# In old B&W Superman TV series he could split in two. Was this power in comics also?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-old-b-w-superman-tv-series-he-could-split-in-two-was-this-power-in-comics-also/162672
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 20, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-old-b-w-superman-tv-series-he-could-split-in-two-was-this-power-in-comics-also/162672 "2003-03-20T00:18:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 3

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### Author: ![Looking\_Land](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Looking\_Land](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Looking_Land)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-old-b-w-superman-tv-series-he-could-split-in-two-was-this-power-in-comics-also/162672/41 "2003-03-22T03:49:43Z")

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I don’t remember him splitting in two in the TV series. Are we talking about George Reeve?

In the comic he couldn’t split in two, he just moved so fast that they would draw two of him on the page doing two different things in the same panel…😉

Ha…

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### Author: ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-old-b-w-superman-tv-series-he-could-split-in-two-was-this-power-in-comics-also/162672/42 "2003-03-22T04:31:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Bryan Ekers_  
> \*\*The two grappled and, in a final burst of power, Jensen destroyed both himself and Batman (Adventure Comics #461-462). \*\*

Ah yes, who could forget that great moment in comics history; the tragic, apocalyptic finale to that decades-spanning legendary conflict between Batman and his archnemesis Bill Jensen.

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### Author: ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-old-b-w-superman-tv-series-he-could-split-in-two-was-this-power-in-comics-also/162672/43 "2003-03-22T13:35:00Z")

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Although that was retconned slightly pre-Crisis to "Batman had some dread, nameless disease (or cancer?) and was about to die anyway.

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### Author: ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-old-b-w-superman-tv-series-he-could-split-in-two-was-this-power-in-comics-also/162672/44 "2003-03-22T14:46:29Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> It turns out the next episode after “Divide and Conquer” is “The Mysterious Cube”. In that one we see another strange power: a scientist tells Superman he might be able to “alter his molecular structure” (IIRC) to penetrate the walls of this cube like a ghost. For some reason Superman simply wasn’t strong enough to smash the cube.

As I recall, it wasn’t that Superman wasn’t strong enough to smash the cube, it was that it would be illegal for him to do so and he needed a sneaky way to check inside it.

I also remember the split in half episode. I guess I watched a bit too much of the show…

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