What became of Superman?

[Christopher]

A question...
Why does dear old Clark age like a normal human being up until his 20s-30s and then he goes into super-slow aging Kal-El ?

No reason why he shouldn't. Aging isn't a singular process. Put simply, there are two processes at work in the body, cell growth/regeneration and cell damage/death. In the first phase of life, growth dominates and we develop and mature. In the middle phase, the processes are balanced and we stay roughly the same. In the final phase, decay outraces growth and repair and we deteriorate unto death.

Since a Kryptonian under a yellow sun has nigh-magical regenerative abilities, that would cancel out the decay processes and cause the middle phase of life to continue indefinitely. But there's no reason it would have any effect on the first phase of growth and development (except maybe to make it go even faster, followed by much slower or nonexistent adult aging).

 

[Nerys Myk]

Superman?

Well the original is...

Spoiler: spoilers about upcoming DC stories

about to become a space zombie - Kal-L is going to be a member of the Black Lantern Corps.

Spoiler: Spoiler of Steel

That would be the Earth 2 Superman, who's based on the earliest version of the character, but is not the "original". Superman has been in continuous publication since 1938 and is constantly evolving. The character appearing in comics today is an evolved version of the guy in Action Comics #1.

I disagree but it's just nerdy a conversation for me to get worked up about.

You can, but

Spoiler: the spoiler

can you point out where the change happened? Where does the Golden Age/"original" Superman stop and the next version begin? From 1938 to 1986 all these changes happened organically. It would be like saying there are several versions of James Kirk in TOS.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Spoiler: Spoiler of Steel

That would be the Earth 2 Superman, who's based on the earliest version of the character, but is not the "original". Superman has been in continuous publication since 1938 and is constantly evolving. The character appearing in comics today is an evolved version of the guy in Action Comics #1.

I disagree but it's just nerdy a conversation for me to get worked up about.

You can, but

Spoiler: the spoiler

can you point out where the change happened? Where does the Golden Age/"original" Superman stop and the next version begin? From 1938 to 1986 all these changes happened organically. It would be like saying there are several versions of James Kirk in TOS.

My two cents:

The Earth-2 Superman, which didn't officially appear in the DCU until 1966 (Justice League of America #73), is one iteration of the Golden Age Superman.

There are several differences as pointed out here:

http://theages.superman.nu/History/VersionI.php

And here:

http://theages.superman.nu/History/e2-superman.php

In fact, this page is a good source for the various ages of Superman:

http://theages.superman.nu/comics.php

 

[Aquehonga]

Superman mortal Superman in past tense

Gimme a break. Unless Otis slipped kryptonite into Clark's coffee somehow Superman is immortal & mostly indestructible & airworthy.

HOW would Superman keel over anyway?

What became of Superman you ask?

He lived eternally everafter, frustrated by the deaths of his loved ones, friends, lovers, aquaintances, even his adversaries.

And how did/does Superman fake the passing of Clark Kent?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Tucker from Enterprise still reads Superman comics which are probably set in a contemporary era.

 

[Aquehonga]

Tucker from Enterprise still reads Superman comics which are probably set in a contemporary era.

Very good point.

That being so, Batman & Robin almost definitely DC comix in ENT's time as well.

Shoots my hunch about Spock being Robin's descendant into the poop-scooper huh

So much for Burt Ward & Leonard Nimoy co-starring in a ST/BATMAN time travel crossover story re: Spock meeting direct ancestor Robin

Hey, forget DC folks on “Smallville”.

How'bout 1 or more of these dudes guest-starring:
Leonard Nimoy, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Gene Hackman, Katherine Ross, among others.

If not in a guest-role, then playing themselves.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Maybe in the Star Trek universe those Superman comic books are based on the real person...

 

[IDIC]

If memory serves, it wasn't just a generic space background--the closest equivalent I can think of is sort of a "warp speed" background.

It could just be Superman flying very fast. Which is one of his standard abilities.

It has been a long time since I saw the episode but if i remember right it looked like he was going faster and faster then their was a burst of light. I always took that as the end of his life. I thought he was trying to approach the speed of light itself maybe trying to travel back in time or something.

Being immortal would suck because everyone you know or have loved would die and you would be left alone.

 

[Ol Scratch]

Since he didn't actually see Superman, it could also be an allegory to the impact his life had on the universe. He may die, but his name will live on forever. That sort of thing.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

IN DC 1 Million, by Grant Morrison (mostly), set a million months after the publication of action comics #1, Superman did live in the centre of the sun till the late 853rd century when the Martian Manhunter had finaly killed that evil sun and they pulled Krypton through time from seconds before it was supposed to have exploded.

Alan Moore Wrote "What ever became of the Man of Tomorrow" to cmoplete the silver age as the Original crisis began to reboot everything, to mark the end of of everything. Clark Gold Krytonited himself (Powers gone forever) dyed his hair blonde and lived happily ever after with Lois and had children.

Or you could believe in John Byrne and His batman Superman Generations insanity.

I agree with Trekker. HUH??

 

[Obi Wana Jones]

I still think he keels over from the big one after a marathon lovefest session with Wonder Woman.

Magic Lasso and Bullets and Bracelets are just too much for poor Kal-El.

Poor guy, but somebody has to do it . . .

 

[Trekker4747]

I agree with Trekker. HUH??

It's OK. Everyone has that reaction from time to time when they agree with me.