DC Officially Reveals Superman’s Armored Redesign For New Appearance

DC’s next Superman story presents a brand-new costume the Man of Steel will have to wear to survive. Throughout the years, Superman has worn a variety of costumes that diverge dramatically from the classic red-and-blue tights. In Superman: Godfall, he wears a futuristic, heavily-textured Kryptonian tunic. An even more authoritarian change happens with Lord Superman, who trades his traditional welcoming colors for a militaristic white-and-grey uniform. Similarly, Superman: Red Son swaps his famous red-and-blue threads for a grim grey uniform emblazoned with a sickle and hammer, and the minimalist Superman Beyond costume offers a high-contrast black-and-white bodysuit designed for an aging Clark Kent.

Superman often finds himself forced to cast aside his classic uniform for highly specialized suits. Following his catastrophic battle against Doomsday, a resurrected Clark Kent emerges from the Fortress of Solitude wearing his iconic Regeneration Suit, the solar-absorbent black outfit adorned with a silver emblem, engineered specifically to accelerate the recovery of his depleted Kryptonian cells. In the late 1990s, Superman adopted the Electric Red and Electric Blue containment suits to hold his fluctuating electromagnetic form together. Most recently, both Superman and Batman built their own armor while surviving the subterranean world of Skartaris.

After his adventure in Skartaris, or technically speaking, before this adventure, Superman had to build a makeshift suit of armor to fight another villain from a different time.

Superman Wears Armor After Losing His Kryptonian Powers

Action Comics #1099; Written By Mark Waid; Art By Skylar Partridge, Patricio Delpeche, And Ivan Plascencia

Following Superman’s victory in DC KO, Clark Kent’s younger self finds himself in a reverse Back to the Future situation where he needs to save the time-traveling trio sent to protect him. Having lost his Kryptonian powers, and seeing Mary Marvel, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter fade out of existence, Superboy scrambles to make a suit of armor from materials he finds in Bruce Gordon’s lab. Even though he no longer possesses super speed, he manages to put on an entire Superman-themed armored outfit just in time to fight the time-traveling Epoch.

Superman often needs to prove his worth without the help of his Kryptonian superpowers, either because his body is affected by Kryptonite or because he fights in places that negate his abilities. However, Superboy has more factors playing against him. If Superboy fails to defeat Epoch, the whole future is gone, and a new version of DC K.O. loses its best contender. And even if he survives, the teenage Clark Kent permanently loses his powers, leaving the world without its main protector.

Clark Kent’s Vulnerability Puts His Traditional Powers Into Perspective

Superboy’s Loss Proves Superman Doesn’t Know What Being A Human Is

Besides losing his super strength, super speed, and vulnerability, Superboy’ loss of superpowers makes him acquainted with the regular human experience. Without his Kryptonian abilities, Clark Kent learns that cold water shocks his body, that moving requires effort, that clouds can’t be smelled, and most surprisingly, that human touch feels tender and not like “flesh on steel.” These reflections prove that Superman’s day-to-day life is extremely different from that of any human on Earth. Normally, Superman truly lives like a god in a cardboard world.

While Detective Comics #1099 doesn’t confirm it explicitly, its revelation of Clark Kent’s different physical sensations offers a possible answer to a lifelong Superman mystery. Superman always possesses a muscular physique even though he’d technically need to lift entire continents to have a worthwhile workout. However, since the young Clark Kent doesn’t even know what temperature and exercise are supposed to feel like, it’s safe to say that his body also adapts to a powerlifter-level physique on its own, with no special effort required.

Which of Superman‘s alternate costumes is your favorite?

Action Comics #1099 is now available from DC Comics.

Created By

Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel

First Appearance

Action Comics

Alias

Kal-El, Clark Kent, Jonathan Kent

Alliance

Justice League, Superman Family

Race

Kryptonian

Franchise

D.C.