Superman (Clark Kent)

New 52 Origin

Kal-El was born on Krypton to Jor-El and Lara. After Jor-El discovered that the planet was doomed to destruction, he attempted to escape with his family into the Phantom Zone but was repelled by the criminals who had already been imprisoned there. With no other choice, he and Lara resigned themselves to their fates, placing their son in a prototype evacuation rocket, activating its Brainiac intelligence, and sending it to a planet with a yellow sun: Earth.^[4]

The rocket landed in Smallville, Kansas where the Kryptonian baby was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who had just learned that they could not have children of their own. Seeing this alien orphan as their chance, they gathered him up and took him home, leaving a stillborn calf in his place in the hopes of throwing the government off their trail.^[4] They raised him as Clark Kent teaching him their values. Eventually, Jonathan revealed Clark's true parentage to him, but left it to him to decide what it would mean to him.

On the night of his prom, however, because Clark had no superhero role models to make him feel comfortable becoming a hero, Clark was unable to save his adopted parents from dying in a car accident.^[5] After their funerals, Clark sold Kent Farm to a neighbour and moved to Metropolis to become a journalist.^[6]

 Main article: Superman and the Men of Steel

Upon moving to Metropolis, Clark took a job at the Daily Star and prepared himself to act as a vigilante at the age of 22,^[7] by having several shirts printed with the S-Symbol that had come to Earth with him emblazoned on them. His attempt to rescue a young boy caused him to reveal himself before he expected to, and the city came to know of the superhuman man.^[8]

Within six months, Clark had fully revealed himself and was targeting corrupt businessman Glen Glenmorgan when General Sam Lane and Lex Luthor took an interest in him. They staged several emergencies to trap him, finally succeeding with a train crash that endangered the General's own daughter Lois.^[9] In collaboration with the military, Luthor tortured Superman while his Kryptonian Rocket was studied. Upon his escape, Superman sealed his birth rocket away for protection but was too late to prevent its Kryptonian signal from alerting the Collector of Worlds to its location - and unaware that Luthor was complicit in making that happen.^[10]

After the district of New Troy had been secretly shrunken down and abducted by the Collector of Worlds, Superman made a giant leap from Metropolis into outer space, catching hold of the retreating spaceship. The Collector tried to force Superman to choose between the lives of those in the city of Kandor and of New Troy, but he refused to choose, instead donning a Kryptonian suit of armor from one of the bottles and promising to protect both.^[11] Defeating the Collector and returning New Troy to its original place, Superman then came out officially to the people of Metropolis as an alien and promised to remain on the side of good.^[12]

Following the cosmic upheavals of the Rebirth period, this character's history was revised.

Current Origin

Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton, was born to scientists Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van shortly before the destruction of their doomed world. Aware of their planet's impending fate, they conducted extensive (but remote) research on habitable worlds within range and constructed a rocket so that their son might survive.^[13] As an infant, he was introduced to his paternal cousin Kara Zor-El. In the end, they chose Earth, and managed to launch their son into space mere moments before the destruction of Krypton. Kal's rocket landed in Smallville, Kansas, where he was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent. He was given the name "Clark Kent" and adopted as their son.

Childhood

When Clark began his schooling, Martha and Jonothan were at first concerned that he wouldn't fit in with his classmates, a worry that the young Clark shared. Asking his father for advice, Jonathan simply tells Clark to tell jokes and if he gets people to laugh, they'll be his friends. Clark's first day isn't as difficult as he expects and he ends up making many friends at school, until he notices a girl, Samantha, sitting alone in the playground; ostracized for being different.

Clark decided that he wants to befriend the girl, but feared that if he did, he'd lose all the friends he'd made up to that point. Consulting with his parents, they advise him to befriend the girl regardless of his classmates' opinions. He followed through, and his example inspired others in his class to befriend Samantha.^[14]

Martha's Cancer

During Clark's childhood, Martha was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent chemotherapy for the affliction; Clark was not told until well into her treatment, when Clark struggled with a new student attending the school, Caleb Withers. Caleb was something of a bully, with misplaced aggression spurred on by his abusive father. Clark struggled with the urge not to respond to Caleb's behavior in kind, something his mother talked him out of, telling him that it was better to help people find the good within themselves rather than correct their behavior by force.

As they were leaving, Caleb kicked a soccer ball into Martha's head, knocking her down and inadvertently removing her wig, revealing to Clark her hair loss. Later that evening, he snuck over to Caleb's house, with the intent to destroy Caleb's bicycle in retribution, only to discover Caleb's drunk father abusing him. As Caleb's father attempted to drive off, he nearly drove into oncoming traffic, with Clark saving his life. He then brought the unconscious man to the local clinic, leaving him there anonymously. Afterward, Clark attempted to cut off his own hair in solidarity with his mother, only to discover that his invulnerability made that impossible at the time. Later, Clark was able to reach Caleb, that he wasn't his father, and that he didn't have to be him.

Caleb eventually apologized to Martha, revealing that he'd cut his own hair in solidarity with Martha as part of his apology. He left to live with his aunt in Metropolis, and one day would grow to run a community center for at-risk youth. ^[15]

Childhood Friends

Growing up in Smallville, Clark found himself becoming best friends with Lana Lang and Pete Ross. The trio were inseparable and did everything together, including hiding from the young Lex Luthor. The first time Clark flew was on instinct; a tornado hit Smallville, and he acted without thinking in order to save Lana Lang's life.^[16]

Krypto the Super-Dog

One evening, during a family dinner, Clark's enhanced senses noticed an object crashing from space a few miles away. He immediately set off to find it with super-speed, with his parents warning him not to touch it until they arrived. Later, all three converged on the object; a Kryptonian space-pod lodged into a dry creek bed. Clark immediately recognized it as resembling the pod he arrived in, and, reaching out to it, found that it recognized him in turn. It opened, revealing a small dog. The dog playfully jumped on Clark and began to display the same Kryptonian power-set that Clark possessed.

Clark quickly sped off to play with the dog, easily bonding with it. As he did, a holographic recording of his birth father, Jor-El, activates, revealing to his parents that the dog was a test subject for a prototype of the pod that eventually would bring Clark to Earth. The recording also revealed the dog's name, given to him by the infant Kal-El: Krypto. Approving of how happy Krypto made Clark, Jonathan and Martha allowed him to keep and raise the dog.^[17]

Teenage Years

One particular autumn during Clark's teenage years, the Kent farm suffered a bad harvest; in spite of this, Jonathan Kent decided to share what little they could spare with their neighbors, who had endured worse. The entire community helped each other out, surprising Clark, who had heard that some people disliked each other, and Jonathan explained that people ultimately want to be good, they just need an example to bring out the best side of themselves. Jonathan tells Clark to be that example.^[18]

At some point, Clark joined the Legion of Super-Heroes and fought alongside them in battles against the likes of Mordru and Darkseid.^[19][20]

In a previous iteration of history, on the night of his senior prom, because his adoptive parents discouraged Clark from becoming a superhero for fear what it could do to him, he failed to save Jonathan and Martha from dying in a car accident. This was not a natural occurence; it was arranged by the fifth-dimensional demon Vyndktvx as part of a multi-pronged attack on Clark at many points across the timeline.

However, when the Justice Society of America was restored to its proper place in the timeline, they set a good example for superheroes to come in the future. With role models to look up to and no reason to stay in hiding, on the night of his senior prom, Clark saved his adoptive parents from dying in a car accident.^[21]

Debut as Superman

 Main article: Superman and the Men of Steel

Upon moving to Metropolis, Clark took a job at the Daily Star and prepared himself to act as a vigilante at the age of 22,^[7] by having several shirts printed with the S-Symbol that had come to Earth with him emblazoned on them. His attempt to rescue a young boy caused him to reveal himself before he expected to, and the city came to know of the superhuman man.^[8]

Superman and Batman met for the first time while Clark was investigating a series of murders in Wayne Enterprises. The two new heroes were unexpectedly whisked to a parallel reality by Kaiyo the Trickster where they met older and more experienced versions of themselves. When they were returned back to their Earth however, Kaiyo wiped their memories of the whole interaction.^[22]

During the Zero Year, Clark attempted to personally disperse Hurricane Rene as it bore down on the coastline, still unsure of the upper limits of his powers. His attempt to divert the hurricane was unsuccessful, but he did succeed in rescuing the tanker Jean-Marie, which had at the time been carrying his childhood friend, Lana Lang as its engineer.^[23]

Within six months, Clark had fully revealed himself and was targeting corrupt businessman Glen Glenmorgan when General Sam Lane and Lex Luthor took an interest in him. They staged several emergencies to trap him, finally succeeding with a train crash that endangered the General's own daughter Lois.^[9] In collaboration with the military, Luthor tortured Superman while his Kryptonian Rocket was studied. Upon his escape, Superman sealed his birth rocket away for protection but was too late to prevent its Kryptonian signal from alerting the Collector of Worlds to its location - and unaware that Luthor was complicit in making that happen.^[24]

After the district of New Troy had been secretly shrunken down and abducted by the Collector of Worlds, Superman made a giant leap from Metropolis into outer space, catching hold of the retreating spaceship. The Collector tried to force Superman to choose between the lives of those in the city of Kandor and of New Troy, but he refused to choose, instead donning a Kryptonian suit of armor from one of the bottles and promising to protect both.^[25] Defeating the Collector and returning New Troy to its original place, Superman then came out officially to the people of Metropolis as an alien and promised to remain on the side of good.^[26]

Early Career

Reluctantly, after encouragement from his boss at the Daily Star, he accepted a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet where he was paired with Lois Lane. On his first day, Clark saved Lois Lane's life during a helicopter crash, in the process debuting a new costume bearing red trunks and a low neckline, but clearly inspired by the Kryptonian armor Clark recovered from Brainiac's ship. Among the first villains he ever faced was the Ultra-Humanite, who developed a lifelong enmity towards him.^[27] He also quickly made an enemy of his childhood bully, now grown, Lex Luthor.

Early on in his career, before the founding of the Justice League, Clark was displaced into the early 1960s during an unknown incident. While there, he operated in secret- though not secret enough that he wasn't known to the President of the United States. He met with the President, who requested that he, and others like him, come forward and use their collective abilities to make the world a better place. He offered to protect the president in Dallas; Kennedy declined, insisting that Superman assist with a manned flight to the moon. Shortly afterwards, the president was assassinated while riding in his motorcade in Dallas. Eventually Superman was able to return to his own time; when he returned, he did his best to fufill his promise to the doomed president.^[28]

Forming the Justice League

Clark was among the founding members of the Justice League. While the team's actual first meeting is debated, prime amongst the contenders was when the heroes who would eventually comprise the league fought off an attack by the alien Appellaxians, which resulted in them nearly being turned into trees before emerging victorious. The heroes, inspired by their victory, formed a team not unlike the historical Justice Society of America or its lesser-known successor, the Justice Experience, christening it the Justice League. One of their earliest foes was Starro the Conquerer.^[29]

In original New 52 Continuity, the Justice League formed following an invasion of Earth by Darkseid. However, following subsequent changes to the timeline, this was supplanted with an adventure resembling the team's Earth-1 and New Earth origin. While Darkseid's invasion may have still occurred, it seemingly did not occur in the way originally depicted.

Mongul and the Black Mercy

At some point, he came into conflict with Mongul MDCCXC, an alien tyrant who ruled the vast Warworld. Later, this enemy would infect him with the Black Mercy, an alien flower capable of inducing intense hallucinatory false realities. While imprisoned within the Black Mercy's tendrils, Clark saw a version of Krypton that never exploded. In this world, Kal-El had a life on Krypton- a wife and a son. Though he was eventually freed, the experience affected Clark deeply. He ruminated on it for many years, and in the end, it inspired him to one day make a change and expand his circle of trust.^[30]

Further Adventures

World's Finest

Over the course of their careers, Superman and Batman and became close allies, despite some initial distrust and the stark difference between their methods and personalities. They would frequently operate as partners, a pairing referred to by some as 'The World's Finest'. At some point, they fought the tyrant Mongul MDCCXC together.

The Devil Nezha

One such outing was prompted by the unexpected team-up of the Gotham-based villain Poison Ivy and the cyborg Metallo under the influence of the Devil Nezha. During the encounter, Metallo injected Superman with a sample of Red Kryptonite, causing Superman to undergo a series of rapid and horrifying transformations. Batman contacted the Doom Patrol, who rapidly arrived on the scene. Luckily, Negative Man was able to incapacitate Superman.^[31] The group was able to purge the Red Kryptonite from Superman; Niles Caulder then identified the insignia on the vial that had been used to inject Superman as belonging to the Devil Nezha (having recently recoverd Nezha's sword from General Zahl themselves, and recounted the legend of Nezha's creation.

Simultaneously, several villains attacked other heroes, including The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the new hero Captain Marvel. Splitting up, Robin teamed with Supergirl, and the pair traveled in time in order to contact the House of Ji, who had defeated and imprisoned Nezha in antiquity. Superman and Batman traveled to Philadelphia in order to rescue Billy Batson from Felix Faust^[32] Despite some struggle, they were able to defeat Faust and rescue Billy before moving on to aid other heroes.

