Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

I noticed in a few of the threads that people have several disagreements on the extent of Clark's powers. Here's a place to discuss. I'm not actually aware of how depowered post-crisis Supes is, but in my mind, invulnerability means invincible (other than the obvious kryptonite weakness, like the writers would ever let us forget about that).

Oh, and in response to Uber Jedi: no, krypton's gravity was not that much greater, and higher gravity acclimitization will not cause a person to fly. If that were true, extremely strong (in relativity to their size) animals such as ants could fly, but they can't. He gets powers because of the altered energy levels given off by the yellow sun. Kryptonite gives people powers because of radiation, which alters DNA. Because it is a television show, they simplify it and say that the kryptonite gives people special powers.

In addition, it could be argued that a massive nuclear warhead could kill Superman. With the explosion in effect weakening him, if ever so slightly, he couldn't escape the mushroom cloud blocking out the energy of the sun.

Clark has no limits to his powers.

Ditto. As long as there's a yellow sun. He has no limits. He gets stronger and more powerful as time passes.

Originally posted by crazylozer
Oh, and in response to Uber Jedi: no, krypton's gravity was not that much greater, and higher gravity acclimitization will not cause a person to fly. If that were true, extremely strong (in relativity to their size) animals such as ants could fly, but they can't. He gets powers because of the altered energy levels given off by the yellow sun. Kryptonite gives people powers because of radiation, which alters DNA. Because it is a television show, they simplify it and say that the kryptonite gives people special powers.

In addition, it could be argued that a massive nuclear warhead could kill Superman. With the explosion in effect weakening him, if ever so slightly, he couldn't escape the mushroom cloud blocking out the energy of the sun.

A nuclear warhead wouldn't kill Superman (comic version anyway) he's survived 20 warheads and even a planet explosion without so much of a tear in his cape.

Clouds also don't block his powers. If this were true than Superman would be powerless at night...

No offense guy but you're massively uninformed about his powers and how they work.

Here's a good site that explains it.

http://braveandthebold.net/characters/traits/1013.html

Exactly and once Superman stores up enough energy from the yellow sun,he won't need one anymore to keep his power.cough Superman Prime cough

I personally haven't actually seen those comics where he was hit by nukes, so my bad. But scientifically, through clouds and the nighttime, the Earth is still bombarded by energy from the sun, it simply is not in its visible form. In its gamma form, very few substances can block the sun's radiation, but nuclear clouds, with their radioactive makeup, can. So how exactly does he work though, is he some kind of rechargeable battery of solar power?

You hit the nail on the head.

So then why would he be weakened when he is under the influence of a red sun; doesn't he have energy reserves?

Red Solar Energy basically makes his reserves drain exponentially faster.

So when the Sun turns into a red star, Superman would die then, right?

No,he'd just lose his powers.

So would he be the age of what he was when he stopped/slowed aging, or thousands of years old?

Originally posted by Draco69
A nuclear warhead wouldn't kill Superman (comic version anyway) he's survived 20 warheads and even a planet explosion without so much of a tear in his cape.

Clouds also don't block his powers. If this were true than Superman would be powerless at night...

No offense guy but you're massively uninformed about his powers and how they work.

Here's a good site that explains it.

http://braveandthebold.net/characters/traits/1013.html

But his cape would tear. The thin invulnerable force-field that envelopes his body does not extend to his cape.

His costume is just as invulnerable as he is.

Originally posted by Ultimate Hulk43
His costume is just as invulnerable as he is.

No, the invisible field that surrounds him and makes him invulnerable extends to his costume, but not his cape.

Doesn't Pre-Crisis Superman have the ability to absorb peope's powers?Can someone list ALL of his powers(Pre-Crisis Superman)and how much he could lift at maximum?

