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WAAAY OT- Can Superman drown?

eclark1849eclark1849 Posts: 211
edited December 1969 in The Commons

Okay, here's something for you all to ponder. Superman is supposed to be invulnerable under Earth's yellow sun. We've seen him in space and underwater and we know he can hold his breath for a REALLY long time. But he does still need to breathe eventually, right? so if Superman was unconscious and underwater at the same time, would he drown?

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Comments

  • RawArtRawArt Posts: 5,889
    edited December 1969

    I would say "Yes"...and the same for him flying through space.

    BUT.....I am sure as far as the comic goes, then No...that would not bother him.

  • drinkingbuddydrinkingbuddy Posts: 350
    edited December 1969

    Yeah he can drown. In the "Exile" storyline, he needs a breathing apparatus for deep space flying.


    On a separate note, I wonder if Superman is faster than the Flash.

  • RawArtRawArt Posts: 5,889
    edited December 1969

    spiderland said:
    Yeah he can drown. In the "Exile" storyline, he needs a breathing apparatus for deep space flying.


    On a separate note, I wonder if Superman is faster than the Flash.


    AT the risk of showing my geekiness....I think according to the comics, Flash is indeed faster than Superman "Speed Force" and all that

  • eclark1849eclark1849 Posts: 211
    edited December 1969

    Okay, Flash (Wally West) is indeed faster than Superman, but in a sheer distance marathon, Superman could probably outlast him.

  • tsaristtsarist Posts: 1,614
    edited December 1969

    Post Crisis Superman can drown.
    He can hold his breath for a very long time, but at some point...

  • FuselingFuseling Posts: 243
    edited December 1969

    EClark1849 said:
    Okay, Flash (Wally West) is indeed faster than Superman, but in a sheer distance marathon, Superman could probably outlast him.

    Hmmm...good information to have. You learn something new everyday I guess. :D

  • ServantServant Posts: 759
    edited December 1969

    EClark1849 said:
    Okay, here's something for you all to ponder. Superman is supposed to be invulnerable under Earth's yellow sun. We've seen him in space and underwater and we know he can hold his breath for a REALLY long time. But he does still need to breathe eventually, right? so if Superman was unconscious and underwater at the same time, would he drown?

    Which Superman? How old? If it was early in the Byrne reboot, yeah, he probably could. Here's a link to the story with Lori Lemaris a few years in the Post-Crisis Superman run (guest-starring Aquaman):

    http://www.aquamanshrine.com/2010/10/superman-vol2-63-jan-1992.html

    Note that this is before he got killed by Doomsday and subsequently amped up back to close his Pre-Crisis Power Levels (which at that point he pretty much doesn't need to breathe at all).

  • LeatherGryphonLeatherGryphon Posts: 11,505
    edited March 2013

    Somebody's been watching too much "Big Bang Theory". 8-s

    Can we please stop worrying about this trivia and get back to the really important stuff? Like playing with dolls!

    Post edited by LeatherGryphon on
  • Satira CapriccioSatira Capriccio Posts: 523
    edited December 1969

    Superman had a crisis?

    Superman died?!?


    The horror of it all :(

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 2,344
    edited December 1969

    LeatherGryphon said:
    Somebody's been watching too much "Big Bang Theory". 8-s

    Can we please stop worrying about this trivia and get back to the really important stuff? Like playing with dolls!

    "Action Figures", not "dolls".

    -- Walt Sterdan

  • Ryuu@AMcCFRyuu@AMcCF Posts: 668
    edited March 2013

    Well, I'm reluctant about showing off my geekdom levels, but.....

    I grew up with the Pre-Crisis Supes, and I would have to say that NOTHING could make him run out of breath. Either he could hold his breath literally forever or he could breath it! Seriously, you would've needed to hold Kal El's head underwater until the sun turned red and boiled off the oceans before he needed to actually take a new breath!! And let's not talk about his "superfillibuster-ability-using-superventriloquism-in-hard-vacuum" ability---Strom Thurman and Robert Byrd on the Senate floor together couldn't even come close to a tenth of the time that Supes could yap while standing on the moon!

    Back then, Supes was just a tad bit faster than Barry Allen (at least in "normal" space) when they raced each other, but Supes had the ability to go FTL when he needed to zip off to another planet, while Barry could go Temporal and/or Transdimensional but otherwise seemed pretty much limited to Earth under his own powers.