The pair then went to rescue Wonder Woman and the Flash, who under attack by Doctor Alchemy and Mirror Master respectively. They defeated both villains by tricking Doctor Alchemy into attacking Mirror Master's Mirror, only to be captured by Green Lantern, who had fallen under Nezha's sway.^[33] However, the pair was able to escape by overriding Hal Jordan's compromised willpower. The ring, seeing them as one individual and amplified by the ambient magic produced by Nezha, fused Batman and Superman into a single composite being.^[34] Nezha did not relent, though, and sent the heroes Black Canary, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and Red Tornado after them. However, the fused pair was able to force Nezha towards his far-away tomb with the assistance of the returned Supergirl. Realizing that Nezha was weak to modern technologies, the group managed to imprison Nezha within his tomb once again with the help of a Phantom Zone Projector.^[35]

Afterwards, Superman and Batman travelled back in time to the year 1892 to rescue Robin, who had inadverdantly become lost in the timestream during his trip to learn from the House of Ji. There, they participated in a circus show undercover, and helped Robin solve an a murder before the trio returned to the present.^[36]

The Boy Thunder

Some time later, a rift opened up in the sky, and through it, David Sikela arrived, the last survivor from an unknown Earth elsewhere in them multiverse. They quickly realized the unique properties of David's biology gave him powers under Earth-0's sun, and brought him to Kandor to be examined by the Kandorian scientist Kim-Da. While there, Kim-Da fabricated David a costume inspired by Hel-Oz, an ancient Kryptonian hero. After a brief but traumatic excursion to Gotham, Robin took David to the secret base of the Teen Titans, where he introduced the teen to his friends and partners.^[37]

For a time, Boy Thunder worked as Superman's sidekick; eventually, however, it would not last. After several adventures in which he helped subdue an earthquake, battle Doctor Phosphorus, fight Sinestro, and save the city from Atomic Skull, things rapidly fell apart as David was directly targeted. The Key attacked Gotham, using a psychotropic compound to effectively lock all of its inhabitants where they were when the attack began, including Robin and Batman, who were stuck in the Batcave. Despite an anxiety attack, David was able to help, rescuing trapped miners. Luckily, based on Batman's notes, Blue Beetle was able to disperse an antidote to the chemical. Unbeknownst to them, the Key was working with the Joker, who had larger plans.^[38]

David continued to study alongside Superman and Batman, struggling with anger issues and the trauma of losing his parents and world, later admitting to Superman that he believed himself to be responsible for his parents' death. Their heart-to-heart was interrupted by the next stage of the Joker and the Key's plan- using Angle Man's Angler to open a door directly from the bottom of the Gotham River into the city. Tragically, the pair used this distraction as an opportunity to kidnap David. They tortured David as Superman and his allies desperately searched for their lost friend. Eventually, they found him, and in the process of freeing him, David nearly killed the Joker. In the aftermath, Superman briefly considered using Kryptonian technology designed by Kim-Da to depower David, but decided against it.

However, the Key was not yet done with David. He summoned a motley crew of villains into the Fortress of Solitude, including Bag O' Bones, Acid Master, Doctor Phoenix, the Abominable Snowman, Ferlin Nxly, and Zebra Man. In the chaos, he activated the Bleedship that brought David to Earth-0, seeing it as the key to the multiverse. Resultingly, David was pulled out of Earth-0, sent to an unknown world in the Multiverse- but not before a tearful goodbye with Superman.^[39]

Elementary

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The Death and Life of Superman

Over the years, Superman had many adventures. At some point, some of Superman's DNA was collected by the Agenda, Project Cadmus and Lex Luthor, resulting in multiple clones, including Superboy and Bizarro. After rescuing a group of children from a bus accident, a chance encounter with a nurse led Superman to dedicate a decent portion of his time to acting as a medical courier for organ donations. During one of his adventures, he was sent to a 'pocket earth', where he experienced a traumatic event that resulted in him leaving Earth for a time. While in space, Superman was forced to battle as a gladiator in one of Mongul's lesser Warworlds, and his refusal to kill his opponents led to a revolt. At some point later, Clark led a group of superheroes to defeat a planetary attack by Brainiac.^[40].

Over time, Clark and Lois fell in love, and he revealed his secret identity to her. Not long after, Superman was seemingly killed by the alien monster Doomsday. In the wake of his death, four very different contenders arose to his mantle: The Cyborg Hank Henshaw, the erstwhile Steel, the Cadmus-created clone Superboy and the android known as the Eradicator.^[41] Eventually, the Cyborg Superman revealed his true colors, participating in the destruction of Coast City. Superman was soon restored to life; Steel and Superboy became lasting allies for the Man of Steel.^[42].

Marriage and Fatherhood

Afterwards, Clark and Lois married. At one point, Superman's powers malfunctioned, and he temporarily became Electric Blue Superman before returning to normal.^[43]

Shortly after their marriage, Lois became pregnant with a child, and Clark delivered his son Jonathan Samuel Kent in the Fortress of Solitude during an attempted alien invasion.^[44]

In New 52 continuity, their son was born in an alternate Batcave, delivered by Batman, during Convergence.^[45] This was later retconned by the Superman Reborn crossover.

After Jon's birth, the Kent family moved to a farm upstate, and instead commuted to work in Metropolis. Jon Kent was raised with no knowledge of his father's dual identity as Superman and was largely kept isolated from many of Superman's associates.

The Adventures Continue

At some point, Superman came into conflict with the Elite, a violent and proactive super-team lead by Manchester Black. He developed an instinctive distaste for Manchester as a result; Manchester felt similarly.^[46][47]

Over the course of his long career, Superman fought at the side of "one or two" of the historical figures known as King Arthur. In the process, he rescued the famed 'round table' during the Second Fall of Camelot and was entrusted with its safekeeping by Arthur himself.^[48]

Eventually, Clark introduced his clone Conner Kent to his parents, and Connor lived with them and attended Smallville High School for a time before he was lost in Gemworld.^[49]

Imprisoning Luthor

Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman would later fight against a team-up of Lex Luthor and Metallo. Diana defeated Metallo, unbeknownst to Lex, allowing Martian Manhunter to assume his shape. Superman then pretended to be affected by 'Metallo's' Kryptonite. Seeing victory ahead, Lex took a moment to gloat; unbeknownst to him, Manhunter's faux-Kryptonite was a recording device, and his admission of attempted murder was enough evidence to send him to prison.^[50]

Superman later visited Luthor in prison, seeking to discuss the fact that the welder who would link Lex to Metallo's armor plating had gone missing. Instead, Lex offered to place Chess with Superman, who humored him for a short while- until he was informed that the welder had been found, safe but a little worse for wear. He then left, telling Lex that he wasn't 'playing his game'.^[51]

New 52

After Barry Allen returned from the Flashpoint, Clark adopted a new costume; a suit comprised of Kryptonian nanotech that would construct itself over his clothes when he needed it.

In the original New 52 continuity, Clark found this suit aboard Brainiac's ship during his origin and wore it from then on; however, as the result of successive continuity changes, Superman does not begin wearing this suit until much, much later.

Death of "Clark Kent" and Fighting Vyndktvx

 Main article: Action Comics: At the End of Days

After faking his death as Clark Kent to shake off someone who was investigating too closely into his secret identity, Clark took the alias of Johnny Clark and joined the fire department. Still, he began to regret killing Clark Kent off and sought advice from Batman, who promised to deal with it.

After discovering an alien named Captain Comet who foretold of Earth's extinction by alien attacks, Superman managed to fight him off but, in the process, caused his Johnny Clark identity to be thought dead as well. Luckily, Superman's former landlady, Mrs. Nyxly, who knew of his former secret identity as Clark Kent, revealed to him that she was from the Fifth Dimension and used one of her three wishes she had saved to wipe Clark Kent's death from everyone's minds. Nyxly continued to tell Superman that everything bad that ever happened in his life was the doing of someone else from her home.^[52] She explained that Lord Vyndktvx from her home dimension had attacked Clark at multiple points in his history, to the point that certain memories he had might have happened otherwise before those attacks.^[53]

Lord Vyndktvx finally made a play for Superman's life in the present with his assembled Anti-Superman Army.^[53] Finally understanding Vyndktvx's weakness, Superman used a telepathic connection set up by Lois Lane's psychic niece Susie Thompkins to convince everyone in the world to say their own names backwards. The sound of this five-dimensional utterance caused Vyndktvx to retreat to his own dimension, where he was immediately arrested.^[54]

H'El on Earth

 Main article: Superman: H'El on Earth

Soon after, the Daily Planet was bought out by businessman Morgan Edge, initiating a major change in the reporting style of the Planet. Unhappy with the changes, Clark quit working for the paper.

In a previous iteration of history, Clark then discovered that found out that his longtime crush Lois Lane was now in a serious relationship with another man named John Carroll.^[55] However, this event was erased from history when Superman's history was revised.

Later, in his hero identity, Superman was confronted by another Kryptonian survivor called H'El, who wanted to recruit him by force to join his unholy crusade of saving Krypton. After learning that H'el wanted to use the Fortress of Solitude to go back in time to save Krypton by extinguishing Earth's sun, Superman called in the Justice League and his teenage clone Superboy to fight H'El and prevent the destruction of the solar system.^[56]

Unchained

While investigating the shady government group known as Ascension, Superman uncovered the beast known as Wraith, an alien with very similar powers to him that was captured and trained by the US government to bring down terrorists. After learning about their common purposes, Superman and Wraith agreed to work together to stop Ascension.^[57]

Superman and Wraith defeated a small faction of Ascension, but Superman was soon betrayed by Wraith, who sought what was known as an Earthstone. Following a colossal battle, Superman defeated Wraith and not long after this, Lex Luthor informed him that Wraith's species was planning to attack Earth and the only weapon that could be used against them would kill Superman.^[58] Superman chose not to use the weapon and confronted the aliens without aid, but Wraith soon redeemed himself by using the weapon against his own species, killing himself in the process.^[59]

The Psi-War

 Main article: Superman: Psi-War

After the battle with H'El, Superman was called to a U.S. Senate hearing to discuss the existence of the Fortress of Solitude. The Senate representatives wanted to investigate the Fortress in order to secure or remove anything that might be considered a threat to the world. However, Superman refused, appealing to his right to privacy and the fact that the Fortress contained technology beyond humanity's control. Clark also became a blogger to make ends meet.^[60]

When it was discovered that the villain Hector Hammond, after falling into a coma, used his telepathy to hide his consciousness within Superman's memories, Wonder Woman and Orion team up to banish Hammond back to his own body and save Superman. For the future, Orion used his Mother Box to grant Superman protection from telepathic assaults.^[5]

Continuing his investigative work, Clark went to Gotham City, where a mysterious Chinese woman gave him, a folder containing info about an urban myth called "the Twenty". However, before he could break the story, Superman was incapacitated by a psychic attack caused by the H.I.V.E. Queen, one of the Twenty.^[61]

Superman and Hector Hammond teamed up to stop the Queen, but, upon her defeat and apparent death, a new villain arrived: the Psycho Pirate, a telepath who knew about Superman's secret identity.^[62] The Psycho Pirate lead Superman to the Swarm, a prison for psionic people, explaining that he was also one of the Twenty. The Queen created the Swarm in order to prepare the world for Brainiac's return. With the Queen dead, the Psycho Pirate wanted to release the people trapped in the Swarm, so he trapped Superman in an illusionary world in order to absorb his energy.^[63]

Lois, having developed psychic powers of her own, freed Superman from the illusions. Knowing they were outmatched against the Psycho Pirate, Superman and Lois joined forces with Hammond and the H.I.V.E. Queen, who had barely survived the Pirate's attack, and defeated the Psycho-Pirate and destroyed his Medusa Mask.

During the battle, Lois learned Superman's secret identity but conveniently fell into a coma from her new power usage. Superman brought Lois to the hospital to be treated and, when she reawakened, she had forgotten the information and lost her powers.^[64]

Following various revisions to history, it is likely this event was erased from continuity (or at least heavily modified), as it no longer aligns with the histories of many of the characters involved, including that of Lois Lane and the Psycho-Pirate.

Krypton Returns

 Main article: Krypton Returns

Superman was dragged into space by a mysterious force called the Oracle that told him that H'El had survived and had managed to bring Krypton back to life by altering the timeline, which threatened the entire universe if they did not go back in time to stop him. With the help of Faora, Superman traveled to Kryptonopolis a few months before Krypton's destruction, where he met his mother Lara.^[65][66] Superman witnessed Lara tell Jor-El that she was pregnant,^[67] but was soon confronted by a version of his father Jor-El from the dystopian future H'El had created, who had also gone back in time to fix the present.

