Superman Through the Ages! Forum

My co-worker had a valid question tonight. Are Superman's eyes bulletproof? My guess is yes. But I've never seen proof. Just wondering, because if his eyes are soft tissue, how could they be impervious to bullets? But at the same time... he is basically invincible. Does anyone have any insight?

By the way, nice screename, killerspacesquid!

Recently in ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, Superman saved a crew of astronauts that were about to crash into the sun. Superman's eyes worked perfectly with such close proximity to the sun without being blinded; this implies that Superman's eyes are as invulnerable as the rest of him. He was able to get that close to the sun without special glasses.

There are many cases of Superman's body parts being supertough, even so-called soft parts. For instance, a single one of Superman's hairs could be used as a line to hold hundreds of tons up, as was demonstrated in the Superman Museum, where one of his hairs holds up a hundred-ton weight. Superman's nails are super-tough as well: he can use them to cut through sheet metal. Superman has been shown as being able to eat lava; this means that his tongue, mouth and digestive system are all invincible.

Further, the story "The Outcast Superheroes" in ADVENTURE COMICS #360 (1966) has Shrinking Violet go inside of Superman's body, showing that even Superman's cells are indestructible; Violet faced real trouble when she was confronted by invulnerable white blood cells.

It would make sense if Superman's eyeballs are indestructible; that's why he can use powers like X-Ray Vision and Heat-Vision without blowing them out.

All matter from Krypton becomes super-tough on earth; for instance, the material that made up Superbaby's rocketship was unharmed by the crash, and Superman's invincible costume is made from indestructible Kryptonian thread.

I hope this is helpful to you.

What a hassle it is to try to sleep when you can see through your own eyelids :(

As to "soft tissue"  I always wonder....  could you pinch a kryptonians cheek?  Or would it be totally rigid like steel?  Do bullets make little indents like when you poke normal flesh?

And speaking of bullets, I laughed when I saw in the old TV series where the villain runs out of bullets and throws the gun.  And superman ducks! :lol:

That's because Superman IS vulverable to handguns -- but ONLY when used as THROWN WEAPONS.   :wink:

As for your "soft tissues" question, I suppose his flesh would be more like a VERY dense rubber rather than rigid steel -- it's malleable and deforms under pressure, but cannot be penetrated or cut.

Thank you for your insight. Exactly what I thought I would hear... I just kinda needed a little support on the matter... although I do now wonder if you can pinch his cheek. I think this is something that should be explored and answered... because if he is basically like steel, how is his skin? Do normal over-the-counter products work on him, like lotions and stuff... or does he need to use kerosene and a wire brush to exfoliate? Or is it that he is so super, he doesn't have to worry about it? Or is it because he is an alien that his body is impervious to the occasional skin imperfection? I am aware that it really doesn't matter... but these are things I am kind of curious about.

Thanks, I love the screen name too... I got it from an old episode of Futurama.

Well, Superman has a normal sense of touch (in fact, better than normal; I don't recall the issue, but there was one story where he "listened" in on a phone conversation by just touching the wires and feeling the vibrations with his super-sensitive fingers) so it's likely that his skin is something that isn't ultra rigid. I've never seen anyone pinch Superman's cheek...but no one has yet to comment that Superman "feels" strange (and you'd expect a few of his girlfriends like Lois and Lana to make an observation like that).

Many artists, especially in recent times, draw Superman as ruggedly tan (though Jim Aparo in the seventies drew Superman almost latino) which makes sense as Superman's powers come from the Sun, but even at Superman's palest, it is unlikely that Superman can "blush," because all blushing is, is breaking blood vessels in the skin of the face, and Superman has invulnerable skin.



Superman doesn't have to worry about skin problems because he is invulnerable - what an enviable side-effect! He does not "shed" his skin periodically, which means that the Fortress of Solitude has no "dust" (since 90% of dust is dead skin), and further, he has no fingerprints, which explains why he does not wear gloves (though he might leave his fingerprints on something because he squeezes it at high pressure, like steel - Lois once used this to attempt to prove Superman's secret identity).

