosion not only destroys the city of Kandor, it destroys New Krypton along with the Kryptonians on the planet. All of this is observed by a stunned Superman, Zod, Ursa and Non.
Superman searches in the debris of New Krypton, managing to find a sad Supergirl, devastated by the destruction. She grieves with Superman as she holds up a piece of Alura's shield. Alura perished along with the rest of New Krypton. After finding the weapon that Luthor brought to the planet drifting in space in the form of a gold skull, enraged Kara grabs the Kryptonian flag, heading for war. Meanwhile in the Kryptonian fleet, the remaining members of New Krypton are filled with grief about what has happened. Zod comes forth and declares that even though their planet is lost, they are still there and the war against Earth shall continue and they will win it.[292]
Up in space, Supergirl and Superman tussle through the field of kryptonite meteors until they crash into Callisto, New Krypton's moon. Kara cries it's her fault, and Superman sadly reveals she's the Last Daughter of New Krypton. They realize they are the only two who stand between Earth and Zod's forces and decide they will do whatever it takes to save them both.
Sam flips a switch to see Lex on a video screen. Luthor reveals he's harnessed the power from Jax-Ur's botched Rao corpse and the government's time pool technology to launch their counter attack. He then launches a missile housing a huge store of red kryptonite to the sky through the black hole/time pool tech directly into the sun making it a huge red sun. This strips the Kryptonians of their powers.[293]
Flamebird turns the sun yellow again. This gives Superman and Supergirl their powers back, but several Kryptonians die in space. Zod and his army attack Earth, but Superman begins to fight him above the Daily Planet.[294]
As Superman and Zod clash, Superman refuses to allow Zod to destroy humanity while Zod has resolved to turn "Earth" into a new Krypton. Superboy manages to recover the Phantom Zone projector from the Fortress of Solitude, stating that the Phantom Zone "got better" in response to Zod's claims of having destroyed it, using it to send Non to the Zone as he attacks the Justice League. After narrowly defeating Ursa, Supergirl flies into the military base to confront General Lane, willing to kill him in revenge for the death of her people, but Lois talks Supergirl down. Refusing to face judgement for his crimes, Lane commits suicide.
As Superboy arrives at Superman's fight with Zod, Superman attempts to drag Zod into the Zone with him, willing to sacrifice himself to ensure that Zod is imprisoned for good. Chris Kent interrupts his efforts, sending his adopted father back to Earth so that he can continue to defend it while remaining behind to ensure that his biological father remains trapped. Chris reverts to a young boy, encounters Mon-El, and the two journey off together within the Zone.
In the aftermath, Clark and Lois reflect sadly on how New Krypton's appearance resulted in such a pointless war, Clark expressing his uncertainty about whether any Kryptonians are left in hiding on Earth, while Lois promises to write the truth about her father's actions despite the media portraying him as a hero for his 'defensive action,' hoping that someday humanity will be ready for interaction with other alien races.[295]
Following the Hundred Minute War, Superman is publicly accused of having lost touch with humanity.[296] In an effort to get back to his roots as a hero and help people with their problems, he decides to walk across the entire country on foot starting in Philadelphia.[297] Passing through Detroit, he uses alien technology to solve the employment crisis and reopen factories.[298] Batman tracks him down and asks him to stop, believing that he's in the middle of an emotional breakdown, but Superman insists it's something he needs to do. He meets with further criticism in Ohio when a super-villain fight ravages a small town, raising the question of whether he holds responsibility.[299]
People in Chicago ask him to leave a public park because his presence might be a danger to children, and he begins having prophetic apocalyptic dreams about sacrifice. Rescuing a young boy from an abusive father, he tries to reinforce that powers are not required to be a hero.[300] His morals are challenged again inIowa, when Lois Lane tries to shut down a factory that the local community depends upon; despite their environmentally unsafe practices, Superman concludes that a Daily Planet expose would destroy people's lives and asks her not to publish the article.[301]
Representatives of the Superman Squad are sent from the future to help him deal with his depression, believing that seeing his many descendants in action throughout space-time will remove his doubt and restore his faith in his own legacy. In her new rebooted incarnation following the changes made to history in Odyssey, Superman meetsWonder Woman for the first time and inspires the warrior towards more heroic actions.[302] The Flash stops to have lunch with him in Colorado and discuss the idea of moral absolutes and heroic legacy, leaving Superman with a brighter outlook toward his own future.[303] Batman helps him further come to terms with his grief in Utah, while they reminisce about an encounter with Vandal Savage they once shared before developing alter-egos.[304]
Livewire attacks Las Vegas, and Superman regulates the mental illness caused by her electrical powers usingStrange Visitor's costume. Following a meeting with his childhood idol Iron Munro, Superman does his best to get Livewire off lightly on her sentence; he explains to Jimmy Olsen that America is the land of second chances, even for super-villains.[305] Clark decides that Superman is unnecessary, and believes he can do more good without causing harm if he begins operating in secret again the way he did as a young man. In the middle of Clark writing an article officially condemning himself, an Oregon man obsessed with Superman takes him on a tour of the city to show him his value as a symbol by asking people on the streets.[306]
The villain of the story is revealed to be Lisa Jennings, a woman who became the physical embodiment of Superman's depression and self-doubt through exposure to a Kryptonian Sunstone, also receiving his powers. Superman disarms her using his hope, having beaten depression and decided to embrace his legacy. Giving signal watches to his closest allies, he forms the Supermen of America with Iron Munro, Livewire, Steel, Superboy, Super-Chief and Supergirl. This team that embodies the values of "Truth, Justice and the American way" will eventually preserve them into the future as the Superman Squad.[307]
Reign of the Doomsdays[]
Quickly speeding towards Metropolis, Superman arrives and quickly asks for Doomsday's whereabouts. Lois confronts Superman and tells him of Doomsday's fight with Steel. Though Lois worries about the fact that Doomsday killed Superman before, he reassures everyone he'll win this fight.
Then, Luthor brings Superman to space for a final fight. Superman notices that where they are has very little in terms of civilization and that Luthor's infused with Phantom Zone energies. Realizing that last bit, he finds a portal and attempts to enter it (possibly to save Chris Kent), only for Luthor to pull him back. Asking where Luthor got this power, Luthor revealed his power comes from the Zone Child, a creature that was harmed by negative emotion and was freed by Lex, intending on purging that emotion. Luthor shows his displeasure at Superman still "ignoring him" and roars that he should not turn his back on him. Binding him, Luthor decides to finally bring justice to Superman, inflicting him with human emotion (which he believes Superman does not possess, being an alien).
