[Fedora]

> Sheesh. I love comics as much as anybody, but some people put waaaaaay too much thought into them. They're supposed to be fun.

My two cents on this: My general philosophy for comics as well as movies is that if thinking about it too much spoils the fun, stop thinking about it. However, part of the fun can also be coming up with explanations for how super-powers are supposed to work (or alternatively, making fun of said explanations when they're silly, as they often are :) The fun does depend on a certain degree of suspension of disbelief, and a scientific or pseudo-scientific explanation can help with that. The roots of comics lay in science fiction IMO. In the case of Superman, the original explanation for his powers came from Edgar Rice Burroughs' explanation for the powers of John Carter of Mars. Burroughs based Carter's powers on the science of the 1910s, and his explanation was stetched even for the time, but not stretched so far as to seem impossible. Carter's powers, and Superman's original powers, were much more limited than Superman's later became, being based mostly on the difference in gravity between Earth and Mars/Krypton. As the Superman strip developed he acquired more and more powers, stretching the bounds of science farther and farther. After a certain point he became invicible, which made the strip boring because nobody could beat him. This gave Marvel the opening to introduce characters who, while still powerful in a way that stretched the limits of science fiction explanation, were more limited by physical law and vulnerable. IMO competition with Marvel forced DC to reign in Superman's powers and return to the original approach based on science fiction extrapolation from known laws. A turning point in this trend was the issue of "Dark Knight" where Batman was able to defeat Superman using a cyber-battlesuit. Since then Superman has become a more interesting character again, IMO. All that said, I still get a kick out of seeing the old Superman doing physically-impossible things. I think my favorite issue is when he raced Flash around the universe and the finish was so close it had to be decided by instant replay, but the refs couldn't decide which camera angle was right so it was declared a tie :) The time he boxed Muhammad Ali for the universe heavyweight title is also up there :) And then there was the Marvel-DC crossover where Superman met Spiderman. Spidey was skeptical that Superman was as tough as his reputation, so to test him he punched him in the stomach. I believe Spidey's reaction was something to the effect of, "Ouch." :)

[VadeRetro]

The time he boxed Muhammad Ali for the universe heavyweight title is also up there

Good as Ali was, I can't imagine how the writers gave Supe any problem in a matchup with an ordinary Earthling. If I'm at the story conference, I say, "Naah! We can't go there and it doesn't work."

[eddie willers]

The time he boxed Muhammad Ali for the universe heavyweight title is also up there :)

That one I still have.
Giant (and I do mean GIANT) Sized Neal Adams.

Way cool.