And to top it off it's a cakewalk of a victory, and doesn't involve Doors!

So, in a recent interview, artist Will Conrad was rather insistent that Apollo could beat Superman, to which I was like... no. I love Apollo, he's easily one of my very favorite characters, but I know that he drains his power reserves easily, and Superman has a much larger bag of tricks. I figured Apollo would just futilely throw everything he had at Superman, Supes would shrug it off then pummel Apollo once he had drained his charge. I've argued this scenario here in fight threads before. But Conrad seemed so sure that Apollo would win, it seemed like he was privy to some inside knowledge (unsurprising since he's Stormwatch's artist) so I got to thinking. And it hit me. It's so OBVIOUS.

Conrad kept hitting on the point of Superman and the yellow sun, which made me realize Superman and Apollo are both powered by the sun, but there is one crucial difference; Apollo is, as far as we know, indiscriminate about which sun he gets his energy from, red, yellow, blue, whatever. Some may grant a more powerful charge than others, and naturally he lives on a planet with a yellow sun so that's where he gets his charge normally, but none of them will affect him negatively. Superman on the other hand is yellow sun only, hit him with the rays from a RED sun, powers vanish. In Stormwatch so far, Apollo has made mention of adjusting the wavelength of the light he emits, if he adjusts his wavelength to match that of a red sun.... he hits Superman with a red sun beam, and instantly drains Superman's powers.

@RayeGunn said:

Conrad kept hitting on the point of Superman and the yellow sun, which made me realize Superman and Apollo are both powered by the sun, but there is one crucial difference; Apollo is, as far as we know, indiscriminate about which sun he gets his energy from, red, yellow, blue, whatever. Some may grant a more powerful charge than others, and naturally he lives on a planet with a yellow sun so that's where he gets his charge normally, but none of them will affect him negatively. Superman on the other hand is yellow sun only, hit him with the rays from a RED sun, powers vanish. In Stormwatch so far, Apollo has made mention of adjusting the wavelength of the light he emits, if he adjusts his wavelength to match that of a red sun.... he hits Superman with a red sun beam, and instantly drains Superman's powers.

bravo

Do we even know if Red Sun depowers Superman in the 52? 
Always found it stupid it would depower him. He was powerless on Krypton because he didn't receive yellow sunlight not because the sun was red but writers took it wrong. 
Besides even if he got hit with Red why would it depower him if he's still receiving yellow rays?
It's the same with magic. Magic isn't a weakness he just gets effected by it like anyone else.

@Dernman: I don't think it's been mentioned specifically, since he hasn't been to any place with a red sun, (though, has Supergirl? that may answer the question) but it's such a long standing part of his character that, silly or not, I think it's safe to assume his weakness to red sunlight probably remains.

And who said he was still receiving yellow rays? They may fight at night or indoors. And even if not, if I remember correctly, while Apollo can build up a charge pretty quickly but can drain it equally fast, it takes Superman a lot longer to charge up, but he holds the charge better. So even in sunlight, it could still work, since it would take Supes a while to get his strength back.

@Dernman: I don't think it's been mentioned specifically, since he hasn't been to any place with a red sun, (though, has Supergirl? that may answer the question) but it's such a long standing part of his character that, silly or not, I think it's safe to assume his weakness to red sunlight probably remains.

And who said he was still receiving yellow rays? They may fight at night or indoors. And even if not, if I remember correctly, while Apollo can build up a charge pretty quickly but can drain it equally fast, it takes Superman a lot longer to charge up, but he holds the charge better. So even in sunlight, it could still work, since it would take Supes a while to get his strength back.

@Dernman said:

Do we even know if Red Sun depowers Superman in the 52? Always found it stupid it would depower him. He was powerless on Krypton because he didn't receive yellow sunlight not because the sun was red but writers took it wrong. Besides even if he got hit with Red why would it depower him if he's still receiving yellow rays?It's the same with magic. Magic isn't a weakness he just gets effected by it like anyone else.

Dude. Duuudddee. lol, I have been saying that for years. Superman isn't extra sensitive to magic. Just as sensitive as everyone else since magic works outside the realm of science and proper physics. I'd even go as far as to say that Superman has more resistance to magic than a regular person because his base form is incalculably stronger and more resilient. A regular person would be dead after getting hit with SHAZAM lightening strike, but Superman, while affected, is able to shrug (at least a few of) them off and keep fighting. I hate it when writers make im Super-sensitive to magic or when people in the battle threads think certain magical threats are going to be super effective against superman.

Plus, I always loved this scan from the late silver/early bronze age. lol, we should go back to this...

@Dernman: Oh, I know. didn't mean to sound defensive. But... Read Action Comics today, and was reminded of this, cus Superman his his powers taken away by red sunlight. So it is possible. In theory.