Hmmm...what is really in my scope of interest. Well the new movie superman returns. So I am just collating some interesting facts of superman movies and comix.
(Well I also have to add that this is dedicated to some one who thought she was Lois Lane when she was young. This one's for you sis)
Species: Kryptonian (ET), Height: 6'3", Weight: 225, Hair: Black, Eyes: Blue
Other Aliases: The Krypton Man, Superman Blue, Superman Red, Gangbuster
Origin: From the planet Krypton. Parent star believed to be a red giant within 30 to 100 light years from Earth.
Base of Operations: Metropolis
Group Membership : Justice League of America
Overview:
The being called Superman appears to be a human male approximately 26 to 35 years of age. His actual age and aging process is indeterminate. In actuality, Superman is a highly advanced, genetically enhanced or modified, sentient life form from the planet Krypton. As far as we are aware, he claims to be the last of his race, though variants are believed to exist, q.v. Daxamites. While possessing a human appearance, at the cellular level, he is quite different than Humanity.
History:
Appearing approximately 10 years ago, in the city of Metropolis, little is publically known about the being called Superman. First seen in Metropolis rescuing a space plane from crashing into the city, he has become a regular fixture of the Metropolis sky scape, rescuing the city from one disaster or another, up to apparently sacrificing his life against the extra stellar menace of Doomsday, a few years ago. Some of this data is compiled from before his "death" but much more has been compiled afterwards. Oh please....he comes back after he dies. So shed no tears.
Known Powers:
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 of the 1940s and the TV series of the 1950s. Although contemporary media still references 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 originally conceived and presented in his early stories, Superman's powers are relatively limited, consisting of superhuman strength that allows him to lift a car over his head, run at amazing speeds, and leap one-eighth of a mile; and incredibly tough skin that can be pierced by nothing less than an exploding artillery shell. Writers slowly increased his powers over time until by the Silver Age, he is effectively omnipotent. 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 reel the character in. The most significant attempt, John Byrne's 1986 rewrite establishes 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 powers have grown again since then, with Superman possessing enough strength to hurl mountains and stop entire planets in their orbits. (Yikes!!!!!!! there are some "fans" who beleive that Superman can re-arrange solar systems!!! Well thats just carrying it a bit too far). Most of the super powers are in the comic books. The movies have not gone much into it. Eventhough there is one where he turns back time.
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, a race eons more evolved than humans. Soon it is established that Krypton's gravity had been stronger than Earth's. 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.
Superman is most vulnerable to kryptonite, 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 can eventually kill him. Kryptonite was first introduced to the public in 1943, 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 default, but writers introduces other forms over the years, such as red, gold, blue, and black, each with its own effect.
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.
Superman's abilities have occasionally been removed or altered for dramatic reasons. In the late 1990s Superman comics, 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 in his human guise he has no special powers.
Recently, some authors have implied that Superman's powers can reach unlimited levels, based on solar energy absorption and withdrawal of mental blocks. In "Our Worlds at War", Superman dives into the sun to gain sufficient energy to overpower Brainiac 13. In Superman/Batman, when Kara Zor-El claims to be more powerful than Superman, he tells her that he put personal mental blocks on his powers as he grew up to keep from destroying the Earth, blocks that Supergirl does not have. Thus, while Supergirl can appear to be stronger, Superman just has greater self-control.
Invulnerability: Superman is nearly invulnerable to weapons used by normal humans in warfare and we believe that, fully powered, he could survive a near-direct nuclear strike with a ten megaton warhead. In his battle with Doomsday, he was the of the only metahumans able to hold his own against the creature. The battle eventually destroyed over half of Metropolis. He can survive in an environment completely devoid of atmosphere and suffer no ill effects, provided that he carries his own air resources He can operate for periods of up to 30 minutes without air. Extremes of heat and cold have no effect on him and he has been see to skirt the photosphere of the sun (10,000,000 degrees F) with no long term side effects, probably due to a feedback loop of solar energy powering his biomatrix field.
