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    Superman

    Character » Superman appears in 18886 issues.

    Sent to Earth as an infant from the dying planet Krypton, Kal-El was adopted by the loving Kent family and raised in America's heartland as Clark Kent. Using his immense solar-fueled powers, he became Superman to defend mankind against all manner of threats while championing truth, justice, and the American way!

    Kryptonite: Superman's Overrated Weakness

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    Kryptonian24

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    #1  Edited By Kryptonian24

    I've had all I can stand and I can't stand it anymore. The one "reason" I hate the most in terms of low-balling Superman isn't the excuse that "he is invincible". It's not even the nerve-racking "Superman isn't that smart" or even the propaganda that is known as "Superman can't fight because he relies solely on power as opposed to prowess." It's, you guessed it, "All you have to do is grab some kryptonite and the guy's toast!" "Fashion kryptonite into bullets and he's finished!" That is the most infuriating thing I have ever heard in all my years as a Superman fan.

    If it were really that easy, why hasn't he been killed by that stuff awhile back? Kryptonite may not have been around as long as he has, but it was still existent long enough to be used in a storyline to kill him (in the mainstream universe). And about the bullets, people forget he is "Faster than a speeding bullet". The bullets being made out of kryptonite won't make them go any faster. And I'm pretty sure that with super-vision and the ability to perceive the world in slow motion with his speed, he would notice that the bullets are GREEN and will take measures to avoid them. The only reason why people think that is because they have been misled by sorry, lazy, prejudiced authors. The cartoon movies and animated series are the primary reason for this obviously. Never mind Smallville. That is a whole nother discussion. They constantly use kryptonite to render him completely helpless and it's sickening and aggravating to say the least. That's why I'm glad to have learned of its use (or uses) in the comics. To this end, I'll tell all those misinformed dudes and dudettes the REAL truth about kryptonite and Supes.

    Superman has four enemies who use kryptonite effectively against him: Lex Luthor (his battlesuit being powered by kryptonite energy and having a kryptonite arsenal), Metallo (a cyborg with a kryptonite heart that emits the radiation in a very painful way), Kryptonite Man (there are different versions, but each of them have proven a major threat to him), and Conduit (basically an improved version of Kryptonite Man). Despite this, on almost every occasion they've gone after him, HE, Superman, was the one left standing. If he wasn't, he'd be dead, right? Now, to be fair, I will admit that often his victories against these opponents have involved assistance and intelligence more than anything, but there are notable occasions where he has bested them in combat in addition to there being hypothetical ways for him to win.

    *He has fought and defeated a kryptonite-suited Luthor during the Public Enemies storyline

    *In Secret Origin, he beat Metallo by slamming a manhole cover over his heart and suffocating him in space

    *On each occasion he fought Conduit, despite his kryptonite blasts seriously hurting him, he still beat him each of the three-four times they fought

    *When he fought K-man (Clay Ramsay), he had help from Steel, who gave him a radiation suit, and because of this, he won. But before that, and the new 52 in general, anyone with kryptonite would prove ineffective due to the one thing:

    Lead. He can't see through it, but it protects him from kryptonite radiation. Prior to the new 52, he built himself a lead-lined radiation suit and was able to trounce anyone with kryptonite. And if it weren't for sorry, lazy, prejudiced authors causing him not to think about it despite his eidetic memory, super-brain, and common sense, NO ONE would be saying that "you will automatically win against Superman with kryptonite". And even if he didn't have the lead, he could still at least hold his own with his ranged powers. He could fly out of the radiation's range and either blast the guy with heat vision or freeze him in a block of ice. As if he isn't smart enough to think of that (again, SLP Authors).

    Of course, traditionally, kryptonite's effects solely depend on the writer, but if I was writing it for Supes' stories, personally, I would make it so that it could hurt and kill him, but NOT weaken him in any way whatsoever. He already has a weakness that does that: Red Sun Radiation. Magic can be used to drain his power, too, but NO! It has to be kryptonite! Does anyone else feel this way? Sensitive and angry about DC's flagship character and the blueprint of all modern superheroes is constantly being mocked for his susceptibility to a green home-stone on different levels due to age-old inconsistences and shameless neglect?

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    The_Kidd

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    I always hated kryptonite because of how inconsistent it is and the fact it is the epitome of dues ex machinas.

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    deactivated-5d2b83d5a0d79

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    I like Kryptonite. I find it ironic that just a little green rock can bring the Man of Steel to his knees. It's only problem is when it gets overused.

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    MetalJimmor

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    It is rather frustrating when Superman is one of the only heroes in his power bracket that has such an overwhelming vulnerability.

    Even more frustrating when it's handled so wildly inconsistently. You'd think a major corporation could set some basic ground rules with how things like this works so the writers don't contradict one another every issue.

