WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Superman: Man of Tomorrow #9, by Jeff Parker, Sam Lotfi, Mike McKone, John Rauch, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
Superman has many abilities, but one of the most underappreciated aspects of his skillset is his intelligence. As a world-famous investigative reporter for one of the most reputable news organizations on the planet, Clark Kent is no slouch when it comes to brainpower. And as the son of the foremost scientist on what was one of the universe’s most advanced civilizations, it makes sense that Kal-El would inherit some of his biological father’s natural aptitudes.
Fans aren’t the only ones who underestimate Superman’s intelligence, as the Coluan criminal Brainiac just discovered for himself in Superman: Man of Tomorrow #9. While this is far from the first time Superman has outwitted his interstellar foe, their latest encounter definitely proves that the Man of Steel’s strongest muscle may be his brain.
First, in “What Lives Inside” by Jeff Parker, Sam Lofti, and John Rauch, Superman and Lois investigate a distress call from a mine that’s been taken over by creatures made out of a fungus-like material as strong as granite. Superman quickly realizes that the creatures are really miners who had been absorbed by the fungus and deduces along the way that the strange substance is vulnerable to water. After dumping a nearby water tower on the miners, he manages to wash away the threat before it’s revealed to readers that the alien fungus was sent to Earth by Brainiac.
In “Invasive Species,” again written by Jeff Parker with art by Mike McKone and Romulo Fajardo Jr., Superman comes face to face with Brainiac as the alien mastermind seeks to introduce a creature known as a Kaigora to one of Earth’s desert biospheres. Brainiac shares that he’s been sending these myriad creatures to Superman’s home, testing how effective each would be against his enemies. Brainiac even managed to capture the Kaigora at the latest stage of its spawning cycle, intending to have it to give birth on Earth so he could measure how quickly the creatures would spread.
Battling the creature, Superman realizes that it’s cold-blooded, needing the heat of the desert to complete its spawning cycle. As quickly as he can, Superman moves the beast to the Fortress of Solitude in the North Pole, which causes it to go dormant. With the Kaigora defeated, even Brainiac acknowledges the ingenuity of Superman’s non-lethal solution before chiding him for staying the beast’s inevitable execution. Clark promises to take the beast back to its homeworld, and, while he’s out there, find Brainiac along the way—which shouldn’t be too hard for a world-class investigative reporter.
Despite being DC’s smartest villain, Brainiac is regularly defeated by the Last Son of Krypton, and he’s not the only genius to fall into that category. Superman regularly goes toe-to-toe with villains like Lex Luthor, who's arguably the smartest man on the planet, and he always manages to come out on top. Many of his other villains also require a certain level of intelligence to defeat. Villains such as Toyman and the Prankster frequently employ various tricks or traps to endanger the citizens of Metropolis, leaving it up to Superman to find ways of disarming his foes and prevent as much mayhem as possible, and it doesn’t stop there. Every 90 days, Superman famously has to deal with Mr. Mxyzptlk, a 5th-dimensional being with incalculable power and omniscience, back to his home dimension by tricking him into saying his own name backwards.
As his allies show, Superman’s enemies aren't the only people in his world who are super-intelligent, either. His wife, Lois Lane, is the best investigative reporter on Earth. Clark Kent needs to fire on all cylinders just to keep up with the woman he loves. Meanwhile, one of his closest friends and allies is Batman, the World’s Greatest Detective and one of the smartest men on the planet. They’ve investigated dozens of cases together with Clark pulling his fair share of investigative weight as one half of the World’s Finest team.
Aside from his finely honed investigative skills and his naturally inherited intelligence, Superman’s superpowers are also partially responsible for his intelligence as he’s able to process information with his super-speed at an exponentially faster rate than most humans. This gives him the edge he needs to outsmart his more intelligent foes. Superman’s body may be more powerful than a locomotive, but it’s easy to forget that his brain is faster than a speeding bullet, too.