Superman and Jor-El traveled to Krypton's core and fought H'El, and Superman used H'El's own chronal powers against him by freezing him with his super-breath, locking H'El in a state of eternal limbo. Superman and Supergirl were reunited in the present, but they learned that Superboy sacrificed his life to stop H'El. Mourning the loss of their friend, Superman and Supergirl returned to Earth.^[68]

Trinity War and Forever Evil

 Main articles: Trinity War and Forever Evil

In the hopes of ridding the world of evil, Pandora tried to have members of the Justice League open her box, believing that their virtuousness would prevent the calamity that occurred when she opened it.^[69] However, this backfired, and the active Justice Leagues took sides, fighting over the "correct" method to open the box.^[70]

While trying to understand the escalating tension of opening the box, Superman and Wonder Woman were ambushed by Dr. Light and, during their fight, Superman accidentally killed Light with his heat vision.^[71] Superman asked to be locked away for his outburst but started getting sick in captivity.^[72] Upon investigating further, Firestorm, the Atom and Element Woman discovered that there was Kryptonite in Superman's nervous system, which caused him to attack Dr. Light unintentionally.^[73] However, before they could save him, the Crime Syndicate came to Earth from their world and trapped the Justice League inside the Firestorm Matrix.

After being freed by Lex Luthor and his group of rebellious criminals, Superman was eventually saved by Luthor, who was volunteered to remove the Kryptonite from his brain.^[74] For his heroism during the crisis, Lex Luthor was accepted as a member of the Justice League.

Doomed

 Main article: Superman: Doomed

After discovering Doomsday wreaking havoc and harboring a dangerous toxin within his body, Superman ripped the beast in half and used his super-breath to inhale the toxin to stop it from spreading.^[75] After recovering, Superman realized that he was slowly turning into a Doomsday-like creature himself.^[76] Wonder Woman tried to help him, but the transformation became stronger^[77] and Superman had no choice but to turn himself to the authorities.^[78] Superman was locked in a special facility but he soon was needed by the Teen Titans to defeat an enemy, which he eliminated ruthlessly in his increasingly monstrous state.^[79]

The military declared Superman an enemy of the state and they sent Metallo and Atomic Skull to eliminate him. Steel tried to help Superman fight the enemies, but, after a suicide attack with kryptonite by Metallo, Superman became weak and his transformation into "SuperDoom" was accelerated.^[80] Wonder Woman then took Clark to outer space where he could escape into its depths until they found a way to save him.^[81]

While in space, SuperDoom tried to help an alien colony but lost control and attacked their leader.^[82] He was then warned about an incoming invasion of Earth by Brainiac's forces and he confronted its commander, a cyborg with Superman's appearance.^[83] After a brief fight between them, SuperDoom returned to Earth and joined the Justice League to fight Brainiac's forces and after their victory, the Justice League removed the kryptonite from Earth's atmosphere, making Superman temporarily change back to normal.^[84][85]

When Brainiac's forces returned with reinforcements, Superman attempted to turn back into SuperDoom to fight them. Unfortunately, Superman lost control of his body completely to the virus.^[86] Defeating Brainiac, Lois Lane helped Superman steal Brainiac's powers and finally cure Superman of the Doomsday virus. Once free, the hero captured Brainiac and took him inside a black hole,^[87] returning back to Earth sixty days later.^[88]

Men of Tomorrow

During an alien attack on Metropolis, Superman was assisted by a stranger called Ulysses and together they defeated Klerik, one of the alien soldiers. Superman then learned that Ulysses believed himself to be the last survivor of Earth.^[89] With Superman's help, Ulysses found the truth about his past,^[90] but they were soon confronted by "The Machinist", a man responsible for creating destructive robots.^[91] The criminal managed to escape and shortly afterwards, Ulysses revealed his plan of taking millions of people to his home planet, "The Great World" in order to save mankind from what he believed was Earth's doom.^[92] This lead to a confrontation between Superman and Ulysses, with the latter winning and taking Superman prisoner.^[93]

On their way to Ulysses' home planet, there was another confrontation between Superman and Ulysses^[94] and the fight was brought to Metropolis, where Superman unleashed a new power, he didn't know he had: a super flare of solar energy, beating Ulysses for good. Unfortunately, the solar flare drained his powers for a day, leaving him as a normal human until they slowly began to come back.^[95]

Blackmailed by HORDR

At the Daily Planet, Clark started to get text messages from an unnamed source that gave him tips on criminal operations that he was able to stop as Superman. Unfortunately, he got more messages from the unnamed source, who revealed they knew Clark's secret identity and forced him to capture a woman called Condesa. Realizing that Condesa knew about the person blackmailing him, Clark chose to team up with her instead.^[96]

Condesa told Clark about the organization that had been stalking her called HORDR, whose leader HORDR_ROOT was behind Superman's blackmailing. As Superman went after HORDR, he was forced to reveal his secret identity to Lois Lane and, while using his new solar flare power to destroy the HORDR base, was infected with a substance by their leader that neutralized his powers.^[97]

Much later, as Clark recovered, HORDR_ROOT revealed he survived their encounter and further blackmailed Superman into working with him. Clark begrudgingly agreed to play along and went to a secret facility where HORDR forced him to use his solar flare so HORDR could analyze it. Lois, not wanting Superman to suffer through the blackmail any longer, leaked his secret identity as Clark Kent to the world, as well all the information she had on HORDR. Unfortunately, though HORDR_ROOT no longer had any leverage, Superman, still weakened, was turned into public enemy #1.^[98]

Truth and Savage Dawn

Because of his outed identity, Clark was fired from the Daily Planet by Perry White, who felt betrayed that Clark kept such an important secret from him.^[99] And, because he no longer had the powers he usually had, Superman was unable to return to the Fortress of Solitude and his advanced Kryptonian costume didn't recognize him anymore. Clark was forced to change his image - he cut his hair, improvised his signature symbol with a Superman merchandise t-shirt, and tore up his cape to fashion himself knuckle bandages. Superman still attempted to help the people of Metropolis even in his weakened state.

The mastermind behind Superman's power loss was revealed to actually be Vandal Savage, who hijacked the Stormwatch space carrier and captured the Justice League.^[98] To stop Savage, Steel provided Superman with a Kryptonite-powered suit of armor. Superman and the Justice League United stormed the Watchtower, but Vandal tore the Fortress of Solitude off the ground in his plan to gain power from the comet that made him immortal in the first place.^[100] Vandal used the comet's power to give superpowers to the thousands of illegitimate children he had fathered across the millennia, turning them into an army he could throw at Superman and his allies.^[101]

Superman lead Earth's remaining superheroes into attacking the Stormwatch carrier and freed the Justice League. Superman attempted to stop Savage, but the villain threw him into the Fortress of Solitude, which finally acknowledges him as Kal-El of Krypton, healed his body and restored his uniform.^[102]

Fully powered again, Superman attempted to stop the fight, as Vandal manipulated his children into exposing themselves to the comet's dangerous power. Unfortunately, Superman's pleas fell on deaf ears, and their bodies collapsed from the power they had absorbed.^[103] Vandal offered for Superman to join his side and rule Earth, but Superman refused and broke the comet off Earth's orbit, throwing it and Vandal into deep space.^[104]

Darkseid War

 Main article: Justice League: The Darkseid War

When the daughter of Darkseid named Grail signaled an impending war between her father and the Anti-Monitor, Superman and Lex Luthor, still a member of the Justice League, attempted to avert the disaster. However, the two men were betrayed by Lex's sister Lena, who used a Mother Box to teleport them to Apokolips.^[105] Once there, Superman and Lex were forced to work together in order to survive, especially because Apokolips was far away from a yellow sun, meaning that Superman's powers were depleting quickly.^[106] As they were surrounded by Parademons, Lex, in a desperate attempt to save the Man of Steel, threw Superman into one of Apokolips' fire pits, thinking its energy would revitalize him.

Unfortunately, Apokolips' energy darkened Superman's body and mind, turning him into the God of Strength.^[107] With his new power, the God of Strength destroyed the enemies surrounding him and Lex's armor^[108], leaving Luthor alone on Apokolips while he himself returned home.^[109][110]

When Superman reunited with the Justice League in his altered state, Wonder Woman was able to use her Lasso of Truth to bring Superman to his senses.^[111] As the war between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor continued to wreak havoc on Earth,^[112] Superman joined the fight and briefly staggered the Anti-Monitor by blasting him with all the dark energy in his body, turning himself back to normal. The war was halted when Mobius was unexpectedly killed by Steve Trevor, who had been infected with the Anti-Life Equation by Grail.^[113]

In the final fight, Lex and Steve were stripped of their powers to resurrect the fallen Darkseid as a baby. With all the enemy combatants either dead or scattered, the war was over. Unfortunately, despite expelling the Apokoliptian dark energy during the fight, the damage done to Superman's cellular structure was irreversible. According to Batman, Superman was dying.^[114]

Final Days of Superman

 Main article: Superman: The Final Days of Superman

As a result of cosmic upheaval of Flashpoint and Rebirth, Earth-0 had inadvertently become home to two versions of both Clark Kent and Lois Lane, split from one another during the creation of the post-Flashpoint timeline. One group appeared to be 'native' to the post-Flashpoint timeline; the other pair seemed to be remnants of the timeline's original history prior to its alteration. Though they existed apart for a time, eventually, their fates converged.

After being depowered by Vandal Savage, the events of the Darkseid War, and his fight with the Kryptonian god Rao, Superman learned that his death was imminent and asked for Batman's help to find him a successor.^[115] As part of his legacy, Superman told the whole truth to Lois Lane and asked her to publish everything in the Daily Planet in order to have his history and identity revealed to the world before his death.^[116] Superman told the truth to Diana, and they shared a moment before they were needed back in Metropolis, where the "Energy Superman" they had caught days earlier had escaped Stryker Island and was destroying everything.^[117]

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman together tried to stop the Energy Superman and, while doing so, were assisted by the mysterious "Superman in black", who chose to remain unidentified for the time being. Superman took the Energy Superman to space, where he used his solar flare power to finish the threat, and the enemy evaporated in the cosmos. Superman's body fell down to Earth and, as he was surrounded by his friends, he asked the "Black Superman" to take his mantle and become the New Superman of Earth. After this, the other Superman died and turned to ashes.^[118]

This Superman's powers would be transferred to both Lana Lang and Lois Lane, who were positioned closest to him when his energy gave out. They would both take the alias Superwoman, but Lana would later lose the powers and that Lois would die in action.

Within the history of Dawn of DC, the Lois Lane who acted as Superwoman is described in computer database of John Henry Irons as an alternate version of Lois Lane (a reversal of the original nature of the storyline) and as a 'remnant' of energies resulting from the Rebirth event. It is likely the same applies to Superman.^[119]

DC Rebirth

Superman Reborn

 Main article: DC Rebirth

Not long after, Mr. Mxyzptlk appeared, having been imprisoned by Mr. Oz. He initially appeared as Clark Kent, much to the confusion of all, as it was common knowledge that Superman and Clark Kent were one in the same. He began to harass Superman and revealed that both the New Earth and Prime Earth Supermen were actually two halves of the true, complete Superman, who was split during the Flashpoint incident. The same was true for Lois.^[120] These alternates versions of Clark and Lois merged with the deceased essences of their Prime Earth counterparts, and each became single, complete Prime Earth versions - fixing their conflicting histories and bringing the world back to normal.^[44]

Afterwards, memories of this incident were vague. However, Mxyzptlk's impersonation of Clark Kent did have a beneficial side effect; because he told others that the revelation of Superman's secret identity was a farce, a ruse needed to draw out an enemy, and because he was photographed alongside Superman, the public and many others were convinced that Superman was in fact not Clark Kent, restoring Superman's secret identity.

Revenge

 Main article: Superman: Revenge

As Clark and Lois got ready to move back to Metropolis from their rural home in the country, the new Hank Henshaw put together a new Superman Revenge Squad.^[121] Stealing a mystical item from Superman's Himalayan backup Fortress, Henshaw turned himself back into Cyborg Superman and allied himself with Superman's greatest foes to finally destroy him.^[122]

Superman was forced to retreat, taking his family to the Fortress of Solitude. The group of villains assaulted the Fortress before he had time to come up with a plan, but the Superman Family - Supergirl, Superwoman, Steel, Super-Man and Lex Luthor (also Superman) arrived, ready to help him.^[123]

During the ensuing brawl, Zod managed to send most of Superman's allies to the Phantom Zone and freed his wife Ursa and their son Lor-Zod. Superman and his family successfully defeated the rest of the Squad and freed Superman's friends. As punishment, Superman left the defeated Cyborg Superman in the Phantom Zone.^[124]

The Oz Effect

After addressing several emergencies all over the world, Superman found the perpetrator of these disasters to be the mysterious force that had been watching him for years - Mr. Oz, who teleported Superman to the Fortress of Solitude and revealed himself to be Superman's Kryptonian father Jor-El.^[125] Jor-El told his son about how he had survived - a mysterious entity rescued him from Krypton moments before it exploded and brought him to Earth to witness humanity's darkest impulses. Horrified by these atrocities, Jor-El became Mr. Oz and vowed to correct the decision he had made when Kal was a baby and escort him to a better planet to live.^[126] Superman refused to abandon humanity though and stood by his mission to help whenever he was needed.^[127]

Oz set his sights on Superman's family and made contact with Lois and Jon, hoping that, by convincing them to rebuke humanity, Kal would too.^[128] Superman, furious at his father's nagging, physically fought him and shattered the man's staff, which had been mind-controlling him to do his evil actions. Back to his senses, Jor-El begged his son to do the right thing before being teleported away by the same entity that saved him before.^[129]

Back to Krypton's Past

Saddened by these recent events, Superman investigated if Mr. Oz was really his father by using the Flash's Cosmic Treadmill to travel back in time to Krypton's past.^[130] Superman reached Krypton, where he stumbled upon time-traveler Booster Gold and Skeets, who informed the Man of Steel that his presence had distorted the timeline so that the Kryptonians began properly making preparations to evacuate their dying planet.^[131] Booster attempted to forcibly return Superman to his original timeline, but one of Krypton's Eradicators damaged his time sphere, and they became trapped in 25th Century Gotham City, Booster's birthplace.^[132]

Gaining access to a Time Sphere, Booster theorized they could now visit Krypton without risking further damage to the timeline. However, the Eradicator then, coincidentally, also damaged the time sphere, and they crash-landed and were captured on a mysterious planet that worshiped General Zod.^[133] The heroes were sentenced to be executed but, before Zod and his family got the chance, Superman, Booster and Skeets caused an uprising of slaves on the planet that allowed them to escape.