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    HeavenlyDarkDragon

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    Honestly to me kryptonite should be Superman sole vulnerability.

    I'm tired of the red sunlight nonsense, and him being vulnerable to magic just like anyone else... Here's the problem. He's not like everyone else, his powers alone should offer limitations to what magic could and could not do to him. Heck I've seen non-magical characters being able to face some of the most dangerous magicians, with only one defense, their minds. They're normal human beings with no powers whatever, except for the fact that they trained their minds to fight with concentration way above normal.

    Has for Superman supposedly vulnerability to kryptonite, there are a few things that should not be possible. One of them being the use of kryptonite bullets. I still haven't forgotten (unlike the writers seem to have) that he no longer uses a normal fabric suit but a supposedly near indestructable kryptonian bio-armor. That alone should make bullets a thing of the past. Even energy beams of green-K should see their effectiveness lower to some level.

    Another thing that really gets under my skin about kryptonite, is how at first has shown in Action Comics, the only pieces of kryptonite in the entire world were the small shards that the military were able to extract from the engine of the ship that brought him to Earth. And then out of nowhere kryptonite aboundacy grows exponentially. Has also seen during the Crime Syndicate invasion, where Ultraman searched and consumed every piece of kryptonite in the entire world, he could find. He even got to Lex Luthor cache, until he came to the point where he had Deathstorm try to synthesize kryptonite because he couldn't find any more. Then after those events and those of Doomed, the military out of nowhere had enough kryptonite not only to bring back Metal Zero, but also cover Earth atmosphere with it.

    So this is how it should be. Use kryptonite and say its synthesized (so it doesn't look like the writer had some kryptonite stored in his ass) and use it against Superman. But at the same time, don't make Superman some rookie dumbass that with all those powers he can't see it or be prepared for it.

    Superman bio-armor has been shown to be able to change shape and colors, much like Supergirl bio-armor. So having Superman improve his own suit so it could act like a anti-kryptonite armor, wouldn't be so far-fetched. Make villains work for it, have them forcefuly have to come up with new ways of using kryptonite, or even develop new isotopes altogether, so they could catch Superman off guard. If there's anything I hate is when writers clearly don't push themselves and simply use the same tactics over and over again, has if Superman was so dumb that he didn't learned from each fight.

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    ariesxmasters

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    #6  Edited By ariesxmasters

    I don't mind the weakness at all as long as a good story comes with it.

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    2cool4fun

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    Honestly there are only 2 things I hate about it. But overall it's existance is good.

    1. It's effectiveness is always different.

    2. Writers always juts keep writing in more kryptonite. Like Goeff Johns put it out clearly in Forever Evil that there is only 1 piece of kryptonite left on earth, they even destroyed batman's little ring, yet batman & other people are pulling out piles of new kryptonite out of nowhere.

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    Jogga

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    I myself am so tired of Superman's weakness to Kryptonite.

    Especially on how inconsistent it's effects on Superman is. On one issue Superman can still kick ass when someone jabs a shard in his brain. And then on another issue he faints like a little girl when Batman spits some of it in his eye.

    Am I the only one who thinks the weakness should be removed all together?

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    Self-DCeit

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    @jogga said:

    Am I the only one who thinks the weakness should be removed all together?

    You're not. You're most certainly not. Kryptonite might have been a necessity of sorts during the Silver Age, when Superman all but babysat the Justice League and sneezed galaxies out of existence. But now it's just an inconsistently overused trope, which is also part of the problem; it's so much a trope, that it's become interwoven into Superman's mythos and pop culture itself. For that reason, I don't believe you can simply do away with kryptonite, but for God's sake, lay down the editorial law and declare "inconsistent deus ex machina kryptonite nevermore!". Have it incapacitate Superman but let him retain his invulnerability, as was the case in the beginning. Have it cause blood poisoning but not be incapacitating, like Morrison tried to establish. Have it be a power source that can be used against Superman. Have it be anything other than that frickin' shard of green rock that your grandma can produce and bring the hero people usually count on to save the day to his knees.

    I mean, really. Unlike the first several decades of his existence, a case can nowadays be made for a number of heroes and villains to give Superman a run for his money, or even beat him. Kryptonite has more than worn out its welcome; it's become a self-referencing parody of itself, and a go-to tool for lazy writers who can't be bothered to come up with ways to use Superman in their stories without this cushy contrivance to do away with his powers, bring him down and make it easier to challenge him.

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    HeavenlyDarkDragon

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    @2cool4fun:

    Yeah. It's like writers keep kryptonite stocked pilled inside their asses.

    They could very simply just say "Hey, we no longer have access to the real stuff, but we can synthesize it. And although its far from being 100% effective, we make up in quantity instead of quality."

    Something has simple has this, would be enough, but nnoooo....

