"Leaping tall buildings in single bounds" and being "faster than speeding bullets" are feats of strength and speed that may have seemed impressive in 1938 when Action Comics first hit the stands. However, as comic book stories grew larger and larger, so did the acts of heroism. As a result, Superman had to perform even greater feats to keep up.
As DC Comics entered the Silver Age, comic book stories dove headfirst into science fiction. Superman found himself going on adventures that spanned new worlds and even new universes. As the premises grew in scale, Superman's very strength seemed to grow in response to each new challenge, reaching immeasurable and sometimes ridiculous levels of power.
Updated on January 4, 2024 by Mayra Garcia: Time passes, but Superman remains the standard of a superhero. When he first debuted, he was simply the fastest hero and the strongest warrior, but with comic books changing, his feats also became more and more impressive. This list has been updated to include more Superman feats that fans find epic.
15 Superman Used Mystical Chains to Separate Earth’s Continents
World's Finest (Vol. 1) #208, by writer Len Wein, penciler Dick Dillin, inker Joe Giella, and letterer John Costanza
The Man of Steel has been depowered a few times over the years, while his weaknesses to kryptonite and magic bring him even further down to other characters' power levels. He attempted to find a way to increase his magical defense when he traveled to Earth-2 to find Doctor Fate. He helped the mystical hero stop a world-threatening attack from an alien force.
Superman and Doctor Fate had to work together to stop a series of natural disasters. Aliens caused the disasters by pushing the continents together. Doctor Fate created mystical chains that Superman was able to pull to separate the Earth's continents and stop natural disasters. It was one of his biggest feats following one of his biggest reductions in power.
14 He Held up 200 Quintillion Tons with One Hand in All-Star Superman
All-Star Superman (Vol. 1) #1, by writer Grant Morrison, penciler Frank Quitely, inker/colorist Jamie Grant, and letterer Phil Balsman
15 Strongest Versions Of Superman (In The Comics)
Superman has gone through a lot of iterations and changes over the years, from the character's powers and origins. But which version is the strongest?All-Star Superman is one of the best Superman comics for its careful handling of the character's mythology. The collection of intertwined stories served as a love letter to Superman and his supporting characters that explored one of the best versions of the Man of Steel.
Superman's exposure to excessive amounts of energy from the sun heightened his powers. While testing the new limits of his powers with a scientist named Dr. Leo Quintum, he was able to lift the equivalent of 200 quintillion/200 billion billion tons above his head with one hand. However, that was the upper limit of the device, so he could have lifted more.
13 He Was Able to Remove Highfather’s Staff from the Source Wall
Superman/Batman (Vol. 1) #41, by writers Alan Burnett, penciler Dustin Nguyen, inker Derek Fridolfs, colorist Randy Mayor, and letterer Rob Leigh
The Source Wall acts as the barrier surrounding the known DC universe. Many have tried to breach its walls and discover the other side. However, they were trapped and became a part of the wall instead. Countless giants and cosmic beings were bound together as the Source Wall to act as a warning for other curious visitors.
In Superman/Batman #41, Superman combined his heat vision and strength to pry Highfather's staff free of the wall. Removing anything from the Source Wall is almost impossible. There have only been a few occasions where someone has been able to remove objects or other beings from it.
12 Superman Lifted the Equivalent Weight of the Earth for Five Days
Superman (Vol. 3) #13, by writers Scott Lobdell, penciler/inker Kenneth Rocafort, colorist Sunny Gho, and letterer Rob Leigh
During the New 52 line-wide relaunch, every major DC character and book title reverted to their origins in some form or another. Altered canon histories led to some improvement, though some characters didn't fare as well. The New 52 ruined the Man of Steel in quite a few ways.
What didn't change was Superman's power level. While nowhere near as powerful as his Silver Age counterpart, the New 52 Superman pulled off some incredible feats. He trained with advanced machinery in Superman #13 which allowed him to showcase his strength. Superman was able to benchpress the equivalent weight of the Earth for five days, dropping only a single bead of sweat.
11 He Destroyed a Shadow Moon with an Infinite Mass Punch
Justice League of America (Vol. 2) #30, by writer Dwayne McDuffie, penciler Jose Luis, inker J.P. Mayer, colorist Pete Pantazis and, letterer Rob Leigh
The Justice League of America dealt with the villainous Shadow Thief during the "Welcome to Sundown Town" storyline. Shadow threatened Earth by hurling the moon's shadow toward the planet. The JLA teamed up with the Dakotaverse's best-dressed heroes from the Shadow Cabinet, though it was Superman who managed to save the day.
