Kal-El (New Earth)

From DC Database

Superman

Gallery

Real Name

Kal-El (birth name),
Clark Joseph Kent (legal name)

Current Alias

Superman

Identity

Secret

Race

Kryptonian

Alignment

Good

Affiliation

Justice League of America; formerly Legion of Super-Heroes

Relatives

Jor-El (biological father, deceased), Lara Lor-Van (biological mother, deceased), Jonathan Kent (adoptive father), Martha Kent (adoptive mother), Lois Lane-Kent (wife); Lor-Zod / Christopher Kent (adopted son); Kara Zor-El (Supergirl, cousin);Zor-El (uncle, deceased), Allura In-Ze (aunt, deceased), Kon-El/Conner Kent (aka Superboy, genetic clone, deceased), Sir Brian Kent (possible ancestor)

Universe

New Earth

Base Of Operations

Metropolis, Fortress of Solitude

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

6' 3"

Weight

235 lbs (107 kg)

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Black

Status

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Journalist, Superhero, Adventurer

Education

Graduated with honors from Metropolis University; further education abroad

Origin

Origin

Alien

Place of Birth

Kryptonopolis, Krypton

Creators

Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, John Byrne, Mark Waid

First appearance

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History

Kal-El was born on the doomed planet Krypton to Jor-El and Lara. Although Jor-El had hoped to send his pregnant wife away from the planet in a test rocket and avoids its destruction, Kal-El was born earlier than expected, and the life support systems could only support one. Therefore, the baby was sent alone to Earth, the last son of Krypton.^[1]

The babe's spaceship landed near Smallville, Kansas, where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised him as their son, Clark Kent. As he grew older, he began exhibiting extraordinary powers, including super-strength and flight.

Martha holding the newly found babe, Kal-El who is only a few months old (Superman Annual 13 (2007)

His friends in Smallville included Pete Ross and Lana Lang who continued to remain friends with Kent into their adult lives as shown when Ross became Vice President during Luthor's Presidency.

While Clark was still a youngster, the amnesiatic Daxamite Lar Gand arrived in Smallville, Clark was excited to find someone like himself, even theorizing that he was his older brother and naming him "Mon-El". However, after accidentally exposing the Daxamite to lead, his memories returned. Clark sent him to the Phantom Zone until a cure for his lead poisoning could be found.^[2]

After graduating from high school, Clark traveled the world. He spent some time in Australia, where he met and had a brief romance with Callie Llewellyn.^[3] When Clark returned home to Smallville, he began openly using his emerging talents and powers in the costumed super-hero identity of Superman. He would formally enter into college and shuttle between Metropolis Univeristy and his parents' home in Smallville.

During his earliest time as a public superhero, Clark was visited by a team of other super-powered youths from a thousand years in the future, the Legion of Super-Heroes, brought Clark to their time and inducted him into their membership, and sharing many adventures with Clark during his youth. Clark occasionally traveled between this future and his own native time, before permanently returning to his own native time.

After graduating college, Clark later moved to Metropolis full time, where he began working as a journalist for the world-renowned newspaper, the Daily Planet. A rivalry with his coworker Lois Lane eventually blossomed into a romance and marriage.

As Superman, Clark inspired an entire generation of heroes, many of whom we worked alongside as a member of the Justice League of America based on the then-disbanded Justice Society of America.

During one of his many costumed exploits, Clark was killed fighting the monstrous Doomsday. However, he eventually returned to life.^[2]

After the events of the recent crisis, Superman lost all of his powers. After living a normal human life as Clark Kent for a year, they suddently came back. When he returned to action as the Man of Steel, there was much public speculation as to whether or not he was an imposter. However, his daring actions, broadcast across the globe, while driving the Auctioneer from Earth convinced the world that he was the real deal.^[4]

The sorceror Arion came to Metropolis to implore Superman to stop fighting for the benefit of mankind, saying that he was disrupting the proper course of human history by pushing back an inevitable devastating event, and in the process, causing that event to be much worse, resulting in the end of civilization. This revelation troubled the Man of Steel, and caused him to consider his place in the world.^[5]

