Superman's Space Suit

[mbaker]

Is it true that Superman use to fly in deep space without the aid of a space suite in the comics? I'm just asking because he wore A space suite in the series, and has worn an oxygen mask in Justice League. I also remember that in past cartoons such as Superfriends, he can fly in deep space without A suit.

[BlackTerror]

He definately use to but then again he used to be able to do just about anything from time traveling to planet juggling.

However, as far as I know he still can fly through space without protection (in fact I'm sure of it, he was tearing around space all throughout Our Worlds At War, Infestation, etc). I'm not sure that the 'how' of it's been addressed but in general once a superheroe hits space all pretences of logic or science go out the window anyway. I'm sure it has been addressed at some point though, I just don't remember it.

As for the cartoon, I have no idea. Superman's definately depowered in it (sometimes I wonder if he even has powers). So unless the suits are a fashion statement I'm thinking noone on the JLA can survive in space on the toons (without a GL bubble anyhow). S:TAS may refute that, not sure. I haven't seen many episodes.

[Theking]

I was wondering the same thing the other night when I saw Superman going to break up a meteor and he was in a suit.
If nothing he should be able to hold his breath for a very very long time.
I really don't think that Wonder Woman should have been able to beat Superman up in Justice League also.
But then the more I think about it - they did give him a wimpy voice so that would go with his almost nonexistant strength.

TheKing

[JohnStewart-GL]

He can only breathe in space for a short time

[Anarky]

I'm glad Supes has to wear a suit in deep space.
I'm glad Diana can drop a beat down on Supes.
I like that Hades can put the smack down on Supes.
I like that the aliens can blast Blue.
And I like that he has to wear an oxygen mask.

The more powerful Superman is, the LESS I care for him as a character.


Just because he's SUPERMAN doesn't mean he shouldn't be able to feel some pain. What makes him SUPER is that he can live thru re-entry. But I want him to feel the burn! I want him to need air!!! I want him to grunt when he gets smoked by laser cannons.

I don't want him to orbit Earth w/o a suit.
I don't want him to reverse the rotation of the Earth.
I don't want Supes to travel back in time.

If he could do these things and some of the other outrageous acts I've heard he's done in the past, he wouldn't need the JL. Oh, and he'd be boring. No intrigue, no challenges, no legit threats. This is NOT what the comics industry was founded on.

[Harvey Dent]

In the comics, Superman does use a breathing aparatus, but the type varies. He only uses it when he's travelling into deep space, since he can only hold his breath for an hour and thirty minutes.

[Lab_Rat]

And all this time I thought that the mask was so that he could talk to the other JL members. Easier to draw a mask that to try to explain how his 'super-ventriloquism' could work through the vacuum of space.

BTW, I agree that one of the biggest drawbacks to Superman is his mile long list of powers. It's a good thing he has a computer fast brain, imagine how hard it would be to have to stop and run through the list each time if he were limited to 'human' standards.

[Superman: let's see, a rock slide is about to bury some people. I could fly at superspeed to create an updraft and blow the rocks away, or I could use my super-cold breath to freeze all of the rocks into one chuck and than catch the one chunck, of I could use my heat-vision to melt the rock into lava and then dig a trench for it to flow away , or I could... OOPS! They just got crushed. Maybe I should have...]

Does anyone remember his induction test (as Superboy) into the Legion of Super-Heroes? He mimicked the powers of three of the legion's members to show them he was as good as any of them and better than all of them put together. The only thing he didn't have was a superego:rolleyes:. (pun intended)

[Sugar Daddy]

I haven't read all the posts yet, but didn't Superman last all through In Blackest Night without a suit or mask while in space?

[JohnStewart-GL]

Originally posted by Sugar Daddy
I haven't read all the posts yet, but didn't Superman last all through In Blackest Night without a suit or mask while in space?
he wore a spacesuit in "in blackest night".

[Sugar Daddy]

o

[Nightwing]

It's easier to think about if you just consider his kryptonian body like ours....except hightened. We can hold our breath for 5 minutes, he can for like an hour and a half (on Lois & Clark I think it was an hour and 20. They ripped him off! :p).

And another way of thinking I use is that a lot of times, as said above, science is unforunately thrown out the window, unless the facts in question just weren't known at all. Superman 4, for example, had Clark, Lois, and the big bad sun dude flying around space complete with Lois screaming for help, I believe.

Were they AWARE that you can't breathe in space? I dunno, maybe they thought science and physics messed with their script ideas so they figured since it's a "kids" movie to just forget about it. Come to think of it I don't like that answer and hope that's not it. :p

*logic train zooms by*
Hey wait!! :(

[Squall]

Space is a vacuum.

There is no air to breathe. There isn't even any pressure to keep your cells together in your body! Superman is indeed super, but he's still a living carbon-based being, just like us. His Kryptonian DNA, along with the mutations on that DNA brought about by the radiation from our yellow Sun, makes his powers possible. But he can be killed. He's not a god, you know. :rolleyes:

He can drown, just like us -- only it would take an hour and a half. He can handle pressures that a Human's body could never handle, but he has a threshhold -- even though it's higher, it still exists. It may take a VERY high voltage, but he can be electrocuted. It may take a VERY large amount of force, but a strong enough punch will make him bleed, crack a rib, etc.

And, unprotected in space, his body would implode on itself due to the zero pressure (eww!), just like our bodies would. And in the case of space, it would likely happen almost as fast.

I agree with the previous posts that said that Superman was ridiculous when he had god status. He's powerful, but by no means is he a god! He can't survive in space unprotected, travel through time, or juggle planets and stars! And when he did do those things on Superfriends, Lois & Clark, or the Superman live action movies, it was just stupid writing. Thankfully, they don't make stupid mistakes like that on Batman, Superman, Justice League, or Batman Beyond. :D

[RorShaq]

Originally posted by Anarky
I'm glad Supes has to wear a suit in deep space.
I'm glad Diana can drop a beat down on Supes.
I like that Hades can put the smack down on Supes.
I like that the aliens can blast Blue.
And I like that he has to wear an oxygen mask.

The more powerful Superman is, the LESS I care for him as a character.


Just because he's SUPERMAN doesn't mean he shouldn't be able to feel some pain. What makes him SUPER is that he can live thru re-entry. But I want him to feel the burn! I want him to need air!!! I want him to grunt when he gets smoked by laser cannons.

I don't want him to orbit Earth w/o a suit.
I don't want him to reverse the rotation of the Earth.
I don't want Supes to travel back in time.


Then you obviously don't want Superman at all. You want the Superhero named "Strong Tough Guy Who Can Also Fly." Luckily for you, there are dozens if not hundreds of characters who fit that bill. The entire point of Superman, in case you've missed it, is that he is so much more than his fellow heroes. When Wonder Woman hits him, he laughs it off. He crosses vast interstellar distances under his own power. When there is a being more powerful than the rest of the League, he steps up and faces it. Of course, there are things they can do that he cannot, but he is not just one more member of the group.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I have to agree with Anarky here. Ridiculas poweres just make the stories boring. The powers should add too, not be the plot. Else, why not just call him Dues Ex Machinaman?

[Frank White]

I know why Superman needed a space suit!!!!


















































because they had to make some more toys than just regular Superman.

[the green flashlight]

I think he wouldn't implode because his body is strong enough to withstand the vacuum, he has to wear a space suit in order to be able to breath.

[Lab_Rat]

Originally posted by Frank White
I know why Superman needed a space suit!!!!

because they had to make some more toys than just regular Superman.

Please step back from the reality zone.

Please keep your disbelief firmly suspended at all times.

Superman would never lend himself to such blatant commercialism. :D