Warning: Spoilers for Absolute Superman #1Between kryptonite, red solar radiation and magic, Superman has some of the most well-known weaknesses in comic book history. But Absolute Superman #1 has just revealed a major new weakness for this version of Superman, leaving Absolute Superman vulnerable at night.
Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval Reveal Superman’s Surprising New Weakness in Absolute Superman #1. In this edition, Superman tries to find his way around the world and ends up in Brazil. While Superman tries to help the working class, the “Peacemakers” – the security forces of this area – don’t appreciate this and lead a raid on his home. While Superman is sleeping in his house, it is connected to a solar panel which appears to charge it overnight.
The revelation of this technology leads to two very interesting conclusions. Either Superman can’t maintain his solar charge overnight or he burns through it incredibly quickly and needs to recharge while he sleeps. Both situations leave Superman with a new weakness that the Prime Universe version does not have.
Absolute Superman needs to manually recharge his solar energy, making him vulnerable at night
Absolute Superman #1 by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval, Ulises Arreola and Becca Carey
Despite the addition of this new weakness to the Absolute Superman lore, Superman himself is one of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe. That’s it incredibly difficult to actually damage the Man of Steelbut one of the quickest ways has always been kryptonite. Radioactive debris from his home planet causes him significant pain and drains his powers, making kryptonite Superman’s greatest weakness. But the fact that it’s so rare and difficult to obtain makes Kryptonite incredibly impractical to use against Superman to any real degree – which also applies to his second biggest weakness, magic.
With this new vulnerability, Absolute Superman could be much easier to deal with.
While Superman has no specific vulnerability to magic, he also has no resistance to it. This affects him like everyone else, making it a great way to throw Superman off balance and even cause him some real damage. Fortunately, finding people who can actually use magic to that degree is very rare.as there are only a few DC villains who are true masters of the dark arts. The fact that his weaknesses were so rare to begin with only made Superman even more difficult to deal with, but with this new vulnerability, Absolute Superman could be much easier to deal with.
Absolute Superman has an extra major weakness compared to standard Superman
DC’s new Superman leaves himself open to attack
The fact that Superman seems to have to recharge while sleeping in this universe is a huge weak point. The true extent of Absolute Superman’s powers is still unclear, but considering how young he is, it appears he isn’t as powerful as the Prime Universe’s Superman. Having to recharge at night means Kal-El has a huge window of vulnerability. If someone discovers his secret identity or where he sleeps at night, as the Peacekeepers did, then they can attack him while he doesn’t have his powers at full strength – if he has them at all.
The Peacekeepers have the right idea in Absolute Superman #1, but they attack a little late at night, as Superman had already managed to recover a decent amount of solar energy. If Superman expends his energy at a much faster rate than the Prime Universe version, then he could be significantly easier to defeat. In the Prime Universe, Superman only really runs out of power if he uses his solar flare or a lot of heat vision. But the The Absolute Universe version seems to have to recharge every nightregardless of the amount of energy it uses.
Absolute Superman is different from Superman in many ways, and that’s exciting
Fans will only discover more differences
The hardest part of trying to defeat Superman has always been that he is invulnerable and always at full power. Although he has weaknesses, they are very difficult to find. The Absolute Universe promised to reinvent these iconic characters in new and fascinating ways, and so far, DC has kept that promise. While the Prime Universe’s version of Superman is nearly unstoppable, it appears that in the Ultimate Universe, Superman He is vulnerable for several hours throughout the day, which could make him much easier to defeat for the many villains in this dark new universe.
Absolute Superman #1 is now available from DC Comics!