Superman

Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a neverending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.". Copernicus was honoured by Poland when the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, established 1945, was named after him. It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Copernicus:. It's a plane. Goethe:. It's a bird. His reasons for doing so lay in his dissatisfaction with the inadequacies of the geocentric model, in his strong belief in the truth of the solution to the problem that he developed, its elegance and relative simplicity, and its coincidence with observation and with the classical ideals to which he had subscribed since his youth.

Look! Up in the sky. Although not holding ordained office within the Catholic Church, Copernicus was devout and unwilling to be openly defiant of the Church's teaching, but, in common with supporters of the Reformation, Copernicus was criticizing orthodox theory and belief. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Neo-Platonic and classical ideas formed the intellectual environment in which Copernicus worked. More powerful than a locomotive. In this discussion of Copernicus' reasons for discarding such a long-held belief as the geocentric cosmology of Ptolemy, we can see that the Copernican revolution was simmering against a background revolution of theological thought — the Reformation. 2#⇧ Narrator Bill Kennedy intoned at the start of each program: "Faster than a speeding bullet. His reverence for the sun can be seen in the most famous passage of de Revolutionibus:.

1#⇧ Moses, Gilgamesh). As far as Copernicus was concerned, the Sun, a distinctive element in classical thought, held the central and most important position in the universe, gave added credence to his cosmology. See also: Superdupont, Superlópez. They might not have been ready to change to an understanding of the Bible as a source only of moral and spiritual, rather than scientific, wisdom. See: Superman in popular music. For orthodox Catholics, the Copernican model of the universe might have seemed too radically different from the geocentric model, sustained as it was by its agreement with many scriptural references. Superman has long been a popular subject for music, inspiring songs by artists ranging from The Kinks and Barbra Streisand of one generation through The Sugarhill Gang, Genesis, R.E.M., Crash Test Dummies, and Spin Doctors to current performers like Eminem, Dream Theater , Three Doors Down, Our Lady Peace and Five For Fighting. However, the lenient attitudes in Chelmno, where Copernicus carried out much of his work, began to change and might have contributed to Copernicus' isolation in the last years of his life.

The Swedish parliament was considering at the time whether to intervene and overrule the initial judgement.[3] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3701802.stm). Both preferred, at least initially, to promote tolerance of differing views within the church rather than open discord, and both encouraged Copernicus' publication of his scientific beliefs. In 2004, local authorities in Sweden refused to allow a child to be named Stålmannen, which means Superman (literally: The Man of Steel). Copernicus seems to have been benefited from the attitude of the bishops who were his superiors in the church - Johann Dantiscus and Tiedmann Giese. Hyperion has been revamped in a new Marvel series, Supreme Power, giving a new take on the Superman mythology. "Mathematics", he says, "is written for mathematicians". DC in turn introduced the "Assemblers of Angar", a thinly-veiled Avengers pastiche. In his own preface to his work, dedicated to Pope Paul III, Copernicus took care to point out that his motives for developing a cosmology that included a moving, rather than a stationary, Earth, were inspired by his dissatisfaction with the mathematical and astronomical descriptions of the geocentric model, and were not intended to defy the written Word.

Hyperion stood in for Superman, the Whizzer for The Flash, etc. Not much more than a century later, Kepler had certainly despatched the circular orbits of the planets and replaced them with ellipses, but the Copernican heliocentric universe was still intact. The Squadron Supreme was created to do unofficial JLA/Avengers crossovers; the "new" characters were thinly veiled versions of their DC JLA counterparts. However, its consistency with the observed behaviour of the universe in a time before the telescope made more detailed observation and the gathering of more accurate measurements practicable, gave the Copernican model its strongest support. One of the few Superman-like characters that DC Comics allowed to stand without litigation is Hyperion, from Marvel Comics's superhero team, Squadron Supreme. In his unauthorized and anonymous preface to de Revolutionibus, Andreas Osiander was technically correct when he made reference to "the hypothesis of this work". In 1998, an American Express commercial featured real-life Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman as buddies holding a running conversation around New York City. Until 1543, the year that Copernicus died, and the year in which his de Revolutionibus was published, and for many years afterwards, Copernicus' description of the motion of the Earth was not ratified by empirical evidence.

Seinfeld is also famous for having a Superman reference in every episode. Copernicus used the eccentrics, epicycles, and equants of Ptolemaic cosmology, but added three kinds of motion to describe the observed behaviour of the Earth:. Jerry affectionately addressed some of his girlfriends as "Lois Lane". Elegance was a consequence of the overall simplicity of Copernicus' cosmology and much of this seeming simplicity resulted from his retention of circular orbits for the planets around the central Sun. On the Seinfeld TV show, a Superman statue sat on the stereo in Jerry's livingroom, and a Superman refrigerator magnet was always visible in his kitchen. Heraclides' description of the revolutions of Mercury and Venus around the Sun might have led Copernicus to consider that the other planets, including the Earth, did the same. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld expressed his fandom of Superman in several ways. Aristarchus (3rd century BC) proposed an openly heliocentric model of the universe.

Moore produced 22 issues of Supreme that paid homage to the classic "Silver Age" Superman. Some of the ideas expressed by Philolaus (5th century BC) and Heraclides (4th century BC), proposed cosmological models in which the Earth moved. In the 1990s, comic book artist and writer Rob Liefeld created a Superman pastiche and starred him in his own comic book series, Supreme. The series, published by Liefeld's Awesome Comics, sold moderately well at first, but sales dwindled until the series was taken over with issue #41 by writer Alan Moore. He was acquainted with ideas espoused by other classical authors. Well-known spoofs of Superman include Mighty Mouse, Underdog, Super Grover, and Super Goof. Copernicus' mathematical experience engendered in his thought a desire for a simpler and more elegant model of the universe. One of the first Superman-like characters to emerge, Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel, sparked legal action because of its similarities to Superman. His heliocentric universe theory accomplished this by dispensing with individual explanations for the motion of each planet, and replacing them with a description that applied to all the planets, including the Earth.

Nevertheless, a great many imitations and parodies of Superman have appeared over the years. In Copernicus' view, Ptolemy's explanation failed to provide an accurate mathematical description of the universe. DC Comics has trademarked variations on the "super" theme, such as "superdog" and "supergal", to circumvent parody or product confusion. This characteristic of the Earth's movement is apparent only with observation over long periods of time. Superman is a staple of American pop culture. Precession is the phenomenon by which the Earth's axis "wobbles". Other sources cited as inspirations include Doc Savage and The Shadow. Nor did the Ptolemaic model explain precession.