    I do prefer the Post-Crisis Supes, but I'm pretty much annoyed with the not-so gradual recreeping up of his powers to Pre-Crisis levels. At least the Pre-Crisis crap DID take several decades as well as dozens of different Kryptonite colors (including vert with chartuese pok-a-dots---& you DONOT want to know what THAT does to Kryptonians!!!) before he was the equal to the AntiMonitor in sheer raw power, whereas the Post-Crisis took only a few years before he was nearly back up to his superfillibuster-ability-using-superventriloquism-in-hard-vacuum levels.

    Hell, when Post-Crisis Supes raced Wally, Wally beat him only because "You are faster than Barry ever was"--direct quote from Supes to Wally after the race, which means at the time they raced, Post-Crisis had to have been just as fast as the Pre-Crisis Supes in order for him to know the difference....

    oy vey! :-S

    Post edited by Ryuu@AMcCF on
  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,462
    edited December 1969

    Ryuu@AMcCF said:
    Well, I'm reluctant about showing off my geekdom levels, but.....

    I grew up with the Pre-Crisis Supes, and I would have to say that NOTHING could make him run out of breath. Either he could hold his breath literally forever or he could breath it! Seriously, you would've needed to hold Kal El's head underwater until the sun turned red and boiled off the oceans before he needed to actually take a new breath!! And let's not talk about his "superfillibuster-ability-using-superventriloquism-in-hard-vacuum" ability---Strom Thurman and Robert Byrd on the Senate floor together couldn't even come close to a tenth of the time that Supes could yap while standing on the moon!

    Back then, Supes was just a tad bit faster than Barry Allen (at least in "normal" space) when they raced each other, but Supes had the ability to go FTL when he needed to zip off to another planet, while Barry could go Temporal and/or Transdimensional but otherwise seemed pretty much limited to Earth under his own powers.

    I do prefer the Post-Crisis Supes, but I'm pretty much annoyed with the not-so gradual recreeping up of his powers to Pre-Crisis levels. At least the Pre-Crisis crap DID take several decades as well as dozens of different Kryptonite colors (including vert with chartuese pok-a-dots---& you DONOT want to know what THAT does to Kryptonians!!!) before he was the equal to the AntiMonitor in sheer raw power, whereas the Post-Crisis took only a few years before he was nearly back up to his superfillibuster-ability-using-superventriloquism-in-hard-vacuum levels.

    Hell, when Post-Crisis Supes raced Wally, Wally beat him only because "You are faster than Barry ever was"--direct quote from Supes to Wally after the race, which means at the time they raced, Post-Crisis had to have been just as fast as the Pre-Crisis Supes in order for him to know the difference....

    oy vey! :-S

    Ilike where they have his power levels in Justice League Unlimited, still super just not over the top.

  • ServantServant Posts: 759
    edited March 2013

    Rareth said:

    Ilike where they have his power levels in Justice League Unlimited, still super just not over the top.

    They explained that away as Supes holding back (even moreso than his modern age comic book version). The creative team got a lot of flack for the first season where Superman was a pushover so they amped him up every season. You'll see this in the shift between Season 1 "grunts when moving a tank" Superman to "moving mountains" Superman in Season 2 to "the world is just cardboard" Season 3 and onwards Superman.

    See the problem is, if you go with a weak Superman, the fandom hates it. If you go with a virtually unstoppable Superman, the critics hate it. Well, guess who the company is going to listen to? Answer: not the critics.

    Heck, we've all seen the screwattack Death Battle Superman vs. Goku by now, and that shattered the childhood of every DBZ fan who didn't know a thing about the modern Superman's feats. :P

    Post edited by Servant on
  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,462
    edited December 1969

    BorgyB said:
    Rareth said:

    Ilike where they have his power levels in Justice League Unlimited, still super just not over the top.

    They explained that away as Supes holding back (even moreso than his modern age comic book version). The creative team got a lot of flack for the first season where Superman was a pushover so they amped him up every season. You'll see this in the shift between Season 1 "grunts when moving a tank" Superman to "moving mountains" Superman in Season 2 to "the world is just cardboard" Season 3 and onwards Superman.

    See the problem is, if you go with a weak Superman, the fandom hates it. If you go with a virtually unstoppable Superman, the critics hate it. Well, guess who the company is going to listen to? Answer: not the critics.

    well the world should feel like cardboard to Supes but not to a "he has to conciously hold back" since he did grow into his powers on earth.

    in Justice League cartoon he was more of a light weight superman, in Justice Leage Unlimited he was stronger (if you grunt lifting a tank you ain't going toe to toe with Darkseid)

  • JohnDelaquioxJohnDelaquiox Posts: 1,195
    edited December 1969

    Actually, this all depends on the continuity, timeline, and the author.