Luthor brings Superman back to the day he died and shows him Lois' grief. Superman snaps at him and tells him he knows how that feels. Luthor brushes it off and tries the destruction of Krypton, thinking that this reasoning for doing what he does is nothing. Superman yells out in anguish at that scene and starts breaking down as Luthor shows him scenes of Chris sacrificing himself to put away Zod and New Krypton exploding. In anger, Superman tells him that if he looks deep inside enough, he'll see what causes him the most pain. Luthor starts to brush it off as another world exploding, only to find out it's the death of Jonathan Kent. As he realizes who he's seeing, Luthor finally puts it together: Superman is Clark Kent. When Superman tells him that they're both similar, Luthor snaps, vowing to finally break Superman for mocking him all these years. When Superman dares him, Luthor lashes out to strike him, only to find out Superman isn't dead. Mister Mind, in control of the Lois robot, warns Luthor that the Zone Child has woken and is limiting the power Luthor has. Luthor brushes it off and declares he's going to get back that power and use it to kill Superman.
In space, Luthor battles the Zone Child. The Zone Child tells Luthor he came to eradicate negative emotions, but learns it's much different here. He tells Luthor he can have his power, but only do with it as he would. With that full power, Luthor creates eternal bliss. Mister Mind explains to Luthor that to keep the power, Luthor cannot do anything negative, like destroy Superman.
Luthor's ego refuses to listen to that train of thought. Even as Superman apologizes for everything he's done to him, Luthor still wants Superman dead. With the Zone Child dead, Mister Mind is free and he bails on Luthor. When Superman realizes Luthor is getting weaker as he gets angrier, he allows him to keep attacking, draining him of his power. When Superman refuses to fight back, Luthor attempts to provoke him. Superman, in turn, tells Luthor that the way he does things will never work and that he had the power to do good and heal, but he didn't have the courage to change.
Superman's fight with Luthor finally causes the man to lose the power forever. Even worse, Luthor had lost his memories, unable to remember who he was. As Luthor starts coming to, his ramblings cause Superman to realize he was behind the Doomsday attacks. However, before Superman can pull him away, Luthor falls into one of the Phantom Zone holes, seemingly forever. Superman confronts the Lois bot and asks if she wants to return with him, but she declines.
Taking Luthor's ship, Superman makes it to where the others are captured and busts in, only for the lair's strange effect to take hold. He reunites with Kara, Conner, Steel and the Cyborg Superman. The Cyborg Superman reveals his findings: another Doomsday. The Cyborg deduces that they thought they were all attacked by one singular Doomsday, but when Superman reveals that this was all Luthor's doing and that he could have had access to him during his time with General Lane, the Cyborg surmises, as three Doomsdays arrive, that Luthor had put into place the "Reign of the Doomsdays."[308]
Cyborg Superman wants to fight the Doomsdays, but Superman, knowing that they would not survive a confrontation with them, rips his node off. The heroes then fly across the ship in an attempt to escape the Doomsdays. They also take the original Doomsday with them. Reaching an observation area, the heroes begin rearranging the internal structure to reach Earth. However, they encounter a new foe, the Doomslayer. The Eradicator, against Superman's suggestion, tries to fight the Doomslayer, but the Doomslayer destroys him.[309]
Superman and his allies are shocked by the Eradicator's murder, and the Doomslayer expresses remorse for what he did. He explains that his mission is to erase Doomsdays and all knowledge of them from the universe, and attacks the original Doomsday with his laser vision. However, Superman defends him, saying that while Doomsday may be a mass murderer, the fact that the Doomslayer achieved sentience proves that Doomsday has the potential for redemption. The Doomslayer refuses to listen and continues his plan to crash the ship into Earth and destroy it, considering it "ground zero" for Doomsday's infection.
Superman and his allies escape from the ship and attempt to slow its fall. The Doomslayer reverses the ship's engines to merely destroy North America instead of the entire planet, by aiming for Metropolis. Superman orders Superboy, Supergirl and Steel to return to Metropolis and help in the relief effort when the ship leaves. He manages to angle the station to land in the bay, creating a tidal wave. Steel's gravitron source, Supergirl's super breath, and Superboy's tactile-telekinesis dissipate the tidal wave, while Superman returns to Metropolis. Suddenly, the Doomslayer attacks the city with the four Doomsday clones.[310]
The Doomsday clones spread across the world, wreaking havoc. Supergirl fights attacks Cyborg Doomsday in a nuclear lab, Steel fights Superboy Doomsday in Moscow, and Superboy fights Steel Doomsday in Haiti.
In S.T.A.R. Labs, Superman, Lois and Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi use the original Doomsday's body to try and find a way to stop the Doomsday clones. Suddenly, Doomsday awakens, but the Eradicator speaks through him. The Eradicator says that, as a being of pure information, he leapt into the technology Luthor used to clone Doomsday so that he could control the original Doomsday. Also, the Eradicator says that he can help Superman against the Doomsdays.
The Eradicator, controlling Doomsday's body, helps Earth's heroes fighting the Doomsday while Superman an accelerator to reach the Doomslayer's tower before its defenses detect him. Meanwhile, Earth's heroes begin fighting the Doomsdays. Reaching the Doomslayer's tower, Superman flies through a tunnel that leads to the ship's core. To stop him from foiling his plan, the Doomslayers powers up the ship's informational engines.
As Superman reaches the ship's core, Superman finds information about the Doomsday Supergirl threw into a tunnel. The Doomsday spent years trapped inside the tunnel, conscious and fueled by rage. Suddenly, the Doomslayer blasts Superman with the ship's informational engines.[311]
The blast from the ship's informational engines does not destroy Superman, instead it converts him into data and transfers him into the ship's informational engines, where he meets the ship's artificial intelligence. The AI reveals that the ship is actually a sentient creature from another universe that got injured during a journey. When it was healing itself, Luthor attacked it and modified it to suit his needs. When Supergirl threw the Doomsday clone through the creature's tunnels, it was infused with the creature's knowledge, becoming the Doomslayer. Superman tells the creature that it can help, so the creature shows its internal schematics, teaching Superman how to repair it. When Superman learns everything he needs, the creature returns him to solid form.
The Eradicator, meanwhile, defeats Superboy Doomsday in Moscow, and Zatanna teleports him to the ship and the heroes to Kansas, where they help Supergirl defeat Cyborg Doomsday. With the clones defeated, the heroes throw them way down into the pit the tower is located in, because the tower will also teleport things that are close to it.
