I've always thought it worked that magic wasn't as much a weakness as it is something that his natural durability isn't best suited to deal with. It doesn't depower him like kryptonite, but it can hurt him through his defenses where a normal "physics" based attack/weapon might not (enchanted sword vs. regular sword), and high end spells will mess with him just as they would anyone else.
Originally posted by MF DELPH
I've always thought it worked that magic wasn't as much a weakness as it is something that his natural durability isn't best suited to deal with. It doesn't depower him like kryptonite, but it can hurt him through his defenses where a normal "physics" based attack/weapon might not (enchanted sword vs. regular sword), and high end spells will mess with him just as they would anyone else.
That's pretty much how it's been represented on several occasions. Then you have writers who just don't know what the hell they're doing, and they make it a blanket weakness (though the first kind, like you said, tends to be more prominent).
Magic in and of itself shouldn't be inherently dangerous to Superman.
Well, there's the catch there that normal lightning/electricity would be somewhat absorbed on impact by Supes and not really stagger him due to the nature of his durability/powers. He's not likely going to absorb magic lightning because while it looks like regular EM spectrum electricity, it actually isn't, and would get past his defenses and actually hurt him, though likely not to the degree lightning would someone of human durability.