    But this should help clarify a few things about Superman's powers and its super fun to watch.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyl97TG8jbA

  • Canary3dCanary3d Posts: 2,032
    edited December 1969

    With Kryponite, all things are possible...

  • JohnDelaquioxJohnDelaquiox Posts: 1,195
    edited December 1969

    Even then I don't think he would or could actually die.

  • Canary3dCanary3d Posts: 2,032
    edited March 2013

    He would die for at LEAST half a page in the middle of a 2-issue arc.

    Edit: See? He's totally died lots of times! http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HDLEycm-LIE/Roa_8Qw5rII/AAAAAAAACwI/PFHh3MVK1vE/s400/WorldsFinest189-00.JPG

    Post edited by Canary3d on
  • RawArtRawArt Posts: 5,889
    edited December 1969

    You can never kill one of the most powerful franchises in the world.
    The power of capitalism is undefeatable!

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,095
    edited March 2013

    Nobody ever really dies in the comics. Especially not one who has been around so long, and continues to have a following.
    Almost 75 years and counting...

    Action_1.jpg
    420 x 578 - 40K
    Post edited by TJohn on
  • MasterstrokeMasterstroke Posts: 1,982
    edited December 1969

    Logically Superman can not drown. He will become unconcious but die? Why do people die under water? The water destroys the bronchies, but in first case it is the lack of oxygen, that will destroy the braincells. But Superman is invulnerable under a yellow sun, which means his cells are indestructable. My guess : a normal first aid will bring him back to life, even after years.

  • Jay_NOLAJay_NOLA Posts: 1,145
    edited December 1969

    DC had most of the times Superman raced the Flash the result was a tie between the two,

    They have a few sites that have detailed looks at the various races between Superman and the Flash that show the various issues races occurred and the results of them.

  • Canary3dCanary3d Posts: 2,032
    edited December 1969

    Masterstroke said:
    Logically Superman can not drown. He will become unconcious but die? Why do people die under water? The water destroys the bronchies, but in first case it is the lack of oxygen, that will destroy the braincells. But Superman is invulnerable under a yellow sun, which means his cells are indestructable. My guess : a normal first aid will bring him back to life, even after years.

    But Luthor has seeded the coral reef with...Kryptonite! Oh NOES!

  • LeatherGryphonLeatherGryphon Posts: 11,505
    edited March 2013

    Still waiting for this madness to abate.

    Let's ponder how many angels can sit on the head of a pin. :-s

    And this yellow sun business has me wondering how come Superman can burrow through the Earth without losing his powers down deep? He's gone where the sun never shines yet still comes up smelling like roses. 8-o

    Perhaps it's the particular type or number of neutrinos that emanate from our sun?

    Or perhaps like Jessica Rabbit he's just drawn that way?

    Post edited by LeatherGryphon on
  • ServantServant Posts: 759
    edited December 1969

    He was recently exercising and cutoff from the Sun for 5 days while lifting the equivalent of the Earth's mass... then he broke a single sweat. So, yeah, wrap your head around how efficient his energy process is. :coolsmile:

  • Ryuu@AMcCFRyuu@AMcCF Posts: 668
    edited December 1969

    LeatherGryphon said:
    Still waiting for this madness to abate.

    Let's ponder how many angels can sit on the head of a pin. :-s

    And this yellow sun business has me wondering how come Superman can burrow through the Earth without losing his powers down deep? He's gone where the sun never shines yet still comes up smelling like roses. 8-o

    Perhaps it's the particular type or number of neutrinos that emanate from our sun?

    That's been explained years ago. He absorbs and stores power from the sun--much like cats, only FAR more efficiently :-P

    But it all depends upon the quality of the writers. One story has him immediately losing ALL of his powers the instant the sun turned red, another story had him on a very steep and exponential decline of his abilities that lasted a few days, where the more he used his powers, the quicker they drained.

    Or perhaps like Jessica Rabbit he's just drawn that way?

    Well, that's very true, but it applies to the entire genre--not just Supes.