Reaching the tower's bridge, Superman manages to activate a sequence that will teleport the tower to its home before it reaches Earth's core. Suddenly, the Doomslayer attacks him, but the Eradicator appears to help Superman. The Eradicator, telling Superman that it was an honor fighting alongside him, throws Superman out of the tower, seconds before it teleports away. With the battle over, Superman and Supergirl return to Metropolis.
Later, Clark and Lois eat dinner in a restaurant. There, Clark admits to Lois the Eradicator's sacrifice and that Luthor found out about his double life. He also says maybe he should reveal his secret identity, but Lois says that it is not necessary, because the people will always trust Superman no matter what happens. Lois tells Clark that it was Jonathan and Martha Kent, not his coming from Krypton, that made him Superman. Clark and Lois then return home.[312]
Flashpoint[]
This section of the history takes place during Flashpoint, a massive crossover event set in an alternate timeline to the mainstream DCU. History was completely changed when Professor Zoom finally found a way to erase his nemesis the Flash without harming his own legacy.
In an effort to save his mother's life from the Reverse-Flash, Barry Allen unknowingly changes reality, creating a new world in which his friends' lives, Superman included, are drastically different.
In this new world, Kal-El's rocket crashes directly in Metropolis, causing several deaths.[313] The government takes custody of Kal-El and initiates Project Superman, a military project with the sole purpose of creating a supersoldier that could be used against America's enemies. Kal is designated as Subject One.
In the cold and harsh environment of the project's labs, Kal grows to become a solitary and very thin boy who has difficulty getting close to people. Kal's only sources of love and companionship are General Sam Lane, who loves him as the son he never had, and Krypto, who is designated as Subject Two.
Kal is then contacted by Subject Zero, the very first person inducted into Project Superman. Having obtained superpowers from the experiments, Zero talks to Kal in a volume only he can hear. Zero trains Kal in the use of his powers, including x-ray vision, as three years pass.
Kal witnesses as Lionel Luthor and his son Lex visit the project labs. However, Zero unleashes Two on the Luthors, forcing the soldiers to kill him, much to Kal's grief. However, Kal manages to reach Zero's chamber and destroys the lock with his heat vision, unleashing Zero.
As Zero wreaks havoc across the base, Kal returns to General Lane's office, where he meets Lois, General Lane's daughter. Kal and Lois, intrigued by each other, try to reach for the other's hands when Zero comes in. Zero tries to kill Lois as revenge for the experiments her father conducted on him, but Kal defends her. Zero, thanking Kal for letting him escape, tries to kill them both, but General Lane appears with a harness that seals them both in the Phantom Zone.
Later, General Nathaniel Adam takes over Project Superman, imposing a more strict schedule on Kal. Returning to his cell, Kal uses his heat vision to draw a picture of Lois in the glass.[314]
Kal would reach maturity in his time in Project Superman. The Flash,Batman and Cyborg planned to free Kal from his cell so that he could join them in their mission to stop the war between the Amazons and the Atlanteans and return the timestream to normal. They manage to free Kal, exposing him to yellow sunlight. However, Kal, remembering Lois, flies away from the three heroes and goes to England. Also, Kal's release from the project labs had also destroyed the power source that kept Zero in the Phantom Zone, allowing Zero to break free.[315]
As Kal reaches England, he finds that Lois is being attacked by the Amazons. He quickly saves her and tells her that they must go somewhere safe from Subject Zero. Lois tells him she can't leave, as she must stay and end the war. Suddenly, Zero reaches England and attacks them. Kal and Zero fight, with Lois standing in the middle. A group of Amazons try to intervene, but Zero kills them.
Lois tells Kal that he must escape from Zero, but Kal refuses, remembering that General Lane told them that they must protect people from monsters like Zero. Kal continues the battle with Zero, noticing that the energy Zero absorbed from his dead opponents is causing his body to overload. Taking advantage of this, Kal punches Zero in the torso and destroys him in a massive explosion. Unfortunately, Lois is injured in the blast and Kal cradles her in his arms. Lois dies from her injuries, but not before telling Kal to save the people. Mourning her death, Kal decides to be a Superman.[316]
In the final battle of the Amazon-Atlantean war, Kal crushes the Enchantress, and then he fights Wonder Womanand Emperor Aquaman. However, the Flash manages to change reality again, creating a new world and allowing his friends to live their lives once again, but in a new way.[317]
The DC Universe heavily changed its continuity into the DCnU following the events of Flashpoint in 2011. This was part of an effort to make storylines more accessible to newer readers, beginning with the New 52. This new timeline combines elements from the DCU, Vertigo Universe and Wildstorm Universe while drastically changing the origins and histories of characters.
In this new timeline, details of Superman's origins have changed and he is shown to have never married or developed a relationship with Lois Lane.[28][318] Superman begins a relationship with Wonder Woman. Supergirl's arrival on Earth is removed from continuity.[319]
Kara Zor-El crash-lands in her rocket-ship on Earth many years after the destruction of Krypton, already experiencing full power-levels and without having aged.[319] She meets Superman for the first time as an adult, although she had known him as an infant when she was a teenager on their home planet.[320] She believes he is lying when he says he is Kal-El and a fight follows between the two. In the battle Kara just begins to realize the powers she has and Kal-El explains their powers under the yellow sun and the destruction of Krypton. However he flies off to help someone and simply tells Kara she is not ready for this world.
What Price Tomorrow?[]
The Daily Planet is bought out by Morgan Edge under Galaxy Communications, renaming his news media thePlanet Global Network and demolishing the old Planet building. Clark has a massive argument with Lois Lane, now in a relationship with Jonathan Carroll, over Galaxy's journalistic integrity. Lois is promoted to head of television and digital media, while Clark continues working underneath Perry White as a print journalist. Later Clark as Superman has a confrontation with a flaming entity and the creature speaks the word Krypton. It attacks the civilians and Superman moves to protect them, and in the continuing battle Superman grabs the creature and takes them into space, where the creature dies. Later at Lois's apartment, Clark interrupts her to find her with a half-naked man. After they establish peace, Clark leaves and he overhears Lois tell the man she never had feelings for Clark. [318]
Superman meets with General Lane a few days later and asks him about any recent alien activity since the flame entity and is shocked the Flame being isn`t in the records. The General also tells him Superman attracts enemies and his encounters put Metropolis and everyone inside at danger. Earlier, Clark Kent goes to meet Lois in her office and Lois tells him she is always her friend. Later, while Superman is flying through Metropolis, he is attacked by a creature he cannot see or hear and appears only to the civilians. In the battle a blimp is put in danger and when the Creature is displayed on every television in the city, Superman lands a heavy punch and saves the blimp. They continue fighting in an electronics shop where the monster is defeated and says Krypton, before disappearing. Later, Superman is recording the events in the Fortress of Solitude and receives a voice mail from Lois telling him not to be dominated by solitude. Clark is visiting his parents' grave when a call from Perry White makes him realize he is late to a video shoot with Heather Kelley and tells Heather about being stuck in traffic. Later, a massive snowstorm appears despite clear skies forecast, and Superman becomes involved. When he attempts to evacuate the civilians, he learns they have been turned entirely into ice. When he looks into the eye of the storm he realizes that at the center is Heather Kelley. The ice storm entity hovers far above her muttering the word Krypton. He seemingly destroys the storm entity with his heat vision and unfreezes the city however, Heather is missing.
