Check out these images for Superman 13 released by DC. Suffice to say they show that the New 52 Superman is still as powerful as ever:

Bench pressing the equivalent  Earth for five days? That's a f'ing huge leap from what we have seen in the past issues of Superman from the 52.

@Dernman: It is a huge leap. He's gone from barely stopping a bullet train to being a planet lifter once again. Not a lot of continuity (now there's a surprise). Still this is a good feat for gauging Superman's strength and provides evidence as to why he's the most powerful being on the planet.

Oh wow, if these scans were to hold true, then he's even more powerful than Post-Crisis Superman. Bench pressing the weight of the Earth for five days straight and he even has the nerve to say "That's all you got?" Heh, that gave me a good chuckle.

@Deranged Midget: Didn't Post Crisis Superman pull Mageddon's machine which was supposedly the size of a solar system? But yeah this is a good feat. But it's pretty awesome to think if these scans do turn out to be true, then Helspont is a beast for back handing him and H'El for bear hugging him.

@Lvenger said:

@Deranged Midget: Didn't Post Crisis Superman pull Mageddon's machine which was supposedly the size of a solar system? But yeah this is a good feat. But it's pretty awesome to think if these scans do turn out to be true, then Helspont is a beast for back handing him and H'El for bear hugging him.

No, it was measured to be the size of Jupiter if I recall correctly.

But yes, this is insanely impressive and definitely a step-up. The art is absolutely gorgeous as well.

@Deranged Midget: Ah my bad. Although there is one thing which makes me doubt this feat. It's the solicit for this issue which says "It’s a deathrap for Superman as he matches wits with his greatest enemy for the final time as The Man of Steel loses it!" Maybe the start of this issue is a hallucination? A crazy thought but one that's lingering there.

Quick lets do a New 52 Superman vs Hulk battle thread!!!! LOL.

@UltimateSMfan said:

Quick lets do a New 52 Superman vs Hulk battle thread!!!! LOL.

I thought one would have been made already by a Hulk fanboy.

@Lvenger said:

@Deranged Midget: Ah my bad. Although there is one thing which makes me doubt this feat. It's the solicit for this issue which says "It’s a deathrap for Superman as he matches wits with his greatest enemy for the final time as The Man of Steel loses it!" Maybe the start of this issue is a hallucination? A crazy thought but one that's lingering there.

Say to assume that Lex Luthor might be involved but for it to be a hallucination? I don't know...

@Lvenger said:

@UltimateSMfan said:

Quick lets do a New 52 Superman vs Hulk battle thread!!!! LOL.

I thought one would have been made already by a Hulk fanboy.

If thats the case then he's about to be sent home crying...

@Lvenger said:

@Deranged Midget: Didn't Post Crisis Superman pull Mageddon's machine which was supposedly the size of a solar system? But yeah this is a good feat. But it's pretty awesome to think if these scans do turn out to be true, then Helspont is a beast for back handing him and H'El for bear hugging him.

No, it was measured to be the size of Jupiter if I recall correctly.

But yes, this is insanely impressive and definitely a step-up. The art is absolutely gorgeous as well. 

@Deranged Midget said:

@Lvenger said:

@Deranged Midget: Ah my bad. Although there is one thing which makes me doubt this feat. It's the solicit for this issue which says "It’s a deathrap for Superman as he matches wits with his greatest enemy for the final time as The Man of Steel loses it!" Maybe the start of this issue is a hallucination? A crazy thought but one that's lingering there.

Say to assume that Lex Luthor might be involved but for it to be a hallucination? I don't know...

highly doubt this is a hallucination, if u read what scott lobdell had to say sbout superman(in an interview on CV itself) u would understand.....i think he's trying and going to prove a point...he's going to make Superman interesting even though people(haters) whine that he's "overpowered" ..... Come on Scott!! U can do it!!!

@The Stegman said:

@Deranged Midget:

@Lvenger said:

@Deranged Midget: Didn't Post Crisis Superman pull Mageddon's machine which was supposedly the size of a solar system? But yeah this is a good feat. But it's pretty awesome to think if these scans do turn out to be true, then Helspont is a beast for back handing him and H'El for bear hugging him.

No, it was measured to be the size of Jupiter if I recall correctly.

But yes, this is insanely impressive and definitely a step-up. The art is absolutely gorgeous as well.

And keep in mind it said he was only "straining'' because he had been out of the sun for five days, imagine what a fully charged Superman could do.

