Superman Through the Ages! Forum

What are some of the peculiar properties of Superman's blood?

By all appearances, Superman's blood appears to be identical to those of human beings. There have been only a few occasions where Superman has "bled," and each time, his blood was red and further, it appears that his blood clots like ours does because Superman does not worry about bleeding to death. In "The OUTLAW Legionnaires," Superman was shown to have white blood cells just like those of human beings (though his white blood cells, like Superman, were invulnerable).

There was one Golden Age incidence of Superman giving a blood transfusion to Lois Lane,  who felt "energetic and better than she ever did before" after the transfusion. Supposedly, Superman was stated in that story to have a blood type equal to all four earthly kinds.

Superman is shown to be immune to illness, poison, and all terrestrial and alien diseases. It stands to reason that his blood too, is immune to these effects, possibly because he is invulnerable to the cellular level as implied above.

In MIRACLE MONDAY, Maggin said that Superman's heart was powerful enough to pump oceans of blood at a time. The implication here is that Superman's body provides his strength and other powers with a constant cycling supply of circulation - thus, it is likely that Superman's blood may be as powerful as the rest of him. As Superman's heart rate is not unusually high, thus, his blood, to provide circulation, must be particularly potent at carrying oxygen and nutrients to meet Superman's super-needs. If his blood was normal, it stands to reason that Superman's heart would have to beat far more to keep "refreshing" itself.

In the the "Tenth Circle" JLA arc by Chris Claremont, Superman's blood was "undrinkable" by a Vampire because Superman was an alien. POSSIBLE explanation for why this would be the case despite the fact that Superman's blood is not only shown to be identical to earthly blood but also superpowerful as well: Vampires are magical. The reason they don't show up, for instance, in mirrors and photographs is because they don't have a soul, for example. Thus, when Vampires drink blood, they are not actually breaking the blood down for its nutritional content, like a leech would, they obtain energy from the ESSENCE of blood, what blood represents - in many cultures, for instance, blood is both life and a person's soul. While Superman's blood is physically identical to earthly blood, it may be the case that while the blood is physically identical to earthly blood, this "essence" that Vampires feast on in the blood is absent from an alien. This may also account for why Vampires drink human blood (which can get them into trouble) when they could for instance, drink the equally nutritious blood of cattle, for example.

Perhaps the absence of this essence may be closely related to the fact that Superman is vulnerable to magic.

I think if Superman gives you a transfusion, youll have temporray super powers like Lois did once IIRC

His blood could save Lois & Lana from the bug that killed his parents, as he'd since been exposed to it and developed super-antibodies.

Superman's blood conforms to all 4 types!

Then why couldn't Supergirl donate a blood transfusion for Superman in Action Comics #403 (August 1971)?

Even though they are cousins, Kal-El and Kara Zor-El have non-compatible blood types.

By the way, a blood transfusion from "Linda Danvers" once gave an injured friend temporary superpowers in Action Comics #321 (February 1965).  Linda used red kryptonite on her arm to negate her invulnerability while donating her blood, not knowing the consequences.

Ooooh, now this is something I did not know. Does this imply that Superman and Supergirl have blood types that are analogous to earthly ones? Considering how similar Kryptonians are to humans in nearly every other way, it would stand to reason this would be the case. Contrast this with, for instance, with John Jones, the Manhunter from Mars, who has somewhere between two to four hearts, none of which are where they are "supposed" to be, and green blood.

It appears to be shown in multiple cases, especially come the Silver Age, that blood transfusions from the supercousins give temporary powers.

The situation of Superman having blood analogous to "all four types" and a Lois Lane who merely feels "envigorated" by the transfusion instead of gaining powers, seems to be how blood works only for Golden Age (or Earth-2) Superman, since the story in question was Golden Age.

I once thought that maybe Superman's red blood cells were respirocytes; theoretical diamondoid nano oxygen containers. This would allow him to hold his breath for insane amounts of time as well as give him virtually limitless stamina. Plus being nanites, they could in theory be compatible with humans. It would be like blood doping with a thousand litres of blood and no danger. Feeling good would be a definite possibility, plus with such an increase of energy it's plausible that you could fight off quite the plethora of diseases and toxins.

Hmmm, this sounds interesting. Tell me some more about respirocytes, how they work, and how someone like Superman would have them.

This is seriously interesting stuff guys, keep it up. :)

Well this (http://www.foresight.org/nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html) site explains them far better than I could. I recommend checking it out. As for how Superman would have them, well, it's very unlikely but a similar structure could have evolved in Kryptonian blood. It might even be a prerequisite for life evolving on such a high g world. Either that or super advanced K-Science could have created them and then introduced them as the norm for their entire species. It's also cool that that page mentions other capabilites for them that could apply to our favorite Man of (Carbon) Steel. :D