Yet Another Kryptonian Question

Do kryptonians under a yellow sun need to eat?

Do they metabolize food in the same way as humans?

Is it possible for a Kryptonian -- excluding red kryptonite effects -- to get fat or develop an eating disorder like anorexia nervosa?

Presumably they evacuate waste like humans. Is that waste indestructible? 

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  • 10799932687?profile=RESIZE_710x

    Well, we know Superman does eat.  Whether he needs to or not is a question I've never seen addressed.

  • There weren't enough Kryptonians under a yellow sun to know if they needed to eat - but both Kal-El and Kara were shown eating - not often, but often enough. Whether that was to maintain their secret identities or to support their physiologies, one doesn't know.

    Do they metabolize food the same way? How do humans metabolize food? Yellow sun rays gave Kryptonians about half their powers, but I don't think that was a substitute for eating,

    Kryptonians were pretty human like, so I think any "disorders" would be similar too. And if you look at a Curt Swan page of Kryptonians, you'd see every somatype, for sure.

    Was their waste indestructible? Of course. Everything from Krypton was indestructible, save Kryptonite. And rumor has it that Kandorian children would mock each other with "Ah, your old man poops Kryptonite!"

    I remain,
      Sincerely,
    Eric L. Sofer
    The Silver Age Fogey
    x<]:o){

  • "Was their waste indestructible? Of course. Everything from Krypton was indestructible..."

    At the risk of being drawn into a ridiculous nerd discussion, that's an argument for why the waste of Kryptonians (under a yellow sun) is not indestructible... unless the food they were eating was also from Krypton. 

  • In regards to metabolism, I may be using the wrong word. 

    Bismollians seem to be able to eat (literally) pretty much anything without gaining weight. Most humans vary on this scale -- some have difficulty gaining weight, some seem to gain weight by breathing. Are Kryptonians like this? I don't recall ever having seen a Kryptonian that didn't look like he or she was in perfect health. Some are built larger than others, but I cannot recall any I would refer to as "plump" or "skinny". 

  • Oh, that. Yeah, you're right. But then, a super powered metabolism would digest said Earth food so fast and completely that it probably never made it to the colon and then out. Gods I'm feeling silly! :) :) :)

    Randy, there were some variations in Kryptonians, especially by Curt Swan... but Earth-2's Krypton was POPULATED by super men and women. Can't figure that Krypton-1 was a lot different, although they didn't go jumping an eighth of a mile at a time regularly....

    Randy Jackson said:

     I don't recall ever having seen a Kryptonian that didn't look like he or she was in perfect health.

    Jeff of Earth-J said:

    "Was their waste indestructible? Of course. Everything from Krypton was indestructible..."

    At the risk of being drawn into a ridiculous nerd discussion, that's an argument for why the waste of Kryptonians (under a yellow sun) is not indestructible... unless the food they were eating was also from Krypton. 

  • Just to pile on the geekery, I think it's important to note that there are different Supermen, and their needs probably varied as much as their powers.

    • The Golden Age Superman -- at least the one that leaped tall skyscrapers -- was the most human of all, and probably needed to eat. I wish I'd paid more attention when reading the GA omnibuses.
    • The Silver Age Superman, I'm almost certain I've read somewhere, didn't need to eat (any more than he needed to breathe or sleep -- although, it was established somewhere, he did need to dream for his mental health). He made do with those sweet, sweet solar rays for just about everything. I bet if I spent 10 minutes with Michael Fleisher's Superman encyclopedia, I could give you a definitive reference.
    • The post-Crisis Superman had to wear a breathing apparatus in space (which looked silly and not-at-all Super, IMHO), so I'm going to go out on a limb and say he needed to eat, too. But that's honestly just a guess.
    • New 52 Superman: Who cares?
    • The current "Rebirth" Superman is a combination of the post-Crisis and New 52 Supermen, and your guess is as good as mine.

    Looking back on my answers, I confess they look a lot like guesses. The only one I feel strongly about is the Silver Age Superman, and even there I'm not going to believe myself until Commander Benson corroborates.

  • IF Thor poops, is that holy s**t?

  • What about Odin? Would the poop be all-seeing? 

    The Baron said:

    IF Thor poops, is that holy s**t?

  • Captain, one place that establishes the Silver Age Superman's need for sleep and dreams is 1972's Action Comics #409.

  • Thanks, Luis! Who wrote it, Cary Bates or Elliott S! Maggin?

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