And that's what makes this feat all the more better.

looks amazing. not sure about making him that insanely powerful though. But I'm sure its going to be a blast.

@sethysquare said:

looks amazing. not sure about making him that insanely powerful though. But I'm sure its going to be a blast.

Is that your first seeds of doubt over what Lobdell is writing? I thought the day would never come :P

Well this is a pleasant surprise. I was afraid they were going to depower Supes way to much. Bench pressing the planet for 5 days straight seems to be about where Supes should be out strength wise

@The Stegman said:

And keep in mind it said he was only "straining'' because he had been out of the sun for five days, imagine what a fully charged Superman could do.

Indeed, and even with being "strained" for five days, he broke only one bead of sweat.

@Lvenger said:

@sethysquare said:

looks amazing. not sure about making him that insanely powerful though. But I'm sure its going to be a blast.

Is that your first seeds of doubt over what Lobdell is writing? I thought the day would never come :P

Haha. I still think its going to be a blast. But I've always been a fan of depowered supes, just cos he would be able to fight more believable heroes. But I guess they could always go inconsistent with the power levels. I still trust Lobdell 100%

@Deranged Midget said:

@The Stegman said:

And keep in mind it said he was only "straining'' because he had been out of the sun for five days, imagine what a fully charged Superman could do.

Indeed, and even with being "strained" for five days, he broke only one bead of sweat.

He seemed a bit too happy over breaking a sweat. But then again I'd be pretty full of myself after bench pressing a planet for 5 days.

@sethysquare: I've personally liked a bit of both. For instance Snyder's recent run on Batman featured an uber competent Batman who could still be surprised by the Court of Owls. I hope for the same thing with these Superman stories.

@sethysquare said:

Haha. I still think its going to be a blast. But I've always been a fan of depowered supes, just cos he would be able to fight more believable heroes. But I guess they could always go inconsistent with the power levels. I still trust Lobdell 100%

De-powered Supes was fine with Action Comics and a younger Clark, but Superman deserves to have something to brag about. He's the flagship character and he's been kept in the dark for the better part of the entire first year of the New 52.

@Lvenger: Ha, I don't think it was so much the bench-pressing but wanting to push his limits and knowing that his powers are constantly in development that had him excited.

@Deranged Midget: Yeah I gathered as much. Now we just need some more feats and it'll be safe to use him in battles.

Wow only 5 pages and already the dialogue is better then anything from issues 1-12. I really really hope Lobdell "forgets" about Lois's sister coming to town because a 3 issue sub plot about forgetting to pick her up at a train station had me about ready to start ripping comics in half.

@Lvenger: Personally, I still find it unnecessary to use most New 52 characters in battles. A single year of feats or lack there-of isn't really enough in my opinion to determine the full potential of the characters. With Post-crisis characters, we had 30 years of feats to fall back upon.

@Deranged Midget: Yeah you're right. I forgot how annoyed I was at people who were making battle threads with the New 52 characters several months back.

@Deranged Midget said:

@The Stegman said:

And keep in mind it said he was only "straining'' because he had been out of the sun for five days, imagine what a fully charged Superman could do.

Indeed, and even with being "strained" for five days, he broke only one bead of sweat.

He seemed a bit too happy over breaking a sweat. But then again I'd be pretty full of myself after bench pressing a planet for 5 days. 

@The Stegman said:

@Lvenger:

@Deranged Midget said:

@The Stegman said:

And keep in mind it said he was only "straining'' because he had been out of the sun for five days, imagine what a fully charged Superman could do.

Indeed, and even with being "strained" for five days, he broke only one bead of sweat.

He seemed a bit too happy over breaking a sweat. But then again I'd be pretty full of myself after bench pressing a planet for 5 days.

Word, when i bench pressed Venus for a week, no one could shut me up or stop my strut.

Damn I only just managed bench pressing Pluto for 5 days. I'm gonna need to train harder.

Loving this.DC thank you for bring back the superman we know.About time

@Lvenger: @The Stegman: Hilarious!

@Lvenger: Maybe the powerup wouldbe explained/showed in the Action Comics and Action Comics Annuals..I think feats like this,will being seen when Superman face the Superdoom

@matchesmalone21: Perhaps. Superdoom does look like a big threat.

@Lvenger: Agreed

This is awesome.

@Lvenger: Im okay with a uber competant Superman. I just wish writers wouldn't write crazily unrealistic stuff like getting Supes to shift a whole planet to avoid a meteor. lol.

