a question for superman fans

[AmazingMattMan]

ok we all know that superman is fast. i hear two thnigs about him though. one, that he can travel at near speed of light. and two he can travel at or above the speed of light. now it may not seem like much if he travels at 99% speed of light, instead of 100 %, but physically speaking its IMPOSSIBLE to travel at 100%. so my other question is, if he can travel at the speed of light has there been any explaination for it? (kinda like the flash as the speed force). or is it one of those moments where you gotta suspend your disbelief?

[Mark Blicharz]

Physically in our universe it's not proven one way or another. We don't have enough understanding to state it one way or another. In comics, Superman has flown faster numerous times. He flew from the Moon to Earth in a second which is about 1.3 times the speed of light. He flew to the Sun in seconds, a trip that takes light seven minutes to complete.

[AmazingMattMan]

well its pretty much the general agreement with any physicist (holy crap how do you spell that?) and other fields that it is impossible. with all the various theories to go with it (well most things we take for fact our actually theories that they cant prove wrong yet). of course theres probably a few of them trying to prove it wrong as we speak.

the reason i ask is because im just getting into superman and some of his powers confuse me. especially his super hearing. from the issues i read, hed have to be able to hear faster then the speed of sound. throws me for a loop!

anyways thanks for the info on the actual question. i sort of went in a tangent there!

[Mark Blicharz]

It's a comic. He's wearing blue, red and yellow tights flying around at the speed of light or faster moving planets, can't use real life physics. In three thousand years, who's to say we won't find a way around the speed of light? They did say about 100 years ago that we'd never break the sound barrier and 500 years ago the world was flat. :)

[AmazingMattMan]

haha! all good points! i have no problem just believing he could do this stuff. just wodnering if they covered it since hes been around like what? almost 80 years? thats a lot of comics i missed!

[AmazingMattMan]

well actually i read up some more on superman and i got the answers to all my questions. i never knew he got his powers came from the sun, nearly unlimited energy. and then in a flash comic wally said something to the effect that he is so strong, he just defies physics.

[necrosNWJP]

either way it's lame to make a character THAT powerfull. he's got almost every major super-power know to man and only two major weaknesses. it's just stupid to me, he's practically unstoppable. it just makes him less interesting to read about.

[Cardiac]

either way it's lame to make a character THAT powerfull. he's got almost every major super-power know to man and only two major weaknesses. it's just stupid to me, he's practically unstoppable. it just makes him less interesting to read about.

I think you might be missing the point. He has the power of a god but it's his humanity that makes him interesting. He's an alien but also more human than any one of us.

[Mark Blicharz]

Necros, out of curiousity how much Superman have you actually read or are you going on what people have said? He doesn't have all that many superpowers. He has superstrength, invulnerability, speed, flight, heat vision, cold breath, x-ray vision, and super senses. There are numerous people on either DC or MU Earth with more powers. Can you name me some of your favorite characters?

[necrosNWJP]

Necros, out of curiousity how much Superman have you actually read or are you going on what people have said? He doesn't have all that many superpowers. He has superstrength, invulnerability, speed, flight, heat vision, cold breath, x-ray vision, and super senses. There are numerous people on either DC or MU Earth with more powers. Can you name me some of your favorite characters?
To answer your question, yes I have actually read Superman before. I used to read his titles off and on threw out the 80's and early 90's. I just got bored with him. And to me, that's WAY too many powers. And as far as my favorite characters go: Pretty much all of the Gotham Knights, Green Lantern (Hal), Starfire, Changling/Beast-Boy (whatever you prefer), Deathstroke, and I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Flash.

[necrosNWJP]

I think you might be missing the point. He has the power of a god but it's his humanity that makes him interesting. He's an alien but also more human than any one of us.
I really don't see what the problem is with me not liking Superman. Every time I say something about it, everyone starts trying to say that I'm a idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about. Everyone is intitled to thier opinion about the guy, I just choose to hate his guts. You obviously like him, so what? That's your opinion and I respect that. So respect the fact that I think he's dated and boring.

[Mark Blicharz]

No one said you were an idiot. We asked questions as to why. I do have to make one point though. You say Superman has too many powers and isn't interesting due to being nearly unstoppable, but one of your favorites is Hal Jordan who has Superman completely outclassed in numbers of powers and has matched Superman in a fight. Isn't that a bit odd?

[necrosNWJP]

No one said you were an idiot. We asked questions as to why. I do have to make one point though. You say Superman has too many powers and isn't interesting due to being nearly unstoppable, but one of your favorites is Hal Jordan who has Superman completely outclassed in numbers of powers and has matched Superman in a fight. Isn't that a bit odd?
The whole thing with GL that I like is the fact that his ring depends on his will-power. So when you think about it, Hal's only power is his strength of will.

[Mark Blicharz]

Superman's power is strength of will also. That's his true strength, not his power that he gets from the sun. His will and heart are his two greatest powers. That's what makes him the world's greatest superhero.