Super Strength: He can lift incredible weights and objects and not have them collaspe under their own weight, indicating a powerful form of telekinesis that surrounds the object protecting it from outside stresses. The upper limit to his physical strength is not known but with the telekinetic lifting capabilities possessed by Superman, he could conceivably lift objects weighing 100,000 tons or more. It is conceivable that he could lift more if he was completely powered and using all of his stored energies.
Energy Projection: He may project beams of force that have the ability to reach temperatures of 11,000 degrees F, sufficient to melt steel in seconds. He may also exercise some control of his telekinetic-like abilities with a feat he calls his superbreath. He may push objects down or move them back. He manifests this effect by blowing outward but even with his superior lung capacity, we believe it has more to do with a psionic manifestation of his telekinesis than with actual lung capacity.
Super Senses: He also possess a superior sensory arrangement of microscopic, telescopic, infrared and ultraviolet visual capabilities. Star Laboratories has not been able to complete 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. He can also hear in a range equal to that of the best natural or man-made sensors. His hearing is so acute and precise he can detect a whisper at 500 yards. He may also extend his hearing into the infra and ultrasonic ranges. How his senses can be so acute and so excellently calibrated is as yet unknown.
Superspeed: Superman is capable of enhanced reflex action and the ability to move at incredible speeds by sheer force of will. He is not quite as fast as the Flash and cannot achieve lightspeed under his own power, but can reach a high speed percentage of lightspeed in normal space. Superman can match most other speedsters in their ability to perform superfast movements, reactions, and processes. He can use this power to disarm opponents without heightened reflexes, catch bullets or shrapnel or cross vast distances in seconds. He has been seen flying from the Moon to the Earth in under 2 minutes. That is the equivalent of 2000 miles per second or 1% the speed of light. The source of this power remains unexplained.
Flight: Superman is able to manipulate sonically, graviton particles, in an unknown and apparently unconscious manner, to defy the forces of gravity. Under one Earth gravity, Utililizing molecular motion, Superman is capable of Mach speeds in excess of Mach 10 in atmosphere. He has been seen to fly to the moon in minutes so we can assume that he can fly faster than that outside of atmospheric interference. 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. We assume that he also manipulates gravitons for the object being lifted as well.
Sources of Powers: Superman seems to have two primary sources of energy. The first is that Superman's cellular structure is suffused with specialized cells, organelles and organs whose function seems to be the storage of the radiant energy in multiple formats. It is unknown if this is a part of the normal Kryptonian physiology or was added due to their scientific advancements in biomodifications. One of these formats is a superdense cellular protein that can be broken down and turned back into biological energy. This metaprotein is what powers Superman's long-term endurance and is restored slowly. The second is Superman's bio-aura that acts as effective an energy containment device as ever seen in nature. This field is constantly reclaiming stray electromagnetic energies from the environment and converting them into this cellular protein (for the remainder of this report it shall be called Meta-ATP). The energy for the meta-energy protein in Superman's body is captured by his biological electromagnetic reclaimation aura. This invisible (to the naked eye) structure acts as a radiant energy collector that creates an energy-retentive skintight force field capable of absorbing and converting cosmic radiation (solar, radiant and electromagnetic energies). One aspect of the energy gathered by this field is that there is almost no electromagnetic waste. This biomatrix recycles almost all of its radiation-harnessed energies. Otherwise, Superman would glow with a distinctive signature, easily detected by others, whenever he uses his powers.
Weaknessess: Kryptonite, the radioactive material from the core of Krypton also possesses the ability to displace electromagnetic energies within Superman's bioaura and quickly reduce his ability to access his powers. With enough exposure, we believe that Kryptonite will even kill Superman by causing his body to metabolize the dangerous radiation as he would any other radiant energy and poison him. Superman could also be vulnerable to radioactive energies that are extremely specific, radiations that damage him without powering his bioaura. With that information, and further study, we might find a way of stopping Superman in the event that Kryptonite was unavailable for use. The green one is the one that was mostly splattered on to earth when Krypton exploded. The other main ones are Gold, White, Red and Blue.
Well that ends my entry for Superman. Awaiting for the movie to get released and will have my review on what I think of it. Up up and away!!!!!!
