@foamborn:
A lot of the WW/Batman fan-base make the argument that superman is a bad superhero because he's overpowered, but then they contradict themselves by going on to say that WW/Batman can beat superman, therefore making them overpowered. WW beats Superman because of girl power and Batman beats everyone with prep time. Not to mention, they never bother to clarify which Superman they're putting the two heroes up against. Golden Age Superman, Silver/Bronze, Modern age, which one?!
In all of these arguments, Superman is given way too little credit. Because people rarely see superman using anything other than his fists and powers to win his battles, it is often assumed that superman has little to no combat training or skills but this is incorrect.
While most authors prefer to portray him as having brawling-type combat prowess in favor of displaying the magnitude of his powers in battle, there have been some exceptions. Many stories depict Superman as a very capable fighter with or without his abilities, as he has been trained by both Wildcat in boxing and Mongul in the fighting arts. He has fought and learned from Wonder Woman and has also learned martial arts techniques from Batman. To a lesser degree, Superman is also adept at armed combat, as he is shown to be decent with a sword and hammer. He has also learned two different types of Kryptonian fighting styles, Torquasm-Rao and Torquasm-Vo to enhance his body and mind. As of the New 52, Superman returns to being a currently untrained combatant, however, Captain Comet remarked that the Man of Steel's brawling skills are formidable.
Torquasm-Rao and Torquasm-Vo... which can be interpreted as "Hard" and "Soft" styles of Kryptonian Martial arts. Rao is more physical and offensive, Vo is more meditative, fluid, and spiritual (indeed, including a psychic or astral projection aspect which Lois used once and which Superman used to fight a psychic entity).Given how esoteric that is, however, more modern stories simply focus on his combat experience and trained acquaintances who've passed on knowledge over the years. Just the sheer amount of combat Superman sees in his adventures should render him martially competent. Technique matters, certainly, but experience is probably the fastest teacher of technique.
Another thing assumed about superman is that he's an idiot, when a couple of his abilities areSuperhuman Intelligence, Eidetic Memoryand Multilingualism. Superman does have a utility belt and he even makes his own weapons. Superman is not an easy kill, even if his opponent has kryptonite. Superman has his own suit specifically made for dealing with kryptonite. Though styled in the tradition of his regular costume, the K-Suit is made of lead-lined titanium that protects Superman from the effects of Kryptonite radiation. It also can withstand much physical damage and harsh environments. The suit has internal reserves and a filtration/recycling oxygen system. If the armor is breached, it releases anti-radiation foam to protect the user. The armor has regenerative capabilities as demonstrated when Aquaman tore off a piece of it with his hand. A new metal plate immediately sealed the damage. The helmet possesses a retractable one-way visor. This not only protects Superman, but also allows him to release and focus his heat vision.
The Kryptonian War Suit was developed during Krypton's last historical epoch. It was used not only for war, but also for survival in the harsh radioactive wastelands.
One such battle-suit was created by the service robots inside the Fortress of Solitude. WhenSuperman returned from the dead after being killed fighting Doomsday, he used a Kryptonian warsuit to facilitate the slow recuperative process. Once he reached civilization, he discarded the suit in order to help other heroes fight Mongul and the Cyborg during the "Reign of the Supermen!". During this time, the suit was forgotten about until Lex Luthor (II) discovered it. Bringing it back toMetropolis, Lex reprogrammed it as an automatic fail-safe should Earth ever become the target of another alien invasion. While Luthor lay near death, a victim of the clone plague, he activated the warsuit and used it to house him. With access to all of the suit's armaments, Lex used it to fight Superman during the "Fall of Metropolis". To defeat Luthor, Superman was forced to destroy the armor. The elements of the armor were reverse-engineered and used to create the Simm-Bot battle armor used by the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. The Kryptonian Warsuit is equipped with a vast array of high-powered Kryptonian weaponry.
Log in to comment