Superman is questioned by the police about Heather’s whereabouts. He claims to have seen Heather somehow being used by the alien ice-creature. However, he doesn't have any idea what happened to her after he used his heat-vision to drive off the alien. Lt. Casey begins to suggest that Superman is somehow responsible for all of the alien attacks over the last week. Officer Farrington interrupts to point out that Heather has reappeared, being interviewed on Billy McCoy's talk show. Live on TV, Heather explains how Superman had tried to free her with his heat vision, and had asked her to forgive him for putting her at risk.
Within minutes, Commissioner Corporon barges in under orders from Mayor Morrisroe to have Superman released. The Commissioner apologizes for Lt. Casey's actions, referencing a desire to avoid a situation like the one which occurred five years ago. Rather than have the Commissioner clear the paparazzi outside, Superman merely flies away, without giving comment.
As Superman changes into his street clothes, he can't help but wonder whether people like Lt. Casey are right - that he is responsible for these creatures' appearances in Metropolis. He gets a call on his phone from Lois Lane, who wastes no time in demanding that Clark reveal why he claimed that he was in Metropolis when he was actually in Smallville at the time of the last attack. Clark ends up admitting that he was visiting his parents' graves, and had forgotten about his appointment with Heather. His excuse is that his plane was frozen like everything else upon arrival in Metropolis. Clark cuts off the discussion, explaining that he needs to apologize to Heather in person at the TV station.
During Heather’s interview, McCoy tries to use his information to damage Superman’s image, much to Clark’s anger. However, Heather tells Clark to ignore McCoy and they both leave the studio.
Suddenly, Clark finds himself in his Superman uniform and back at his old apartment building, surrounded by the three alien creatures he encountered before. The creatures reveal that they had been trying to communicate with him before, but their linguistic programming was broken and so they had to resort to a psychic interface to link their four minds together. This interface itself is shaky, and they are in constant need of re-calibration leading Superman to realize they are somehow mechanical.
Frustrated, Superman attacks all three of the aliens, causing numerous 'flaws' in their reference matrices. Despite the appearance that he has defeated them, he hears a thought in his head suggesting that the creatures are commencing some kind of merger. Soon after, a swarm of mechanical insects congregates before him, and it keeps coming, no matter how he tries to destroy them.
The aliens re-appear, announcing that in order to bring all to a whole; to make right what is wrong, they must change what is changeable and adapt the adaptable. All that cannot or will not, must be eradicated. It is their prime function, and it is what they were created to do. At this, Superman demands to know who created them. They respond as one that their creator is Superman himself.[321]
The three aliens create a Superman duplicate, which causes trouble across Metropolis. The duplicate kills several villains such as Titano and the Sky Raiders, damaging Superman’s reputation. The duplicate also tries to kill McCoy when he begins to question Superman’s recent actions.While this is going on, the real Superman has been covered in black ashes and banished to Earth’s upper atmosphere. Lois tries to call Clark to see if he is okay, and her cries for help awaken Superman. [322]
Fortuntately, Supergirl, who had gone to Metropolis to question Superman about his clone, saves McCoy and fights the duplicate, but the duplicate holds the advantage. Superman discovers that he can use the mental link between him and the duplicate to look into the duplicate’s memories, discovering the duplicate’s origin as nanotechnology created on planet Jazurr, which had been eradicated by the Collector of Worlds . During their time onboard the Collector’s ship, the last Jazurr city was destroyed but a small nanite survived. This nanite was accidentally brought to Earth by Superman after he saved Metropolis from the Collector. However, the nanite had been corrupted by the Collector and began believing that Earth was Jazuur and needed to be perfected. The nanite began to replicate itself and bonded with three separate people, absorbing Superman’s heat vision, ice breath and X-ray and super-hearing to create the three aliens that had been attacking Metropolis recently.
Recovered from the duplicate’s attack, Superman returns to Metropolis and reveals the duplicate’s true nature to the city. Superman and the duplicate fight in the Arctic, where Superman finally defeats it. He also talks with Supergirl about his clone. Later, Superman would throw the duplicate’s remains into the sun.
In the hospital, Clark visits Heather Kelley, who is recovering from the nanites’s possession. Clark apologizes to Heather for putting her in danger, but Heather tells him not to worry, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Heather tells Clark that she is not the girl meant for him and she is fine with that. She expresses hope that Clark will one day find the right girl for him.[323]
Encounter with Helspont[]
While on patrol, Superman battles a mysterious robotic drone. During the fight, the drone teleports Superman to the Himalayas, where Superman meets the drone’s creator Helspont, lord of the Daemonites. Having watched Earth’s metahumans for a long time, Helspont wants Superman to help him take over Earth, but Superman refuses, causing Helspont to attack him. [324] Although Helspont outclasses him in power, Superman refuses to surrender and manages to pin Helspont to a mountain where his base is located. However, Helspont disappears without a trace. [325]
Days later, Superman meets Helspont again in Earth’s orbit. Helspont effortlessly hurls Superman into the moon, causing him to collapse. He regains consciousness the ship of Grifter, but they don't have long to talk before the ship's hull is breached by a creature named Biomass. Superman knocks the creature out into space, sealing the breach behind them with his heat vision. Superman punches Biomass through the hull of Helspont's ship, and ends up on the bridge, facing down the captain once again. Helspont mocks Superman's sympathy for the millions who will be killed.