Additionally, Superman is believed to have been inspired in part by Philip Wylie's 1930 science fiction novel Gladiator, about a man whose superhuman strength inspires him to help the human race, but who is instead spurned by humanity precisely because of his power. The Ptolemaic geocentric model was complicated and inconsistent in Copernicus' estimations and observations, including one in 1497 of the star Aldebaran, that did not coincide with predictions made by Ptolemy. Both Superman's name and the premise of his character owe a debt to the concept of the Übermensch, developed by the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and elaborated upon by George Bernard Shaw. The mathematical confusion that Copernicus said caused him to develop an alternative to the geocentric model derived from an inadequate reconciliation of the Aristotelian model and amendments to it by Ptolemy.
. An accurate calculation of the astronomical year was important to a clergyman, like Copernicus, allowing him to forecast properly the various festivals that comprised the liturgical calendar. The last two are in continuity with Batman: The Animated Series and its spinoffs, forming what some fans call the "Diniverse", named after Paul Dini, who writes and produces the shows. It maintained that all planetary motion, and the motion of the Moon, the Sun, and the stars was circular, around a stationary Earth.

There have also been numerous animated cartoon series starring the Man of Steel:. Ptolemy's model explained each planet's circular motion individually and was the first model of the universe to explain some of the eccentric behaviour of the planets. Among the actors who have played the role are George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, and Dean Cain. The Earth-centered Ptolemaic cosmology had been the accepted model of the universe since the 2nd century BC. The Superman character has made the transition to radio, television, and movies, each on multiple occasions. There is evidence that his interest in these subjects continued after he had left Kraków. Current comics in which Superman does not star, but appears regularly:. At the University of Kraków, which he attended in 1491 and 1492, Copernicus studied both mathematics and astronomy in common with all university students of that time.

Current comics starring Superman:. He was well educated. Pre-Crisis, Superman's foster parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, died in the summer after his high school graduation; post-Crisis, the Kents are alive and well and are regularly visited by Clark, who relies on them for advice in difficult times. Copernicus' lived in early 16th century Prussia and Poland, and was influenced by the cultural, religious, and social contexts of life at the time. The Superboy name has also been the name of denizens of other dimensions, such as one from a "pocket universe" parallel dimension in the late 1980s post-Crisis Superman comics, and several individuals the current Superboy encountered during his trip through Hypertime (one of those essentially being an exact double of the pre-Crisis Superboy). More recent philosophers also have found Copernicanism to remain valid and retain valuable philosophical meaning. A new Superboy character who is a clone of Superman was created in the early 1990s; adventures featuring this character continue to be published. Immanuel Kant, for instance, caught the symbolic character of Copernicus' revolution (of which he put in evidence the transcendental rationalism) postulating that human rationality was the real legislator of observed phenomena.

The original Superboy, introduced in 1944's More Fun Comics #101, represented "the adventures of Superman when he was a boy." This Superboy is no longer in publication, as post-Crisis continuity deemed that Clark Kent did not become a superhero until he reached adulthood. Some say "the" revolution [1]. There have been a number of characters called Superboy. Copernicus' innovation was a scientific revolution. This especially applies to the Special Crimes Unit (SCU), a police unit that deals with superpowered threats, led by Captain Margaret Sawyer, one of the few openly gay characters in mainstream superhero comics today. This contrasts with Aristotle's system, which placed much more value on knowledge gained from the senses. In Metropolis, Superman enjoys a close relationship with the police department. One of the consequences of Copernicanism is that scientific laws must not necessarily coincide with appearance.

Superman also has a rogues gallery of supervillain enemies, including:. Accordingly some find that Copernicanism demolished the foundations of mediaeval science and metaphysics. Familiar supporting characters in the Superman mythos include:. Immanentism also leads into subjectivism: the theory that perception creates reality, and that there is no underlying, true, reality that exists independent of perception. In 2003, DC Comics released a 12-issue maxiseries titled Superman: Birthright, written by Mark Waid and penciled by Lenil Francis Yu; this was made into a retcon of Superman's post-crisis origin, replacing Byrne's version, but yet using many elements from that version, along with elements that subtly tie into the Smallville television show. However, Copernicanism also opened a way to immanence, the view that the divine force, or the divine being, pervades through all things that exist, which has been developed further in modern philosophy. so far. Future editorial changes to the series may reverse some or all of these changes. When his work was published, it contradicted then accepted religious dogma: the suggestion being that there is no need for an entity (God) that from outside could give a soul, a power and a life to the World and to Human beings when science can explain everything attributed to Him.

In 1995, Superman (or rather, Clark Kent) finally married Lois Lane, and the two have had a happy marriage.. His academic standing is often compared with Galileo Galilei. He returned from the dead, though his "death" gave rise to a number of new characters and storylines. His work cut across science and religion, dogmatism and freedom of scientific investigation. In the epic The Death of Superman storyline, the hero apparently died at the hands of supervillain Doomsday. Many meanings have been seen in his theory, quite apart from its scientific value. Two alterations have had long-term effects. Many authors suggest that only Euclid's geometry, Darwin's Evolution, or Newton's physics could have a similar influence on human culture in general and on science in particular.

Most notably, his alterations to Lex Luthor, altering him from a scientific oriented villain to a businessman remain to this day. Copernicus' theories have an extraordinary relevance in the history of human knowledge. But Byrne's changes became the template for Superman's origin and characterization for almost two decades. The fifth and the sixth books contain the concrete exposition of the new system. Byrne himself quit the books after a few years because he felt DC was not supporting the changes he made. The fourth book contains a similar description of the Moon and its orbital movements. Some fans debated whether the more drastic changes were necessary, and some of the more traditional historical elements Byrne removed from the backstory were later restored. The third book is mainly dedicated to the apparent movements of the Sun and to related phenomena.

