Most Powerful Versions of Superman-Family Heroes, Ranked

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Whenever the Superman Family faces a new threat or when DC decides to mix things up, the Superman Family develops new powers and abilities. Today, we’re going to take a look at the five strongest forms for each of the main Superman Family members’ positions. We’re looking at the strongest version of each of the main mantels and ranking them all based on their raw power. To keep this list clean, we’re only looking at roles that have had major power-ups in the past, so no Krypto the Superdog, as he’s stayed surprisingly consistent throughout the years. With all that established, let’s switch gears to talk about the Superman Family power boosts.

5) Steel — Dome Tech Enhanced

John Henry Irons set a new standard for advanced technology when he built a suit that let him fight alongside Superman. While that’s impressive enough on its own, he became infinitely more powerful in the pages of Convergence: Superman: The Man of Steel. After a fatal injury, John Henry was infused with techno-organic alien nano-particles called Dome Tech. This transformed him into a completely techno-organic entity, with a body that could mold to become anything he imagined. He was insanely powerful, able to craft any machine he could think of, and considering his track record, he proved that includes machines that can practically do anything. For this brief period, John Henry truly was a Man of Steel.

4) Superwoman (Lois Lane)

Plenty of people have taken the name Superwoman, but the most recent and most powerful is definitely Lois Lane. After the events of Absolute Power, heroes and villains alike found their powers shuffled around the universe. General Zod’s incredible Kryptonian might found its way to Lois Lane, making her as powerful as someone who regularly pushes Superman to his limits. She demonstrated that these powers let her blast away threats as powerful as Doomsday, even if only for a moment. General Zod is already one of Superman’s deadliest foes, and when someone like Lois gets access to that kind of power, you just know that she’s putting it to good use. The powers eventually burned themselves out, but as of DC K.O., Lois regained them, if only temporarily. 

3) Pre-Crisis Supergirl

There have been lots of Supergirls, from Matrix to Linda Danvers, but the most powerful of them all was easily Kara Zor-El before Crisis on Infinite Earths. Back in the day, Kryptonians could literally do anything they wanted. She could casually break the time barrier by moving faster than light, and would regularly demonstrate feats of strength that would make her present incarnation blush. In Superman Family #204, for instance, Kara fought the Enchantress, who gained unlimited power from the alignment of the celestial bodies. Supergirl stopped this by casually kicking the moon out of orbit, taking down Enchantress, then kicking it back into alignment just as casually. Pre-Crisis Kryptonians were utterly unstoppable, as our next entry is sure to show.

2) Pre-Crisis Superboy

Much like his cousin, Clark is easily the strongest true version of Superboy, and his strongest form was dead in the middle of the Silver Age. You might think that Superboy would be noticeably weaker than his adult self, but if he were, he was still so powerful that it never mattered. One of the most popular panels from this time period is Superboy casually tugging an entire galaxy’s worth of planets on a massive chain, dragging them to a new home at the other side of the universe. He would do reality-warping things like this constantly. Superboy was utterly bonkers. Anything that he needed to do, the plot let him do without hesitation.

1) Cosmic Armor Superman

Many forms can be argued to be Superman’s most powerful. There’s Superman Prime One Million, Strange Visitor Superman, and, most recently, King Omega Superman. Still, despite all of those forms showing incalculable strength, the most powerful in my eyes will always be Cosmic Armor Superman. The Monitors created this Thought Robot, which Superman piloted to defeat Mandrakk the Dark Monitor. This suit of armor was less a power boost and more of a metaphor given shape. It was as strong as Superman needed to be, representing the very concept of good winning out against evil. This robot embodies Superman’s endless victory and the spirit of heroism, meaning that, no matter what he faces, he will become strong enough to win.

Which Superman Family hero is your favorite, and which power boost would you like to see make a return? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!