Skeets reconstructed the time sphere, giving them the chance to return to the present. Before they did though, Superman convinced Booster to let him see the final moments of Krypton and, upon their arrival, watched as a mysterious blue light took Jor-El away, confirming that he was indeed Mr. Oz.

The heroes returned to the present where, in Superman's absence, his family would have died, but Booster Gold secretly rewound time to give Superman enough time to save them.^[134]

Invasion of the Dark Multiverse

 Main article: Dark Nights: Metal

Through unknown circumstances, the Justice League (Superman included) was captured by Mongul, who had forced the League into gladiatorial combat against machines built by a captive Toyman. Fortunately, Batman had figured out a way to help the League escape from their predicament, defeat Mongul and return to Earth. As soon as they returned, however, they discovered that a large mountain had suddenly grown in the middle of Gotham. Their investigations on the mountain led them to Kendra Saunders, who had also been investigating the mountain, believing it to be related to a mysterious region of space known as the Dark Multiverse, a region of space far removed from the limits of Universe-0. Kendra told the League that a mysterious evil from the Dark Multiverse would use Batman to unleash a great crisis upon their world and attempted to apprehend Batman, who created a distraction to escape.^[135]

As the League searched for Batman all over the world, Superman refused to believe that his friend would be the catalyst for the Dark Multiverse's victory and instead believed that Batman could be reasoned with. Superman and the League battled through several distractions left in place by Batman until he and Wonder Woman cornered Batman in the Temple of Hath-Set, the place prophesized to be the dark army's entrance to Universe-0. Unfortunately, the Court of Owls manipulated Batman into opening the gate to the Dark Multiverse, allowing Barbatos, king of the Dark Multiverse, and his seven Dark Knights entry into Universe-0. Barbatos and his Dark Knights threw Batman into the Dark Multiverse and began draining the life-forces of Superman and Batman, intending to use them to begin his conquest of the regular Multiverse.^[136]

For an entire week, Barbatos held the captured heroes into dark towers hanging above the ruins of Metropolis while subjecting Superman and Wonder Woman into terrible nightmares that convinced the heroes that they had triumphed over the dark forces of Barbatos, only to reveal that Barbatos had let them win. Against Wonder Woman's warnings, Superman attempted to defeat Barbatos all by himself, only to be ambushed by one of his Dark Knights, the Devastator. Superman was only saved by the timely interference of the Flash and taken to the Oblivion Bar, one of the last safe places on Earth. As the heroes discussed their plans to stop the invasion, Clark revealed that Bruce had sent him a warning through Barbatos' nightmares and believed he could journey into the Dark Multiverse and save him. With help from Flash and Steel, Superman traveled to the Fortress of Solitude and used modified his Phantom Zone Projector to create a portal to the Dark Multiverse. Although Superman managed to reach Batman, he was captured by the evil Supermen of the Dark Multiverse.^[137]

Using the last of his strength, Batman saved Clark from the dark Supermen and asked Dream of the Endless for help in stopping Barbatos. The Prince of Stories told the World's Finest about the origins of Barbatos and the Dark Multiverse and revealed that there was a way to defeat the forces of darkness. The heroes needed to travel to the World of Forge, at the heart of creation, and use the metal from the forge to create weapons that could defeat Barbatos. Upon reaching the forge, however, the heroes found that the forge had gone dark and were ambushed by Carter Hall, who had been transformed into Barbatos' dark dragon.^[138]

As Batman attempted to reason with Carter, Superman listened to Barbatos wail into the skies, intending to accelerate their universe's fall into the Dark Multiverse. The heroes distracted Carter long enough to find a spark of hope within the Forge of Worlds, just in time for the dark metals of the Dark Multiverse to start flooding the Forge.^[139] Fortunately, Wonder Woman reached the lowest depths of the Forge and found Superman and Batman with the last remnants of Tenth Metal, which they used to forge armors for the entire Justice League. As the League fought Barbatos and his Dark Knights, Superman personally defeated the Devastator while using the mental powers of the Tenth Metal to bind Barbatos in cosmic chains and return the Multiverse to normal. The outcome of the battle, however, shattered the Source Wall, leaving the positive Multiverse exposed to the mysteries and dangers of whatever lied beyond.^[140]

Peace would be short-lived, however, as Brainiac attacked Earth, captured as many superhumans as he could (Superman included) and forcibly brought them to his homeworld, Colu, which was under attack by cosmic entities known as the Omega Titans. He explained to his prisoners that he needs their help to save Colu from the Titans, who were awakened by the breaking of the Source Wall. To stop them, the superhumans of Earth would need to find the four energies connected to each of the Titans (Mystery, Wonder, Entropy and Wisdom) and achieve a balance betweent them, which would give the Titans no reason to consume Colu. Superman was forced to agree to Brainiac's condition and was placed with a team of fellow superhumans that embodied Mystery the same way he did. As Brainiac attempted to explain his plan, however, he suffered a seizure and died in Superman's arms.^[141]

As the Justice League made planetfall, they found 4 mysterious trees made of pure information that allowed the Titans to discover which of the 4 energies was dominant on Colu. Team Mystery made its way to the Tree of Mystery, a place that held countless miniaturized cities like Kandor. ^[142] Martian Manhunter and Starro succeeded in awakening the prisoners from their cities and the other Justice Leagues attempted to balance the energies of the trees. Unfortunately, the Omega Titans devastated Colu and Starro sacrificed his life and bought the Leagues enough time to escape.^[143]

The Justice League returned to Earth, only to find the Omega Titans already carving up a path of destruction throughout the planet thanks to a Cosmic Seed Brainiac had planted on Earth to lure the Titans away from Colu. To save the Earth, the League charged the Seed with the 4 energies of Earth and fired it at the Entropy Titan, infusing it with the 4 energies. The other Titans, attracted to the Seed, ate their own brother, and departed from Earth. Although Earth was saved, the Justice League knew that they needed to prepare against whatever challenges may come next. The rules of the universe had been broken and the universe was changing.^[144]

Rampage of Rogol Zaar

Shortly after the city of Metropolis paid him a tribute for years of heroism,^[145] the Kent family received an unexpected visit from Mr. Oz, who asked the Kents to let him take their son Jon on a journey across the galaxy so he could learn about his Kryptonian heritage. Clark initially refused, but Jon insisted he wanted to go. Lois, supporting her son, also agreed to stay at Jon's side for the journey so she could look after him. Clark was reluctant to see his family go, but nevertheless accepted their decision.^[146]

Afterwards, a mysterious villain broke into the Fortress while Superman wasn't there, leveled the place and, most heinously, smashed the Bottle City of Kandor.^[147] Superman and Supergirl tracked the murderer down and discovered his identity to be an alien named Rogol Zaar, who claimed to have been the one to destroy Krypton and wanted to finish his mission of killing all Kryptonians. Superman engaged Rogol all the way to the Moon but was defeated. Rescued by his cousin and healed by the Justice League, Superman figured out, if Rogol intended to cleanse the Kryptonian "plague", his next move would be to blow up the Earth.^[148] Superman and Supergirl worked together to defeat Rogol and trapped him inside the Phantom Zone.

Unfortunately, with the Fortress destroyed, Superman could not communicate with his family and make sure they were safe. Supergirl also decided to leave Earth in order to find out more about Rogol Zaar's origins, and the Justice League held a memorial service for the murdered Kandorians.^[146]

Earth in the Phantom Zone

After constructing a new Fortress of Solitude in the Bermuda Triangle, Superman had a conversation with Martian Manhunter, who told Superman to consider the possibility of becoming a leader to the global community, so he could lead Earth and humanity to a better tomorrow. However, before he could think on the idea, Clark realized the Earth had somehow been teleported into the Phantom Zone.^[149] He later learned the ordeal was an accident caused by scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs, but, unfortunately, the opportunity allowed Rogol Zaar to attack the Earth yet again.^[150]

S.T.A.R. Labs initiated a plan to restore the Earth, which involved the Atom miniaturizing the entire planet to make it small enough for the Flash to pass it through the Phantom Zone projector. The plan succeeded and the Earth was returned to its rightful place in the Solar System, but Superman was left behind to fight Rogol alone in the Phantom Zone.^[151] With no solar energy to replenish his powers, Superman was badly outmatched, until he was rescued by his enemy General Zod, who agreed to a temporary truce to take revenge on the man who killed Krypton.^[152] The two Kryptonians fought the villain together until Superman was abruptly beamed out of the Phantom Zone by his allies, leaving Zod and Rogol Zaar to finish their match alone.^[153]

Space Wars and the Birth of the United Planets

Superman's family returned from their space adventure with Oz,^[154] but Jon was practically unrecognizable. The science of travelling through space had aged Jon up by seven Earth years, returning as a teenager.^[153] Superman listened to his family's adventure stories,^[155] but, before long - would you believe it - Rogol Zaar returned again, this time working with General Zod. Superman and his Kryptonian family formed a team to finally take down Rogol Zaar once and for all, with Kal and his father going to the ruins of Krypton to look for clues about the villain.^[156]

While on their trip, Jor-El told his son, while on Krypton, he was a member of the Circle, a secret cabal of intergalactic rulers that controlled the galaxy from the shadows. After helping the Circle ensure their dominance across the galaxy, Jor-El expected the Circle to help him save Krypton from its imminent destruction, but they refused. Superman was disappointed by his father's morally gray past.^[157]

Rogol Zaar ambushed the heroes, but, fortunately, Zod betrayed Rogol and gave the Family of Steel the opportunity they need to incapacitate Rogol.

When the battle was finished, Superboy, wishing there was better peacekeeping throughout the galaxy, was visited by the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 31st century, who asked for his membership.^[158] Although Superman was nervous at the thought of losing his son yet again, he chose to respect Jon's decision, no matter what it was. Jon deferred the decision for some time, until he decided he would accept the offer and go to the future.

Superman was also informed by Adam Strange that, due to his past crimes and instigation of the time steam, the nations of the galaxy had ruled that Jor-El was to be sent back in time to die on Krypton like he was supposed to. Kal was devastated, but the sentence was already carried out and there was nothing he could do. Jor-El was returned to Krypton, moments before destruction, where he saw his younger self send Kal on his mission of hope across the cosmos, whispering to himself assuredly, that his son 'did it'. In the aftermath, Zod and his family informed the Kents of their decision to create a "New Krypton" in order to save their race and formally invited the House of El to join them if they ever desired.^[159]

Once he returned to Earth, Superman talked with Supergirl^[160] and Adam Strange and decided to reveal his secret identity to Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, Clark's closest friends. Superman then called a press conference and revealed his identity to the entire world.^[161] As the people of Earth displayed different reaction to Superman's truth^[162][163], Superman himself worked towards protecting the United Planets from an attack by Mongul, who saw the young interstellar nation as a threat to his own galactic empire.^[164] After a difficult struggle in which Mongul tried to devastate the Earth^[165], Superman defeated his opponent and was temporarily elected by the United Nations to be Earth's representative in the galactic stage.^[166]

After the battle with Mongul, Superman wondered whether or not revealing his secret identity to the people of the world was the right choice, so he consulted Khalid Nassour, the latest wizard to hold the mantle of Doctor Fate,^[167] to verify whether some magical influence or a demonic possession pushed Clark towards revealing his identity. Superman truly understood that the choice was entirely his own and thus helped Khalid to defeat the Lord of Chaos Xanadoth in a battle that saw Superman briefly use the Helmet of Fate.^[168]

Superman's greatest challenge as ambassador for Earth came in the form of Eisno Alkor, an alien super-soldier from planet Synmar, who was inspired by Superman to end his homeworld's isolationism and forcibly bring it into the galactic community. Realizing that Alkor had conquered his own homeworld in a violent revolution, Superman helped the United Planets and Synmar's resistance movement to depose Alkor and bring order back to Synmar.^[169]

Justice/Doom War

A mysterious object known as the Totality landed on the Nevada desert and the Justice League, who had just elected the Martian Manhunter as their new chairman, set out to find it. ^[170] Superman and Martian Manhunter's bodies were deemed strong enough to withstand the Totality's energies without negative effects, which is why Batman miniaturized himself to enter Clark's body so he could analyze the Totality. ^[171] Unfortunately, while Superman and Martian Manhunter went on to explore the Totality's outer structure, Lex secretly infiltrated Superman's body and used it to harness the Totality's power.^[172] Despite Batman's best efforts, Lex escapes with the Totality, but not before relinquishing control of Superman's body.^[173]