The re-launch of Superman comic books returned the character to the mainstream, again in the forefront of DC's titles. The second book is mainly theoretical and reports the principles of spherical astronomy and a list of stars (as a basis for the arguments developed in the following books). This 1986 reboot brought substantial changes to the character and met huge success at the time, being one of the top-selling books. The first book contains a general vision of the heliocentric theory, and a summarized exposition of his idea on the World. Writer-artist John Byrne joined Superman and re-started with his The Man of Steel retelling of his origin. It was dedicated to Pope Paul III, and is divided into 6 books. By the early 1980s, DC Comics had decided that a major change was needed to make Superman more appealing to current audiences. The major work of Copernicus, "On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres" (1543), is the result of decades of labor.

Facing myriad perils, his powers have increased to the point that he is nearly omnipotent. This poses a challenge for writers: "How does one write about a character who is nearly as powerful as God?" (Superman's Kryptonian name, Kal-El, resembles the Hebrew words for "all that God is") This problem contributed to a decline in Superman's popularity, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, when Marvel Comics brought a new level of character development to mainstream comic books. Main article: De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium.. During a multimedia career spanning over sixty years, Superman has starred in every imaginable situation, throughout the universe, and in many eras of history. These propositions represent the exact contrary of what the dominant geocentric propositions stated. DC soon took Siegel's and Shuster's names off the byline. The Copernican system can be summarized in seven propositions, as Copernicus himself collected them in a Compendium of De revolutionibus that was found and published in 1878:. In 1946, when Siegel and Shuster sued for more money, DC fired them, prompting a legal battle that ended in 1948, when they accepted $200,000 and signed away any further claim to Superman or any character created from him. Galileo's observation of the phases of Venus produced, however, the first observational evidence for Copernicus' theory.

The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1941 that the pair was being paid $75,000 each per year, still a fraction of DC's Superman profits. The system nevertheless had a large influence on scientists such as Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler, who adopted, championed and (especially in Kepler's case) improved the model. DC copied the character without remuneration to the creators, while suing other companies for copying it. Furthermore, he badly underestimated the size of the solar system, like most of the astronomers of the time. Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the company for $130. Unfortunately, uniform circular motion is not what happens in the solar system, which runs on elliptical orbits; and this model was no more precise in predicting ephemerides than the then current tables based on Ptolemy's model. The revised Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, June 1938. With this change his system had only uniform circular motions, correcting what seemed to be a defect in Ptolemy's system.

Occult, who made his first appearance in New Fun Comics #6, October 1935. This is the main source of the statement that his system had even more epicycles than Ptolemy's. In 1935, their Superman story was again rejected, but DC Comics printed another of their creations, Dr. He also replaced Ptolemy's equant circles with epicycles. The story did not sell, forcing the two to reposition their character on the right side of the law. He added another motion to the Earth, by which the axis is kept pointed throughout the year at the same place in the heavens; from the time of Galileo it has been recognized that for it not to point to the same place would be a motion. Their short story "The Reign Of The Superman" concerned a bald-headed villain bent on dominating the world. He also gave a clear account of the cause of the seasons: that the Earth's axis is not perpendicular to the plane of its orbit.

Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster not as a hero, but as a villain. He arrived at the correct order of the known planets and explained the precession of the equinoxes correctly by a slow change in the position of the Earth's rotational axis. However, Superman continues to be a driving force in the medium after more than sixty years. Copernicus held that the Earth is another planet revolving around the fixed sun once a year, and turning on its axis once a day. Indeed, Batman has undergone an increasingly dark makeover. This book marks the beginning of the shift from a geocentric (and anthropocentric) universe with the Earth at its center. On several recent occasions, Batman has faced Superman, and Batman has served as a foil to Superman's goodness; Batman, in his more recent incarnations, won't hesitate to use guile or underhanded tactics to gain an advantage, while Superman will be overly hesitant to use his natural gifts as an unfair edge. Copernicus' major theory was published in the book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) in the year of his death 1543, even though he had arrived at it several decades earlier.

Superman fights fair long after both sides have begun swinging below the belt, knowing that his vast powers require him to act with equal restraint. See also discussion about Copernicus' nationality. Superman may seem old-fashioned and even quaint compared to the "dark avengers" who currently command the lion's share of the market, and this is intentional. The search for the body of Copernicus will continue in 2005. Superman's "lily white" persona has been mocked, ridiculed, and spoofed, especially in recent comic book history, when "grim and gritty" comics dominated the market. They found, however, several interesting graves from various time periods. Superman's daily martyrdom is reflected tellingly in print during his reappearance in the mid-1990s miniseries Kingdom Come, where he is pictured as a bearded carpenter with a long beam of wood across his back, mirroring a Christ-like image of a man who gave himself for a world that, in that storyline, did not love him. However, a group of archaeologists searching for the body of Copernicus in 2004 failed to find the corpse of the astronomer.

In many ways, Superman is truly one of the most "human" heroes conceived, since he responds to emotional grief in stark contrast to the way he shrugs off bullets, bombs, and death-rays. Copernicus was buried in the Frombork Cathedral. Far from a perfect individual, Superman is often pictured with a sense of childish innocence mixed with patriarchal restraint. He is also a man with an incredible depth of feeling, since he lives within his own mind as much as he does in the reality of society, often struggling with the differences between the right answer and the practical one. He allegedly awoke from his stroke induced coma, looked at his book, and died peacefully. He writes fiction in his spare time, publishing two books, "The Janus Contract" and "Under a Yellow Sun". Legend says that the first printed copy of De revolutionibus was put in Copernicus's hands the same day of his death, so that he could say goodbye to his opus vitae. This was a further motivation for Superman becoming a reporter, for it is then possible that his physical abilities give him no unfair advantage in a field where the critical skills are intellectual (although his editor, Perry White, praised him in Superman: The Movie as "the fastest typist I have ever seen"). Under the strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen that the first general reception of his work had not been favorable, Copernicus finally agreed to give the book to his close friend Tiedemann Giese, (the bishop of Kulmerland Chelmno Land, to be delivered to Rheticus for printing at Nuremberg.

