After his secret identity was outed, Superman faced a group of his biggest enemies while trying to keep his loved ones safe.
History
Born on Krypton to Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van and raised on Earth by Jonathan and Martha Kent, Kal-El had been the galaxy's greatest hero for two decades.
Nonetheless, most of his enemies had seemingly vanished, and Superman was focusing on space research when all of sudden Bizarro rampaged through Metropolis before killing himself. Shortly after, the Toyman and the Prankster murdered his childhood friend Pete Ross before revealing his Clark Kent identity. Later, hundreds of Metallo androids raided the Daily Planet.
Realizing that his enemies were banding together, Superman took his remaining friends— Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and his wife Alice —to the Fortress of Solitude in order to protect them from the final attack that everyone knew was coming. At night, Superman was visited by the Legion of Super-Heroes and his cousin who wanted to pay their respects for the last time and give him a gift.
The next day, the Fortress of Solitude was raided by an army made up of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Kryptonite Man and the Legion of Super-Villains. Most of Superman's friends and enemies died during the battle, but Superman and Lois Lane survived. It was then that Superman realized it was his old enemy Mister Mxyzptlk who was behind everything. Mxyzptlk revealed himself and declared he had grown tired of being a prankster. He intended to be evil for the next several centuries, and his first villainous act would be killing Superman.
Superman was being cornered by his nemesis, but he figured out the Legion's gift was a hint to defeat Mxyzptlk. Superman managed to destroy Mxyzptlk, but he felt that, by breaking his vow to not kill he had lost the right to his powers. Superman exposed himself to Gold Kryptonite to depower himself, and he and Lois let the world believe Superman died in the Arctic.
Afterwards, Kal-El created a new secret identity, calling himself Jordan Elliot, and he got married to Lois Lane, leading a normal, peaceful life afterwards, unaware that his and Lois' baby child Jonathan was developing powers.
Absolute Power
In between the events of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Superman/Batman: Absolute Power, the Legion of Super-Villains changed the course of time making Saturn Queen and Lightning Lord the parents of Batman and Superman, this resulted in a dystopian future where the earth become Apokolips and Darkseid is the ruler of it, with Kal-El from Earth-423 (Called "Future Superman) and Metron being his ally. Future Superman tried to travel back in time to kill Superman to undo everything, but that was unsuccessful.
However thanks to the jump between timeline caused by the apparent death of either Superman or Batman, the two managed to get to the future where they met Kal-El of Earth-423 and Darkseid, who noted that altering the universe in such magnitude is reckless, and so he decided to help Batman and Superman to fix the timeline.[1]
After they succeeded in doing so the dystopian future got erased, and everything went back to normal, including future Superman timeline, as he found himself where he was left at the end of Action Comics Vol 1 583: with Lois Lane and his child.[2]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Superman possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Superman's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Heat Vision: Superman can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected.
- Super-Hearing: Superman's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, he can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
- Enhanced Vision: Superman's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
This umbrella ability includes the following:- Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Superman can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, he can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the aura generated by living thing.
- Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
- X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Supermans can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. He can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
- Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
- Infrared Vision: Superman can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
- Flight: Superman is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
- Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Superman is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his extends this protection against toxins and diseases.
- Superhuman Stamina: Superman is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on his body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
- Superhuman Strength: Superman's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
- Superhuman Speed: Superman is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to his perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid-flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.
This also confers: - Super-Breath: Superman is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.
- Longevity: Superman can live longer than regular humans, remaining at his prime as long as he was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Superman possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:
Notes
- This version of Superman, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
- Superman first appeared in Earth-Two continuity in Action Comics #1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The Earth-423 version of the character first appeared in Superman #423 by Alan Moore and Curt Swan.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 8 Appearances of Kal-El (Earth-423)
- 10 Images featuring Kal-El (Earth-423)
- 1 Quotations by or about Kal-El (Earth-423)
- Character Gallery: Kal-El (Earth-423)
Footnotes
  Superman Family member |
  Daily Planet Staff member |
 Legion of Super-Heroes member |
 This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |