# Superman and Kryptonite **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701 "2001-06-05T17:38:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Yuki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@Yuki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yuki)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/81 "2003-06-30T00:04:27Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Fiver \* \*\*\*\*Askia K. Hale**That, plus I believe in the movies Splinter was a sensei mutated into a rat, while in the comics he was a pet rat (of a sensei) mutated into an intelligent humanoid shape.** Not to hijack the post or anything but in the movies he WAS a rat mutated to a humanoid. It was the cartoons where he was a human mutated into a rat. Ummm and just to make sure I can add something Superman-ish into this post…Umm… What’s the whole thing in that Smallville episode where they say Red Kryptonite affects him mentally as opposed to the green affecting him physically. Is that canon? ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/82 "2003-06-30T00:16:57Z")
One interesting thing about Superman’s radiating invulnerability is that it means when he punches a wall the part his fist is in contact with is made invulnerable and it’s those invlnerable bits of wall that superman is pushing through the wall that actually do the damage. ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/83 "2003-06-30T11:00:25Z")
I always thought it was the combination of Earth’s weaker gravity, and the yellow sun which gave Superman his powers. So, while kryptonite’s radiation would weaken, and eventually kill Superman, a red sun would weaken him to the point where he could be a normal human being. So, in order to shave, and cut his hair, and fingernails, and toenails… He bought a sunlamp. ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/84 "2003-06-30T11:06:01Z")
Also that aura of invulnerability idea, just doesn’t do it entirely. When Superman strikes an enemy, a super enemy, and especially a non-living super enemy (like a super robot or something) that bio-aura of invulnerability actually helps the enemy by increasing its armor in the area of impact. It’s very possible that someone could make use of this phenomenon and make something that would give Superman bigger problems than what he has to deal with today, which is exactly the sort of thing that Lex Luthor would do. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/85 "2003-06-30T13:31:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quasar \* > \*\*Sorry to revive this thread, but I just chanced upon this (after spending the better part of the last 6 hours reading all sorts of Superman stuff) and couldn’t resist the urge to mention how unbelievably cool that info is. This is the most awesome bit of trivia ever! (Antares has always been my favorite star). 🙂 > > And since I’m posting on this thread, a quick question for **Fenris**. Are the novels you mention (“The Last Son of Krypton” and “Miracle Monday”) a novelization of the original comic or, rather, new, previously unpublished material? If the latter, is it considered canon? > > Cheers, > > quasar \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/86 "2003-06-30T13:36:05Z")
(sorry for that non-post. this is what I meant to write: ) > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Fenris_ even though Krypton orbited Antares. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quasar \***Antares has always been my favorite star).** Does this mean that Krypton and Vulcan both orbited the same star? Wow!!! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/87 "2003-06-30T13:47:27Z")
As long as the thread has drifted a bit away from Kryptonite and on to other continuity-related issues, I’ll ask this: I was recently reminded that in all the Superboy comics of my youth, the Kents lived in an ordinary town with next-door neighbors and such, and Pa ran the General Store. Nowadays, (talking about the Smallville tv show) Clark grew up on a farm, and there are no neighbors. When did this change come about? It seems to me that this is something which started with the 1978 movie, and so it clearly pre-dates the Byrne rewrite by several years. Am I close? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/88 "2003-06-30T14:27:35Z")
Can someone explain the whole “S” on the chest and Superman designation? The S has nothing to do with “Superman”? X-ray vision. Is that an original power and if so, and does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/89 "2003-06-30T14:28:50Z")
should read: "HOW’ does xray vision work. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/90 "2003-06-30T16:27:33Z")
Philster, according to the movie, it seems that the Kryptonians wore various designs which may have had some sort of significance that the audience was not told about; family coat-of-arms perhaps? Jor-El’s design ended up on his son’s costume, and coincidentally looks like an “S”. In all other versions, it does deliberately stand for "S"uperman, doesn’t it? Xray vision: Here’s my guess, totally off the cuff: There’s a lot of electromagnetic waves all around us. The only ones which our eyes are sensitive to are the ones in the red-to-violet range. You can get night vision goggles which will translate infrared to green. A doctor’s xray film is sensitive to waves of that wavelength, but the film is not sufficiently sensitive to make use of the ambient xrays which are in the area, so the machine supplies an extra burst, strong enough that the film will make a decent picture. Superman’s eyes _are_ sensitive enough to make use of the natural x-radiation that does or doesn’t pass through an object. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/91 "2003-06-30T17:37:25Z")
