Originally Posted by
Robanker
You can be forgiven for that because a lot of modern writers get it wrong. The classic interpretation was simply he's got no natural defense to it like he does blunt force trauma-- magic hits Superman the same as it does you. He had three weaknesses and each was slightly different.
Kryptonite poisoned him and took his powers. Red sunlight drained him like your phone losing juice to a greedy app, leaving him physically exhausted and vulnerable. Magic slapped him around the same as anyone else, and unlike Kryptonite he couldn't see it coming.
Green K was most effective/lethal. Red sunlight was effective but on its own wouldn't kill him, just make him relatively human. Magic was the light switch but he could fight back at full strength.
Now they're all just Kryptonite. It's more generic and I refuse to see it as anything other than lazy writing. It's goddamn dumb to think that all Kryptonians are especially biologically susceptible to getting wrecked by magic. The concept of the Homo-Magi makes enough sense in that they're more attuned to magic because it's case-by-case per person instead of Kryptonians who apparently fall to pieces if you can hide a couple rabbits in a top hat.
Again, going to video games/tabletop as an example, if Clark's hitting solid 10/10 punches but Shazam is hitting 9/10 with an enchantment, it's going to surpass Clark's defenses more than his raw power would get through to Shazam or Black Adam. It's a pretty good handwave for why Clark is the one they all turn to in Crisis events when you need raw strength but Billy/Adam can slap him around sometimes. Remember, Clark gets electrocuted by Livewire in that continuity and it's mostly a stun to him. The magic component is what actually makes it hurt Clark, but he doesn't get whammied by it anymore than any other flying brick would.