Helspont reveals his origins and rise to power. His plan is to harvest humanity’s genetic property to develop metahuman powers and use it to restore his race’s genetic purity. Before disappearing, Helspont makes tantalizing mention of Jor-El. Superman's interest is piqued, but he receives no answers. Alone again, in space, Superman realizes that he has no idea what he should do in the face of Helspont's threat.[326]
H'El on Earth[]
After his fight with Helspont, Superman asks Dr. Shay Veritas for help in making a training regime to increase his power in case Helspont returns. After a few weeks of exercises in the Block, Dr. Veritas' scientific complex, Superman returns to Metropolis, knowing that he has ignored his life as Clark Kent. At the Daily Planet, Clark finds out that Lois is planning to move out with her boyfriend. He also grows dissatisfied with his work, knowing that Morgan Edge is manipulating the Daily Planet's articles, so he quits the Daily Planet. Later, Superman discovers a mysterious alien dragon attacking Metropolis. After a lengthy brawl that leads to Ireland, Superman kills the dragon in an explosion. But in that moment, Kara appears to Superman, telling him that the creature he killed was a Kryptonian animal. She says that if a Kryptonian animal is on Earth, then that means Krypton must still be alive.[327]
Later, Lois visits Clark at his apartment, where they talk about Clark's recent departure from the Daily Planet and Lois' moving with Jonathan. In that moment, Clark recieves a visit from Supergirl. To avoid an awkward moment, Clark gets Lois out of the apartment. Later, Superman and Supergirl go to the Metropolis Centennial Park. Supergirl reveals he has found another Kryptonian, H'El, who introduces himself to Superman. H'El expresses his plan to save Krypton and shows Superman the unconscious body of his clone, Superboy. H'El tries to kill Superboy, but Superman stops him, and the two engage in a fight. Superboy and Supergirl attempt to intervene, but H'El brutally knocks them out. After briefly paralyzing Superman with a vision of his failure to protect the Suicide Slums three years ago, H'El leaves Metropolis, but not before stating that he will save Krypton with Kara's help, no matter what price Earth has to pay.[328]
Superman brings the wounded Superboy to the Fortress of Solitude in order to help him recover from his injuries. With the help of Cyborg and Dr. Veritas, Superman devises a way to cure Superboy. Detaching his Kryptonian armor, Superman places it on Superboy. Both realize that the armor is the only thing keeping Superboy alive, as H’el caused serious damage to Superboy’s cellular structure. Suddenly, H’El appears and kicks Superman and Superboy out of the Fortress.[329]
After being expelled from the Fortress, Superman tells Superboy that they will need help in recovering it.[330] They travel to a special prison designed to hold only one person: Lex Luthor. There, Superman questions Luthor about H'El's plans. Superman believes that H'El wants to go back in time to prevent Krypton's destruction, and Luthor says that it can be done, but to do so, H'El will create an explosion that will destroy the entire solar system. To stop H'El, Superman calls the Justice League and prepares to attack the Fortress.[331]
In the Block, Superman and his allies formulate a plan to stop H'El. Given that H'El has powers beyond Superman's, the Man of Steel that a shard of Kryptonite hidden in the Fortress might give the Justice League an advantage. When the team assaults the Fortress, however, H'El has already taken the shard to power the machine he is building to facilitate his journey through time. H'El also activates an alien device that traps Superman into perpetual pocket dimensions. Superboy goes into one of the device's portals in order to save him.[332]
After a journey through several bizarre dimensions, Superman and Superboy return to the Fortress and reunite withe Justice League continue the attack.[333] Eventually, Superman and Superboy reach H'El and Supergirl (who had decided to help H'El complete his plan), but H'El moves the Fortress someplace else, leaving the heroes in the outside. Suddenly, H'El activates his machine, unleashing a large golden beam into the sky.[334]
H'El's star-chamber begins draining the Sun's energy. Superman, Superboy and Wonder Woman rally to destroy the machine, but H'El attacks them, ripping the Kryptonian armor off Superboy and reattaching it to Superman, saying that if Superman is going to die, he should with his Kryptonian honor intact. Superman clashes with H'El, telling Wonder Woman to help Superboy destroy the star chamber.[335]
Superman takes a hit from H'El and is launched into outer space. There, he meets the mysterious Oracle, who fills Superman's mind with memories of Krypton. When Superman attempts to talk to the Oracle, the Oracle simply disappears. Superman returns to Earth to stop H'El. Although Superboy destroys the star chamber, H'El already has enough solar energy to power his ship and travel to the past. However, Supergirl (who had discovered the true extent of H'El's plan) stabs H'El with a Kryptonite shard. Poisoned by the shard, H'El disappears into a time portal. With the crisis over, Superman takes Supergirl to the Fortress so he can cure her Kryptonite poisoning.[336]
Psi-War[]
After the battle with H'El, Superman was called to a U.S. Senate hearing to discuss the existence of the Fortress of Solitude. The Senate representatives want to investigate the Fortress in order to secure or remove anything that might be considered a threat to the world. However, Superman refuses, appealing to his right to privacy and the fact that the Fortress contains technology beyond humanity's control. Clark also becomes a blogger to make ends meet.[337]
Later, Superman is attacked by the New God Orion, who believes him to be a threat to the universe.[338]Fortunately, Wonder Woman stops the confrontation and discovers the reason behind Orion's attack. Hector Hammond, after falling into a coma, used his telepathy to hide his consciousness within Superman's memories. Wonder Woman and Orion banish Hammond back to his own body and Orion departs, apologizing for his earlier attack. He also uses his Mother Box to grant Superman protection from telepathic assaults.[339]
Continuing his investigative work, Clark goes to Gotham City, where a mysterious Chinese woman gives him a folder containing info about an urban myth called "the Twenty". Returning to Metropolis, Superman finds Lois, Jimmy and Perry to act irrationally and display aspects of his own personality, which causes Superman to believe someone is trying to attack him mentally.[340]
Trinity War[]
After delivering Despero to Belle Reve Prison, Superman and Wonder Woman talk about their relationship. Suddenly, a mysterious woman named Pandora appears and asks for Superman's help in opening her box, saying that his purity of heart can eradicate the evils she unknowingly set free. However, when Superman touches the box, the evil forces within it begin to cause him pain. Pandora is shocked that Superman was affected, saying that he is more human than she realized. She shoots him with her guns, but Wonder Woman protects him. As soon as Superman lets go of the box, Pandora disappears, taking the box with her.