Afterwards, the Justice League dedicated itself towards locating the Legion of Doom's headquarters, but they had to put that search on hold when the Triumvirate of Sea Gods started their invasion on Earth.^[174] During this event, Metropolis was flooded and Superman was attacked by Drogue of the Triumvirate but he was saved by Flash. ^[175] Joined by Mera, Superman and Flash travelled to the tomb of Arion, hoping to find the Tear of Extinction, a relic they could use to stop the Triumvirate. Once they arrived, however, the Tear had already been seized by Black Manta.^[176] Fortunately, Mera was able to take the Tear away from Manta, forcing him to retreat.^[177]

The Justice League reunited with Aquaman, who has acquired the Trident of Poseidon, and mounted a final assault on the Triumvirate's stronghold. Although Aquaman was able to make peace the Triumvirate, Manta attempted to use the Triumvirate's last weapon, the Death Kraken, to take over the world. Aquaman was able to stop him, seemingly sacrificing his life in the process, but the League held out hope he had survived and would eventually return to them.^[178] Afterwards, a mysterious man calling himself Starman had come to the Hall of Justice to warn the Justice League about the fate of the universe,^[179] but his unstable energies began coursing all over Washington D.C. until Wonder Woman restrained him with her lasso. Once his power was stabilized, Starman told Superman and his friends the story of Perpetua.^[180]

The Justice League, with assistance from Starman and the Green Lantern Corps, traveled to the Source Wall in the hopes of fixing it. To do that, they gathered the surviving Omega Titans and place them along the broken wall. However, their efforts were interrupted by the resurrected Brainiac, who had become a member of Luthor's new Legion of Doom. Brainiac sabotaged the Source Wall's healing process and stole Starman's powers, using them resurrect Perpetua, creator of the Multiverse and the cosmic entity sealed behind the Source Wall. With the Wall destroyed and their mission a failure, the Justice League returned home.^[181]

The Justice League had to ask Mister Mxyzptlk to open a portal to the Sixth Dimension in the hopes of stopping the Legion of Doom and Perpetua. According to Mxyzptlk, Superman was the only one capable of surviving the trip to the Sixth Dimension, so the Man of Steel volunteered to make the trip alone until he could return home and inform the Justice League of his findings. Upon stepping out of the portal, however, Superman found himself trapped in a remote planet surrounded by darkness, with no stars to power him up.^[182] Superman spent an unspecified amount of time trying to escape from the planet until he found himself face-to-face with an older Superman,^[183] who revealed himself to be responsible for Clark's imprisonment. The older Superman easily defeated his younger counterpart in single combat and left him to spend the rest of his life alone in the deserted planet.^[184].

Even so, Superman refused to give into despair and continued his attempts to escape from the dark planet, using a remote star as his power source. Superman was ultimately able to escape from the planet but the star disappeared, leaving Superman isolated in the middle of dark space.^[185] Fortunately, Superman reached a region of space illuminated by thousands of suns, which revitalized Superman and allowed him to reach the Sixth Dimension, where the Justice League was fighting Superman's jailer, Alpheus, the World Forger. With his new power, Superman incapacitated Alpheus with a single punch but instead of punishing him for his betrayal, he extended an invitation for Alpheus to join the Justice League and an opportunity to save the Multiverse from Perpetua.^[186]

To match Perpetua's army, the Justice League gathered allies from all over the Multiverse and Alpheus suggested they find his brothers, the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor.^[187] Superman partook in the mission to find the Monitor on Nil^[188] but they were unable to find the Anti-Matter on Oward and instead they were forced to escape from an ambush set up by the Legion of Doom.^[189]

The Justice League only had 3 days to stop Perpetua and the Legion of Doom, so Starman formulated a plan to win the oncoming war: to find the missing pieces of the Totality. To that end, the Justice League needed to separate into two teams that would travel to different points in time: the past and the future. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman would travel to the future and meet Kamandi, the last boy on Earth.^[190] He informed Superman's team that the world had been devastated by Brainiac and brought them to the ruins of the Hall of Justice, where the heroes discovered they were trapped inside one of Brainiac's bottles as part of Brainiac's experiments to find to the Totality. Using one of their old ships, the Justice League travelled to a parallel future, where they were attacked by Brainiac's slaves, the Justice Legion-A.^[191]

Wonder Woman released the Justice Legion from Brainiac's control and, together, they fought as allies against Brainiac^[192] while Kamandi was tasked with protecting the last fragment of the Totality.^[193] Kamandi brought reinforcements in the battle against Brainiac and gave Superman and his friends enough time to return the fragment of the Totality to their homeworld.^[194] Unfortunately, Perpetua had regained her full power and was preparing to reshape the Multiverse to her will.^[195] The Justice League and their remaining allies prepared for one final battle against Perpetua's army.^[196] Superman and his friends personally confronted Lex, who had become Perpetua's most powerful soldier, amidst the ruins of Washington, D.C.^[197] Martian Manhunter attempted to connect with every single person in the Multiverse in order to stop Perpetua and prove that Justice was superior to Doom, but unfortunately, the Multiverse chose Doom over Justice and the Quintessence quickly brought the Justice League to the Moon and informed them that there was still a way to stop Perpetua, but the Justice League would need to travel to the farthest reaches of the cosmos to find it, a mission the Justice League eagerly accepted.^[198]

Death Metal

Unfortunately, the Justice League's mission was a failure and they were forced to return to Earth-0, which was already under attack by an army of Batmen from the Dark Multiverse, led by the Batman Who Laughs. Superman himself was defeated by the Darkfather, imprisoned within the depths of the Sun^[199] and infected with the Anti-Life Equation. With Superman's defeat, Earth-0 fell under the rule of the Batman Who Laughs and the last remaining superheroes went into hiding.^[200]

Superman was later transferred to New Apokolips, where was tortured by the Darkfather until he was rescued by Batman and Wonder Woman. After defeating Darkfather, Superman helped his friends release an army of superheroes imprisoned within New Apokolips and Wonder Woman enlisted them on all on a mission to defeat Perpetua. For that, Superman and his friends needed to travel to the Dark Multiverse and gather enough power to heal the Multiverse.^[201] Superman and his friends infiltrated Castle Bat, home of the Batman Who Laughs, and came across the imprisoned Barbatos, who refused to help the heroes defeat his own treacherous Dark Knight, causing a bored Superman to knock him out. The heroes reached a portal that would take them across different points in the Multiverse's history, each with its own special kind of Crisis energy that could be used to stop the spread of the Dark Multiverse. Superman was sent to the time of the Final Crisis, where he was attacked by Darkseid and a group of Supermen infected by the Anti-Life Equation.^[202]

Darkseid attempted to turn Superman into another one of his slaves, but Superman was rescued by Wonder Woman, who had convinced Superboy-Prime to join the Justice League and stop Perpetua. Unfortunately, once they returned to Earth-0, they discovered the Batman Who Laughs had become the Darkest Knight, a cosmic god as powerful as Perpetua, and created his own Multiverse, the Last 52 Multiverse.^[203] The Darkest Knight summoned Castle Bat to kill Superman and his friends. Although Lex defeated Castle Bat, Superman was reluctant to trust him until Lex made him realize that only together could they stop the Darkest Knight. Lex convinced a group to build a machine powered by Anti-Crisis energy, the only thing capable of healing the Multiverse. The heroes of Earth-0 raised an army to make a final stand against the Darkest Knight and give Wonder Woman enough time to find the materials to build the Anti-Crisis weapon.^[204]

Before the final battle began, however, Superman constructed a time-shifting device that could rewind 60 minutes of time, enough time for Superman to help as many people as he could. The device gave out and Superman returned to the frontlines, but not before spending one last moment of peace with Lois and Jon.^[205] As the Darkest Knight killed Perpetua, Superman and his army prepared to fight the army of the Dark Multiverse, just in time for Wonder Woman, powered by the Anti-Crisis energy, to return to her allies.^[206] Surrounded by the Supermen of the Dark Multiverse, Clark attempted to reason with them and make them see the better part of themselves. His words fell on deaf ears, however, and the Man of Steel was forced to fight, even with his powers severely depleted by Anti-Life. Fortunately, Superman's family and a group of his villains, led by Lex were quick to support him in battle.^[207]

Superman was about to be killed by the Last Sun until Lex sacrificed his life to save him and destroy the Last Sun, while Wonder Woman destroyed the Darkest Knight, healed the Multiverse and resurrected everyone who had died in the conflict. Cured from Anti-Life, Superman returned home and joined his friends in exploring and protecting the Multiverse they had fought so hard to save.^[208]

Infinite Frontier

Fall of the Golden Age, The Authority & Warworld Saga

In an encounter with aliens from the Breach, Superman was exposed to deadly radiation.^[209][210] The resulting radiation sickness caused him to age rapidly and his powers to fade, and so he assembled a team to help protect and improve the world if he were to die or be unable to act as Superman anymore.^[211] He called this team The Authority and enlisted the aid of two members, The Enchantress and Manchester Black, to conceal and slow the progression of his condition.^[212]

The Authority's first mission became clear when an alien craft carrying refugees from Warworld crashed to Earth. The refugees were part of a long-lost group of Kryptonians called the Phaelosians who had been enslaved on Warworld for generations, and Superman swore to free them.^[213] The Phaelosians' ship had also been carrying a powerful energy source known as the Genesis Fragment, which Atlantis laid claim to, heightening tensions with the surface and almost leading to war. Superman confiscated the Fragment and warned both sides against trying to take it, giving the Justice League no choice but to expel him.^[214]

Before Superman left for Warworld, Batman asked him for a favor; he had received visions from a wounded and dying Fuginaut trapped in the Dark Multiverse. He asked Superman to bring his new team into the Dark Multiverse and attempt to resolve the situation. Superman agreed, and both entered the Dark Multiverse alongside the Authority in order to combat the Empire of Shadows.^[215]

Superman and the Authority journeyed to Warworld, despite warnings that it was almost certainly a trap set by Mongul. Indeed, Mongul was waiting for them and a sorceress working for him reversed the effects of the Enchantress's magic which had been rejuvenating Superman.^[212] Superman was forced to fight in the arenas of Warworld, powerless due to the red solar radiation which saturated the world. He asked a veteran Phaelosian gladiator named Kryl-Ux to teach him how to fight without his powers.^[216] Superman became a more adept fighter and managed to inspire some of his fellow slaves, but he received a message from Midnighter saying that he was planning to destroy the star forges which generated the red solar radiation. This would restore Superman's powers but also kill millions of people. Kryl-Ux told him there may be another way and led him to an isolated part of Warworld's catacombs made of the same material as the Genesis fragment. Superman was able to absorb the cosmic energy of the rock and restore his powers.^[217]

In time, Superman earned a reputation as the "Unbloodied Sword", the warrior that spared his opponents instead of killing them,^[217] and inspire a true rebellion among the slaves of Warworld. He also became a father figure to two young Phaelosian siblings, Osul and Otho-Ra.^[218] Under the advice of Kryl-Ux, Superman embarked on a quest for the fire of Olgrun, a relic of godly power that could end Mongul's reign over Warworld. Although Superman himself had no use for such power, he still chose to search for it, if only to keep Mongul from using it.^[219]

Superman successfully recovered the fire of Olgrun from its resting place, only to find Mongul demanding Superman to surrender the fire, lest Mongul would kill Osul and Otho.^[220] Rather than risk letting the fire fall into Mongul's hands, Superman entrusted the fire to Osul, just in time for the rebels of Warworld to modify Warworld's solar energy generators and switch their radiation from red to white. Superman recovered his powers and was cured from the radiation poisoning he got from the Breach, while Mongul died at the hands of Kryl-Ux, who admitted he had used Superman as a pawn in his own scheme to take revenge on Mongul. Although Kryl-Ux escaped, Superman's mission to liberate Warworld was complete, allowing Superman and his allies to triumphantly return to Earth.^[221]

Dark Crisis

After spending a day of peace with Lois,^[221] Superman returned to active duty by making an impassionate plea to the United Nations to offer safe haven to Warworld's refugees until they could find a new world to settle upon.^[222] He also allowed Osul and Otho to stay over at the Kent apartment and made efforts to protect Osul from Orion, who recognized Osul as the bearer of the fire of Olgrun.^[223] Although Orion was forced to retreat, he promised to find a way to remove the fire from Osul, despite Superman's protests.^[224]

Superman's reunion with the Justice League, however, was cut short^[225] when the League was called upon to fight yet another Multiversal threat, this time in the form of Pariah, an ancient scientist whose universe had been destroyed during the Crisis of Infinite Earths. Pariah had channelled the power of the Great Darkness, a primal force that existed before the birth of the Multiverse, to create a Dark Army composed of enslaved supervillains, including Darkseid and Doomsday, and created a machine that would recreate the worlds destroyed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a goal that could destroy Earth-0. Although Superman attempted to reason with Pariah, the renegade scientist refused to back down and activated his machine and the Justice League, Superman included, was caught in its energies.^[226]

Pariah's machine did not kill Superman, but rather, it placed him in a pocket dimension that represented Superman's deepest desire: the long-lost desire to see Jon's entire life, from childhood to adulthood. Although Superman was initially happy to live in a world in which he could see his son become a man,^[227] he came to realize that this world was not real and dedicated himself towards finding a way to escape. He learned to control the illusion's energies and used this power to return to the real world and fight Pariah once again.^[228]

Superman and his friends joined Earth's remaining superheroes in fighting Pariah's Dark Army, with Clark personally saving Jon from a still-enslaved Doomsday. The Justice League ultimately sealed Pariah in his own fantasy world, but Deathstroke obtained control of the Great Darkness and attempted to destroy the Multiverse.^[229] Black Adam transferred his magical powers to Earth's superheroes, allowing them to defeat the Dark Army, while Doctor Light and the Flash Family purified the Multiverse from the Great Darkness' infection. Although the Dark Crisis had ended, the Justice League was disbanded and its individual members chose to go separate ways. Clark and Jon thanked Black Adam for his help during the crisis, acknowledging that, despite their differences, they were in the same side, at least for now.^[230]

Project Blackout and Supercorp

Soon after the Crisis, Luthor came to the realization that he and Superman should work together. However, he should not be his equal, that Clark should be the outsider alien he always believed him to be. To that end, Luthor initiated Project Blackout, using Henry Bendix's technology, Warworld technology and the psychic powers of Manchester Black to erase the memory of Clark and Jon's identities from the world. Superman would see the aftereffects of this as Perry White, being faced with Superman at the Kent Farm, suffered a heart attack as his mind couldn't handle what was seen. Luthor lured Superman to Lexcorp Tower using a special watch based off of Jimmy Olsen's Signal Watch and revealed what he had done.

