How does Superman fly?

[Jihi]

Way late to the thread, but as a poster who has defended the big blue boyscout a lot in the past I feel the need to respond in some fashion. Others have covered the historical evolutions as well as the in continuity explanations, so I’ll just say this…

There is no perfectly acceptable reason that Superman can fly, he just can as that’s the way “it’s always been”, (not literally of course, but as far as most most people are concerned.) The real reason? It’s a natural extension of his abilities as the “ubermensch”. Normal people can move through space, we can crawl, walk, run and jump till our heart’s content. Superman flies. It’s a natural, logical extension.

[astorian]

@CalMeacham

That’s not really true, or fair. Churning out a monthly comic book that’s acceptable to kids, parents, and editors and isn’t too repetitive or derivative can’t be an easy task. Writers and artists are always looking for new and interesting twists and ideas. But you don’t want to box yourself in too much, or try to get too technical, so some things you leave vague.

I’m a little surprised that they never did do things with exactly how the flying worked, or what the limitations on his powers were in any reasonable way – but saying that “he has super-hearing, and x-ray vision, and can’t see through lead” is probably better and easier to remember than setting definite restrictions. I DO remember fan letters from the 1960s pointing out how there were denser materials than lead, for instance, that Superman oughtn’t to be able to see through. It didn’t affect the stories.

I may well have painted with too broad a brush, but the fact remains, MOST creators of mass market sci-fi movies, TV shows and comic books don’t give a great deal of thought to how things work.

I’m sure there are some who go into Tom Clancy-esque detail in explaining how futuristic alien technology works, just as I’m sure that many comic book writers have TRIED to come up with plausible explanations for things earlier writers couldn’t (or didn’t bother to) explain.

But let’s be honest:

1. Could Gene Roddenberry explain how the Enterprise transporter beam worked? Of course not!

2. Could Stan Lee give an intelligent explanation of how a spider bite could give a kid super powers? Of course not! (Of course, this was back in the days when “radiation” was an acceptable explanation for anything and everything.)

3. Could George Lucas explain how the Milennium Falcon made the jump to hyperspace? Don’t be silly!

In each of these cases, any kid who’s lain awake at night trying to understand the science at work has spent MUCH more time thinking about it than Gene Roddenberry, Stan Lee and George Lucas did.