Clark Kent Superman is famously invulnerable to almost all forms of damage, capable of deflecting bullets and fighting literal gods in hand-to-hand combat. However, despite being perhaps the most indestructible individual on the planet, an incredibly unique superpower turns this divine strength into a horrible weakness. In truth, Superman isn’t just vulnerable to this power – he’s the only person in the world who is majority at risk.
In Gail Simone, Dale Eaglesham, Tom Derenick, Jason Wright and Travis Lanham Secret Six vol. 4#10the Man of Steel faces the titular Six. Superman discovers the team on a mission to save the life of their divine magic user, Black Alice, but unfortunately their efforts are weakening the barrier between Earth and the supernatural Dark Giants. While the Secret Six simply aren’t on Superman’s level, their leader Catman reveals that a limb is your secret weapon against the Man of Steel.
Although Superman initially thinks the ‘secret weapon’ is the new Ventriloquist – who commands immense telekinetic power – he quickly discovers that the team’s heavy hitter is actually Porcelain. A mysterious thief, Porcelain has an ability that makes hard substances incredibly brittle. In fact, porcelain’s powers make any substance brittle in inverse proportion to its hardness – and As Kryptonian skin is the toughest substance on Earth, Superman quickly becomes the most fragile man in the world.with skin cracking at the slightest touch.
Batman also has a genius contingency for using Superman’s powers against him, and he doesn’t need a single device to do it.
Porcelain transformed Superman into the Glass Man
Superman’s invulnerability makes him MORE vulnerable
Due to absorbing yellow sunlight on Earth, Superman has immense powers, including hardening his skin to a nearly unbreakable level. Unfortunately, the DC Universe is a big place, and against the right power, this really makes Superman more vulnerable. Porcelain can’t do much to harm normal human skin because it’s already flexible, but because Superman is hard as a diamond, he succumbs instantly. Fortunately, Porcelain hesitates to use his sledgehammer to actually break the hero, and his hand is quickly stopped by fellow Secret Six member ‘Big Shot’ (actually Superman’s old friend Elongated Man in disguise).
Overloading Superman’s heat vision turns him into a threat to everyone around him, effectively taking him out of any fights.
While fans often discuss Superman as having every power the writers could imagine, this is certainly not true in modern comics. Many DC heroes have truly bizarre powers that only take on their full meaning in specific situations. Porcelain’s abilities have naturally led them to bank robberies because they are ideal for breaking down walls and vault doors, but they are also the ultimate offensive ability against Superman. Fortunately, the Secret Six straddles the blurred line between heroism and villainy, and Porcelain doesn’t actually want Superman dead.
Most of Superman’s powers can be used against him
From heat vision to super hearing, the Man of Steel has major vulnerabilities
While turning Superman’s immense powers against him may seem unusual, this is actually one of his most consistent weaknesses. Because Superman has immensely powerful abilities, he is instantly in trouble whenever they turn against him. Various stories (including Tom King and Mikel Janin Batman #42) showed that high-frequency noises are devastating to Superman because of his enhanced senses. This forms the backbone of one of Batman’s best contingency plans – Superman deliberately modulates his hearing to avoid the pain of high-frequency sounds, but when he is being mind-controlled, his focus drops enough that Batman can let it go. you staggering just by whistling to the right tone.
Superman has also lost control of his heat vision many times, often because the level of energy he absorbs increases beyond his control. When this happens, he fires deadly rays wherever he looks, forcing him to fight blindly. This weakness means that there are entire worlds in which he is effectively useless because his conditions trigger this type of excess power, as seen in Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez. Justice League #61.
It also takes significant effort for Superman to control his powers, which means that in times of injury or confusion, he may have difficulty modulating them. Perhaps the most important example is the 1942 newspaper comic strip ‘The Failure’, where Clark Kent tries to enlist in the military to fight in World War II, but is rejected because he failed his eye exam – not because he didn’t. could read it, but because he unknowingly used his X-ray vision to read the wrong scan by looking into the next room.
As powerful as Superman is, he lives in a world of wild superpowers, alien weapons and magic, which means there’s always some way he can be put at a disadvantage. No one would rank the Secret Six on a list of DC’s most powerful teams, but thanks to the way the Man of Steel’s powers interact with Porcelain’s, they can officially boast the ability to take down Superman without breaking a sweat.