Furious, Superman battled Luthor, who ranted that Superman should have told Luthor that he was an outsider like him first and wanted to punish him for telling the world before him. When he revealed that Project Blackout killed Black, Superman becamed enraged over the death of a man he had given a second chance and willingly took it only for Luthor to snuff it out. Defeating Luthor, he took him to jail for Black's murder.

He later met with Batman and Nightwing and learned that, outside of those within the Kent Farm and its barrier when Project Blackout struck, the Justice League, the Titans and their reservists still knew of Clark and Jon's identity thanks to psychic shields by the Martian Manhunter. Batman convinced him to use this as a second chance, as he believed that he, Lois and Jon lost something when he revealed his identity to the world.^[231]

After Lex's defeat, Clark and Lois announced their plans to formally adopt Osul and Otho into the Superman Family, and the media dubbed the young Phaelosians as the "Super-Twins". The reorganized Superman Family's first mission was the defense of the new Steelworks Tower, an institute founded by John and Natasha Irons as a way to properly research and develop new technologies for the benefit of mankind, from a reconstructed and enhanced Metallo.^[232] Although the Superman Family foiled Metallo's first assault on Steelworks Tower^[233], Metallo attacked Steelworks again, this time with an army of zombie cyborgs called "Necro-Drones". Metallo ordered his Necro-Drones to self-destruct and injure Supergirl, forcing the Superman Family to help Supergirl while Metallo escaped.

Believing Lex to be responsible for Metallo's rampage, Superman confronted Lex on prison, but Lex claimed no responsibility for Metallo's actions.^[234] Metallo would cause trouble in Metropolis a third time and kidnap the Super-Twins in an attempt to lure Superman into a trap. Fortunately, Superman rescued the Super-Twins and used his Genesis-enhanced powers to defeat Metallo, who claimed that his sister Tracy was in danger and all this time, he had been following the orders of her unseen kidnapper to protect her. Superman agreed to help Metallo save his sister, but nevertheless told him that Metallo would have to pay for all the people he had killed.^[235]

A horde of Necro-Drones attacked A-Town, the apartment complex in Metropolis where the Warworld refugees were housed. While the Superman Family defended A-Town from the Necro-Drones, Superman deduced that Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, was the real mastermind behind these recent attacks. With the Necro-Drones temporarily defeated, Superman reluctantly activated a copy of the Eradicator to track down Henshaw's latest body to an airport. Superman, his Family and Metallo mounted an assault at Henshaw's base, only to find that Henshaw had transformed Tracy Corben into a cyborg, just like his brother.^[236] The Superman Family deactivated Henshaw's Necro-Drones and Metallo destroyed Henshaw, but Tracy is left badly damaged during the battle, but Superman granted the Corben siblings safe asylum at Steelworks Tower.^[237]

Shortly before he was arrested, Lex had made Superman the legal owner of LexCorp, which he had renamed "Supercorp" in Superman's honor. Initially, Superman refused to take control of the company formerly owned by his greatest enemy, but Mercy Graves, Lex's assistant, told him that Lex had threatened to dissolve the company and fire his countless employees unless Superman took control. ^[238] Superman reluctantly agreed and used Supercorp's resources to protect Metropolis from both the Parasite^[239][240] and the Silver Banshee^[241][242]who had been both mutated by a mysterious pair of scientists that, according to Lex, had a vendetta against him. Lex explained that, before Superman's arrival, he tried to be a hero and protect the city's downtrodden masses from Pharm and Graft, two scientists who performing unethical experiments on kidnapped victims and they must have been responsible for the mutations of both Parasite and Banshee.^[241] Later, while trying to find Pharm and Graft, Superman stumbled upon a holographic message left by them in the ruins of Metropolis, warning him about something called "Project Chained".^[242]

In his quest to discover what "Project Chained" was, Superman agreed to use Supercorp's resources and ultimately found this project was an experiment in which Lex attempted to build a special prison for superpowered criminals. Only one prison cell was built, located deep beneath Stryker's Island. Superman and Mercy Graves went there and attempted to free its prisoner, Sammy Stryker, only to figure out that Stryker wanted revenge on Lex for imprisoning him in the first place.^[243] Superman escaped from the special prison and intercepted Stryker with help from his family^[244] and Lex explained his old history with the Chained and that they needed to lock him up again. Superman put on a special suit equipped with Kryptonite gauntlets and kept the Chained occupied long enough for Superboy to put him back into his cell. Unfortunately, Superman was severely exposed to the Kryptonite^[245] and had to spend days at Supercorp's medical wing before recovering. Knowing that Pharm and Graft would continue targeting people wronged by Lex, Superman headed back into the field with a special armor, just in time to help Marilyn Moonlight in a fight against Graft, who immediately teleported them into the days of the Wild West.^[246]

Superman and Marilyn spent days trapped in the Wild West, looking for a way to return home, and confronted Terra-Man, who had equipped they could use to return to present. After defeating Terra-Man and returning home, Superman went to the Supercorp tower to see if his employees were safe, only to be ambushed by Pharm and Graft, who had formed a new Lex Luthor Revenge Squad and wanted Superman to join them.^[247] Graft exposed Superman to red Kryptonite and attempted to make him kill Lex, only for Lex to bring him back to normal by exposing him to green Kryptonite. Unfortunately, Lex's mother, Leticia, had conspired with the Revenge Squad to release a cloud of Kryptonite gas all over Metropolis in an attempt to destroy his son's legacy.^[248] Lex defeated his mother while Superman neutralized the Kryptonite cloud, saving the city, but Superman couldn't help but wonder why did the Revenge Squad wait for this particular moment to restart their vendetta against Lex.^[249]

The Empire of Shadows and the Planet of Bizarros

A radical humanocentric movement, the Blue Earth, started to gain popularity in Metropolis and its leader, Norah Stone, offered an exclusive interview to the Daily Planet. Clark was put in charge of the interview and, although he deduced that Stone was lying, she was able to frame the Blue Earth's mission as the preservation of humanity. During and after the interview, Clark grew steadily weaker and was attacked by Stone's bodyguard, Dorian, who had somehow drained Clark of his powers.^[250] Luckily, Clark used Lex's old anti-Kryptonians weapons and Dorian's own inexperience with Kryptonian powers to defeat him and discovered that he had used a mysterious green bracelet to regain his powers. Still, Clark's powers would take time to fully recharge, so he asked John Henry to build a special armor for combat.^[251]

With his new armor, Superman easily defeated a gang of Blue Earthers that somehow gained Kryptonian powers and were hurting criminals. Superman's powers were slowly restored, and he deduced that Stone was giving powers to her followers to demonize aliens and strengthen her political stance. He then remembered his old adventure with Batman and the Authority into the Dark Multiverse^[215] and realized that Stone was actually Janan al Ghul, and she had just kidnaped Otho.^[252] To find Otho, Superman asked John Constantine's help and they invaded Blue Earth's headquarters and liberated Etrigan and Bloodwynd from their prison, and together, they travelled to Earth al Ghul to save Otho and stop Janan.^[253]

Upon their arrival, Superman and his allies attacked the al Ghul's citadel, just as Janan was preparing her invasion of Earth-0. Janan had also brainwashed Otho into attacking her adoptive father, but Superman's love for her daughter allowed her to break free from the brainwashing and Janan was forced to begin her invasion prematurely. Superman and his allies returned home, just in time for the Superman Family and the Blue Earthers to join forces and defend their world together. After a fierce battle, Janan is defeated and Etrigan throws her soul into Hell. ^[254] Unfortunately, peace did not last for long, as Bizarro returned to wreak havoc on Metropolis yet again. Bizarro had stolen multiple magical artifacts from across the multiverse and began casting a spell that would have severe consequences on the city and its people. Superman believed Bizarro had lost control of the spell and tried to save him, but Bizarro completed the spell and disappeared in a mystical explosion. Suddenly, everyone in the city began transforming into Bizarros, with the original Bizarro taking control of Superman's mind and body. ^[255]

Through sheer willpower, Superman fought Bizarro's mental domination and tried to find a way to undo his spell, all the while trying to prevent the citizens of Metropolis from hurting each other. The superhero community isolated Metropolis from the rest of the world and Superman elected to stay behind and help the people in whatever way he could, but despite his best efforts, the quarantine failed, and Bizarro's spell ultimately spread across the world. Superman believed himself to be the only person unaffected by the spell, so he decided to request assistance from the only sane person left on Earth: the Joker.^[256] Using Kryptonian meditation techniques and guidance from the Bizarro Joker, Superman travelled deep into his mind to confront Bizarro, who was still trying to usurp control of Superman's body. After a long mental battle in which Superman died repeatedly, the Man of Steel ultimately gained Bizarro's magical knowledge and used it to undo his spell, even if that meant turning the Joker back into a ruthless murderer. Although the crisis was over, a small piece of Bizarro remained in Superman's mind, but Superman promised to himself to ignore and just be the best version of himself.^[257]

The House of Brainiac and Absolute Power

Just as Clark and Lois were enjoying a day off, Brainiac would an unleash an army of Czarnians and robots upon Metropolis and orchestrate the kidnapping of every single metahuman in the city, including members of the Superman Family. Superman faced off against the Czarnian general Chacal and demands to be taken to Brainiac, but Lex offered himself in Superman's place, as Brainiac had kidnapped Lex's daughter, Lena, and needed Superman to save their people. After the attack, Superman decided that the only way to find Brainiac would be to find Lobo.^[258] He tracked Lobo down to Coast City and angrily demanded to learn about his connection to Brainiac but Lobo replied that he had no idea what Superman was talking about, until Superman showed him footage of Brainiac's attack and Lobo was surprised to learn that Chacal was involved and decided to help Superman find Chacal, whom Lobo considered a personal idol. The United Planets had established a blockade around the Earth, and to get past it, Supercorp provided Superman and Lobo with spaceworthy motorcycles. Although Superman and Lois successfully bypassed the blockade, they are intercepted by Chacal's forces^[259]

Chacal and his thugs distracted Superman and Lobo enough for Brainiac's ship to escape from Superman's sight, so Lobo took the Man of Steel to Hardcore Stations, a place where they could find information about Brainiac. Unfortunately, Chacal tracked them down and convinced Lobo to betray Superman in exchange for an opportunity to replace him as leader of his gang.^[260] With help from Chacal and his men, Lobo captured Superman and took to Brainiac, who was already waiting for him. Brainiac connected Superman and other metahumans to a special machine that power up his latest creation: a Queen that could absorb the powers of other metahumans. Upon her activation, the Queen was consumed by a destructive appetite that could her to kill Chacal and his men.^[261]

Angry at Brainiac's betrayal, Lobo released Superman, who told his allies to protect Lena, who had been used by Brainiac as a living processor for his ship. Using his tactile telekinesis, Superboy disabled the Queen while Superman and his allies labored to save the cities bottled within Brainiac's ship. Lex came up with a plan to defeat Brainiac but it would involve him and Lena to get inside Brainiac's network and shut it down from within while Superman and his Family fought Brainiac and his forces directly.^[262] Lex and Lena managed to delete Brainiac's entire database but his ship sustained heavy damage during the battle. Brainiac, having lost his entire network and consumed by irrational emotion, begged Superman to save the last city of Colu, which he had preserved before the Omega Titans destroyed the planet. Superman agreed and forcibly separated the Coluan city from Brainiac's ship before it exploded. The survivors from Brainiac's countless attacks settled on an artificial planet called "Colu 2.0" to rebuild their civilization, while Superman and his family returned. Unfortunately, exposure to Brainiac's databse had left Lex with amnesia.^[263]