A young boy, seemingly from Krypton, landed in Metropolis in a ship. Although initially the government worked with Superman on studying him, they later moved the boy without informing the Man of Steel. Angered, Clark hijacked the truck transporting the child and took him.^[6] Lois and Clark decided to take the boy in as their son, naming him Christopher.^[7]

When General Zod and numerous other Kryptonian criminals broke free from the Phantom Zone, he sent Superman there.^[8]

Zod was defeated when Superman was able to break free of the Zone. Zod was stunned to find that his own biological son Lor-Zod rejected his father preferring Kal-El and his wife as his parents. Confronted with this betrayal, Kal-El decided to accept the boy as his own and along with his wife Lois are raising the boy on Earth as their own.

Superman was recently reunited with some of the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes during the Lightning Saga event. Some time later, Superman battled a Brainiac robot, until it showed to contain a message from Brainiac 5 of the Legion, that Superman should go to the 31st century again. While Superman went there, he discovered that the sun had turned red, thus he lost his powers. Earth had also become a place that did not welcome aliens at all, due to a warped version of Superman's origin was spread out (in which Superman was not from Krypton, but from Earth) and the origin's messengers, the Justice League of Earth, led by Earth-Man.

The story is ongoing.

He has since returned home to his native time once again and is currently sharing the Superman title with the elder Superman from destroyed Earth-22 who is working alongside the Justice Society of America.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Kryptonian Physiology: Superman's cellular structure is more dense, resilient and biologically more effective than human tissue. Under natural Kryptonian conditions, does not seem to possess superhuman strength levels despite his enhanced cellular ability without constant exposure to yellow solar energy. Without such charging, his strength seems on par for a human of his height and weight who engages in regular physical activity. As an alien he possess several organs whose functions are not yet disclosed or understood but are believed to be part of and perhaps even the source of his biomatrix force field and reclamation aura. Superman's body also stores energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powers most of Superman's electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision. It also supplements his physical strength by a factor of 12,000 times or so.

• Solar Energy Absorption: Technically, this is the main source of Superman's powers. Because Superman's powers are greatly due to exposure to Earth's yellow sun, his powers have been affected by extreme absorptions of solar power, whether voluntary or involuntary. However, Superman has used this to his advantage in battle in many instances, and to his detriment at certain times.

• Superhuman Strength: While the exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that Superman is sufficiently strong to lift 100,000 tons or more. The exact specfic range is unknown as Superman's strength, like his other powers, has fluctuated over time. Superman's strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is through his act of conscious will manipulation that allows Superman to engage in physical feats that are beyond merely applying applicable force such as moving a mountain without said rock crumbling under its own mass while Superman moves it. At his theoretical maximum, fully immersed and over charged by yellow solar radiation, the New Earth Superman has been noted to be able to concentrate his will into physical force enough to allow him to move Earth-moon sized planetary bodies out of their orbit ^[9] where after emerging from the Sun over-energized, Superman physically pushed "WarWorld" (The Dwarf Planet Pluto) across the solar system and into a boom tube. However being at that level has been directly shown to be adverse to him, and his body is unable to contain that level of energy directly for any true length of time without harmful effects. And again, this level of control and power access is not normal for him to achieve and even in this particular instance. Superman's normal strength levels are obviously in the multi-megaton range. Currently he only maintains enough strength to do battle without killing, move mountains, but not enough to move planet sized objects on his own.

• Invulnerability: Superman's body is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces (He has survived low yield nuclear explosions where he was in direct contact with a fourty megaton detonation bomb but was knocked unconscious as a result). This ability's levels have changed over time, at times allowing him to fly into a sun and emerge unharmed, as evident most recently through Krypton's red sun ^[10] and survive and directly entering directly into the Sun. .^[11] Superman has even been shown withstanding Darkseid's Omega Effect while they were fighting near the surface of a yellow sun ^[12], a feat that was previously considered impossible. In addition, his immune system protects him from toxins and diseases. The most common explanations for his invulnerability are Superman having a super-dense molecular structure and/or a supercharged bioelectric "aura" which acts as an invisible "force field" around his body to within a few millimeters from his skin, and presumably within his body as well. The proximity of this field to his skin means that loose clothes, for example, may be burned off of him, while cloth that is close to his body is protected by the "aura;" This phenomenon is sometimes cited as Superman's reason for wearing a skin-tight bodysuit. It is also the understanding that he may unconsciously extend part of this field into objects in contact with him which is assumed for him being able to carry and move objects that would collaspe under their own mass, overcoming gravity or inertia tearing them apart around his human-sized hands.