In this manner, Superman's excessive arsenal of powers is rendered secondary to his ability to convince others to act. In 1542, in the name of Copernicus, Rheticus published a treatise on trigonometry (later included in the second book of De revolutionibus). Through these conflicts, discussions of good and evil are formed, as Superman struggles with restraint in the face of bigotry, avarice, and cruelty. Rheticus became a disciple of Copernicus' and stayed with him for two years, in which he wrote a book, Narratio prima, in which he included the essence of the theory. It is also important that Superman often struggles with vast social issues in his fiction, including tackling world hunger, unsuccessfully, in a short wide-panel 1990s graphic novel called Peace on Earth. (with artwork by Alex Ross). Philipp Melanchthon had arranged with several astronomers for Rheticus to visit and study with them. This line of thinking, that Superman is a hero as deeply conflicted with his gifts as Batman is with his past, is key to the modern interpretation of Superman not as a better man, but what is best in man. Copernicus was still completing his work (even if he was not convinced to publish it), when in 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus, a great mathematician at Wittenberg, directly arrived in Frauenburg.

In an extraordinary show of mutual respect, Superman has given Batman a ring of green kryptonite, so that if he ever lost his reason, posing a danger to himself or to humans, Batman could use the ring to defeat him. The cardinal Nicola Schoenberg of Capua wrote him asking him to communicate his ideas more widely and requested a copy for himself; "Therefore, learned man, without wishing to be inopportune, I beg you most emphatically to communicate your discovery to the learned world, and to send me as soon as possible your theories about the Universe, together with the tables and whatever else you have pertaining to the subject." Some have proposed that this note may have made Copernicus nervous of publication whereas others have suggested that the church wanted to ensure that his ideas were published. He therefore makes it a point of submitting to authority, helping him to feel a restraint on his actions. From many parts of the continent, Copernicus received invitations to publish it, but he felt quite apprehensive of persecution for his revolutionary work by the establishment of the time. They reveal his self-doubts, and his fear that he might abuse his powers and become a monster, subject to no one. In 1536 his work was already in a definitive form, and some rumours about his theory had reached the scientists of all Europe. Recent writers have attempted to deepen Superman's persona and provide a rationale for his goodness. In 1533 Albert Widmanstadt delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus' theory.

His modesty and humility catches his foes and critics off-guard, as they do not understand why he spends his life helping others and doing good. During the war between the Teutonic Order and the Kingdom of Poland (1519–1524) Copernicus successfully defended Allenstein (Olsztyn) on the head of royal troops besieged by the troops of Albert of Brandenburg. He often acts behind the scenes and lets others receive the credit. From there he continued gathering evidence for a more detailed work. He rescues cats from trees and participates in community fund-raisers. In 1514 he made his "Commentariolus"—a short, handwritten text describing his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis—available to his friends. Superman has been willing to lay down his life or sacrifice his powers for good. During these years he also travelled extensively on government business and as a diplomat, on the behalf of the Prince-Bishop of Warmia.

He seems out of place and out of touch with his world because he is, in fact, the product of 'better times' more than the real world. It was at this time that Copernicus came up with one of the earliest iterations of the theory now known as Gresham's Law. The education he received on the family farm is the most potent symbol for 'old fashioned values' one can conjure, and this helps ground the character. Copernicus worked for years with Prussian diet on monetary reform and published some studies about the value of money; as a governor of Ermland, he administered taxes and dealt out justice. While Jor-El sent Kal-El to Earth because he felt the human race had the capacity to be great and good if they wished to be, it is clear that Kal-El chose to become Superman and a force for good. Throughout his lifetime he made astronomical observations and calculations, but always in his spare time and never as a profession. This is why, despite the emphasis on Superman having powers "far beyond those of mortal men," his name referred also to his goodness. Some time before his return to Warmia, he had received a position at the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross in Wrocław, Silesia, which he held for many years until he resigned a few years prior to his death, when he progressively became ill.

As superhero stories became more oriented toward young readers, the writers moved toward his better known "boy scout" persona. Even so, Superman's capacity for a violent anger is a key element to many of the most 'dramatic' moments in his appearances, since it is this sort of telling snapshot into his psyche that allows readers and watchers to see that Superman's goodness is not inherent to his being, but learned, like it is with us. Having left Italy at the end of his studies, he came to live and work in Frombork. Superman is also nearly always portrayed as having had some hand in WWII, when the timeline permits. His collection of observations and ideas on the theory started in 1504. In one really early story in which the government would not help maintain low income areas unless a disaster occurred, Superman went on a rampage and created one. It has been supposed that it was in Padua that he gained access to those passages of Cicero and Plato about the opinion of Ancients on the movement of the Earth, having the first intuition of his theory. Originally, Superman's personality could be rough and destructive. As soon as he reached this town, he asked and obtained permission to return to Italy to complete his studies in Padua (with Guarico and Fracastoro) and in Ferrara (with Bianchini), where in 1503 received his doctoral degree in canon law.

When he had Kandor in his possession in the pre-Crisis comics, all of these improvisations were supplemented by the products of the professional tailors and lenscrafters available in the bottle city. He would have then visited Frombork only in 1501. Superman also sometimes carries spare change in his hollowed-out belt buckle, which also doubles as a Justice League communication device. Copernicus went to Rome, where he could observe a lunar eclipse and where he gave some lessons of astronomy or mathematics (unfortunately, nothing of this remains to us). Since they were of Kryptonian origin, Clark could fire his heat vision through them without melting them (in contrast, the post-Crisis Clark has to lift his glasses [made of ordinary materials] off his eyes when he uses his heat vision). In 1497 his uncle was ordained the bishop of Warmia and Copernicus was named a canon in the Frombork cathedral, but he waited in Italy for the great Jubilee of 1500. In the original comics, Clark's eyeglass lenses were made from two small rounded pieces of glass from his spaceship. The first observation Copernicus made in 1497 together with Domenico Novara, are recorded in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium.

In the post-Crisis comics, his costume is invulnerable because of the bioelectric field that his cells produce (see how it works). He followed his lessons and became a disciple and assistant. While carrying passengers in flight, Superman would wrap them in his cape to protect them from air friction. However, while studying canon and civil law at Ferrara, he met his teacher Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara, a famous astronomer. His armor-like costume could also protect others that wore it. His uncle financed his education and wished for him to become a bishop as well. Said blankets, like everything else from Krypton under a yellow sun environment such as Earth's, shared Clark's invulnerability. After four years and a brief stay in Toruń, he moved to Italy, where he studied law and medicine at the universities of Bologna and Padua.