Superman and his allies would not have time to rest on their laurels, however, as Amanda Waller had unleashed an group of robots, Task Force VII, to steal the powers of every metahuman on Earth. One of those robots, the Last Son, stole the powers of not just Superman, but also those of Conner and Jon. Superman fell victim to Last Son when he was busy stopping a robbery and thus took a bullet to the chest while Last Son kidnapped Jon.^[264] Superman was rushed to the Fortress of Solitude, which had become a makeshift refuge to any victim from Task Force VII, and was subjected to a surgery by Mr. Terrific and Dr. Mid-Nite. Although his life was saved, the number of depowered superhumans was growing and Zatanna, who had been taken to the Fortress by Mercy, suggested a plan that could help them beat Waller, but it involve crossing into the Dark Roads, a realm of magic.^[265]

At the Fortress, Nightwing assumed leadership of the depowered superheroes, while Superman and Batman would outfit their allies with special suits that would replicate their lost powers. Unfortunately, the Fortress would be hit by the Brainiac Queen, reconstructed by Waller to serve her cause. During the battle, Superman would be treated to a terrible sight: Jon had been brainwashed and turned into a slave for Waller. The Man of Steel tried to help his son, but he was ultimately forced to order a retreat and activate the Fortress' self-destruct protocol. Superman was almost captured by the Queen and it was only through Dreamer's sacrifice that Superman escaped into the Phantom Zone and regroup with his friends.^[266] The world's superheroes set up a new base of operations in Themyscira, while Superman and Zatanna travelled to the Justice League Dark's old headquarters and found a passage to the Parliament of Trees. During their journey, they were attacked by Waller's forces until they found a portal to the Oblivion Bar, where the demon lord Neron was waiting for them. He said he could give them the Map of Mordru, an object that could help them navigate the Dark Roads, but they have to pay a high price for it.^[267]

Instead of asking for Superman's soul, Neron asked Superman, a living embodiment of truth, to lie, a clear violation of his principles and ideals; and Superman accepted. Zatanna was concerned over Superman's decision, but the Man of Steel believed the importance of their mission was worth the stain on his conscience. With the map, Superman and Zatanna gained access to the Dark Roads but the map started draining Zatanna's life force in the process. Upon reaching the House of Heroes, they found it destroyed and only Dr. Light present. Suddenly, they were attacked by Konfusion, one of the Bureau of Sovereignty's agents, but Superman and his friends escaped from the Bleed and returned home to reunite with Lois and Mercy, who were waiting for Superman at the ruins of the Fortress. Lois and Mercy decided to return to Metropolis and publish the truth about Waller's actions, while Superman travelled to Themyscira, which had become a temporary base of operations for the superhuamn resistance, to prepare for a final attack on Waller'a base.^[268] The superheroes endured an attack from the Brainiac Queen and released Jon from her control, much to Superman's relief.^[269]

The united heroes began their assault on Waller's base of operations, located deep in Gamorra, and faced heavy opposition from the Bureau of Sovereignty and Task Force VII. Luckily, the tide turned in the heroes' favor when Green Arrow, having revealed himself to be a mole within the Bureau, shot a special device invented by Batman at Waller's robots, causing them to lose their powers and the heroes, Superman included, to regain them. With Task Force VII destroyed and Waller detained, Superman helpled Hal Jordan and the Flashes stop a multiversal army of villains from invading their universe, but this was not a clean victory for the heroes. As the Fortress of Solitude underwent extensive reconstructions, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman reprimanded Green Arrow for his undercover actions, while Green Arrow countered that Waller would not have given them trouble in the first place had the Justice League been there to stop her, a sentiment Superman and his friends agreed with, and so, efforts to rebuild and expand the League began.^[270]

Return of the Justice League

As the world struggled to recover from Waller's attempt to seize power, Superman and Supergirl were attacked by three Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone that had been forcibly combined into a single, hideous creature. With help from Jimmy and Supergirl, Superman removed the creature's powers with gold Kryptonite and took it to Kandor, where a scientist explained that Kandor had lost its surveillance equipment on the Phantom Zone after the Brainiac Queen had attacked the Fortress. Superman theorized that the Zone was undergoing some kind of change and decided to investigate. He took with him special bracelets that would keep his powers replenished in the sunless Zone and left his family to defend Earth in his absence.^[271] As Superman materialized within the Zone, he was attacked by a band of criminals that still held a grudge against Jor-El for imprisoning them. He quickly captured the criminals and forced them to take him to their boss, until they were ambushed by the Val-Kon, the ship of Xa-Du. When Superman was brought onboard, however, he was surprised to see that it was not Xa-Du who was in charge of the ship, but his old friend Mon-El.^[272]

Mon-El, having imprisoned Xa-Du and taken control of his ship in Superman's absence, explained that the Zone was becoming a physical realm thanks to the actons of an entity known as Aethyr, who had promised to release the Zone's prisoners from their eternal torment. Aethyr created physical realms within the Zone and made the Zoners corporeal again. The violent criminals quickly returned to their old ways once they were able to hurt each other, and a disgusted Aethyr enslaved them and appointed Xa-Du as his warden. When the Val-Kon passed an immaterial region in the Zone, Xa-Du took this opportunity to escape and reunite with Aethyr.^[273]

To stop Aethyr, Superman and the Val-Kon's crew travelled to Aethyropolis, the center of Aethyr's power. There, they were attacked by Aethyr's army and Xa-Du destroyed the device Superman was going to use to return to Earth. Superman was ambushed by Aethyr, who was displeased by Xa-Du's failure to control the Phantom Zone and threw both Superman and Xa-Du to the eye of the Phantom Zone, a place in which multiple points of time and space were intertwined. Superman attempted to escape back to Earth by crossing one of the countless cracks in the void, but instead of reaching Earth, he was thrown into Krypton's past.^[274] While exploring the city of Kryptonopolis, Superman deduced that he had travelled back to a time shortly before Krypton's destruction and resolved to find a way home. To do that, he hid his identity under the alias "Klar Ken" and went to the House of El for help in recharging his solar batteries. Jor-El invited Superman to his lab and revealed his theory that Krypton would soon explode, but suddenly, representative from the Science Council called Ro-Zan burst into the lab and arrested Jor-El for developing technology without the Council's permission. Superman attempted to defend his father but was knocked out and arrested, as well.^[275]

After their arrest, Superman, Jor-El and Lara were called to stand trial before the Council for the charge of hoarding special technology for themselves. Because of his lifetime of achievements, the Council has agreed to let Jor-El and his allies walk free, but his latest invention, the Phantom Zone projector, would be left under the Council's custody, much to Jor-El's protests. This development shocked Superman as, all this time, he had believed that his father had proposed the usage of the Phantom Zone as a form of rehabilitation for dangerous criminals. Upon leaving the Council's chambers, Jor-El revealed that he and Lara secretly recovered Superman's solar bracelets. Jor-El took Superman to the home of his brother Zor-El, where they hoped they could repair and recharge the bracelets.^[276]

Zor-El told Superman that he could recharge his solar batteries with his photonic converter, but Ro-Zan has already confiscated it. When a groundquake hit Argo City, Superman told Zor-El that his brother's warnings about Krypton's impending doom might be correct. Zor-El angrily dismissed that theory, for he believed that his brother was disgracing the El name. He threw Superman and the Els out of his house and told them never to come again. With no other options, Superman was forced to sneak into the Science Council's building and try to find Zor's photonic converter so he could recharge his solar bracelets. With his powers fully recharged, Superman returned to the Phantom Zone using the same portal that took him to Krypton in the first place, but upon his arrival, he found that the Zone was starting to collapse.^[277] The Zone was becoming increasingly unstable due to the presence solid matter, and Superman reunited with Mon-El, who revealed that Aethyr had been using Earth's sun as a power source to create solid matter within the Zone. Superman begged Aethyr to stop his plans to reshape the Zone, but Aethyr refused to listen and instead used more solar energy to increase his size until he was crushed under his own mass. All that remained of Aethyr was a sphere he had been using to convert energy into matter and Mon-El used it to create a portal that led Superman back to Earth. ^[278]

Superman invited as many heroes as he could to the reformed Justice League and was present at the opening ceremony of the new Watchtower, an event interrupted by a sudden assault from Darkseid, who had absorbed the Spectre to increase his power.Zatanna enchanted Superman with a spell that not only released the Spectre from Darkseid's control, but seemingly destroyeed the Dark Lord of Apokolips, as well. Darkseid's apparent death opened a gateway to the mysterious Elseworld, Earth-Alpha, and Superman declared that the new League's first official mission had begun. Booster Gold volunteered to investigate Earth-Alpha, but the League lost contact with him as soon as he stepped into the gateway.^[279] Unfortunately, the new League couldn't spare the time to locate Booster, for it had to answer the threat of the mysterious terrorist organization Inferno, which had unleashed an army of machines to attack a village in South Africa.^[280]