• Superhuman Stamina: Superman has the ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an undefined period. Theoretically, most incarnations of the character has practically unlimited stamina as his enhanced nourishment is produced from the solar energy his cells process; however his base physical structure still does need to process food stuffs as well as has the psychological need to eat and drink just as Earth humans do, despite the fact that his superhuman powers receives the majority of that energy from a yellow sun. He does require sleep on occasion so he can dream. He can also hold his breath for an undefined duration.

• Flight: Superman is presumably able to manipulate psionically, graviton particles, in an unknown and apparently unconscious manner, to defy the forces of gravity. Under one Earth gravity, Superman is capable of speeds of multi Mach speeds in Earth's atmosphere. His control of his flight is very precise and he can perform aerobatic feats such as hovering, flying backwards and even lifting great weights while flying. Superman has repeatedly demonstrated he has the ability to achieve orbital speeds, fly in outer space and land safely down to a planet's surface from outer space.

• Superhuman Speed: Superman is capable of enhanced reflex action and the ability to move at incredible speeds by sheer force of will. He is not as fast as the Flash, but he can achieve faster than light speed under his own power in space ^[13]. Superman can match most other speedsters in their ability to perform super-fast movements, reactions, and processes. He can use this power to disarm opponents who do not have heightened reflexes, catch bullets or shrapnel or cross vast distances in seconds.

• Super-Breath: The ability to create hurricane force winds by blowing, and to chill his breath in order to freeze a target (this latter ability has also been called "freeze breath" and "arctic breath"). Superman can also breathe in large amounts of air, an ability used when dealing with and disposing things like clouds of poison gas.
  

• Superhuman Hearing: The ability to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. The only Earth creature who can detect sounds at the frequency he can is a blue whale (0.01-200,000 Hz). He has shown enough control to block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source/frequency. He can identify a person by their heartbeat, or pick out a single voice in an entire city.

• Heat Vision: The ability to fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it with the conscious act of activating this power. Visually, the power is typically depicted as two beams of red light firing from his eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing Superman to work undetected. The maximum temperature of his heat vision is said to be around that of a nuclear detonation. The area of effect can be consciously determined by Superman, down to the microscopic level. Recent stories imply the precision is so exact it can bypass a target's outer shell (not causing damage to a person's skull for surgical purposes) or even defenses (such as invulnerability or intangibility).

• Superman Vision: Under only the rays of a Blue sun, Superman found out that he develops a new vision power that allows non-Kryptonians Superman-like powers. The lasting effects seem to only work under a blue sun, once Superman and that person leaves the planet of the sun, the person will lose his powers.

• Superhuman Vision: He also possess a superior sensory arrangement of microscopic, telescopic, infrared and ultraviolet visual capabilities. He is able to see the entire spectrum. Microscopic, chemical, x-ray, auditory, ultrasonic, magnetic, photonic, etc. Star Laboratories has not been able to complete define how Superman has been able to utilize his powerful senses, part of the mechanism is physical, part of it is believed to be psionic in nature. Abilities include:

• Electro-magnetic Spectrum Vision: can see well into most of the EM Spectrum. He can see and identify radio/television and any and all broadcast/transmitted frequencies, allowing him to avoid detection through radar or satellite monitoring methods. Superman can see the paranormal aura that every living thing generates. This ability is apparently one of the main reasons that Superman is a vegetarian, as he can see the passing of the "soul" at death.

• Telescopic Vision: The ability to "zoom in" his distance to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. The total telescopic ability is unclassified, but presumed limited to some extent.

