Its ever-receding nature

Because no one at DC Comics ever took the time to list the appearances of every alien race they have ever published, or the first appearances of teleportation technology and time travel on Earth. Or even find out who on Earth is responsible for creating teleportation technology, there are gaps in the knowledge. And the longer they wait to codify their little fictional universe, they larger the gaps will get.

DC Comics creators cannot even agree on whether or not Superman can fly faster than the speed of light. (we won't get into the hows and what the fucks of intragalaxy and interstellar navigation by an organic humanoid) 


Reposting this from my original consecutive entries in a thread here on the Newsarama forums. With just one spelling correction multiplay has been changed to multiply, and the word way has been added.

The topic that started it all.

Gargoylehulk  

Here's a hypothetical scenario. If no one held back and Everybody went all out, especially Superman. How many DC Heroes would it take to Superman out for good, down for the final count,put six feet under, deader than a doorknob. Everybody is playing for keeps. Sentimentality gets thrown out the window. It is Kill or Be Killed.As many Heroes as it Has to, to dogpile on Supes. There will be no one on one fights here. It is Every DC Heroe going all out to end the Kryptonian. And how many DC Heroes does Superman take out before he is taken out? 

My initial response. Sadly I have done too.

Xero  

Answering your original question. I have given this a lot of thought over the years.

Everyone. Superman would easily kill everyone, even if they knew he'd become a sociopath. Superman could kill everyone on Earth, meta, homo magi and normal in about four minutes. Superman can fly unaided in space at faster than light speeds, he's also able to somehow navigate in that vacuum with unerring accuracy.

All he has to do is fly up to one light year away from Earth and then fly straight back, even travelling at .99 the speed of light he turns himself into a living Relativistic Kill Vehicle. A 1kg mass traveling at 99% of the speed of light would have a kinetic energy of 5.47×10¹⁷ joules. In explosive terms, it would be equal to 132 megatons of TNT. The average American male's weight is somewhere between 76 to 84 kilograms. So just multiply those estimates by your guess as to Superman's probable weight.

If he does that three or four times there won't be anything left but radiation, bacteria, ash and steam.

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P.S.

By the time you've realized that someone has fired a relativistic weapon at you, it's already too late, you're basically only seeing where they were, not where they are.

Achilles100 decides to chime in.

Achilles100

Er, no, Superman can't fly at faster than light speeds, he can't fly at light speed.  At least according to Kurt Busiek.  Though if you want to go with Silver Age Superman... 

My initial response to Achilles100.

Xero 

Yes actually he can, as he's been depicted it's the only way he can fly between planets as quickly as he does.

My way more detailed, overblown nerdrage response to Achilles100.

Xero  

Some facts for you.

Alpha Centauri, former star system of the planet Rann home of Adam Strange is 4.37 light years away. Superman flew there from Earth and back again, in one day.

Vega, home star system of the Omega Men is 25.3 light years away from Earth. If Superman ever flew there under his own power and returned in less than a week he's capable of FTL speeds.

Polaris, home star system of Thanagar and new home of Rannagar is 430 light years away from Earth. If Superman ever flew there under his own power and returned in less than a week he's capable of Ridiculous speeds.

Antares, home star system of Hyathis and Kanjar Ro is  600 light years away. If Superman ever flew there under his own power and returned in less than a week he's capable of Ludicrous speeds.

The Andromeda Galaxy, home of Krypton which is Superman's birthplace is 2.5 million light years away. If Superman ever flew there under his own power and returned in less than a week he's capable of going Plaid.

Now how many DC Comics Editors or writers know enough about the fictional universe they work in to even follow that response? How many even care? Well I also ask myself why should they, they operate in a shrinking market and it may not be worth it for them to try and play catch up with Marvel Comics at this point.

Truthfully though, Marvel has this shit locked down, no one does it better than them. They even iterate on and evolve existing in-universe technologies. Amazing. I love that about those guys. Look at this list of Doctor Doom's devices on Wikipedia. The items on that list can easily be verified because Marvel also keeps track of them. That's finger lickin' good infoporn and I live for tasty dullskuggery like that.


No Wikipedians were harmed during the construction of this article.