The Superman is the original superhero. He started the superhero genre and kicked it into the mainstream spotlight. The Last Son of Krypton is known for his red cape, his S Symbol and his enormous arrays of superhuman abilities. He can fly, stay underwater or in space without the need for food, water or air, pull an entire solar system, breathes out air so cold it will put Liquid Nitrogen to shame and release intense heat vision that can penetrate even steel and concrete. His abilities are so many that if we start talking about them it will take over the entire article. But for all his abilities, Superman was still killable. He has primarily four weaknesses – Magic, Kryptonite, Red Sun Radiation and to some extent, time. Superman’s latest ability nullifies at least one of his weaknesses. Time cannot weaken him for Superman is now immortal!
Spoiler Alert: The Following Paragraphs contain Major Spoilers for Action Comics 1000. If you haven’t read it yet, you know what to do….
Time will have no effect on Superman. Not Anymore, that is. Superman did age albeit extremely slowly in the previous DC Comics issues. His hair whitened and there were visible line on his face when DC Comics explored the future of the Universe. But now it looks like that is a thing of the past now. Superman is now truly and absolutely immortal. He cannot just outlive humanity but the Earth itself. In Action Comics 1000, it is shown that Superman lives long enough to witness not only humanity’s extinction but the destruction of the Earth billions of years later. As long as no villain kills him first, Death cannot use Time as a weapon against the Man of Steel.
Can Superman ever rally die under a yellow sun? The answer is a straight no. That is what is told to us by Action Comics 1,000. The story will be the first one to be written by Brian Michael Bendis as part of DC Comics. But his story won’t just be the only one. A busload of DC’s top tier creators will take part in this anniversary of sorts to write their own take on the Man of Steel’s adventures. Tom King, widely credited to be the creator of the World’s most popular superhero Batman, is also writing a short story on the big blue boy-scout. He was even kind enough to give us some inside info about his own story.
Superman and his last day on planet Earth – His emotions, his longing to save his dying planet and the things that connected the Big Blue Boy scout with the Big Blue Planet will all be given focus in this story.
The story of Earth being destroyed by the sun isn’t fictional. It will happen in the future whether you like it or not. When the Sun uses up its own helium reserves, it will start eating itself to keep its energy cycle going. It will then expand, getting bigger and redder. The Sun will become a Red Giant and engulf all the first four planets of the solar system, including Earth. It will happen billions of years in the future so I think it is safe to assume Humanity will be too extinct to care. But Superman isn’t human. And that’s where it gets interesting.
Tom King is well known for writing stories that pride on the emotional roller coaster they spell on the readers. This story will be no different. Superman isn’t trying to move the Earth to a different location in space (he is perfectly capable of doing it). He is just trying to pay his final respects to his parents. Superman stands before Ma and Pa Kent’s Graves and says Lois is hard at work running the “Universal Info Network”. Lois is also immortal after regularly drinking the Eternity Formula. Superman has a son Jonathan, one he is proud of.
As Solar Energy keeps bathing Superman with extra powerful radiation, Superman has stopped aging and become a literal God. The Red Giant soon engulfs the Earth as Superman stands in front of his parents’ grave, completely cracking the planet open and obliterating the Earth. Superman’s final day on Earth sounds so touching that it will make even statues cry. It is a fitting end to World’s greatest superhero and perhaps a new beginning for Superman’s next adventure as he ventures into the cosmos looking for a new home. Maybe he has already found one.
Action Comics 1000 releases on April 28th to retail and digital stores worldwide.
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