Superman's Status Quo

Over the years, Superman has undergone numerous transformations. The core elements have stayed the same, but the various elements of Superman's world that make him the person he is were always in a constant flux. Most people don't' even know that in his early days, Superman could fly; he could only jump 1/8 of a mile.

Usually, the character's background story was updated to fit the change in society. Superman always was the infant sent from Krypton to escape its destruction. Everything else was up for grabs (for a more comprehensive look at the Man of Steel's history, check here). This is true of the latest update that Superman's story has gone through. This article will help bring you up to date on what the real steel deal is in the Last Son of Krypton's world.

To understand why things changed, we first have to go back to the year 2006. This is when the comic book series known as Infinite Crisis rocked the DC Universe. The event was caused by characters left over from the Crisis of Infinite Earths, namely, Superman and Lois Lane from Earth-2, Superboy from Earth Prime, and Alexander Luthor from Earth-3. Convinced that the current world was going astray, the four broke out of their exile to turn the world back to Earth-2. The hope was that converting the world back to the old state would rid the world of the evil that was growing, and save Lois Lane from her eminent death. However, there was more to the story than that. Alexander Luthor wanted to bring back the Multiverse, which was the status quo of the DC Universe before CIE. In doing so, he would be able to create the perfect world for him to rule.

To achieve this end, Luthor used Superboy Prime to set off a series of events that would rock the universe. One of the most drastic things Superboy did was in hitting the wall of their prison. Each time Superboy hit the wall, time altering waves radiated through the DC Universe, correcting things that should never have happened. For example, the waves allowed Jason Todd, the Robin that was killed by the Joker, to come back to life.