17

Can Superman fly through solid rock? (using force and destruction) If so, when was he first portrayed doing this?

  1. in a comic
  2. in a movie

Ideally I'd like a picture of Superman flying through solid rock. It could be from a comic or a movie. I've spent some time googling, but I've not been able to find any relevant results.

|improve this question
  • 1
    It depends on how you define "fly through." With Superman, it's a destructive process (unlike how the Vision from the Avengers could fly through solid rock intangibly), as shown in the currently accepted answer. – RDFozz Feb 3 at 13:21
  • 1
    @RDFozz - Yes, I'm interested in destructive flying. – chasly from UK Feb 3 at 13:25
  • 1
    I assumed as much from your acceptance of the answer :-) - just wanted to clarify the point for others who see this Q&A later. – RDFozz Feb 3 at 13:31
  • 2
    Because the question was so specific about flying through rock, I'm leaving this as a comment. In the '50's TV show episode The Mysterious Cube Superman "vibrates" through an impregnable material without destroying it or making a hole. For some reason I can clearly remember seeing that particular scene on TV, but not any others – Peter M Feb 3 at 15:45
  • @PeterM -- you remember it because, like Jimmy, you were afraid he'd gotten stuck. – Pete Becker Feb 4 at 15:11
35

Superman flies (down) through solid rock and metal in Superman Vol. 1 #43: The Molten World

enter image description here

Probably the earliest instance of his "burrowing" through rock and soil is from Superman Vol. 1 #11: The Yellow Plague

enter image description here

And we see Supergirl and Krypto (who share basically the same power-set as Superman) tunnelling through a mountain in Action Comics 258: Supergirl's Farewell to Earth!

enter image description here

In the movies he drills down to Luthor's underground lair through asphalt and bedrock in Superman (1978)

enter image description here

And 'flies' through solid rock in Man of Steel

On TV you can see him tunnelling at speed through the side of a mountain in Justice League of America #1: Between Two Armies

enter image description here

|improve this answer
  • 23
    It figures that Superman would be more worried about her revealing her existence to Krypto than destroying a mountain. – Adamant Feb 3 at 11:32
  • 3
    Probably he can always build another one. – Darth Hunterix Feb 3 at 14:44
  • 1
    @DarthHunterix Can he? I don't remember him doing so, but if building a mountain is just putting heaps of material into place and pushing it hard enough to form it into something mountainous looking, sure, probably. – Mast Feb 3 at 15:33
  • 2
    @Adamant Driling two tunnels each less than four feet in diamter through a mountain thousands of feet high and probably miles long and wide doesn't seem like destroying or undermining it to me. What do Supergirl and Krypto do the rock? Maybe vaporize it, or maybe knock it back behind them as they burrow, which would leave most of their tunnels filled up behind them. In which case Superman would just have to plug up two or four small caves and the mountain is almost as good as new. – M. A. Golding Feb 3 at 17:54
  • 6
    He doesn’t really drill down to Luthor’s underground lair in Superman as much as he starts turning on the spot and then immediately a hole about two feet in diameter magically appears in the ground. His feet have barely started revolving, and the hole is about six times the size of the area covered by his spinning feet. Looks like a sinkhole waiting to happen. Good thing Superman made the authorities aware of it, albeit in a somewhat ostentatious manner. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Feb 4 at 0:13

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.