Hero Profile: Superman

So I figured I should do something for the 4^th of July, and came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to roll out a new segment. It’s called Hero Profiles. These will ultimately make up the bulk of my posts. I only have so many movies and TV shows to work with. And since I don't think I'll go much farther back then the original Spider-man trilogy that really limits my overall pool of stuff.

Admit it, having his powers
would be awesome

Given that it is the 4^th, who better to showcase than the Big Blue Boy Scout, Superman? Captain America, no contest. But Cap has already been talked about a few times, while Superman has been waiting patiently for his turn. Sure, he gave up his US citizenship a few years back. (He didn’t want people saying he was doing the government’s dirty work.) But he is still one of the most Iconic superheroes ever made, and one that will forever be associated with the US of A.

For these Hero profiles I’ll try to keep things relatively simple. I’ll give a brief background on the character, a list of abilities, some of their best body of work, and finally why I think this character is awesome. Keep in mind that like most of my post this is a work in progress so there will probably be a lot of experimentation with these.

So, let’s begin. Now, I just said I’d give a brief background on the Character. It’s important to know a heroes origin to understand how the character has evolved over time. For Sups, not gonna do it. I know the origin of Superman. You know the origin of Superman. My Grandmother, born in the 1930’s, knows the origin of Superman. It’s about as ingrained in the American subconscious as a thing can be. I’m not going to insult your intelligence by going into extreme detail about this guy. If, for some odd reason or another, you don’t know Superman’s origin here it is in 20 words. Alien baby sent to Earth, planet and Sun give him superpowers, he tries to be example for the human race.

Superman and Superboy.
Just some Father/Son? Brother? Family, that's it, Family Bonding

 As to powers, well he has A LOT. Most of which are somehow tied to the fact he is a highly evolved alien on a world other than his own. A number of explanations have been given for his powers over the years as the character has grown, so I’ll try to keep things relatively simple. Krypton, his home planet, has much higher gravity than Earth’s, which caused the creatures that evolved on it to be much…sturdier than us. It is this weaker gravitational field that also allows him to fly.

Brief history lesson time. When Superman was first conceived he could only do the whole “Leap tall buildings in a single bound” thing. As the character evolved, and more importantly, as more complex superheroes were created, his powers were expanded. For the longest time he didn’t fly so much as take a flying leap. Seriously, the man jumps so high and so far that it was like he was flying. To my understanding it wasn’t until the movies, when the directors decided having Sups jump everywhere would look silly, that he was given the ability to fly.

I'm sure this will end well.

Now you might think that that is a weak explanation for how he can tear through a tank in the same way a normal person rips tissue paper, or float on the breeze like a dandelion seed, and it is. But I’m talking about a guy who flies around in red and blue spandex, a lot of disbelief must be suspended.

He’s largely invulnerable, thanks to that sturdier body as mentioned above, but not completely invincible. A being of comparable physical strength can bruise him or break his bones, and those with more exotic abilities can find ways to harm him. In Superman vs. The Elite, a DC animated movie based on a comic storyline, the Anti-hero Manchester Black used his telekinetic powers to attack Superman’s softer internal organs.

For some of his even more exotic powers, like Heat Vision, he gets help from dear old Sol, our yellow sun. Krypton orbited a red sun, which, if you remember your high school physics, gives off lower energy rays. Earth’s yellow sun has much higher energy rays. After a few years of getting use to the juice his body was able to process it much more efficiently than we can. As a matter of fact, Superman absorbs sunlight so effectively that he can get all the energy he needs from the sun. In case that isn't clear enough, Superman doesn't need to eat. He does eat, tasting stuff is awesome after all, but he doesn't NEED to do it. Pretty crazy, right? His Heat Vision is directly tied to this power, the longer he uses it the more it drains him. More than any of his other powers, anyway.

Best Buddies, which is so weird when you think about it.

There are a few other powers that I’m not sure how you’d explain them scientifically but they are worth mentioning. Things like his famous X-Ray vision that lets him see through stuff. Micro/Macro-vison, which lets him turn his eyes into either a telescope or microscope. Super hearing that lets him hear anything anywhere. And infrared vision that lets him see heat signatures. For a guy with glasses his eyes do crazy stuff.

Superman’s best body of works include any of the DC animated movies they’ve come out with over the last few years that include him. There are too many to list. This also includes DC’s animated universe from the late 90’s to early 2000’s. If it featured a DC character they had at least one episode where he’d show up for a reason or another. He is also the central character of the CW’s Smallville (2001-11) starring Tom Welling as the man with the S on his chest before he had the S. It gives an excellent portrayal of the evolution of Clark Kent into Superman. His live action movie portrayals are varied ranging from good to pretty bad. Man of Steel falls under an okay to good area, it kind seemed like they kept changing their minds about what kind of Superman they were going to show…

Now, Superman isn’t my favorite superhero. He’s not even in my top Ten. But he is a superhero that I respect. Love him or hate him he is the quintessential superhero. The guy with powers that every other superhuman looks up to. He’s the guy that everyone pretended they were when they tied a blanket around their necks and pretended they could fly. He’s been in comics for the better part of a century and shows no sign of disappearing anytime soon. And I think you need to respect that. 

Next time I'll be doing the sister post to Hero Profiles, Villain Profiles. And I'll be starting with the one, the only, Apocalypse. 

It's good to be the man.

http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-2026633

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman_%28Clark_Kent%29?file=Superman_0002.jpg

http://batman-news.com/2013/07/29/is-it-too-soon-for-a-batman-superman-movie/

http://www.wallpapersleaf.com/wallpapers/2013-11/2013-movie-superman-flying-image-1920x1080.jpg