Ohmigod, I remember this thread. This is from waaaay back when I posted using my full name. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Yuki_ **What’s the whole thing in that Smallville episode where they say Red Kryptonite affects him mentally as opposed to the green affecting him physically. Is that canon?** I only watch **Smallville** once in a blue moon, but from what I’ve seen, it’s just how they’ve decided kryptonite should work on the show. Canonically speaking, green kryptonite (Pre-Crisis) killed only kryptonians and red kryptonite effected bizarre physical and _sometimes_ just mental changes for 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/92 "2003-06-30T18:44:59Z")
Quoth **Keeve** : > [@](#): > > Does this mean that Krypton and Vulcan both orbited the same star? Wow!!! Naw, Vulcan orbits epsilon Eridani (this was later changed, but it’s still a star in Eridanus). Antares is (I think) beta Scorpii. And Superman’s x-ray vision relies on radiation he himself produces. The heat vision was originally a variant use for this same radiation. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/93 "2003-06-30T20:38:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > **Naw, Vulcan orbits epsilon Eridani (this was later changed, but it’s still a star in Eridanus).** Yeah thanks, I keep forgetting that. There was a song on Nimoy’s first LP ([“Mr. Spock’s Music from Outer Space”](http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/N/Nimoy/nimoy_music.html)) entitled “Beyond Antares”, and that keeps throwing me. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*And Superman’s x-ray vision relies on radiation he himself produces. The heat vision was originally a variant use for this same radiation. \*\* Supposedly, yeah, but that never made sense to me. How does the radiation get back to him for him to see? ---
**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:** [June 30, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/94 "2003-06-30T22:26:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quasar \* > \*\*And since I’m posting on this thread, a quick question for **Fenris**. Are the novels you mention (“The Last Son of Krypton” and “Miracle Monday”) a novelization of the original comic or, rather, new, previously unpublished material? If the latter, is it considered canon? > \*\* Both books are completly new material. They tie closely into Superman in the #290s and one character “Kristen Wells” goes on to be the Earth 1 Superwoman in the comics. Plus, the Kingdom Come world seems to have _far_ more in common with the two novels than any of Byrne’s “Yuppie of Steel” stuff Fenris ---
**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:** [June 30, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/95 "2003-06-30T22:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*And Superman’s x-ray vision relies on radiation he himself produces. The heat vision was originally a variant use for this same radiation. \*\* This is true and to expand on it a bit: originally he only had one power which was X-Ray Vision. He could use it to catch stuff on fire. In one notable Red K story, his “X-Ray Vision” got turned on full blast and he couldn’t turn it off. He melted and burned a _ton_ off stuff before the situation was resolved. Somewhere along the way, the two powers “Heat vison” and “X-Ray vision” got seperated so he could burn stuff without giving people nearby cancer. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/96 "2003-07-01T00:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ficer67 \* > \*\*I always thought it was the combination of Earth’s weaker gravity, and the yellow sun which gave Superman his powers. So, while kryptonite’s radiation would weaken, and eventually kill Superman, a red sun would weaken him to the point where he could be a normal human being. > > So, in order to shave, and cut his hair, and fingernails, and toenails… He bought a sunlamp. \*\* Red light doesn’t actively weaken him it just doesn’t fuel his power. As for his invulnerability extending to the objects he punches I suggest you look at my last post. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701/97 "2003-07-01T01:56:34Z")
Quick note to **Sock Munkey** and **Ficer67** : you’re both right. Pre-Crisis, “red solar radiation”(?) would instantly sap Superman’s powers. **Ficer67** ’s right by the way, it _was_ the combination of the “yellow solar radiation” AND the lighter gravity pre-Crisis…so why the red sun lamp would _instantly_ sap Supe’s powers (even the “gravity” ones like strength and flight)doesn’t make sense to me either. Post-Crisis, **Sock Munkey** ’s right: his power slowly fades (over days or weeks) under a red sun. But they don’t turn off instantly. As an aside, the “magic psychic invulnerablity field” is gone and forgotten into the trash heap of “dumb ideas that were funny in a APA but not so much in the actual books”\* soon after Byrne left. There’s none of the stupid Byrne “Psi powers are _far_ more scientific than this “red solar radiation” thing” :rolleyes: junk left either. I can’t remember the last time it was mentioned…it was _before_ the Krimson Kryptonite story though…so it’s been quite a while. Fenris \*Along with “Element Lad is gay because his costume’s pink” and “Hey…wouldn’t it be funny if Hal Jordan replaced the retired Jim Corrigan as the Spectre? The color scheme’s right” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-and-kryptonite/67701.md?page=4)