DC's Superman continues to put his extreme power into perspective in increasingly impressive ways. The explanation that Kryptonians' alien physiology acts as a solar battery that converts the radiation of a yellow sun into godlike physical attributes falls short of explaining the scale of Superman’s strength. While other Kryptonians like Supergirl and General Zod certainly achieve planetary levels of power under the same solar rays, Kal-El is on an entirely different plane. Superman has spent his entire life marinating in Earth’s solar radiation, which allows his cellular matrix to adapt and mutate far beyond the biological limits of his species.
Yet, Superman's strength constantly defies the laws of physics with unmatched feats such as lifting infinite weight or carrying planets on his back. The solar battery explanation is more of a digestible metaphor for human comprehension than a literal scientific boundary. In reality, Kal-El’s body converts solar energy into a limitless power-up that allows Superman to accomplish any achievement, regardless of how unrealistic it may be. When pushed to his limits, Superman's power expands without a visible ceiling.
The same principle applies to Superman's enemies. Even if the Man of Steel finishes breaking an entire planet in two an issue beforehand, old and new villains can easily overpower him as though Clark Kent was only beginning to find his footing as a superhero. Seeing him fluctuate between being vulnerable and being nearly omnipotent is a big part of Superman's appeal.
In Superman's absence, Superboy revisits the most grueling battles in his comic book history, including Prime's encounter with the Flash family and the Titans, as well as his historical battle with Kal-L, Earth-2's Golden Age Superman. While these opponents are all illusions created by Manchester Black, they're just as powerful as their original selves. So, in revenge for his Infinite Crisis defeat, Kal-L goes for the kill against Superboy, throwing a whole moon at him.
The absurd nature of Kal-L's attack is lampshaded by the classic onomatopoeia shown during the impact.
Earth’s moon possesses a mass of approximately 7.34 × 10²² kilograms. If Superman were to throw the satellite at a relatively conservative speed (for comic book standards) of roughly Mach 29, the resulting kinetic energy would result in the equivalent of roughly 870 billion gigatons of TNT. For Superman to successfully accelerate the moon as a projectile, he must exert a crushing force over an evenly distributed area, generating an artificial gravitational envelope in order to avoid piercing it or breaking it.
Modern prime-universe Superman has evolved way beyond his Golden Age predecessor. Kal-El’s solar-overcharged cells allow him to effortlessly lift several quintillion tons with a single hand while under the crushing gravity of the Earth's core. Modern canon features feats of unimaginable magnitude, such as in The New 52' Superman #13, where Superman bench-presses the weight of the Earth for five consecutive days in a sun-deprived testing facility.
After 26 years, Superman: The Animated Series has returned in an unexpected way. This time, however, it's a new Superman stepping into the spotlight.
Meanwhile, what Earth-2's old-school Kal-L lacks in strict power, he more than makes up for with highly creative and absurd feats. In classic issues like Superman #58, Golden Age Superman infamously tows multiple displaced planets on a massive space-chain to relocate them to a safe sector of the cosmos. He also uses rare abilities like super-hypnotism to rewrite minds through a television screen, and digs a tunnel through the Earth with a single hand. While modern Superman is undoubtedly stronger, DC's old-school Kal-L used to be unrestrained by logic.
Which of Superman's feats of power is your favorite?
Superman #39 is now available from DC Comics