• X-Ray Vision: The ability to see through anything except lead. He can see things behind a wall as if the wall were not there, or can "peel back" layer after layer of matter in his mind. Opponents sometimes used lead-lined constructs in an attempt to hide things from Superman. Kal-El is able to focus his vision past layers of matter, literally seeing "through" them -- possibly perceiving x-rays, cosmic rays or other forms of energy invisible to normal human vision which pass through Earth's atmosphere (and solid objects) after emission from stars. Since it is passive, this ability would not generate harmful radiation in the same manner as a focused projection of hard X-rays.

• Microscopic Vision: The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level (normal optical microscopes can only see objects down to the size of chromosomes).

• Infrared Vision: Allows him to see better in total darkness. He can detect the heat signatures of living beings or devices in operation.

• Ultraviolet

• Chemical

• Ultrasonic

• Magnetic

• Auditory

• Photonic
  

Abilities

Expert Combatant: Superman has been trained in the art of Boxing by Wildcat, wrestling by Wonder Woman, and underwater/ space combat by Mongul.

Genius-Level Intellect: Superman has shown enhanced intelligence, memorization and computational abilities; his mind works sharply and with extreme speed. His analytical powers are impressive — he is able to use his senses to read information directly from machines (and, with careful usage of his heat vision, he can even reprogram certain machines). He also posseses a photographic memory which means he has total recall.

Strength level

Unknown.

Weaknesses

• Magic: Superman is also vulnerable to magical effects. Although he is no more detrimentally affected by such effects than a normal human would be, this is a significantly exploitable weakness in comparison to his incredible physical resilience.

• Kryptonite: Since the destruction of Krypton, its remains (rendered radioactive by the explosion) have been spreading throughout the universe as kryptonite, a crystalline substance whose specific radiation is lethal to Kryptonians native to this reality. There is currently only one natural type of Kyrptonite in the New Earth dimension: Green (Red Kryptonite of the New Earth dimension is artifically created through radioactive manipulation of Green) and both types' effect are directly poisonous to Kryptonians native to the Kryptonite source in a very fast rate. Both forms of Kryptonite are deadly to all living organisms but as a reduced rate compared to Kryptonians same to that native dimension. External dimensional Kryptonite has been repeatedly shown to be ineffective against Kryptonians who do not originate from that same source dimension as Kal-El was against the Kryptonite of the Superboy of the "Pocket Universe".

• Lead: Superman cannot see through lead with his vision powers.

• Solar Energy: Superman will eventually weaken without replenishing his energy reserves with normal (yellow) sun radiation. He is not replenished by red sunlight, and its radiation can be used to weaken him.

• Psionics: Depending upon the writer, Superman is either highly resistent to psionic affects (typically attributed to either his advanced Kryptonian mind or alien brain structure) or he can be affected as easily as a normal human, albeit one with a high level of will power.
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment: Superman possesses a Legion Flight Ring, although he doesn't always need to use it.
Transportation: None known.
Weapons: None known.

Notes

According to recently revealed notes by the computer simulation of his biological father Jor-El (Action Comics Annual 11 (2008)), Kal-El is unable to procreate with Earth human females and thus will have no children with his wife, Lois Lane-Kent. Thus Kal-El will have no direct children such as the alternate reality son of Superman, Jr..

Kal-El discussing his future with his "father" Jor-El and learning his can not procreate with Earth females (Action Comics Annual 11 (2008)

Though this statement may change in the future.

Trivia

• Though never clearly indicated, it has been suggested that Superman (through his adoptive family) is a direct descendent of Sir Brian Kent the Silent Knight. ^[14] The Silent Knight has been reincarnated many times over the centuries. His most recent incarnation is that of Carter Hall, aka, Hawkman.

See Also

• Discuss Kal-El (New Earth) on the forums
• Appearances of Kal-El (New Earth) (Chronological)
• Appearances of Kal-El (New Earth) (Alphabetical)
• Character Gallery: Kal-El (New Earth)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Kal-El (New Earth)
• Quotations by Kal-El (New Earth)
• Volume 1 of Superman's self-titled series
  
• Images featureing Kal-El (New Earth)

Recommended Reading

• None.

Links and References

• Superman at Wikipedia.org
  

Footnotes

Superman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Superman, and a member of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Family members" category.

Justice League of America member This character is or was a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from both interstellar and domestic threats. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.