As Superman recovers, Batman informs that a new superhuman called Shazam has entered Kahndaq. Superman flies to Kahndaq as Shazam is attacked by the military. As soon Superman attempts to reason with the new superhero, Shazam attacks him. In that moment, the Justice League and the Justice League of America arrive at Kahndaq to defuse the situation. Suddenly, Dr. Light loses control of his powers and begins absorbing Superman's solar energy, unleashing an energy beam at Wonder Woman. In a fit of anger, Superman vaporizes Dr. Light with his heat vision, killing him. Superman becomes horrified at his actions as a fight breaks out between the two Leagues.[341]
Superman stops the League fight, asking to be locked up for murder. Later, he is placed on a cell and asks Batman about the man he killed. Batman proceeds to tell him about Doctor Light and his family, and that Cyborg and J'onn are doing an autopsy to prove his death was not Superman's fault. Wonder Woman enters the cell, and tells Batman about what happened with Pandora and her box. Later, Superman, who is getting visibly sick, is visited by a mysterious stranger who asks him if he wants to find out who really killed Dr. Light.[342]
Personality[]
Superman is commonly seen as a brave and kind-hearted hero with a strong sense of justice, morality and righteousness. He adheres to a strict moral code often attributed to the small town American values with which he was raised, thanks to his adoptive parents. His commitment to operating within the law has been an example to many other heroes but has stirred resentment among others, who refer to him as the "big blue boy scout." Superman can be rather rigid in this trait, causing tensions in the superhero community, notably with Wonder Woman (one of his closest friends) after she killed Maxwell Lord.[343]
To protect his secret identity, Superman has constructed a persona in his civilian identity as Clark Kent. To the world at large, Clark is a mild-mannered and clumsy person. Only Lois Lane, his wife, knows that this attitude is just an act.
Having lost his home world of Krypton, Superman is very protective of Earth, and especially of Clark Kent’s family and friends. This same loss, combined with the pressure of using his powers responsibly, has caused Superman to feel lonely on Earth, despite his many friends, his wife and his parents. Previous encounters with people he thought to be fellow Kryptonians, Power Girl[344] (who is, in fact from the Krypton of the Earth-Two universe) and Mon-El,[345] have led to disappointment. The arrival of Supergirl, who has been confirmed to be not only from Krypton but also his cousin, has relieved this loneliness somewhat.[346]
Kryptonian Physiology: Superman's cellular structure is much more dense, resilient, and biologically more effective than human tissue. Strangely enough, he does not seem to possess superhuman strength levels despite his enhanced cellular ability without his cellular structure charged withyellow solar energy. Without such charging, his strength seems on par for a human of his height and weight who engages in regular physical activity. As an alien he possesses several organs whose functions are not yet disclosed or understood but are believed to be part of and perhaps even the source of his biomatrix force field and reclamation aura. Superman's body also stores energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powers most of Superman's electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision. It also supplements his physical strength by a factor of 12,000 times or so.
Solar Battery: Technically, this is the main source of Superman's powers. As a Kryptonian, Superman's cells absorb yellow solar energy, and this in turn, fuels all of his powers and abilities. Superman's cells also store solar energy as well, allowing him to retain his powers under roofed structures or even at night, although he eventually needs a yellow sun to recharge his powers. Superman can also absorb solar energies of other class stars such as when he absorbed the solar energies of a blue star that increased his abilities to a higher degree and gave him additional abilities. Unlike Goku, who doesn't need any lame sun rays to power up.
Superhuman Strength: The exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown. This is because Superman's strength, like his many other powers, has fluctuated over time. However, his strength should effortlessly range into the multi-megaton level at the very least. While the exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that his strength easily surpasses the capacity to lift 1,000,000 tons, but how much more is not known exactly. This makes Superman the strongest being on the planet and one of the strongest beings in the universe. Superman has shown feats of strength such as being seen lifting an enormous pyramid and flying it to Mars without any strain (which can weigh millions and millions of tons depending on their size)[347], being capable of ripping off the arm of the likes of Darkseid and physically defeating him in combat[348](which Goku can do too,) being able to move the planet Earth away from the Sun while a powerful Cosmic Entity named Starbreaker was pushing it toward the Sun[349], and having the strength necessary to shatter entire worlds[350]. Superman has been chained to the endless wheels of the Mageddon machinery and his strength was used to move the gears of a weapon whose size dwarfed the entire Earth/Moon system itself.[351]. Most recently he has been shown to be able to bench press the weight of the Earth (approximately 6 sextillion tons) for 5 days, while inside the Earth itself (and thus deprived of replenishing his reserves of solar energy).[352] He can become "supercharged" and exceed his "normal" power levels as evident when his power absorption ability ran amok, requiring the Parasite to drain off his excessive power levels.
Invulnerability: Superman's body is nigh-invulnerable. This ability's levels have changed over time. He has taken a blast equivalent to a million nuclear warheads point blank and remained conscious[353]. Currently he is even more durable than in the past. He has entered the Sun and emerged completely unharmed[354], he has even traveled through Krypton's Red Sun and survived physically unharmed, even though Red Solar Radiation depowers and weakens him[355]. He has been seen to skirt the photosphere of the sun (100,000,000 degrees F). Superman has even been shown withstanding Darkseid's Omega Beams, a feat that was previously considered impossible. Superman was able to survive the nuclear destruction of the entire moon in the year 2995 when he was stuck in the future. The moon had been lined with sufficient nuclear devices to disintegrate it in one shot and Superman was in the center and survived without being hurt at all[356]. Superman has withstood 3 particle beams, each powered by the core of a planet, fired at him. One of these planet-powered beams was a plasma beam capable of leveling a huge city a few times over entirely with a single blast[357]. Most likely his greatest feat of durability recently is that he was able to withstand the destructive power of a sun going nova and exploding, which was a result of Brainiac’s technology; this blast was at point-blank range to the planet he was on, which was eradicated by the force of the explosion with the rest of the surrounding system, and he survived without any visible physical damage, though the explosion did knock him out[358]. In addition, his immune system protects him from all toxins and diseases. The reason for this is because Superman possesses a super-dense molecular structure and a supercharged bio-electric "aura" that acts as an invisible "force field" around his body within a few millimeters from his skin. The proximity of this field to his skin means that loose clothes, for example, may be burned off of him, while cloth that is close to his body is protected by the "aura;" This phenomenon is sometimes cited as Superman's reason for wearing a skin-tight bodysuit. It is sometimes implied that he can unconsciously extend this field to an undetermined extent to protect a greater area, allowing him to carry huge objects within the Earth's atmosphere and without gravity or inertia tearing them apart around his human-sized hands.
Longevity: Superman can live almost indefinitely.
Superhuman Stamina: Superman has the ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an undefined period. Theoretically, most incarnations of the character have unlimited stamina as his enhanced nourishment is produced from the solar energy his cells process. Superman like other Kryptonians does not get tired[359] and does not need to eat or sleep and can be sustained on Solar energy alone[360]. He can also hold his breath for an undefined duration.
