How Fast is Superman Supposed To Be in DC Comics

How Fast is Superman Supposed To Be in DC Comics?

Superman possesses one of the most impressive power sets in comic books, but how does he measure up in a world filled with super-speedsters?

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How Fast is Superman Supposed To Be in DC Comics

At the apex of superherodom, is Superman, the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow, and arguably the most iconic comic book character in the world. Unlike many of his less-endowed comic comrades, Superman has a vast array of extraordinary abilities at his disposal thanks to his advanced Kryptonian heritage, chief among them: the power of flight, invincibility, super strength and – most importantly for this discussion – speed. But in a universe filled with characters connected to the Speed Force, how fast is he really?

Unfortunately, the limits on any of Superman’s powers are as protean as comic book continuity itself. The character has evolved over the last eight decades, and so too has the scope of his superhuman abilities. Suffice it to say that the world got faster over the last century, and Superman did as well. When the last son of Krypton first burst onto comic book pages in Action Comics #1 – all the way back in 1938 – the character was described as being able to “run faster than an express train.” In the ’50s television series The Adventures of Superman, he was famously described as “faster than a speeding bullet.” In today’s world of high-speed internet and fighter jets capable of traveling six times the speed of sound, these feats of superhuman speed appear quaint, and Superman has been forced to keep up or be left behind.

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The most specific modern reference to his speed can be seen in issue #209 of The Flash (published in June of 2004), The Flash and Superman are once again caught up in a race, when Wally West notes that Superman is traveling over two-thousand miles a second while running. This is an impressive speed, but mundane by The Flash’s standards, especially when that Flash is Wally West. Another notable, and more recent, comic-book resource appeared in DC Nation #2 (July of 2018) in a segment called “The Great Race.” In it, writer Josh Williamson was asked to answer the question once and for all: out of all the heroes possessing super-speed in the DC Comics universe, who among them would win a race?

In his handy speed chart, Williamson places Superman fourth among the fastest beings in DC Comics, behind the likes of Wally West and Barry Allen, but ahead of characters such as Wonder Woman and Kid Flash. There, Superman isn’t as fast as the fastest Flashes, but beats out the slower speedsters. Mystery solved! Alas not, because Williamson presents the reader with an important caveat, stating:

The Man of Steel is unmatched when flying in the air, able to arrive and save the day in the blink of an eye. But once he puts those two feet onto solid ground he can’t quite crack the top three.

How fast, then, is Superman in flight? Once again, different eras of comics have presented Superman in various galactic contexts. Many have taken the distances he’s traveled from planet to planet in our solar system – or from distant solar systems – estimated the time taken (usually under a minute), and quantified figures of speed that demonstrate he routinely surpasses the speed of light, and then some, with inconceivable ease. However, this skill is little use in a vacuum; in Superman: Up in the Sky – by Tom King and Andy Kubert – Superman leaves Earth to search for a kidnapped child, acknowledging he may be gone for some time. While Superman can move at incredible speeds, he doesn’t have the same relationship to that speed as heroes who use the Speed Force, meaning that while he can quickly move between planets, searching those planets requires a fine control that necessitates he move slower than his max speed. Ultimately, the most honest answer is that Superman is the top speed he’s allowed to be for a story to work, though never as fast as the Flash.

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