@Deranged Midget said:

@sethysquare said:

Haha. I still think its going to be a blast. But I've always been a fan of depowered supes, just cos he would be able to fight more believable heroes. But I guess they could always go inconsistent with the power levels. I still trust Lobdell 100%

De-powered Supes was fine with Action Comics and a younger Clark, but Superman deserves to have something to brag about. He's the flagship character and he's been kept in the dark for the better part of the entire first year of the New 52.

To me I dont neccesarily feel that being powerful equates to being popular and important. Look at MM, I believe he is the most powerful person in dc. Yet he can't even hold his own solo ongoing.

who's that redhead chick

Doesn't that look like that red head chick from Morrison's batman?

@sethysquare True that is why the SA stories were a too much lol.

@SandMan_ Jezebel Jet? Maybe she survived the Man Bat attack and is looking to charm Superman too.

@Lvenger: yeah. im not crazy over SA stories. lol

Per usual..Supes RULES!!! Bench pressing the earth for 5 days..

@sethysquare said:

To me I dont neccesarily feel that being powerful equates to being popular and important. Look at MM, I believe he is the most powerful person in dc. Yet he can't even hold his own solo ongoing.

Superman being the most powerful doesn't necessarily mean it will bring him popularity as his power isn't even the reason why I adore the character.. But as for his power, it's not exactly unique and to be honest, the power-set is bland in comparison to other beings of his level such as J'onn, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, Captain Atom, etc. Obviously, the jump from previous issues in Justice League, Superman, etc to this is extremely massive as this feat alone would make him more powerful than Pre-Crisis Superman but I'd like to see if Lobdell could explain such a jump.

@Deranged Midget: this feat doesn't make him more powerfull than pre-crisis superman,and it is not incoherent with what it is being shown in jla or superman,since clark has never pushed his powers to his limits. he was koed by darkseid and helspont but that is just because they are even stronger than him ( probably by much!)

@toptom said:

@Deranged Midget: this feat doesn't make him more powerfull than pre-crisis superman,and it is not incoherent with what it is being shown in jla or superman,since clark has never pushed his powers to his limits. he was koed by darkseid and helspont but that is just because they are even stronger than him ( probably by much!)

In terms of physical strength, I think it's safe to say he's far stronger than Pre-Crisis Superman, not Silver Age, there's a difference.

Benching the equivalent of the Earth's weight for five days straight while his powers were slowly depleting? That's a silver age feat for you.

@Deranged Midget said:

@sethysquare said:

To me I dont neccesarily feel that being powerful equates to being popular and important. Look at MM, I believe he is the most powerful person in dc. Yet he can't even hold his own solo ongoing.

Superman being the most powerful doesn't necessarily mean it will bring him popularity as his power isn't even the reason why I adore the character.. But as for his power, it's not exactly unique and to be honest, the power-set is bland in comparison to other beings of his level such as J'onn, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, Captain Atom, etc. Obviously, the jump from previous issues in Justice League, Superman, etc to this is extremely massive as this feat alone would make him more powerful than Pre-Crisis Superman but I'd like to see if Lobdell could explain such a jump.

Well I think the "jump" in power can be explained with a little help from the Collector arc in issue # 7 where we find out that Superman actually doesn't even know how strong or fast he is (same thing really cuz his strength gives him his speed). He's reasoning for not knowing his full range was "I never really had to"......till the fight with the Collector where he actually had to push his powers even further. It seems like he was flexing them almost like a muscle and pushing a muscle past it's breaking point makes it come back even stronger to meet the challenge that you gave it the 1st time.

Now the challenge is stronger foes and harder situations. As we've seen in Action comics each issue has him going up against strong and stronger foes this has likely cased his body to go into overdrive to keep up and his power meet the challenge.

So really I think it's just been 5 years of fighting god, future men, inter-dimensional imps, inter-dimensional devil versions of himself, a whole army dedicated to killing him, and a force that all others are scared of......the multitude. He has had to meet all of these challenges in some way it would make sense that his body ready itself for when they come back.

Also his absorption rate is very high from what we've seen.

Am I the only one who thinks this Dr. Veritas character is somewhat similar to Leo Quintum from All Star Superman? In fact, this whole scene feels like it came from that book (and I meant that as a compliment).

hey superlad ypu just described doomsday,is it your opiniin nudcu supermans powers grow like doomsdays do?

@SmashBrawler: Lobdell could be paying respects to that character.

@Superlad93: Nice analysis.