6 Oct 2008

The Science of Superman

- 10 Aug 2004

By Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg

Page 2 of 4

Thus, Siegel and Shuster gave two explanations for Superman’s extraordinary powers. He was an alien from a planet not in our Solar System, and the weak gravity of Earth compared to the gravity of his home world of Krypton gave him amazing strength. Both concepts came right from the pages of science fiction magazines of the time, and few readers questioned the logic of either assumption.

Image Courtesy Wellyn Blakeslee

Could this have been the way Superman escaped from the Planet Krypton?

Let’s assume Superman could indeed come to Earth. What powers would he possess that would make him a superman when compared to humans? Going back to the original Superman of Action Comics #1, it’s clear he has tremendous strength and can jump great distances, but he never flies. In Superman #4, for example, he runs from Metropolis to Oklahoma. Siegel and Shuster created a character they thought was believable based on the science of the time.

There was no explanation for flight, so the best Superman could do was jump.
As the years passed and competition increased, Superman’s powers grew as his creators continued to change the character to meet the demands of an ever-increasing audience. By 1943, Superman could fly at speeds faster than light (another impossibility). Needless to say, as his powers grew more incredible, so did his strength. In early issues of Action Stories, Superman lifts an automobile over his head. Within a few years, he’s carrying buses packed with astonished riders. After a few more years, he’s carrying ocean liners. By the 1960s, he’s moving planets.

Siegel and Shuster’s original comic book concept was that Super-man’s tremendous strength was the result of being born on a high-gravity planet. Earth’s gravity was much weaker than that of Krypton, so Superman was able to lift heavy objects due to the difference in gravitational fields.