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    syoungkeezy

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    Honestly to me kryptonite should be Superman sole vulnerability.

    I'm tired of the red sunlight nonsense, and him being vulnerable to magic just like anyone else... Here's the problem. He's not like everyone else, his powers alone should offer limitations to what magic could and could not do to him. Heck I've seen non-magical characters being able to face some of the most dangerous magicians, with only one defense, their minds. They're normal human beings with no powers whatever, except for the fact that they trained their minds to fight with concentration way above normal.

    Has for Superman supposedly vulnerability to kryptonite, there are a few things that should not be possible. One of them being the use of kryptonite bullets. I still haven't forgotten (unlike the writers seem to have) that he no longer uses a normal fabric suit but a supposedly near indestructable kryptonian bio-armor. That alone should make bullets a thing of the past. Even energy beams of green-K should see their effectiveness lower to some level.

    Another thing that really gets under my skin about kryptonite, is how at first has shown in Action Comics, the only pieces of kryptonite in the entire world were the small shards that the military were able to extract from the engine of the ship that brought him to Earth. And then out of nowhere kryptonite aboundacy grows exponentially. Has also seen during the Crime Syndicate invasion, where Ultraman searched and consumed every piece of kryptonite in the entire world, he could find. He even got to Lex Luthor cache, until he came to the point where he had Deathstorm try to synthesize kryptonite because he couldn't find any more. Then after those events and those of Doomed, the military out of nowhere had enough kryptonite not only to bring back Metal Zero, but also cover Earth atmosphere with it.

    So this is how it should be. Use kryptonite and say its synthesized (so it doesn't look like the writer had some kryptonite stored in his ass) and use it against Superman. But at the same time, don't make Superman some rookie dumbass that with all those powers he can't see it or be prepared for it.

    Superman bio-armor has been shown to be able to change shape and colors, much like Supergirl bio-armor. So having Superman improve his own suit so it could act like a anti-kryptonite armor, wouldn't be so far-fetched. Make villains work for it, have them forcefuly have to come up with new ways of using kryptonite, or even develop new isotopes altogether, so they could catch Superman off guard. If there's anything I hate is when writers clearly don't push themselves and simply use the same tactics over and over again, has if Superman was so dumb that he didn't learned from each fight.

    I think that majority of Superman's weakness come from his character, superman has stated that he wants to be stopped if he goes rouge i remember a comic where he and Batman found all the Kryptonite on earth and got rid of it, he kept a piece and gave it to batman, when you look a characters such as MR Majestic or those who are superman based and don't have such weakness its usually due to them not being as trusting as superman or they eliminate such weaknesses, the issue with making superman a character who isn't as trusting and naive is that he would become damn near-ustoppable i would imagine that between sun dipping and the technology in the fortress he could find a cure for kryptonite and magic weaknesses, but like i said to put it simply superman is naive and has to be written that way to make the story more interesting, its the same speed blitzing its a power he has but doesn't use it imagine if luthor was causing trouble in down town metropolis, then next thing you know a blur passes by and he's knocked out, instead what you see is superman flying in and trying to talk to lex and trying to find out his plan when speed blitzing and raiding luthors hide outs would work just as well

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    HeavenlyDarkDragon

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    @syoungkeezy:

    Yes. All true.

    But to me the problem could be easily fixed. Superman has for far to long faced the same type of enemies over and over again, and it's time for him to go galactic.

    This way, he could encounter new villains, new allies, both almost has powerful, just has powerful or more powerful, than him. Without having to cripple him and make him look stupid or naive.

    He's such a great character that to me, his greatest problem is that he's too Earth bound. And so in order for Superman to not overshadow his peers, writers, have to systematically make him look slower, dumber, and less powerful, and to me that's just wrong. If they feel they have to throw some chains on him then remove him from the JL has a full time member and make him a extreme-situation member. They could still write Batman-Superman and Superman-WonderWoman comics, but has a real partnership between him and those two characters. Where he wouldn't hold back but still he would leave enough room for both Bruce and Diana to shine right along side him.

    This is just my view, anyway. Maybe I'm being too naive, but what kind of hardcore fan would I be, if I didn't want DC to treat him right.

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    syoungkeezy

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    @heavenlydarkdragon: I Agree i have always believed that Kal-El should have been a Cosmic character his world should be the universe, his earthbound threats are laughable at best,forever evil showed the unwillingness of writers to create a good evil superman, Ultraman was written as an idiot who took to many chances when ideally he should have killed Alexander Luthor and superwoman, i think the best superman story out there write now is the Earth one novel i like that they have changed kyrptons origin to an assassination and not just the planet blowing up, and that superman in that novel has laready faced a universal villain and if they can maintain, that story this might be the first time we see a superman who's actual story is based of world. DC needs to have him off world more that way they can create villains who don't need to resort to kryptonite

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