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| Silver Age | |
| Duration | 1956-1970 |
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Additions to the Superman Mythos |
Supergirl, Krypto, Streaky, Beppo, Comet, the Superhorse, Kandor, Brainiac, Bizarro, Superboy, Lana Lang, Pete Ross, Smallville, Justice League of America, Fortress of Solitude. |
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Subtractions from the Superman Mythos |
Daily Star. |
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Superman's Power Level |
Highest, Superman went from running 60 mph to breaking the time barrier. He could also invent new powers on a whim and possessed superhuman intelligence. Superman could even sneeze solar systems away. |
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Regular Superman Comic Series |
Action Comics, Superman (comic book), Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, Superboy (comic book), Supergirl (comic book), Legion of Super-Heroes (comic book) |
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Previous era |
Golden Age |
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Next era |
Bronze Age |
The Silver Age of Comics was a historical period in the publication of DC comic books, including those of the Superman franchise. This age is characterized by "campy" storylines, and major expansion of the Superman mythos. Characters such as Supergirl, Krypto, Streaky, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, among others, were added to the Superman mythos during this era.
It's common knowledge for any Superman fan that Clark's power and abilities had no boundaries during this period. He possessed unlimited strength, speed, agility, healing, and metabolism. Taking his weaknesses aside, Superman possessed complete invulnerability. A simple sneeze could destroy a solar system. He even held back against most Gods or God-like beings. The only way Clark could perish was by exposure to Green Kryptonite. Elements such as magic could only slow him down as his body was too powerful to be killed in such a fashion. However, Clark was virtually unbeatable, not unbeatable. Besides Green Kryptonite, other Kryptonites could affect Superman in different ways. Red, Jewel, and Orange Kryptonite could be used to defeat Superman. As well, if he was placed under a Red Sun, his powers would be removed instantaneously (unlike modern versions). And while being superhumanly intelligent as he could create robots and process information faster than a supercomputer, he couldn't find the cure to Kryptonite. Lex Luthor was able to find the cure when he was a teenager, but it perished in a fire. This implies that Lex Luthor was more intelligent in some areas than Clark. Virus X, a disease from Krypton, was able to affect Superman and might've been able to kill him. Besides this though, Clark was immune to all diseases and illnesses.
There's no clear beginning of this era, as stories followed continuously after the previous era, the Golden Age. In retrospect, however, the stories were retconned so that all stories from the Golden Age took place in a separate universe from those of the Silver Age. Golden Age stories became Earth-Two and Silver Age stories took place in Earth-One.
The silver age did, however, have a clear end: the storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths erased all existing DC continuities and merged elements of them into one consistent universe, called New Earth. This occurred in 1985 and led to the beginning of the Modern Age.