Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Why is that...Nothing less than a speeding bullet can penetrate his skin, but he is highly suspetible(sp?) to magics?

heh, it's Nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin. He's faster than a speeding Bullet :)

The magic bit was added much later on and by then a bursting shell couldn't do much of anything against him.

When sufficiently great force could harm him, he didn't have a particular weakness to magic or anything else.  Indeed, he had some good showings as in when he outpowered the magical god Mercury once.  But as his powers and power-levels grew, they had to create special weaknesses -- his Achilles heel, if you will -- to be able to challenge him.  Kryptonite was the first of them (first introduced in the radio show, IIRC, as a gimmick so the actor playing Superman could go on vacation and the show substituted someone else groaning from K-exposure).  Magic was his other classic weakness added for the same reason.

It must be noted that the Byrned version introduced in his Man of Steel miniseries in 1986 isn't particularly vulnerable to magic.  He's affected nor more nor less than anyone else would be.  But he's still more affected by kryptonite than a Terran though sufficient exposure would be harmful to us too -- Luthor got cancer from wearing a K-ring and had to have his right hand amputated.

Superman is susceptible to magic the same way anyone else would be.  Assuming there was such a thing as magic, that is.  He is no more susceptible than you or I would be, but because he's immune to so many other things we are not, magic gets used against him a lot.  (All you need to create peril for Batman is to point a gun at him...with Superman it takes something special, so magic gets overused.)

Which is to say, as we discussed during JLA/Avengers, if Thor hit Superman with his magic hammer, it could hurt him where a normal hammer would merely shatter.  Or if someone stabbed him with a magic sword, it would cut him...'cause it has magical properties.  Or if a witch cast a spell on him, it would work.  But the mere presence of magic doesn't harm Superman.  I mean, he can stand next to Zatanna without fainting, for example.  (Though to be honest, I'm not sure I could, especially if she were in the fishnets!  :D )

Superman is invulnerable to all manner of natural and man-made forces, but not to things that, by merely existing at all, break the laws of nature and science.  Same with a human...a bullet-proof vest won't keep you from being turned into a frog!  In other words, while Superman is susceptible to magic, I don't think it's right to list it as a "weakness."  If you did, you'd have to list it as a weakness for every character in the DC and Marvel Universe.  Even mystical characters like Dr Fate or Dr Strange are vulnerable to the magic of other mystics.

Vampires!  don't forget he can be affected by Vampires.  That stinks!  :purp: I am not sure if they are concidered magical though?

and waerwolves to.

Waerwolves?

There.

There - a wolf.

Where?

There. :shock:  
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Spelt W-e-r-e-wo-l-v-e-s. :twisted:

The Kryptonian power package is a pretty sweet one as they go; super-strength, near-total invulnerability, enhanced senses, flight, super-speed, super-intelligence (pre-Crisis anyway). . .as origins for superheroes go, it's the classic. Still, there are some drawbacks to being a superman, magic and kryptonite being primary among them. But Superman can be also be depowered by utilizing Red Solar radiation, simulating the stellar effects of a red sun such as Krypton once possessed. Also, in the more recent comics at least, Superman's powers have been discovered to be fueled by the yellow sun of Earth, but should he be away from a sufficiently powerful yellow sun his powers will begin to dwindle until he's just a mortal man. Overtaxing his powers drains his internal fuel cells, leaving him vulnerable.

 -Def.