Superman is already physically one of the strongest heroes in the DC universe. However, he can increase his strength by flying at incredibly high velocities. He flew at nearly the speed of light through space to deliver an "infinite mass punch" to the shadow moon. It was moving towards the earth with incredible speed, making the feat even more impressive.
10 He Created a New Sun Out of Smashed Space Rocks
Superman (Vol. 1) #58, by writer William Woolfolk, penciler Wayne Boring, and inker Stan Kaye
Superman's 16 Strongest Kids
Jon Kent is here to stay as the new Superman alongside his father, but he isn't the only powerful child of Superman who has appeared in the comics.In "The Case of the Second Superman," in Superman #58, the Man of Steel meets Regor. Like Kal-El, he was a kid who ended up on a different planet, Uuz -- which granted him superabilities. Given this, he visited Superman on Earth so he could train him to become a superhero too.
Superman helped Regor achieve this, and before leaving, he left a gift on Uuz. Since the planet is incredibly cold, Superman smashed a couple of moons and created a new sun for Uuz that would help warm the planet. It is not uncommon for Superman to play around with planets, but creating a whole new celestial body is an impressive feat.
9 He Mastered His Electric Powers to Magnetically Hold the Moon in Orbit
JLA (Vol. 1) #7, by writer Grant Morrison, penciler Howard Porter, inkers John Dell & Ken Branch, colorist Pat Garrahy and, letterer Ken Lopez
Superman's powers have changed a few times over the years, and his strength hasn't always been there for him to rely on. During a time when his body had turned into energy, he had new electromagnetic powers that forced him to improvise in difficult situations. In this issue, the JLA faced the threat of Neron, who manipulated the demon Ghast into pulling down the moon.
Superman could usually use his strength to push the moon back into its proper orbit. However, he instead created a magnetic field around the moon with an opposite polarity to the Earth. This repelled the moon from the Earth and proved Superman's strength also came from his determination and ingenuity.
8 He Accidentally Destroyed an Entire Solar System with a Super-Sneeze
Action Comics (Vol. 1) #273, by writer Jerry Siegel and, penciler/inker Al Plastino
As the Silver Age of DC Comics began, Superman's stories seemed to take him further and further from Earth and into the realms of science fiction. In Action Comics #273, a magical imp from the Fifth Dimension named Mr. Mxyzptlk returned to cause havoc in Superman's life.
During this particular set of pranks, Superman's exposure to some powder caused him to sneeze uncontrollably. Fearing for the lives of everyone around him, Superman flew to uninhabited space to release his powerful sneezes, which were capable of destroying entire solar systems.
7 He Dragged a Galaxy of Worlds to a New Location When He Was Superboy
Superboy (Vol.1) #140, by writer Jim Shooter, penciler Al Plastinom, and inker George Klein
A Superman Family Member is Potentially More Powerful Than the Man of Steel
Superboy's tactile telekinesis is so versatile it could make him the most powerful member of the entire Superman Family.Most mainstream media implies that Clark's powers increased with age, meaning teenager Superman couldn't do as many things as adult Superman could. The Silver Age wasn't quite as strict with these sorts of guidelines. As a result, one of the best versions of Superboy had strength that sometimes far outmatched his adult counterpart.
In Superboy #140, the Boy of Steel encountered a ruthless gambler in the bulk of the story. However, the opening of the comic features Superboy saving an entire galaxy's worth of planets. He drags them to a new galaxy with compatible suns on the other side of the universe by pulling them in a line using large chains.
6 He Helped Lift the Book of Eternity with Infinite Pages and Infinite Weight
Final Crisis: Superman Beyond (Vol. 1) #1, by writer Grant Morrison, penciler/inker Doug Mahnke, inkers Christian Alamy, Rodney Ramos, Tom Nguyen, & Walden Wong, colorist David Baron, and letterer Steve Wands
On two separate occasions, Superman lifted objects of infinite weight or mass. The first was in JLA/The Spectre: Soul War. When Spectre's unconscious body fell, Superman and Wonder Woman struggled to keep him afloat. His infinitely heavy body contained eternity itself.
In Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, Superman and Shazam lifted the Book of Eternity, a magical tome with infinite pages and therefore infinite weight. On both occasions, Superman had a bit of help from other powerful heroes. Only the strongest heroes can measure up whenever reading the word infinite.