Your wish is my command:

Invulnerability, X-ray vision, Telescopic vision, Electromagnetic vision(infared, ultraviolet, etc.), Heat vision, Hypnosis, Super-hearing,Super voice (impersonating, sound effects, ventriloquism, etc.), Flight, Freeze breath, Hurricane breath, Super speed (up to time travel speeds), Hyper-intelligence (IQ, comprehension, memory, etc.)

As for strength, he can basically kick anyone in the DC comic universe's ass.

Thanks. With those powers he can defeat anyone.

Here's a question: What's the difference between Pre-Crisis and whatever other Superman there is?

And, for that matter, what the hell is Pre-Crisis?

The difference is that each version is different(as well as the powers)and the storylines are somewhat different too.

Brief history lesson: At the beginning of the Superman comics, the limited imagination of the people of the time severly limited his powers. As time went on, he became more and more powerful, eventually becoming nearly omnipotent with all those powers aforementioned. That period of time is now known as pre-crisis. In the 1980's, there was a mini-series called Crisis on Infinite Earths, which is the turning point of the series. All comics after that are known as post-crisis. After that point, Superman was depowered, but again, over time became incredibly powerful.

Exactly.

Superman before The Crisis On Infinite Earths series (1985) was massively powerful, capable of travelling through time and dimensions, with strength to kick planets across the universe and tear apart the fabric of space with his bare hands.

Superman nowadays is not capable of the same logic-defying feats.

It's not yet clear, whether Clark in Smallville is going to end up with Pre-Crisis powers, or post-crisis.

So far, there's been a great focus in Smallville about the effect that KNite has on him - it's usually the only way that Superman got beaten in the old days. Whereas current Supes can be beaten by physical means.

I personally think that Clark in Smallville is going to grow into the original, unstoppable iconic hero that Superman used to be.

I hate being a science geek.

So here's a hypothetical question: since Supes gets his super powers from the yellow sun, what would powers (if any) would he gain if he went near a higher level star (white or blue), and went onto a lower-gravity planet?

I don't think that has ever been established but it could give him higher powers or very well take away his powers.

He could become an omnipotent being outside of this dimension, able to mold the universe to his will. Though God would be pretty pissed, lol.

Nope - in the old comics, it's clear that Supes is one of God's 'chosen' heroes.

And the effect of a star on his powers depends on how much life the star has left.

Our sun is in the prime of it's life and gives him great power.

A red star, which is older, has used up whatever radiation it used to emit that gives Supes his powers.

Thus, under a red star, he has no power.

Gotcha. So Pre-Crisis was like, ultra-god Superman, and post-crisis was like, weaker-yet-more-understandable-and-cooler Superman.

What happened on Crisis on Infinite Earths?

(This is becoming a q & a thread. )

Crisis on Infinte Earths was created basically to allow DC to recreate the majority of their comic franchise. So in the mini-series, a character named the Monitor gathered all the heroes of all the universes in order to stop his counterpart, Anti-monitor, from destroying all time and space. They won, but the Monitor was killed, and the death of Anti-monitor caused the five DC universes (which the comics focused on before the series) to be merged together, combining aspects of all.

Thus, the new universe allowed DC to update their characters to be more plausible, e.g. Superman.

Is a white or blue star in the prime of its life? I'm not too knowledable on the subject. I'm actually pretty new to the Superman universe as a whole. I kind of thought he was a pussy till I watched Smallville, then I read Superman: Birthright and Superman: Secret Identity. They kind of changed my perspective when it comes to Big Blue.

A blue or white star are different types of stars. Our sun is a yellow star, that doesn't neccessarily tell you how old it is. It's sort of like the colour spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. The higher left it is, the hotter the star is.

Oh, and second part of the question: if Clark gets power from radiation, if he gets caught in a supernova (the explosion of a star), what kind of powers would he get? Come on, be creative! Use your imagination!

He doesn't lol - he dies, cos supernovas contain the radiation that redsunlight gives out, lol.

I've got an issue where he has to fly into a supernova wearing armour to protect him from the radiation.

I thought he could perform Supernova without any suits?