What is superman

Only when there is a threat of danger — often to his fellow reporter and secret love, Lois Lane — does Clark transform himself into the caped hero with x-ray vision. It is doubtful that Nietzsche thought of the Overman as an individual person. New Word List Word List. Save This Word! We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Words nearby superman superluminal , superlunar , superlunary , supermajority , supermale , superman , supermarket , supermarketer , supermassive , supermassive star , supermax. How to use superman in a sentence Long is a superman of sorts, the result of a genetic experiment that lets him live for hundreds of years. Though his powers make him god-like next to his human compatriots, Superman's story is not one of greed or conquest.

Instead, he strives to represent the inherent goodness of the human spirit, and the capacity of every living thing to do right by their neighbors.

My personal mission: to take on any question you have about the DC Universe—no matter how strange, In , Superman: The Animated Series soared onto television screens and Breakups can be messy, but when both parties are Tom Taylor has a knack for writing both.

Use UnpackingYJ to join the conversation on social media or to just share your feels for Superboy! Discover the roots of The DC Universe is a big place, and with only one Superman Unchained 4 interior. All-Star Superman interior. Henry Cavill. Superman Community See All. Unlike the previous Man of Steel origin, Birthright doesn't eliminate most of the previous Superman stories told, even making references to Man of Steel itself.

In Birthright , the "birthing matrix" is replaced by the more well-known rocketship, with Kal-El leaving Krypton as an infant rather than a fetus. Clark now possesses the ability to see a living being's " aura", Superman's identity has more facets than just Clark vs. Superman, instead his identities represent different aspects of his personality. He often finds himself being the odd man out. Superman is also quiet, but rather than being seemingly harmless like Clark, he is a formidable force, tearing robot assault helicopters from the sky and dropping a drug lord's private yacht into his pool.

Kal-L wants to recreate the universe, which he believes is corrupt, making aspects of Earth-Two predominant, rather than those of Earth-One. He believes this will also save the dying Lois Lane of Earth Alexander Luthor builds a machine which re-creates Earth-2, transporting Kal-L and Lois there where Lois revives briefly before collapsing and dying. The two Supermen team up to confront Luthor and Superboy-Prime, whose plan to restore the Multiverse will kill billions of people. The pair willingly deplete their powers as they drag Superboy-Prime into Rao, Krypton's red sun, and use the last of their strength to defeat him on Mogo, the sentient Green Lantern planet.

Fatally wounded in the battle, Kal-L dies in his cousin Power Girl's arms. He and Lois are buried next to the deceased Superboy. In his attempt to escape reality, his assault on the barrier wall of the paradise dimension alters history, causing revisions of events to occur, including the Birthright origin.

Alexander Luthor, Jr. Alexander indicates that Superman's early years are once more similar to the Silver Age and Birthright origins. During the publication of the Infinite Crisis limited series, the majority of DC Comics' superhero line advanced one year. One year later, Superman remains powerless, and Supergirl defends Metropolis. Unburdened by his responsibility to the world, Clark Kent has re-solidified his reputation as a star reporter. Lex Luthor's reputation is damaged irreparably, partially due to Clark's writing, and his fortune and power dwindle.

Under attack, Clark's powers gradually return, and he returns to action. He finds that his sensory powers are enhanced, as are his computational abilities and memory. Clark Kent Clark Kent is the secret identity of Superman. Kent, as opposed to Superman, is traditionally presented as behaving in a more introverted or mild manner compared to his superheroic self. John Byrne's Man of Steel revamp drops many traditional aspects of Clark Kent in favour of giving him a more aggressive and extroverted personality, including making Kent a top football player in high school and a successful author.

Subsequent revamps have restored the more mild-mannered Clark Kent that is traditionally associated with the character. Clark is a reporter at the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet , which allows him to keep track of events in which he might be able to help.

Fellow reporter Lois Lane is often the object of Clark's affection; Lois's affection for Superman and rejection of Clark are a recurring theme in Superman comics, television, and movies. Clark is who I am. Various methods for keeping his Superman's identity secret over the years include his using "super-hypnosis", subliminally causing people to not make the connection, compressing his spine as Clark Kent to become shorter, and studying the Meisner acting technique to switch seamlessly between personas.

Furthermore, since Superman goes into public unmasked, most people assume that he has no other identity. As long as he does not let on that he has another life, there is no real reason to look for a secret identity.

Even Batman commended him on this disguise. Modern comic book stories show that to the average observer, Superman is the greatest hero in the world and a larger-than-life figure.

When first confronted by evidence that Clark Kent is Superman, Lex Luthor dismisses it, saying, "No one with the power of Superman would be living as a normal man. Although nowhere near as cold-blooded as the early Batman , the Superman featured in the comics of the s and s is not squeamish about tossing evildoers around in such a manner that fatalities would logically be almost inevitable although seldom or never shown on the page.