Superman's costume was created by Ma Kent; pre-Crisis, she created it out of the blankets from the rocket that brought him to Earth. This science soon fascinated him, as his books (stolen by Swedes during The Deluge, and now in the Uppsala University Library) show. If his powers were disabled or he needed stronger protection, Superman also had his "Supermobile," a small flying car-like vehicle which could fly anywhere and use its powerful waldo arms to handle outside objects. In 1491 Copernicus entered the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and here he encountered astronomy for the first time, thanks to his teacher Albert Brudzewski. For situations involving kryptonite, Superman in the original comics had a collection of lead-lined suits for protection. A sister, Barbara, became a Benedictine nun and the other sister, Katharina, married a businessman and city councillor, Barthel Gertner. This one remaining robot was destroyed by superheroine Donna Troy, at the expense of her own life, though she was soon resurrected. His brother Andrew became canon in Frombork (German: Frauenburg).

Post-Crisis, Superman at one time had built various Superman robots; however, all but one were destroyed, with the sole remaining robot currently being kept on duty at the Fortress of Solitude. His maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode, a church canon and later the Prince-Bishop governor of Warmia (German: Ermland ), raised him and his three other siblings after the death of Copernicus' father. He largely abandoned them when Earth's pollution began to interfere with their functions. Little is known of his mother, Barbara Watzenrode, but she appears to have predeceased her husband. Superman, in the pre-Crisis comics, also had androids that could impersonate himself (as both Superman and as Clark Kent). He was ten years of age when his father, a wealthy businessman and copper trader, died. A trademark of the Fortress in all of its incarnations is a memorial statue of his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El and Lara, holding up a globe of the planet Krypton. His father Nikolas, a citizen of Cracow (at that time the capital of Poland), moved there in 1460 and became a respected citizen of Toruń as well, once the war with the Teutonic Knights was over.

Superman also stores in the Fortress various equipment, weapons, and vehicles of Kryptonian design, including a large fighting mecha called a battlesuit and a means of accessing the Phantom Zone. Copernicus was born in 1473 in the city of Toruń (German: Thorn) in Polish Royal Prussia. Superman and fellow superhero Steel encased the Fortress in a tesseract, permitting the Man of Steel to carry the Fortress wherever he travels. . The device created the Fortress which contains much of Krypton's technology, including artificially intelligent robots. His theory affected many other aspects of human life as well, opening the door to young astronomers everywhere to challenge the dogmas and never take anything at face value. Post-Crisis, the Fortress was originally created by the Kryptonian artifact, the Eradicator, when Superman tried to dispose of it in Antarctica. His theory about the Sun as the center of the solar system, turning over the traditional geocentric theory (that placed Earth at the center of the Universe), is considered one of the most important discoveries ever, and is the fundamental starting point of modern astronomy and modern science itself (it inaugurated the scientific revolution).

For years, Superman worked to reverse the city's condition, while also enjoying the opportunity to visit a native community where he was an honored guest. Astronomy was actually a byproduct, a hobby of his. Most importantly, the Fortress was where Superman stored the bottle city of Kandor, which pre-Crisis, was a Kryptonian city shrunken and stolen by Brainiac prior to the planet's destruction. His main occupations and services rendered were in Royal Prussia as church canon, governor and administrator, jurist, astrologer and as a doctor. It also had tribute rooms to personal friends like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Batman, and Clark Kent (to throw off suspicion about his secret identity by visitors unfamiliar with it), where Superman prepared special gifts for each in the event of his death. Nicolaus Copernicus (in Latin; Polish Mikołaj Kopernik, German Nikolaus Kopernikus); February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) was a Polish astronomer, mathematician and economist who developed the heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system in a form detailed enough to make it scientifically useful. Pre-Crisis, the Fortress included laboratories, a private zoo of alien animals, a room for communication with the Phantom Zone with a projector to place or remove people from it, a Krypton memorial, a trophy room, and a gym with custom exercise equipment. Precession — the axial wobble mentioned earlier that explains why the position of the fixed stars seems to change over long periods of time.

While various 1940s comics made mention of Superman having a "mountain retreat," the Fortress in its familiar sense was first introduced in the comics in 1958. Daily rotation — the motion around a tilted axis that results in day and night. The Fortress acts as Superman's getaway, although it has communications equipment for urgent messages. Annual motion — the yearly orbit around the Sun. The Fortress of Solitude, located in the Arctic in the pre-Crisis version of the mythos and (until recently) in Antarctica in the post-Crisis version, in recent issues of the comic book, however, the Fortress has been destroyed and Superman rebuilds it deep in the Amazon. These movements of the Earth and of the other planets around the Sun, can explain the stations, and all the particular characteristics of the planets' movements. Given his abilities, personal equipment plays less of a role for Superman than for other superheroes. The Earth (together with its Moon, and just like the other planets) moves around the Sun, so the movements that the Sun seems to be making (its apparent moving during daytime, and its annual moving through the Zodiac) are nothing else than effects of the Earth's real movements.

Kryptonians are also vulnerable to magical and psychic effects, although they are no more detrimentally affected by such effects than a normal human would be. The daytime movement of the Sun is only apparent, and represents the effect of a rotation that the Earth makes every 24 hours around its axis, always parallel to itself. The effects of the new blue kryptonite are unknown at this time. The distance between the Earth and the Sun, compared with the distance between the Earth and the fixed stars, is very small. Recently, with the destruction of the Kryptonite meteor in Superman/Batman, large quantites of kryptonite have fallen to earth; new forms beyond the red and green are believed to be amongst them, however, only blue kryptonite has been seen in addition to the previously known types so far. (Copernicus was never certain whether the Sun moved or not, claiming that the center of the World is 'in the Sun, or near it.'). Since that time, an updated version of red kryptonite was reintroduced into the comics. All the planets move along orbits whose center is the Sun, therefore the Sun is the center of the World.

Other variants were introduced sporadically, but after the 1986 John Byrne reboot, all versions except for green were retconned out of existence. The center of the Earth is not the center of the Universe, but only the center of the Earth's mass and of the lunar orbit. Since Krypton was destroyed, its remains (rendered radioactive by the explosion) have been spreading throughout the universe as kryptonite, a crystalline substance which has several major variants:. Orbits and celestial spheres do not have a unique, common, center. As a Kryptonian, he has one specific area of vulnerability. But historically, many stories have established that Superman can in some manner have progeny.