Flight: Under one Earth gravity Superman is capable of flying at faster-than-light speeds. He tends to fly at speeds of Mach 10 in the atmosphere. His control of his flight is perfect and he can perform aerobatic feats such as hovering, flying backwards, and even lifting great weights while flying. Superman can fly at speeds many times faster than light[361]. Superman can also fly in outer space. He has been seen to fly to the moon in minutes, so it can be assumed that he can fly faster than that without atmospheric interference.
Superhuman Speed: Superman is capable of enhanced reflex action and the ability to move at incredible speeds by sheer force of will. While not nearly as fast as the Flash (Wally West), Superman can move at speeds much faster than light and is one of the fastest beings in the universe aside from Goku. Superman can match most other speedsters in their ability to perform super fast movements, reactions, and processes. He can use this power to disarm opponents with or without heightened reflexes, catch bullets or shrapnel or cross vast distances in seconds. Superman can also run at incredible speeds and even keep up with most speedsters; he was seen running steadily alongside the Flash at a speed of 2000 miles per second (around Mach 9350) [362] He has been seen flying from the Moon to the Earth in less than 2 minutes. Superman is so fast that he is even able to vibrate his molecules through blows akin to what the Flash can do as seen in his fight with Doomsday. He has also used the Infinite Mass Punch, another Flash power, by accelerating to just under the speed of light, with his mass increasing to infinity, when he had to destroy a shadow replica of the moon created by Shadow Thief, which had the same mass as the original, (roughly 8.4 billion tons).[363]
Superhuman Hearing: Superman has incredible hearing at extreme variances of sound and pitch frequency, allowing him to pick up noises from across the globe. He has shown enough control to block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source/frequency. He can hear every single heartbeat, as well as the blood pumping through everyone's veins, hear every foot step, every cell phone signal as it lances through the air and more[364]. He can identify a person by their heartbeat, or pick out a single voice in an entire world.
Super Smell: On various occasions, Superman has demonstrated that his sense of smell is significantly enhanced to the point he can smell odors across the entire planet without any problem.
Super Scream: In one instance, Superman was shown to have the ability to project a "super scream" from his vocal cords. He used this ability to cancel out the impending threat of an already exploding nuclear detonation. He used this power(or something similar to it)when he destroyedDarkseid's essence from the Miracle Machine by singing a cord at such a frequency that it countered Darksied's own vibrational frequency,thus destroying his essence.
Self-Sufficiency: Doesn't need to eat and sleep so long as he's under the effects of yellow sun radiation. His body stores the energy necessary to negate eating and sleeping for an indefinite period.
Healing Factor: In the extreme event that Superman is harmed, either by an alien matching his own strength or other occurrence, he has been shown to have the ability to heal almost instantaneously from any wound, assuming that the process is not impeded from some outside factor i.e. Kryptonite. This "healing factor" is supplemented by his stores of solar energy.
Super Breath: The ability to create hurricane force winds by blowing, and to chill his breath in order to freeze a target (this latter ability has also been called "freeze breath" and "arctic breath"). The ability to chill inhaled air is a function of Superman's great strength and invulnerability. When Superman takes air into his lungs they compress the incoming gas. When this gas expands upon exhalation, in a fashion analogous to the operation of an air conditioners compressor, the sudden increase in volume of the gas causes its temperature to drop proportionally to the size of this expansion. Superman can also breathe in large amounts of air, an ability used when dealing with and disposing things like clouds of poison gas.
Heat Vision: The ability to fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it with the conscious act of activating this power. Visually, the power is typically depicted as two beams of red light firing from his eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing Superman to work undetected. His heat vision is so powerful that they are able to power up the giant ion planet moving engines with his heat vision alone, annihilate an entire army of Doomsday clones in one blast[365], and has even been stated to rival the heat of a Star. The area of effect can be consciously determined by Superman, down to the microscopic level. Recent stories imply the precision is so exact it can bypass a target's outer shell, not causing damage to a person's skull for surgical purposes[366].
Super Vision: He also possesses a superior sensory arrangement of microscopic, telescopic, infrared and ultraviolet visual capabilities. He is able to see the entire spectrum. STAR Laboratories has not been able to completely define how Superman has been able to utilize his powerful senses, part of the mechanism is physical, part of it is believed to be psionic in nature. Abilities include:
Electro-magnetic Spectrum Vision:Superman can see into all of the EM Spectrum. He can see and identify radio/television and any and all broadcast/transmitted frequencies, allowing him to avoid detection through radar or satellite monitoring methods. Superman can see the aura that every living thing generates.
Telescopic Vision: The ability to focus his vision to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics.
Microscopic Vision: The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the sub atomic level.
X-Ray Vision: The ability to see through anything except lead. Opponents sometimes used lead-lined constructs in an attempt to hide things from Superman. He can see things behind a wall as if the wall were not there, or can "peel back" layer after layer of matter in his mind. Kal-El is able to focus his vision past layers of matter, literally
Super Orgasms: The Terrible Reality
seeing "through" them -- possibly perceiving x-rays, cosmic rays or other forms of energy invisible to normal human vision which pass through Earth's atmosphere (and solid objects) after emission from stars. Since it is passive, this ability would not generate harmful radiation in the same manner as a focused projection of hard X-rays.
Super Sex : Superman has had sex with every female organism on planet earth without them knowing. This is mostly attributed to his Super Speed, but he can get a boner and jizz immediately upon touching female genitalia, because he's terrible at sex.
Former Powers[]
Abilities[]
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): He has been trained by both Wildcat (in Boxing)[367], and Mongul in the fighting arts. Superman has fought and learned from Wonder Woman. He has also learned more advanced martial arts techniques from Batman. [368] However he does not know Saiyan and Namekian martial arts so that gives him a significant disadvantage to Goku.
Genius-Level Intellect: Superman has shown incredible intelligence and computational abilities; his mind works sharply and with extreme speed relative to earth-humans. His analytical powers are impressive — he is able to use his senses to read information directly from machines (and, with careful usage of his heat vision, he can even reprogram machines). Recently after he regained his powers in the "One Year Later" arc, his brain's intelligence has increased and it operates with much greater speed, procession, and analytical prowess, to the point he can recall things in such detail that he knows the ballistics of every shot by Bloodshot and the vector and mass of each and every one of Riot's bodies[369]. He can see into one of the most advanced Kryptonian Sun Stone Battle Ships and watch energy patterns shift and change, trace command signals at light speed down branching, maze-like pathways whilst, at the same time, finding one small knot of circuitry[370]
Indomitable Will: Superman has shown to have a powerful Force of Will, completely free of evil or temptation. Having been raised by a kindly Kansas farmer and his wife, Superman was taught to protect life and help others. He is very optimistic and never gives up, even when things look bad.