    Personally, I've always liked the explaination given in Fantastic Four for the Shiar Gladiator (yeah, I know that's Marvel, not DC....). Gladiator has powers very similar to Supes, and even picked up the Baxter Building by its cornerstone. Reed quickly concluded that Gladiator's powers were primarily psionic in nature, a combination of telekenisis, clairavoyance, pyrokenisis, etc., that manifested as "superstrength", "heatvision", "invulnerability", etc. And that certainly makes a LOT of sense when we consider, just for example, how Supes can change his speed and direction when he flies--much less for the rest of what he can do.

  • MasterstrokeMasterstroke Posts: 1,982
    edited December 1969

    Please let me share some thoughts about Superman. He is my one of my favourit comic characters, but I have ever been a little bit unhappy how this basic rules are set up in the comic books and movies. To me, a weakpoint in Superman stories has allways been , this guy is way too powerful. I don't get this :Allmost godlike powers and he passes out, just because someone hit him with a ridicolous tank? I like that rule set up most, that has been hinted in superman returns. (allthough I don't like that movie ;-) ) : Superman's body charges the energy from the yellow sun. How he does it? ... Hmmm...don't know. The truth is lots of energy gets filtered by the earths athmospere and the magnetic forcefield of the earth. This means , that Supie doesn't have his full powers right here on earth. To have full powers he has to get out in space in order to charge it up. He cannot go out in space with a single "woooosh" . No he has to get up slowly, step by step in order ot acclimatize to the changing enviromental conditions . Like a diver commig back up from the depth of the sea. I don't have an Idea how long it might take, untill his energy-level gets back to the normal. My Idea is that, closed in in a cell that blocks every energy , any untold part of the radiationthat give him powers, make him loose his powers after a while.In the end he will die. In that respect I like the idea in storytelling , that Superman instinctivly takes care not to get in situations, where he might be abbandoned completly from yellow sun radiation. I think it is dramaturgicly interessting to give a psychological depth to the Superman character. Simply said: The most powerfull human beeing in the universe is afraid of the dark. About his powers, I like the contact-telekinesis theory most. I there is no other way to catch a falling plane without ripping it to pieces.

  • eclark1849eclark1849 Posts: 211
    edited December 1969

    tjohn said:
    Nobody ever really dies in the comics. Especially not one who has been around so long, and continues to have a following.
    Almost 75 years and counting...

    What about Deadman and The Spectre?:)

  • RawArtRawArt Posts: 5,889
    edited December 1969

    Supermans powers scientifically explained...quoted from here:

    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_Superman_fly


    Canonical Reasoning: He is able to defy gravity when on a planet orbited by a yellow sun.

    Scientific Reasoning: Superman's species, as illustrated by the mythology, was assumed to have been highly evolved by comparison to the standards of human primates, utilizing their crystals they have tapped into the use of highly dense quantum computer's that allow them access to their entire genome, and absolute control over the reproduction of any member of their species. These same kryptonian crystals, now genetically embedded into their tissue growth cycle, are the same modern scientists have recently discovered can help a basic electronic generator harness ZERO POINT energy. However, scientists have also discovered that it takes a certain quantity and type of these crystals to manage the power needed to produce ZERO POINT energy, thus explaining Superman's telekinetic constraints. Kryptonian crystals flow through the veins, and more specifically the DNA of a Kryptonian, and are powered by the photocells in their skin that gather radiation from the sun. This Kryptonian blood theory can be illustrated by the Smallville episode "Conspiracy", in which Clark Kent mistakenly transfers his own powers to Zod through a minor blood transfusion. Because Superman is living beneath a yellow sun obviously his molecules are denser than if he were living beneath a red sun, however the weight of any object in an environment can be altered by ZERO POINT energy in order to produce anti-gravity, but in the case of Superman, he was raised entirely on Earth thus training his techno-telekineses to only have an effect on his own body. This also inadvertently explains how even though the crystals on Krypton are filled with nano-computers to help generate their advanced technology and power their ZERO POINT energy, any crystals of another extreme of quantum radiation could potentially disrupt the crystals either inside or outside of a Kryptonian's body, IE Green, Blue, Black, Red, or any other color of Kryptonite. So, to simplify it into layman's terms, Superman can fly because he has mental and bodily control over a limited amount of ZERO POINT energy.


    As good an explanation as any :coolgrin:

    Rawn

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,095
    edited December 1969

    EClark1849 said:
    tjohn said:
    Nobody ever really dies in the comics. Especially not one who has been around so long, and continues to have a following.
    Almost 75 years and counting...

    What about Deadman and The Spectre?:)
    Special kind of "dead". :lol:
    They can still do stuff.

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