Should Superman be weak to magic

[AmiMizuno]

I don't mind this weakness as long as it's handled well.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Fine with me. Why would he be? The idea of it was handled particularly well in Elliot S! Maggin's novelization of Kingdom Come.

[Melv]

I'd rather he wasn't because I'd like everything in a sci-fi story to be science based, at least in concept. Magic doesn't belong in Superman's world IMO because magic as an explanation is a cop-out. Same as anything religious.

I like how they dealt with Thor's magic in the movies as advanced science.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I'd rather he wasn't because I'd like everything in a sci-fi story to be science based, at least in concept. Magic doesn't belong in Superman's world IMO because magic as an explanation is a cop-out. Same as anything religious.

I like how they dealt with Thor's magic in the movies as advanced science.

Magic is in Superman's world. Mxyzptlk (on the scene by 1944, a Siegel and Shuster creation) was around from near the beginning, and he's part of the wider DCU with all that entails.

[Sacred Knight]

Just not invulnerable to it. No extra special weakness to it compared to the next man.

[Adekis]

Mxyzptlk isn't strictly speaking magic, he's 5-D.

Now, I can understand the appeal of not wanting any magic- after all, every major super-hero at DC for years back in the Silver Age used to espouse that magic was superstitious nonsense, and you can explain a lot of so-called "magic" stuff at DC away with the "sufficiently advanced science" explanations. For example, the Zatara family's famous backwards-speech? Fifth dimensional, since lots of 5-D stuff in DC is connected to backwards speech. Johnny Thunder's thunderbolt genie has been explained as being 5-D as well. The fifth-dimension isn't a catch all explanation either. For example, the New Gods? Simply an advanced alien race whose technology we don't understand. The Olympians and Egyptian pantheon? Same deal, except they've bought into their own propaganda. Deadman? An entity reflecting the personality of Boston Brand was created by an alien entity upon his demise and assumed he was a ghost. The Spectre? Another alien being which only thinks it's in the service of God because of beliefs picked up when it scanned Corrigan's mind upon his death?

All that said, most of that stuff isn't canon. What is canon is that we have gods and ghosts and angels and magic and stuff in the DCU, and I'm okay with that.


I do have a minor problem with Superman being weak to magic- I don't think it's often handled well. It doesn't, you know, Kryptonite him- he's just less invulnerable to magic than to other things. He can still handle magic better than most people who aren't Superman.

[The World]

I'm cool with it, and it could lead to some funny stories.

[Robotman]

Just not invulnerable to it. No extra special weakness to it compared to the next man.

yeah i feel about the same on this subject. i dont think it should be a "weakness" but since he's not a creature of magic he can still have spells and things cast on him. someone like Shazam could probably overcome the average hex since he's powered by the gods. same goes for Wonder Woman.

[Alan2099]

Magic doesn't belong in Superman's world IMO because magic as an explanation is a cop-out. Same as anything religious.

How exactly is that a cop-out?

I like how they dealt with Thor's magic in the movies as advanced science.

They didn't completely. Thor mentions magic and science being one in the same at one point, but at other points, they specifically refer to people knowing or using magic.

[Lax]

Just not invulnerable to it. No extra special weakness to it compared to the next man.

That's pretty much my stance on it.

The Spectre? Another alien being which only thinks it's in the service of God because of beliefs picked up when it scanned Corrigan's mind upon his death?

Considering how neck deep in the supernatural The Spectre tends to be, that explanation would be a tough one to swallow.

[Agent Z]

Why are people more willing to accept the existence of aliens and fictional science more than the mystical and supernatural?

[Auguste Dupin]

Why are people more willing to accept the existence of aliens and fictional science more than the mystical and supernatural?

Because most people think alien life exist in some form somewhere in the universe (including serious people), and because we all believe in science, while being aware many of them did not exist a century ago. So whatever fictionnal scient we're having in comic might in theory be real some day.
While the mystical and the supernatural are associated with superstition, many debunked by science.

[JackDaw]

Don't like the idea that he's especially vulnerable to magic.

Not remotely convinced that he should be more vulnerable to it than any of the other DC heavy hitters such as Martian Manhunter, Flash, etc.

Indeed you can easily make a case that given his exceptional senses and will power that he ought to be especially resistant to some forms of magic. He should be able to work out most illusions via his super senses, and have will power to resist mesmerism.

[Vanguard-01]

Just not invulnerable to it. No extra special weakness to it compared to the next man.

This.

Pretty much my stance as well.

I do think he should be just as invulnerable against things conjured by magic that he is against things created by science or natural forces, however? For example: fire. Fire is fire. Whether generated by magic or science. Superman is completely immune to fire. So it doesn't matter if he's exposed to fire from a flamethrower or a fireball cast by a mage, it's not going to burn him. Now truly magical fires, like Hellfire, which isn't really fire at all, just a force that kinda looks and behaves like fire? Sure, that works on him.

Because most people think alien life exist in some form somewhere in the universe (including serious people), and because we all believe in science, while being aware many of them did not exist a century ago. So whatever fictionnal scient we're having in comic might in theory be real some day.
While the mystical and the supernatural are associated with superstition, many debunked by science.

In comics, the mystical and the supernatural are very much NOT debunked by science, however. Superman lives in a world where magic and gods are objectively and unquestionably real.

I like how they dealt with Thor's magic in the movies as advanced science.

Whereas I will never go to see another Thor movie because they did that.

[dancj]

Magic doesn't belong in Superman's world IMO because magic as an explanation is a cop-out. Same as anything religious.

In the real world, yeah - but in the DCU magic is real. I don't see a problem with that.

You have to be careful though. With magic it is really easy for a writer to pull out an instance deus ex machina device to resolve any story (as happened in the Lucifer miniseries) and that is a definite cop out.

Just not invulnerable to it. No extra special weakness to it compared to the next man.

Yup - which puts him in exactly the same boat as any other non-magical heavy hitter superhero.