On the television series Lois and Clark, the pair adopted a child who, like Clark, came from mysterious origins. The issue of whether Superman can father children is humorously explored in the movie Mallrats, as well as in the essay Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by sci-fi author Larry Niven (originally published in his 1971 collection All the Myriad Ways.). Like humans, he needs food and water to survive. He does not sweat under earthly conditions, as no temperatures are high enough to make him secrete liquid to cool himself down.

Procedures like surgery are impossible without special equipment. Since he is not human, he cannot donate blood, tissue, or organs. There are some things Superman cannot do. It is unknown whether higher energy stars might increase his powers even more.

More recent exertions caused less of a power drain, suggesting that he is now either storing more energy, or growing stronger under the yellow sun. Earlier in his life, as in his battle with Doomsday, Superman's solar energy supply was depleted by exertion. In recent comics, Superman seems to be slowly building up immunity to kryptonite, and it is possible that its effect is in part psychological. His powers return quickly once the kryptonite is removed.

Kryptonite exposure also stops the process that converts yellow sunlight into superpowers, leaving Superman immediately weakened. Red solar radiation creates a chemical which does not lead to the super energy produced by K-ATP. Near a red sun, his powers would fail faster. He replenishes his supply even on cloudy days, and weakens only after a week without sunlight.

Superman's cells store vast amounts of yellow solar energy. He sees all wavelengths, from radio to X-rays, allowing him to detect thermal trails and other "invisible" things. His taste, smell, and touch are equally acute. Solar energy magnifies its accuracy, allowing him to fine-tune it.

Due to Earth's thinner air, he can hear things no human can. Superman's other senses are less linked to solar energy than his strength and speed. He is invulnerable to forces under 1 kt., and is harmed only by repeated blows of over 1 mt. His brain and nervous system keep up with his enhanced speed, as they too are amplified by K-ATP. When his cells become "supercharged" under a yellow sun, a Kryptonian becomes super-powered.

Superman has been shown shaving and presumably cutting his hair by reflecting his heat vision off of a piece of curved, reflective metal from the rocket in which he landed. His hair is invulnerable, too. This "aura" surrounds Superman's epidermis and teeth, and possibly his nails as well. First, cell membranes and organelles become more resistant to harm; secondly, a bioelectric field surrounds the cells, making them thousands of times tougher.

Under a yellow sun, other factors contribute to invulnerability. In addition, Krypton's gravity was 50-100 times stronger than Earth's, so Kryptonian cells are also much stronger and denser than a human's. "K-ATP" is produced rapidly, enabling a Kryptonian to build up reserves that permit days of super-powered activity in the absence of sunlight. The solar energy supplements respiration, such that when cellular materials (perhaps Kryptonian ATP) combine with glucose, they produce abilities beyond those of humans under a yellow sun.

Under a red sun, this yields increased abilities, which are multiplied a thousand-fold by a yellow sun. Kryptonian mitochondria absorb certain wavelengths of the radiation emitted by solar fusion. One such "scientific" explanation used in various recent analyses of how Superman's powers might work is as follows:. John Byrne in his 1986 reboot suggested that Superman's powers were telekinetic in their functioning (in addition to the traditional yellow sun explanation).

Krypton's red sun), as well as to a much lesser degree Earth's lower gravity; when under a red sun, a Kryptonian would be completely powerless, even if it was a low-gravity environment. In the early 1960s, after the introduction of Supergirl, this was amended to Kryptonians deriving their powers from mainly exposure to a yellow sun (vs. By the late 1940s, this was changed to Kryptonians only gaining superpowers when under a lower gravity environment such as Earth's. In the earliest comics, all Kryptonians were said to possess superpowers while on Krypton.

Various explanations have been offered over the years explaining how Superman's powers work. Superman's powers are derived from his Kryptonian biology and Earth's sun (a yellow star), and are likely increased by Earth's lesser gravity (versus Krypton's higher gravity). His strength too has increased, to the point of allowing him to move mountains again. As in the original series, writers again gradually increased his powers. Since "coming back to life" during The Death of Superman story arc, Superman can once again survive nuclear blasts, though they leave him wounded and weakened, and he can no longer fly faster than the speed of light or travel through time under his own power.

When Superman was revamped in 1986, he became more vulnerable and was no longer omnipotent. He could even vibrate his body so fast, the vibrations rendered him "invisible" to the human eye. From the 1940s through the early 1980s, Superman's powers were nearly unlimited: he could travel millions of light-years in brief periods of time; he could dive into stars unharmed; he could travel through time by moving at speeds faster than light; and he could move planets and lift any weight. His powers include:.

After Byrne's 1986 rewrite, Superman's powers were diminished, though have grown again since then. His powers were relatively limited in the early stories, but grew to become near-godlike by the 1980s. Superman possesses extraordinary powers which render him, as stated in the lead-in to the 1950s television series, "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". Thus made invisible, he appeared to enter the building as Kent and exit seconds later as Superman.

In the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie, Kent, comically unable to use a newer, open-kiosk pay phone, entered a revolving door and changed clothes while spinning within it at superspeed. Clark sometimes has to quickly improvise in order to find a way to change unnoticed. In the comic books he rarely does so, favoring the Daily Planet's storeroom. In the Fleischer animated series of theatrical cartoons, he often ducked into a telephone booth to make the transformation.

When crises arise, Clark quickly changes into Superman. Fellow reporter Lois Lane became the object of Clark's/Superman's romantic affection. Lois's affection for Superman and her rejection of Clark's clumsy advances have been a recurring theme in Superman comics, television, and movies. Largely working on his own, his identity is easily kept secret. In Metropolis, Superman (as Clark Kent) works as a reporter at the Planet, "a great metropolitan newspaper" which allows him to keep track of ongoing events where he might be of help.

A 2004 miniseries, Birthright, introduced further changes to Superman's origin story, bringing back some of the pre-Crisis elements eliminated by John Byrne and introducing elements of the Smallville television series. Clark soon told her he was Superman, which caused a brief strain in their relationship, but they eventually married, in the mid-1990s special Superman: The Wedding Album. In the early 1990s, Lois and Clark fell in love. As in the original version, Lois Lane is Clark Kent/Superman's love interest.

