Summary

• Brainiac 5's future invention removes Superman's weakness to red sun radiation, making him stronger.
• Superman's red sun weakness is easier to fix compared to kryptonite or magic weaknesses.
• Red sun radiation has always been an exploitable weakness for Superman's enemies.

Superman's power levels got even stronger when one surprising ally removed his weakness to red sun radiation. Usually, while under a red sun, Superman loses all of his powers, but the descendant of Brainiac manages to solve this weakness, making Superman stronger than ever.

During the Great Darkness Saga from the Legion of Super-Heroes run by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen, Superman helps the Legion as they face off against Darkseid. This battle takes place all over the universe, and not every sun Superman finds himself under is yellow. When Superman needs a way to keep fighting without worrying about being depowered, he turns to a surprising ally.

One of the key of the Legion of Super-Heroes is Brainiac 5, the descendant of Superman's arch-enemy Brainiac. Despite his ancestry, Brainiac 5 wants to be a hero, and his greatest invention allows Superman to have his full power under the radiation of a red sun.

Legionnaire Brainiac 5 Solved Superman's Red Sun Problem

Legion of Super-Heroes #293 by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt, Carl Gafford, and John Costanza.

Superman has an unbelievable host of powers, and all of them come from solar radiation in one way or another. Under a yellow sun, Superman has the power everyone knows him for, including super-strength, flight, heat vision, and more. Under a blue sun, he gains unbelievable powers like "Superman vision," which allows him to bestow powers onto others. But under a red sun,, Superman loses all of his powers. This weakness has been a major concern for him, but Brainy manages to completely solve Superman's red sun problem. Thanks to some high-tech future technology, Superman's biggest weakness is gone.

Of all the weaknesses that Superman has, removing his weakness to red solar radiation honestly seems the easiest. He's weak against both kryptonite and magic, and neither would be easy to fix. Kryptonite deeply poisons Superman due to its radiation. Magic completely byes his invulnerability to wreaks havoc on him both mentally and physically. With red sunlight, all Brainiac 5 really has to do is prevent Superman's body from absorbing it. While this definitely requires future technology, preventing the absorption of red sunlight is a lot easier than trying to make Superman immune to kryptonite or magic.

Red Sunlight Has Always Been One of Superman's Greatest Weaknesses

Out of all of Superman's weaknesses, red sun radiation has always been the easiest for his enemies to use against him. Some villains, such as Lex Luthor, sometimes even go as far as turning Earth's yellow sun into a red one in order to combat Superman one-on-one. Magic is not something everyone can use, and kryptonite is exceedingly rare and often kept under lock and key by the superhero community in order to protect Superman — meaning sunlight is often the first weakness Superman's enemies can exploit.

Red sun radiation is so effective against Superman that even something as simple as solar lamps has brought him down in the past. This invention from Brainiac 5 is one of the biggest power upgrades Superman has gotten, since — at least for a short time — it completely removes his most exploitable weakness.

Legion of Super-Heroes #293 is available now from DC Comics!