i personally subscribe to the “long history of different and sloppy script-writers looking desperately for new plots” theory. laughable, i know, but one day i’ll be vindicated.

Hence the frequent Byrne-era images of Supers with fragments of cape hanging off the back of his neck. But I thought, despite what he did with Gladiator, that Byrne postulated a thin personal aura/forcefield that kept Superman safe and his clothing (given they were skin tight) clean. Cape extended outside it so was vulnetable.

Personally, I was perfectly fine with the “Kryptonian things are super under a yellow sun” as complete explanation.

Siegel et al. Supposed that His mighty strength stems from His origin on another planet whose density and as a result, gravity, was much higher than our own. Natural selection on the planet of krypton would therefore endow Kal El with more efficient muscles and higher bone density; explaining, to first order, Superman’s extraordinary powers. Though concise, this theory has proved inaccurate. It is now clear that Superman is actually ying rather than just jumping really high; and His freeze-breath, x-ray vision, and heat vision also have no account in Seigel’s theory.

Click the link!

It wouldn’t fit in with much of the rest of what’s been established regarding Superman’s powers over his long history (not that there aren’t contradictions and multiple explanations littered through that history) but it seemed like a view with possibilities to me.