It was stated over and over again in Superman comics that Superman does not sweat (which makes sense - he doesn't need to), that, together with his immunity to bacteria, probably means that he does not need to wear deoderant, either.

Superman probably showers for the same reason that Clark Kent has an apartment in Metropolis, though: to keep his Kent disguise up and because sometimes, he likes doing things like real people. On the other hand, maybe he keeps a Superman Robot around to do nothing but take showers and brush his teeth, so the landlord won't get suspicious by the $0.00 water bill!

Sometimes, though, space-microbes might live on Superman's skin, and he has a flamethrower in the Fortress of Solitude that he uses to brush them off, "showering" in the fire.

Superman's hair and nails don't grow under a yellow sun, which means Superman doesn't have to worry about shaving.

Things get interesting, though, when we come to Supergirl...Superman always had his basic "Donald Rumsfeld" hairstyle, but Supergirl is like the comic book version of Dr. Beverly Crusher - a different hairstyle every time we see her!

The one hairstyle I'm talking about is Supergirl's big krinkly Olivia Newton John eighties ultraperm. How - just HOW - would Supergirl get a PERM? She can use a volcano as a jacuzzi, what could possibly give her the heat needed for a perm job? Maybe she wears curlers made with superhot matter from a white dwarf star?



Is this the episode with BATTLE OF THE NETWORK SPACE-KRAKENS?

Kryptonite curler setting solution, perhaps?   :wink:

I think Supergirl probably used a red sun lamp (perhaps built into her hairdryer?) when styling her hair.  Kara might even have used something similar to promote hair growth -- her hair stayed relatively the same length during her original costume era, but grew noticeably longer afterwards.  Or did she use Kandorian hair extensions?   :wink:   (Of course, a strand of Supergirl's hair in the Bottled City of Kandor would be thicker than a ship's anchor cable!)   :lol:

Thank you all so very much for clearing this up for me. I am actually new to Superman comics. Actually I'm new to comics as a whole. I did a stint when i was younger through the early nineties, but I have recently remembered the joy I had as a kid... and decided to do something about it. I've always liked Superman, but I've always loved Batman and DC Comics as a whole. Could anyone tell me where I should start if I want to begin reading Superman (on a bit of a budget)? Also, is there anything else worth my attention? I am currently into Batman County Line, Infinite Crisis, Justice, anything by Steve Niles, and zombies in general. I like revenge and graphic violence. I may be a mess, but it's what I like. Any suggestions?

By the way... the Futurama episode was titled  The Birdbot Of Ice-Catraz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birdbot_of_Ice-Catraz) . Click the link for any questions related to the episode. Because I don't remember right now exactly what happened, beyond the ship being engulfed in the clutches of a Killer Space Squid.

You should try the DC SHOWCASE editions for Superman - that's 540 pages for just ten smackers. A great deal for some classic older stories from the fifties and sixties. It's in black and white, though.

If you like Batman, try Steve Englehart's BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS trade paperback on Amazon. Batman was never a better detective, the bond between Batman and Robin was never stronger, and the Joker was never scarier than under Stainless Steve Englehart.

If you like Marvel comics, they recently did a collected edition called KANG: TIME AND TIME AGAIN, which has some of the best stories about Kang the Conqueror from the sixties to the eighties.

Also, be sure to try reading Kurt Busiek's ASTRO CITY, especially TARNISHED ANGEL, about an old supervillain that tries to go straight. My single sentence description doesn't do justice to what a hardboiled mystery/crime story it is.

You're absolutely right. I recently read that graphic novel and was blown away. I remember hearing Robert Mitchum's voice whenever Steeljack would speak or describe a scene. Just great, noir-meets-super-hero stuff.

Awesome! Thank you.