The concept that Clark is the real man, and the greater emphasis on his earthly upbringing, is a deliberate reversal of the earlier, pre-Crisis version. Also post-Crisis, people do not suspect that Superman is hiding his real identity because he wears no mask. In the post-Crisis comics, Clark Kent is presented more as the "real" person, with Superman the secret identity that he presents to the world to prevent his enemies from harming his family or friends. The Kents were kept alive during Clark's transition to Superman.

The remodeled Clark did not become a superhero until just before starting work at the Daily Planet, when he prevented an experimental spacecraft from crashing in Metropolis. After leaving Smallville, he traveled the world before settling in Metropolis, completing his education, and going to work at the Daily Planet. In the retelling, Clark's powers developed gradually, beginning with his nigh-invulnerability, and he didn't fly until he was a teenager. As in the original version he was found and adopted by the Kents, and raised like a normal human.

Effectively this Superman was "born" on Earth, and was a "son" of Earth as much as Krypton. While a fetus, he escaped Krypton's destruction in a spacecraft (his "birthing matrix" with a rocket engine attached), and landed months later outside of Smallville, by which time he had fully gestated into an infant. In this "post-Crisis" version, starting with the miniseries The Man of Steel, Superman—like all "post-Crisis" Kryptonians— was created through in-vitro fertilization on Krypton. In 1986, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, DC Comics hired writer/artist John Byrne to recreate the Superman character and retell the Superman mythos, reshaping the previous forty-eight years of stories by putting several new twists on the established mythos.

After graduating with a degree in journalism, Clark was hired by the Daily Planet. During his junior year, Clark changed his superhero name to Superman. After he graduated from high school and the Kents died, Clark moved to Metropolis to attend Metropolis University. At the age of eight, Clark adopted the superhero identity Superboy, and began to fight crime, both in the present and in a far future time as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

During this time, both Clark and the Kents had discovered Clark's amazing powers, and, with Clark realizing the good he could do with his powers, began training their adopted son to use his powers wisely. By the time Clark started school, the Kents had sold their farm and moved into Smallville, where they purchased a general store. After formally adopting him, the Kents raised him on their farm through his pre-school years. (In the earliest comics, the Kents were named "John" and "Mary"; in a 1942 text novel and the 1950s television series The Adventures of Superman, the Kents were named "Sarah" and "Eben.") They named him Clark, after Martha's maiden name.

Kal-El's ship landed in a field near the town of Smallville, and was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Moments before Krypton exploded, they launched Kal-El in a rocket ship towards Earth, knowing that Earth's lower gravity and yellow sun would give the boy extraordinary powers. Disbelieving Jor-El's prediction, they refused to warn their fellow Kryptonians, and forbade Jor-El to do so. Jor-El promised that neither he nor his wife Lara would leave Krypton, and decided to use the little time remaining to save his son. When Kal-El was two or three years old, Jor-El learned that Krypton was doomed to explode, and he brought this to the attention of Krypton's ruling leaders, the Science Council.

In the legend extant in the early 1960s (and memorably summarized at the start of each episode of the 1950s Adventures of Superman television series^{[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman#fn_narration)}), Superman was born on Krypton as Kal-El, the son of Jor-El, a scientist and leader. The modern story of Superman's origin parallels that of other cultural heroes and religious figures ^{[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman#fn_narration)} who were spirited away as infants from places where they were in danger. These changes, while significant, permit the retention of the core elements that make Superman an iconic character. Editors and writers used the process of retroactive continuity, or retcon, to adjust to changes in popular culture, eliminate restrictive segments of the mythos, and permit contemporary storylines.

Superman's abilities and relationships have changed over time. Superman is a loan translation from the German Übermensch (literally "over-man" or "super-man"). Clark's love interest is fellow reporter, Lois Lane. When not fighting the forces of evil as Superman, he lives disguised as Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Daily Planet.

As he grew, he discovered that he possessed superhuman powers. He was sent to Earth in a rocket by his scientist father Jor-El moments before Krypton exploded, landing on Earth outside the town of Smallville, where he was discovered and adopted by the amiable Jonathan and Martha Kent. Superman was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton. The character, who was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, and films.

Superman, nicknamed The Man of Steel, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938 and eventually became one of the most popular and well-known comic book icons of all time. In an episode of the television series The Monkees, the Monkees audition over the telephone in a phone booth, delaying Clark Kent from using the booth to change into Superman. Superman, who appears in the film wearing only polka-dot boxer shorts, is shown begging the astronauts for the return of his costume. In the Philippines-produced movie Fly Me To The Moon (produced around 1988), starring Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon (the hosts of Eat Bulaga!), Superman's costume got sucked into their spaceship's rocket booster while the three were on their way to the moon.

Unlike Superman, Suppaman can't fly, and instead pretends to fly by lying belly down on a skateboard and scooting through the streets. Slump, in the form of "Suppaman" (the way that Superman is written in Japanese katakana), a short, fat, pompous buffoon who transforms into a Superman-like costume by eating a sour (or "suppa" in Japanese) pickle. Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama parodied Superman in his first series Dr. The story can be found in the collection "Superheroes", edited by John Varley and Ricia Mainhardt.

In this story, "Kyril Kentarovsky" took on the identity of "Bolshoiman", who attempted to represent Russia but only managed to get thrown into a gulag (with Leon Trotsky as his cellmate). Author John Varley wrote the short story "Truth, Justice and the Politically Correct Socialist Path", a parody where Superman does not land in the United States but in Soviet Russia. Various gag strips, including one by Sergio Aragones in which a hobo finds Clark Kent's abandoned suit inside a phone booth and steals it, and another by Don Martin in which a series of massive lifts induce a "super-hernia.". However, Incredi-Man did so by faking homosexuality;.

The character boasted such powers as incredi-hearing and incredi-viola playing, and like Superman, avoided World War 2 service. "The Incredi-Man Archives," an alleged reprint collection of a 1940s infringement of Superman (like Captain Marvel). "What If Truth in Advertising Laws Applied to Comic Book Previews," which made sport of DC Comics' killing and reviving the character;. "What If Superman Were Raised by Jewish Parents?" (in which the rabbi is unable to circumcise his super-foreskin, but he makes his mother proud by using his vision to become a radiologist);.

Other related pieces include:. Since then, numerous MAD articles about or including Superman have appeared, including parodies of the various TV and movie projects. From its earliest days, MAD Magazine has frequently spoofed the Man of Steel; some consider the parody "Superduperman!" (from issue #4) to be the magazine's first true example of what would come to be the MAD vein. The Saint from the independent comic The Pro was an obvious parody of Superman; he wore a blue spandex uniform with a red cape, had a day job as a reporter, and had an unrequited crush on his pushy co-worker.