5 He Threw Warworld Back in Time to the Big Bang
Action Comics (Vol. 1) #782, by writer Joe Kelly, penciler Kano, inker Mario Alquiza, colorist Wildstorm FX, and letterer Comicraft
Our Worlds at War pits the Man of Steel against Imperiex, an intergalactic conqueror who wants to destroy the universe and create it again after he notices an imperfection in the Big Bang. To stop him, Earth joins forces with Apokolips and Warworld, but Brainiac 13 betrays them.
Realizing that Imperiex is still at Warworld and that the only way to fix this is to send Imperiex as far as possible, Superman throws the whole planet back in time up until the Big Bang. Ironically, Imperiex then realized he was the imperfection at this moment of history all along. Warworld isn't the only plane Superman ever moves, but the fact that the Man of Steel can go against gravity, time, and physics in general never ceased to amaze the fans.
4 He Flew into the Sun to Move It Closer to the Earth
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (Vol. 1) #33, by writer Otto Binder, penciler Curt Swan, and inker Ray Burnley
10 DC Villains Superman Went Too Easy On
Superman has a strong no-kill policy, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't find other permanent solutions for some of his deadly enemies.Released in 1958, issue #33 of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen documented the villainous Jack Frost as he ran rampant with his freezing powers. Superman's solution was to move the sun closer to Earth to help nullify Frost. Ignoring the catastrophic consequences that bringing the sun closer would cause, the act itself required immeasurable strength and endurance.
The Man of Steel was able to withstand the core temperature of the sun, which is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. The comic even stated that Superman can withstand temperatures of up to 50 million degrees, so the sun's heat posed little threat to the Man of Steel.
3 Superman and His Alternate Versions Can Punch through Universal Barriers
Infinite Crisis (Vol. 1) #1, by writer Geoff Johns, penciler Phil Jimenez, inker Andy Lanning, colorists Jeromy Cox & Guy Major, and letterer Nick J. Napolitano
Superman is one of the strongest mortal beings in the DC universe. Exactly how strong is always up for debate and forever changing. Twice in Infinite Crisis, the Superman of Earth-2 managed to punch through the barriers between universes.
Superman escaped his exile in a pocket universe with a few others following one of the most important DC comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths. He was able to escape by whittling the universal barrier down punch by punch. When Supermen of Earth 1 and 2 fought, their punches continued to shatter the walls of reality and sent them hurtling across their two worlds.
2 He Contained the Power of a Black Hole within the Palm of His Hand
JLA (Vol. 1) #77, by writer Rick Veitch, penciler Darryl Banks, inker Wayne Faucher, colorist David Baron, and letterer Kurt Hathaway
It's hard to imagine Superman struggling against Earthbound villains when he also pulls off incredible feats like the one he did in JLA #77. In this issue, The Atom discovered a device containing a small black hole. After the device's destruction, Superman had to contain the black hole within the palm of his hand to keep it from expanding and destroying the planet.
Superman had to keep the black hole contained in his hands until he was able to fly into space and throw it away from the planet. A black hole of any size contains a huge density of mass. This act alone was more than enough to prove the incredible strength of Superman, though it was played fairly casually in the story.
1 “Superman Bursts the Very Bonds of Infinity!”
DC Comics Presents (Vol. 1) #29, by writer Len Wein, penciler Jim Starlin, inker Romeo Tanghal, colorist Jerry Serpe, and letterer John Costanza
DC Comics Presents #29 is a weird and wild story, oozing with that Silver Age flair and charm. Superman pursued Supergirl's unconscious body as she flew through space. Several pages depicted the Man of Steel traveling through space, building speed, and crossing thresholds until he literally broke through time and space.
"Superman bursts the very bonds of infinity!" showed fans just how fast and powerful he is, proving how little the Silver Age cared for consistency. He also didn't worry about the ramifications that this kind of power could have on future stories. Nevertheless, it was one of Superman's greatest accomplishments. The "infinity-shattering" feat hasn't appeared again in modern comics.
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1.
- NAME
- Kal-El, Clark Kent
- Alias
- Superman
- FIRST APP
- Action Comics #1, 1938
- Created By
- Jerry Siegel , Joe Shuster
- POWERS
- Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, reflexes. Heat vision, X-ray Vision. Ice breath. Flight
- TEAM
- Justice League