His actions were more socially conscious, such as declaring war on reckless drivers, fighting against the mistreatment of prisoners or tearing down insufficient housing so that the government would be forced to build new homes. By the end of , however, editor Whitney Ellsworth instituted a code of conduct for his characters to follow, and the writers moved toward Superman's better known " Boy Scout " persona.

His adoptive human parents, the Kents, imbue young Clark Kent with a strong sense of purpose, morality and compassion. Superman was raised to believe that his abilities are gifts not to be abused. In many ways, he is the perfect hero as he embodies all the best traits that people would believe to see in themselves. Unlike the Golden Age Superman, this Superman dislikes killing, and vows to "never take a life", and to retire if he ever does. All the same, when General Zod taunts Superman in the Phantom Zone miniseries for his resolve, Superman responds "My code doesn't say a damned thing about not battering you to within an inch of yours!

Superman is often depicted with a mix of idealism, restraint, fairness and compassion. The Birthright limited series attributes Superman's compassion for living things to his ability to see their " auras".

He also struggles with the differences between what is right and what is practical. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him. However, they have come to recognize each other as not only the most trusted of allies, but great friends, with Batman being the one person Superman trusted with Lex Luthor's kryptonite ring in order for someone to be able to stop Superman should he ever go rogue. Although a heavy burden to bear, Batman has proven worthy of doing so.

Powers and abilities Superman possesses extraordinary powers, traditionally described as, "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound", a phrase first used in the Superman radio serials and Max Fleischer animated shorts of the s as well as the TV series of the s.

Although contemporary media still reference Superman that way, the character's powers are much more vast and complex. For most of his existence, Superman's famous arsenal of powers include flight, super-strength, invulnerability, super-speed, vision powers including x-ray, heat, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision , super- photographic memory, super-hearing and super-breath, which enables him to freeze objects by blowing on them, as well as exert the propulsive force of high-speed winds.

As originally conceived and presented in his early stories, Superman's powers were relatively limited, consisting of superhuman strength that allowed him to lift a car over his head, run at amazing speeds and leap one-eighth of a mile, as well as incredibly tough skin that could be pierced by nothing less than an exploding artillery shell.

Writers gradually increased his powers to larger extents during the Silver Age, in which Superman could fly to other worlds and galaxies and even across universes with relative ease.

He would often fly across the solar system to stop meteors from hitting earth in advance or sometimes just to get his mind off things.

Writers found it increasingly difficult to write Superman stories in which the character was believably challenged, so DC Comics made a series of attempts to rein the character in.

The most significant attempt, John Byrne's rewrite, established several hard limits on his abilities: He barely survives a nuclear blast, and his space flights are limited by how long he can hold his breath. Superman's power levels have again increased since then, with Superman currently possessing enough strength to hurl a mountain and withstand nuclear blasts with ease.

Unlike humans, Superman cannot give blood as his skin is impenetrable. He cannot donate organs due to his alien physiology. It is uncertain whether Superman can go without food or drink or for how long; some writers have portrayed him as obtaining all the energy he needs from Earth 's yellow sun , much like photosynthesis. The source of Superman's powers changes subtly over the course of his history.

It is originally said that Superman's abilities derive from his Kryptonian heritage, making him eons more evolved than humans. Soon it is established that Krypton's gravity had been stronger than Earth 's, a situation similar to that of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter.

As Superman becomes increasingly godlike, the implication that all Kryptonians had possessed the same abilities became problematic for writers, making it doubtful that a race of such beings could have been wiped out by something as trifling as an exploding planet. In part to counter this, the Superman writers established that Kryptonians, whose native star had been red, only possessed superpowers under the light of a yellow sun.

More recent stories have attempted to find a balance between the two explanations. Superman is most vulnerable to Kryptonite, mineral debris from Krypton transformed into radioactive material by the forces that destroyed the planet. Exposure to Kryptonite radiation nullifies Superman's powers and immobilizes him with pain; prolonged exposure will eventually kill him. The only mineral on Earth that can protect him from Kryptonite is lead, which blocks the radiation. Kryptonite was first introduced to the public in as a plot device to allow the radio serial voice actor, Bud Collyer, to take some time off; for several shows, Superman was represented by groaning noises while he was trapped by a chunk of Kryptonite.

Green Kryptonite is the most commonly seen form but writers introduced other forms over the years, such as red, gold, blue and black, each with its own effect. But, a lead suit will prevent him from being affected at all, and he becomes invincible.

Superman is also vulnerable to magic; however, this is not used in his stories as commonly as Kryptonite, and the vulnerability has been at best hazily defined. The most common implication is that, like any other person, Superman has no special protection against it via his powers. Superman's abilities have occasionally been removed or altered for dramatic reasons. In the Superman comics of the late s, Superman loses his traditional powers and transforms into a being of electromagnetic energy.

In this form, Superman can phase through solid objects, see frequencies of energy, and draw power from electrical sources. In order to maintain physical cohesion in this form, he needs to wear a containment suit. During this time, he is able to transform into the corporeal form of Clark Kent but has no special powers in his human guise.