A couple Superman questions...

[TinMan]

Ok, I searched for a thread about random Superman questions but couldn't find one, so I'm sorry if this has been done before.

My question is this: is the Pre-Crisis Superman that everyone says is so uber Earth-1 Superman just more powerful? Or is it Earth-2 Superman? I was a bit confused about this because I was under the impression that it was Earth-2 Superman, but then I read an article in the newest issue of Wizard that compared Earth-1 and 2's Supermen. Frankly the Earth-2 Superman couldn't hold a candle to the Earth-1 Supes, so I'm curious, what exactly is the deal here?

[marshal99]

The planet juggling , the uber superman is silver-age superman , i.e pre-crisis earth 1 superman.

[Rik Levins]

Both Supermen are Pre-Crisis.

Earth-Two Supes is the Golden Age Superman. He started his career in 1938, and was not very powerful--THEN. He could "leap tall buildings" but couldn't fly, he was about as strong as Spider-Man is now, and while bullets couldn't hurt him, an artillery shell could.
Earth-One Superman is the Silver Age version (1950's-1986). He could move planets out of orbit by blowing on them. (No, I'm not making that up--he did just that on more than one occasion). A nuclear blast wouldn't even muss his hair. As a teen, he once strung a dozen planets together with a massive cable, like beads on a string, and effortlessly towed them from one galaxy to another.

The thing is, Earth-TWO Superman didn't stay at his 1938 power level. Over the years his powers increased until by the time he met and fought his counterpart in the early Seventies, they were dead even.
However, he is older than Earth-One Superman, and by the early Eighties his hair was graying, and it was established that he was no longer quite able to keep up with the younger Earth-One version.

Since then, of course, Earth-One Superman has been "rebooted" (by John Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries immediately following the Crisis) so that his powers are nowhere near where they used to be. He could lift a mountain, perhaps, but certainly not a planet.
(Note that present-day Superman is sometimes referred to as if he were still the Earth-One Superman, but he isn't--quite. This is why I said "both Supermen are Pre-Crisis", since present day Supes is neither Earth-One nor Earth-Two.)

So if Earth-Two Superman is still at his Pre-Crisis level, then despite the age factor he should be orders of magnitude stronger than present-day Supes.
We'll find out in the next issue of Infinite Crisis, I imagine.

[Lurker]

So if Earth-Two Superman is still at his Pre-Crisis level, then despite the age factor he should be orders of magnitude stronger than present-day Supes.
We'll find out in the next issue of Infinite Crisis, I imagine.

Not according to the ye ol Wizard tale of the tape which has Earth 2 Supes looking far inferior to Post Crisis Kal.

Of course, such matters are really up to the writer as you mentioned, but it seems through Wizard that Johns is retro-coning Kal-L to leaping tall building levels.

Going by that Wizard tale of the tape comparison, it should be noted that Superboy Prime could mop the floor with both of them.

[Buried Alien]

Not according to the ye ol Wizard tale of the tape which has Earth 2 Supes looking far inferior to Post Crisis Kal.

Of course, such matters are really up to the writer as you mentioned, but it seems through Wizard that Johns is retro-coning Kal-L to leaping tall building levels.

Going by that Wizard tale of the tape comparison, it should be noted that Superboy Prime could mop the floor with both of them.

WIZARD isn't exactly known to be one of the more reliable information sources on this kind of thing.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Rik Levins]

I don't read Wizard, so I can't say where they're getting their information.

But Kal-L has, in every appearance in the last thirty years, (including Crisis), been shown as equal to planet-moving Earth-One Superman, allowing for a slight power loss due to age.
And he seems to be flying just fine in the first few issues of IC.

[Spamotron]

Then there is also the fact that a group of villains who were owning Powergirl we're mopped up in one page by E2 Supes in Infinite Crisis #2. Granted they ambushed her while he had the element of suprise. But still...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'd say Golden Age/Earth-2 Superman is evenly matched with Modern Age/Post-Crisis Superman at this point. It'll be one helluva fight.

[Sean Whitmore]

I've always been under the impression that Kal-L was stronger than E1 Supes in the end, based on COIE. He knocked out E1 Supes and Lady Quark with one punch and dumped their unconscious asses into a portal, easy as pie. Then he proceeded to pound the Anti-Monitor into oblivion single-handed.

Though looking back, this could easily have just been a case of adrenalin and desperation making Kal-L stronger than usual.


SEAN

[Buried Alien]

I've always been under the impression that Kal-L was stronger than E1 Supes in the end, based on COIE. He knocked out E1 Supes and Lady Quark with one punch and dumped their unconscious asses into a portal, easy as pie. Then he proceeded to pound the Anti-Monitor into oblivion single-handed.

Though looking back, this could easily have just been a case of adrenalin and desperation making Kal-L stronger than usual.


SEAN

It was also a bit of a sucker punch as well. Neither Kal-El nor Lady Quark saw that punch coming. I don't have to *absolutely* be stronger than my opponent (just close enough) to knock him out as long as I'm ready for it and he isn't.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Rik Levins]

Sucker punch or not, if he was strong enough to knock out Pre-Crisis Earth-One Superman, he should be able to smash present-day Supes into red-and-blue paste with one shot.

Theoretically.

I think Bored is probably right, though, it will be written as if the two of them are now about even.

Regardless, I am enjoying the heck out of this series and looking forward to the next issue.

[JulianPerez]

Who is more powerful - Earth-1 or Earth-2 Superman?

I direct your attention to their first meeting in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #74 (1969).

Superman of Earth-1 was able to fight to a standstill the Superman of Earth-2; if there was a difference in their power level, it was not apparent in this particular story, which shows the pair of them as perfectly matched.

(If Superman of Earth-2 was "perfectly matched" for Earth-1 Superman, who did things like push continental plates and could achieve warpspeed, then it's a fair bet he's more than a match for the current Superman who has considerably lower power.)

It ought to be noted that Superman of Earth-2 may not be more powerful, but he has fewer weaknesses. For example, he is not dependent on the earth's yellow sun rays (as everyone on the planet Krypton had powers), and only one variety of Kryptonite exists on Earth-2.

[TinMan]

Wow, thanks guys, I appreciate the help.

I've never been a Superman fan, in fact I have a pretty good amount of hate for the character, but I have been reading IC and considering everything said in the rumbles threads I was curious about his past. Thanks again for the help and honestly I can't wait to see the two Supes brawl it out in the next issue of IC!

[PatrickG]

Earth-2 Superman had trouble doing more than leaping and shrugging off bullets in many of his appearances. However, by Crisis, he was about on par with the Supergirl who died.

Earth-1 Superman, it was said, would blow up the planet if he ever sneezed at full force. As a boy, he once casually relocated a solar system using a really long chain.

What makes this confusing is that the current Superman is being refered to as Earth-1 Superman and he's not really. His continuity has been revised to make him less powerful.

[Citizen V]

There is no doubt that the Pre-Crisis Superman was more than godlike in power.But i personally liked that,there should be an omni-potent hero.

In Infinate Crisis No.4 Superboy-PRIME pushed planets around again,i thought such a thing would never happen again.

[TinMan]

But i personally liked that,there should be an omni-potent hero.

I agree to a certain point. I like the idea of a hero thats capable of such, I just don't think they should be earth based. They shouldn't even be planet based in general, a hero that powerful shouldn't just defend one planet, but every planet they physically could. Thats kind of why I think they could do a lot w/ the Phoenix force and Jean Grey. Sure Jean's from earth but the force itself is basically the lifeblood of the universe, Jean's just the host. A universe crossing series with Jean/phoenix helping out many races and lifeforms would be really cool in my opinion.