Torquasm Vo: Torquasm Vo is a Kryptonian discipline that Superman uses sometimes. It is basically a means of focusing ones mental discipline to help fight adverse effects such as mental domination. It can be used to manipulate someone's mind. Superman used that ability during his fight against the Eradicator. It was used to create an illusion to let Superman enter inside the Eradicator.
Torquasm Rao: Allows him to tap into his instincts and separate himself from his body. Makes him able to prevent others from manipulating his mind and allows him to fight on the astral plane.
Leadership: Superman has proven many times over his ability to command respect and inspire others with his charisma, ardor, and idealism. He often serves as the primus inter pares of the Justice League.
Limiters: Over the course of his life and acquisition of power under a yellow sun, Superman has learned how to place mental inhibitors on his own power. These "limiters" as he calls them, are used to keep his power in check so that he doesn't accidentally "flex and cause the tectonic plates to shift." Though it is known that he has placed several of these limiters within his own mind, it is unknown how many and just how powerful he would be if he decided to release them all (although a fully unrestrained Superman has managed to destroy an entire universe in the past). To him, they are the barriers that allow him to be human enough to live a normal life, and he only ever releases one of them when fighting a particularly powerful opponent or performing a predominately difficult task.
Strength level[]
Class 100+; the exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown but he has demonstrated that his strength is so vast, that he is capable of even moving an object as large as a planet. This ability to move large objects suggests that his apparent strength may be partially psionic in nature due to the laws of physics which place clear limits on a human-sized object moving a planetary-sized one. (Superman would tend to go-through such a body before he could impart a motion to it because of his small size relative to such a body and the essential 'granular' nature of a planets composition. Also, when Superman is shown lifting an object such as a large building, if native strength was all that he employed in the effort, the building would crumble under its own weight.)
Goku's full strength was never demonstrated in the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or Dragon Ball GT manga or anime series. Goku was able to withstand blows from the most powerful beings in the universe, so it can only be assumed that his strength is at least on par with Superman. Besides if any evidence points to him being stronger than Superlame, it's that Goku can lift planet sized objects without use of psionic abilities. He uses chi, which is a natural thing and not some dumb brain powers.
Goku vs Superman. Epic Rap Battles of History
Weaknesses[]
Vulnerability to Magic: Superman's biomatrix is his most powerful asset, but the strength of this field is also its greatest weakness. It's permeability to certain wavelengths makes Superman vulnerable to certain radiations, particularly magical energies whose chaotic electromagnetic or extradimensional signatures disrupt this forcefield. Superman's vulnerability to magic varies depending upon the special effects of the magic. No magic seems to be able to directly destroy him unless it comes from a semi-divine or divine source. He can be injured and worn down by magical entities. Magic can have powerful and unpredictable effects on Superman and his magical enemies have often proven to be the most dangerous. Recently, Superman has learned more about magic with the help of Zatanna and he is able to counter almost every spell. Magic has unknown effects on him. He was able to survive when he had a magical sword in the chest and a magical arrow in his back. It was during a fight against four Elder Gods. A fight that Superman won. He was able to withstand a magical blast that managed to knockout the entire JLA and both Wonder Woman (magic being) and Zauriel (Angel). He went after the enemy in question and stopped him. (Lame hand waving, Superman is a gary sue blah blah blah)
Solar Energy: Superman's abilities will eventually weaken without replenishing his energy reserves with normal (yellow) sun radiation. When exposed to the same red solar radiation as Krypton's red sun Rao, it causes Superman to lose his powers within a large amount of exposure until the exposure to yellow sunlight will reverse this effect.
Vulnerability to Kryptonite: Since the destruction of Krypton, its remains (rendered radioactive by the explosion) have been spreading throughout the universe as Kryptonite, a crystalline substance whose specific radiation is lethal to Kryptonians native to this reality. The most common form of Kryptonite is Green Kryptonite, and its effect is directly poisonous. Kryptonite from other realities does not necessarily have the same effects on all Kryptonians. For example, Kryptonite from the Pocket Universe is not as lethal to Superman as Kryptonite that comes from his native reality. Superman was able to survive inside a Red Sun that was surrounded by Kryptonite. Although it is his main weakness, Superman has exhibited an ability to power through its effects through sheer force of will, at least to an extent, usually when up against enemies like Metallo and Kryptonite Man. He has also been able to overcome exposure to Krptonite through the use of a (lead-lined) radiation suit and by absorbing vast amounts of yellow solar energy.
Kryptonians: On the rare occasions where he has battled other Kryptonians, they seem more easily able to harm one another as well. A noticeable observation is that other Kryptonians appear to develop superhuman abilities immediately upon entering a yellow star system, whereas it took Kal-El many years living under a yellow sun for his powers to develop. (This may be because he arrived on Earth as a toddler. Had he been an adult or perhaps adolescent his powers would likely have manifested themselves much more readily.)
Lead: Superman cannot see through lead with his vision powers.
Weakness to Goku - Superman can only keep up with Goku. If Goku were to perform his most powerful attack during his most powerful transofrmation, suerpemran wouldn't be able to lkadsjf
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
Legion Flight Ring and Time Bubble: As a former or reserved member of the Legion of Superheroes Superman keeps a Legion Flight Ring (though he does not use it unless he cannot use his powers) and Time Bubble, the ring either cloaked on his hand, or like the Bubble, kept in the Fortress of Solitude.
Archer rifle: As Commander El of the New Kryptonian Military Guild and leading Commander of the Red Shard faction, Kal-El kept a standard issue Archer rifle, though he only uses to disarm or hurt, never to kill. Wink.
All items in the Fortress of Solitude. Like his Couch of Solitude. And his Plasma Screen of Solitude. And Porno Collection of Solitude. And Tiki Bar of Solitude. And Telephone of Solitude. And Solitaire of Solitude. And baby oil of Solitude. And Vaseline of Solitude.
Superman does not drink alcohol, he tried to say with a straight face.[5]
Clark was a vegetarian at one point in his life, until the horribly lust for killing took over.[13]
Clark's favorite movie is To Kill a Mockingbird, but only because it has the word 'kill' in the title.[371]
Kal-El is inspired by the death of a West African revolutionary named Kobe Asuru, who he met during his time as a freelance reporter. He wears a dashiki for about a month before being told that it is offensive.
In the youtube.com deathbattle series "Goku vs Superman," Superman defeated Goku but this was later confirmed as a fluke because apparently the producers of the show apparently didn't understand how Goku works and could beat Superman even without trying
Clark refers to his arms as "The Cannons"
Superman's favorite place to hang out is Venice Beach, because he likes the smell of hobo piss