In the darker Supreme Power reboot, Hyperion is taken from his foster family by the government and raised as a super-soldier to be acutely aware of his biological superiority, and believes himself to be better than all humans. Hyperion, originally of Marvel Comics' Squadron Supreme, was originally a tribute to Superman; like Superman, he was a solar-powered alien who fell to Earth in a spaceship and tried to live as a human. As a differentiating twist, Apollo is the gay lover of Midnighter, the corresponding Batman-pastiche. He also gets his powers from the sun, wears a spandex outfit with a triangular logo on the front, and possesses the powers of flight, heat vision and super-strength.

Apollo of the superhero teams Stormwatch and the Authority is often seen as a Superman-pastiche. 2000s: Justice League: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited by Warner Bros. Late 2000: Batman Beyond episodes "The Call Parts 1 & 2" by Warner Bros. 1990s: Superman: The Animated Series by Warner Bros.

Late 1980s: Short-lived Superman series based on the "new" DC Comics Superman produced by Ruby-Spears. Early 1980s: Super Powers: Galactic Guardians. 1970s: Hanna-Barbera Productions produces several Super Friends series. 1966: New Adventures of Superman.

1960s: Filmation's Batman-Superman Adventure Hour. 1940s: Fleischer Studios' Superman theatrical cartoons (17 in all, with Bud Collyer providing the voice of Superman). Starring Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent & Kevin Spacey as his archenemy, Lex Luthor. 2006: Superman Returns, to be directed by Bryan Singer.

2000s: Smallville television series, starring Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, and Kristin Kreuk, which places Smallville in Kansas. Mid-1990s: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman television series, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. Early 1990s: Superboy television series, starring John Haymes Newton (1988-1989) and Gerard Christopher (1989-1992). 1988: Superman's 50th Birthday, TV Special.

1985: Supergirl spin-off movie, starring Helen Slater. 1980s: Superman films: Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, starring Christopher Reeve. 1978 Superman: The Movie, starring Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and Christopher Reeve. 1975: "It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman", TV special.

WTOP-TV (now W*USA) used a news theme music based on the play. 1966: "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman", a Broadway musical; lyrics by Lee Adams, music by Charles Strouse. 1951: "Superman And The Mole Men", feature film, and The Adventures of Superman TV series, both starring George Reeves. 1940s: Two Superman serials starring Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill: Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman.

1940s: Superman radio series, starring Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander. Yu: A "re-imagining" of Superman which brings back some old, pre-Crisis concepts and adds new modern ones. Superman: Birthright - a twelve issue maxi-series written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Leinil F. Superman: Red Son - written by Mark Millar, illustrated by Dave Johnson: Elseworlds story asks "What if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?" Superman now stands for workers' rights and the struggle for global equality, and sets out to promote world communism.

Superman For All Seasons - written by Jeph Loeb, illustrated by Tim Sale: Superman as a young man in a timeless, Rockwellian America, from confused lad to superpowered metropolite. Kingdom Come - written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Alex Ross: A painted epic, in which Superman has temporarily retired, giving way to a new breed of reckless, morally ambiguous superheroes. The story was novelized by Elliot S! Maggin. A novelization of the trilogy, entitled The Death and Life of Superman, was written by Roger Stern. The Death of Superman, World Without a Superman, and The Return of Superman - written by various artists, notably Dan Jurgens: the story of Superman's death, the world's (and his loved ones') reaction, and his eventual return.

The Man of Steel - written and illustrated by John Byrne: The revamp of Superman's origins following the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Originally published in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? - written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Curt Swan and George Pérez: The final chapter on the pre-Crisis Silver/Bronze Age Superman. Reprinted in Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore (ISBN 1401200877).

DeMatteis. This story was originally published in Superman Annual #11 and recently adapted for the animated series Justice League Unlimited by J.M. "For the Man Who Has Everything" - written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons: Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman journey to Superman's Fortress of Solitude to celebrate his birthday only to find their friend rendered comatose by the evil alien Mongul by an alien parasite that grants its host the illusion of their heart's desire. Miracle Monday - a novel by Elliot S! Maggin: tells the story of Superman trying to stop an entity of pure evil from causing universal chaos.

Last Son of Krypton - a novel by Elliot S! Maggin: Superman's "life story" is told and he faces a mysterious alien ruler. Justice League Unlimited. JLA Classified. JLA.

Superman/Batman. Adventures of Superman. Action Comics. Superman.

Gog: A human from the future who masters time travel, and hates Superman for allowing his parents to die. The Cyborg Superman: A reanimated astronaut cyborg who briefly impersonated Superman after his death, and also destroyed Green Lantern Hal Jordan's home of Coast City. The Toyman: An insane criminal who uses special equipment and weapons based on toys. Eventually, Superman, the superhero Steel, and Darkseid stopped Imperiex by using Doomsday as an ally, along with a powerful weapon called the Entropy Aegis.

Imperiex: An all-powerful force of nature whose purpose is destroying galaxies. Doomsday: A mindless, impossibly powerful, raging monster that "killed" Superman during the Death of Superman storyline. Intergang: A nationwide organized crime syndicate armed with weapons supplied in part by Darkseid. Parasite: A superpowered man who can absorb the powers, strength, and memories of any organic being, and wants Superman's power for himself.

Their leader is General Zod. Phantom Zone Prisoners: Pre-Crisis, these prisoners are Kryptonian criminals who hate Superman, as the son of their prison's creator, and become extremely destructive when they escape into Earth's yellow sun environment. The post-Crisis version is an alien entity who is an organic being, later converted into a robotic one, with similar ambitions. Brainiac: The pre-Crisis version is an alien android bent on conquest and Superman's death.

Mxyzptlk: A being from the fifth dimension with magical powers who delights in tormenting Superman and traditionally could only be made to return to his native dimension by being made to say or spell his own name backwards. Mr. Metallo: A criminal cyborg who prefers using kryptonite as a power source, which makes him a deadly threat to Superman. Bizarro: A grotesquely flawed duplicate of Superman who clumsily tries to emulate the original and causes a great deal of damage in the process.