Although Waller was imprisoned and her forces had been detained, some of the superpowers they had stoled had failed to return to their original owners. Some superhumans had switched powers, while other powers have been spread out across the entire globe and found new owners.^[270] One of those new superhumans was Lois, who had acquired powers similar to those of Superman, and she used them to go on many adventures with her husband. Superman and the new Superwoman were ambushed by Doomsday, who had escaped imprisonment from Hell. To make matters worse, Superman was visited by a future Doomsday who had become the latest entity to bear the mantle of the Time Trapper.^[281] The Time Trapper wanted Superman's help to evolve to a newer, more powerful form and stated that everyone Superman knew and loved would be destroyed by an unknown enemy. Superman refused to help the Time Trapper, who simply departed and said that Superman would help him sooner or later. Present Doomsday continued his attack on Metropolis and Supercorp attempted to stop him by having Parasite absorb his power but Doomsday ripped Parasite in half, and Superman was forced to beat Doomsday into unconsciousness so that Supercorp could capture him.^[282]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Kryptonian Physiology: Superman's Kryptonian biology is able to store solar energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This process powers most of his electromagnetic capabilities such as flight, heat-vision and other "sight"-based abilities, while also supplementing his physical abilities to immense superhuman levels.^[58] Aside from his incredible power, Superman is integral to the balance of the universe. The Spectre explained that Superman embodies the primal forces of Life and Hope, which push reality outwards to expand. This force is counterbalanced by Constraint, which holds the expansion back, and is embodied by Darkseid. Together, they maintain the balance of the universe.^[279]
  • Solar Radiation Absorption: Due to his Kryptonian biology, Superman's body absorbs solar energy and converts it into power, causing him to pull in 140 gigawatts of solar energy at any given moment.^[283]. Stars of different frequencies give him different abilities. Earth's yellow sun fuels all of his powers, while the wavelength of his home solar system's Red Sun enables his body to function on an identical level of an ordinary human. Every time Superman uses any of his superhuman abilities, his body expends absorbed sunlight. By flying into the sun, Superman is able to recharge his energy and temporarily boost his powers. After being exposed to Warworld's Genesis-powered "White" Sun, Superman's existing powers were greatly enhanced and granted new abilities. After the White Sun exposure, Superman claimed that concepts like weight, distance, temperature and even space-time have largely lost their meaning for him.^[231]
    • Energy Absorption: Superman's solar receptors have allowed him to absorb different types of energy in certain instances. He has absorbed cosmic energy from Starman, gained from the Totality itself.^[284] This boosted his powers to the point that he felt like he could crack the Earth in half with a footstep, if he wasn't careful.^[285] Superman also displayed the ability to absorb the radiation from an atomic explosion, however this left him severely weak.^[286]
  • Superhuman Strength: Superman possesses near limitless strength, though the exact limits of Superman's strength is unknown. Superman is one the most physically strong beings in the multiverse. His immense willpower allows him to push beyond his physical limits when necessary, allowing Superman to exert incredible feats of strength. He was strong enough to knock out a restrained Barbatos,^[138] with a just a punch.^[287] When Superman fought against Rogol Zaar inside the Phantom Zone, their fight made the realm tremble and shake, under the weight of their battle.^[288] His powers were further augmented by Warworld's Genesis-powered "white" sun, making him strong enough to fight two New Gods simultaneously.^[289] After being supercharged by multiple suns, Superman was able to punch the World Forger hard enough to create a continent-sized hole, and crack a tear in the Sixth Dimension.^[186]
    • Shock Wave Projection: Superman is strong enough to create powerful sonic booms with just the clap of his hands. These sonic claps are powerful enough to be heard across states.^[290]
  • 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. Superman was even fast enough to keep up with Wally West on foot, though he is still not as fast.^[291] He can move so fast that time slows from his perspective, long enough to have an entire conversation in just a few seconds.^[292] Superman is fast enough to essentially be in two places at once, as he was capable of fighting Darkseid and saving the lives of others simultaneously, which perplexed even Darkseid himself.^[293] After being supercharged by multiple suns, Superman was able to move at a speed described as beyond physics and imagination, and far past the speed of light.^[186] Superman is fast enough to jump into the timestream and travel throughout it, with the aid of the Cosmic Treadmill, something only the Flash Family was thought fast enough to do.^[130]
    • Molecular Acceleration: Superman can vibrate his molecular structure to achieve various effects.^[294] By vibrating fast enough, Superman can enter the "space between spaces", a vibrational frequency that nobody can perceive, thus giving him and General Zod the chance to talk privately.^[295]
      • Phasing: By vibrating his molecules on an atomic level, and by doing so at just the right frequency, Superman can phase through objects such as walls without damaging them.^[234]
      • Intangibility: Superman can vibrate his molecular structure to an intangible state, allowing objects to pass through him, including energy blasts.^[289]
    • Vortex Creations: Superman can use his speed to manipulate airflow for various purposes. He was able to use his flight speed to funnel a toxic chemical out of the atmosphere and into space.^[128] By flying around a group of enemies at super speed, Superman can create a vortex around them to draw away their oxygen and choke them out.^[296]
  • Superhuman Agility: Superman's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels. This allows him to easily make sharp turns and easily maneuver while flying and moving at superhuman speed.
  • Superhuman Reflexes: Superman possesses reflexes far greater than any normal human being. This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion.^[145]
  • Superhuman Stamina: Superman is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This is 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 Senses: All of Superman's senses are enhanced to superhuman levels, allowing him to perceive the world in far greater detail than the average human.^[145] By combining his super-hearing with the sound waves from his sonic-claps, he can simulate a rough form of echolocation.^[297]
    • Super-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 things.
      • Infrared Vision: Superman can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
      • Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
      • Radiation Production: Superman can emit various forms of radiation through his eyes. He once used this ability to emit microwave radiation to fry the electronics in a room.^[24]
      • 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: By focusing his vision, Superman can see through any volume of matter, except lead. He can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there and can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. Superman's enemies have attempted to use lead to hide things from his vision, mistakenly believing that anything with that material is somehow invisible to him. On the contrary, lead's opaqueness to his X-ray vision makes the material easy to spot with a wide-angle scan and allows Superman to narrow his search to those opaque objects.^[298] He can even use intensify his X-Ray vision to the extent that he could use it at a Gamma level to short out a Space Station's electrical engine.^[299]
    • 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.
    • Superhuman Taste: Superman's sense of taste is enhanced to levels far greater than any normal human. He is capable of singling out every specific ingredient in food by tasting it.^[300]
  • Accelerated Healing: Superman's bodily tissue can repair itself fast enough to be visibly noticeable, allowing him to heal from injuries at a highly accelerated rate.^[24] The time it takes for him to heal depends on the level of injury. When under direct sunlight, Superman can heal almost instantly.^[24]
    • Toxic Immunity: Superman is resistant to any toxins and diseases due to his superhuman immune system.^[301]
  • Enhanced Mental Process: Superman's mental capacity is enhanced to levels far greater than any normal human, allowing him to take in and process information at an accelerated rate. This allows Superman to read through large amounts of information at super-speed and retain it.^[52][302] His mind is able to process information at such speeds that he can perceive femtoseconds and attoseconds.^[145]
  • 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. He is capable of flying at above supersonic and hypersonic speeds.^[145]
  • Heat Vision: Superman can fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected. After receiving brief training from Wraith on how to use his heat vision for more combative purposes, Superman learned to rapid fire his heat vision at maximum heat, by blinking at super speed.^[303]
    • Solar Flare: Superman's last resort power that he'd discovered through his heat vision, was the ability to immediately expel all of his stored solar energy in one gigantic burst of explosive force. This Solar Flare uses all the stored energy within his cells at once, allowing for an all-out attack.^[95] He cannot use it more than once or twice however, as it drains him of all his powers until he can recharge his cells with solar energy. Give or take 24 hours, in that expanse of time, he is rendered virtually human and vulnerable.^{[304][305][300]} Superman eventually learned to keep his flares smaller and more contained, so that it doesn't take a toll on his powers.^[96] Cyborg stated that this Solar Flare has the effects of an EMP.^[306]
  • Immortality: Superman is unable to die from old-age and can seemingly live forever. The Time Trapper stated that Superman would outlive everything in the universe.^[307]
  • Interstellar Travel: Superman is immune to the nature of space and is not inhibited by its lack of gravity. He can travel the reaches of space where no human body could possibly survive without the aid of technology or protection.^[145]
  • Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Superman is nigh-invulnerable to nearly all physical attacks, including bullets, blades, blunt objects, and explosions. Only beings rivaling his own power, Kryptonite-based weaponry, and magic-based attacks can significantly harm Superman.
    • Energy Resistance: Superman is highly resistant to most energy-based attacks. On separate occasions he has withstood 300,000 volts and 10 gigawatts of electricity running through him.^[24][302] He was even able to deflect Darkseid's full-power Omega-Beams off his chest, and was completely unharmed.^[279]
  • Super-Breath: Superman is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can also chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets.^[308] He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.
  • Self-Sustenance: Superman doesn't need to eat or sleep so long as he has enough solar energy (but is still capable of doing so) and doesn't require oxygen to breathe.^[309]
  • Tactile Telekinesis: Superman's body is completely surrounded by an invisible field of electromagnetic energy, protecting him from harm, as well enabling him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as lifting a ship without it crumbling under its own mass, and retain it's stability. However this can be disrupted by those who can manipulate electromagnetism.^[58] After White Sun exposure, Superman learned to extend his bio-electric aura to freeze Lex Luthor's Warsuit with a thought and cause it to break apart with a touch.^[231]
  • Teleportation: After White Sun exposure, Superman gained the ability to instantaneously travel across interstellar distances by creating rifts in space-time. When teleported away by Lex Luthor, Superman was able to quickly travel back to Lex though a rift in space.^[231]
• Genesis Enhancement: When exposed to the powerful, radioactive mineral called Genesis, Superman's powers are temporarily enhanced, allowing him to perform new abilities. Genesis is the crystalized blood of an Old God, making it highly mutagenetic. Due to this, Superman cannot absorb large amounts of the energy, unless the mutative radiation is filtered out.^[235]
  • Energy Construct Creation: When supercharged by Genesis, Superman can expand his bio-electric aura to surround himself in a giant energy construct of himself.^[235]
  • Kryptonite Immunity: When supercharged by Genesis, Superman can greatly resist the effects of Kryptonite.^[235]

Abilities

• Genius Level Intellect: Superman has shown incredible intelligence and computational abilities; his mind works sharply and with extreme speed relative to earth-humans. Superman's analytical powers enable him to read information directly from machines With careful usage of his heat vision, he can even reprogram machines.^{[citation needed]}
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Superman is an excellent hand-to-hand fighter, utilizing a fighting style that directly complements his superpowers. Superman's combat versatility allows him to adapt to almost any foe and beat them. He was trained by Wioska, a former combat instructor of Apokolips,^[312] Wonder Woman in Amazonian combat,^[313][314] and was taught by Kryl-Ux how to fight like a Warworld gladiator^[315]. He even learned some advanced martial arts techniques from Batman.^{[316][58][317]} Batman even stated that Clark can take care of himself, even without powers.^[318] In weakened state, Kal got the upper hand on both Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator, while suffering from blindness.^[319] Superman has shown capable of fighting blind while weakened on multiple occasions.^[320][321] He has fought the likes of Black Adam to a stalemate.^[322]
  • Boxing: Superman has been trained his father Johathan Kent^[323] in boxing^[324]
  • Jujitsu^[58]
  • Wrestling^[325]
• Indomitable Will: Superman has shown to have a powerful spirit, free of corruption and temptation. Having been raised by a kindly Kansas farmer and his wife, he was taught to protect life and help others. He is very optimistic and never gives up, even when things look bad. Superman has learned how to place mental inhibitors on his own power so that he doesn't accidentally "flex and cause the tectonic plates to shift." To him, they are the barriers that allow him to feel human enough to live a healthy life, and he only ever releases one of them when fighting a particularly powerful opponent or performing a difficult task.
• Intimidation
• Investigation: Both as a superhero and as a journalist, Superman is an expert at gathering evidence from all kinds of sources.^[326]
• Journalism: Clark is one of the best reporters on the Daily Planet, rivaled only by his wife Lois Lane. He gained a Pulitzer Prize at least in one occasion.
• Leadership: Superman has proven many times over his ability to command respect and inspire others with his charisma, ardor and idealism. He often serves as the primus inter pares of the Justice League.
• Acrobatics^{[327][328][329]}
• Meditation^[330][331]
• Multilingualism: Superman speaks Mandarin Chinese.^[123]
• Weaponry^[332][333]
  • Stick Fighting^[334][335]
  • Swordsmanship^{[336][337][338]}

Weaknesses

• Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Superman possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:
  • Vulnerability to Kryptonite
  • Vulnerability to Magic

• Solar Energy Dependency: Kryptonian abilities will eventually weaken without replenishing their energy reserves with normal (yellow) sun radiation. When exposed to the same red solar radiation as Krypton's red sun Rao, it causes Kryptonians to lose their powers within a large amount of exposure until exposure to yellow sunlight reverses this effect. When exposed to orange solar radiation from a different galaxy, Superman's strength and abilities will drastically diminished, eventually weakening him. The radiation also affects his intellectual capacity and reduces his ability to think.^[339]
• Sensory Overload: Superman's superhumanly acute senses can be overtaxed to the point of pain when encountered by extreme external stimuli such as hypersonics (hearing), balance, and sight (flashbang).
• Radiation Poisoning: (Formerly) Superman was exposed to deadly radiation during his encounter with the aliens from the Breach, causing him to rapidly age. He slowed the progression of his condition via regular infusions of rejuvanating magic from The Enchantress, but this was undone by a sorceress working for Mongul.^[212] He was eventually cured by Genesis.^[340]
  • Power Limitation: (Formerly) Superman's sickness caused his powers to fade and weaken. While still significantly stronger than a human, he was less powerful than an average healthy Kryptonian until his radiation poisoning was cured.^[341]
    

Paraphernalia

Weapons

• Yellow Lantern Ring (Formerly): While a part of the Sinestro Corps, Superman earned a ring for his ability to inspire great fear in others.^[342]

Notes

• Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, first appearing in Action Comics #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Superman first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Flashpoint (Volume 2) #5 by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert.
• Doctor Manhattan discovered that Superman is a pivotal constant in the universe. Despite changes to timeline, the Metaverse consistently preserves Superman’s existence and core history by expanding itself, creating new realities to preserve every era of Superman, emphasizing his role as a source of hope that anchors reality and inspiring heroism across all realities.^[21]
  

Trivia

• Kal-El literally translates to "Star Child" from the Kryptonese.
• Clark considers Bruce Wayne to be his best friend.^[7]
• Batman considers Superman to be his favorite superhero.^[343]
• Superman has been an active crime-fighter for at least two decades.^[344]
• Superman believes Batman is a better man than him.^[345]
• Clark is a fan of Clint Eastwood.^[346]
• Clark considers Dick Grayson to be his favorite Robin.^[347]
• Superman has been credited for being a highly skilled fighter/warrior, by impressing the likes of Captain Comet,^[348] Batman,^[349][350] Wonder Woman,^[351] Moon,^[352] Pax Galactica,^[353] General Zod,^[354] Grikus the Undefeated,^[355] the Tournament Judge of Warworld,^[356] Wioska, ^[357] and Desaad.^[358]
• Khalid Nassour served as Superman's therapist for a time after outing his secret identity.^[359][360]
• Every sunday in Smalville, Clark and his Father used to sit on the couch and watch a classic Western together.^[361]
  

Recommended Reading

• Superman (Volume 3)
• Action Comics (Volume 2)
• Justice League (Volume 2)
• Superman (Volume 4)
• Action Comics (Volume 1)
• Justice League (Volume 3)
• Justice League (Volume 4)
• Superman (Volume 5)
• Batman/Superman: World's Finest (Volume 1)
• Superman: Kal-El Returns Special #1
• Superman (Volume 6)

Related

• 1,634 Appearances of Superman (Clark Kent)
• 1,779 Images featuring Superman (Clark Kent)
• 216 Quotations by or about Superman (Clark Kent)
• Character Gallery: Superman (Clark Kent)

Footnotes

Superman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Superman, and a member of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Family members" category.

Daily Planet Staff member This character is or was an employee of the Daily Planet, a daily newspaper based in Metropolis. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Daily Planet Staff members" category.

Justice League 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. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

Authority member This character is or was a member of The Authority, a team of superheroes initially appearing in WildStorm Comics who declared themselves beyond the government, taking justice into their own hands. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Authority members" category.

Sinestro Corps member This character is or was a member of the Sinestro Corps, chosen by Sinestro to counteract the Green Lantern Corps and spread terror throughout their sector with a Power Ring. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Sinestro Corps members category."

Legion of Super-Heroes member This character is or was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 30th/31st Century, in any one of their various continuities. Including but not limited to, Original Legion, the Reboot Legion, Prime Legion and the Post-Rebirth Legion. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Legion of Super-Heroes members" category.

Black Lantern Corps member This character is or was a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Those who have died may wield the Black Power Ring, symbolizing their lack of both life and emotion. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Black Lantern Corps members category."