Superman is well known for being invulnerable to practically everything — save Kryptonite, red sun radiation, and magic. While the Man of Steel may not be more vulnerable to magic than ordinary mortals, considering how dangerous magical creatures can be, that should make him easy prey for vampires, right? Well… not so much.
While Superman has had run-ins with various vampires over his long history, one classic encounter with the Lord of Vampires, Dracula, laid to rest the notion that vampires can hurt the Last Son of Krypton. Following this little adventure, the undead should be aware — you do not want to bite a Kryptonian.
In 2002's Superman #180 by Jeph Loeb, Geoff Johns, and Ian Churchill, Clark Ken, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen get sent to Europe on an assignment from the Daily Planet. It seems Count Dracula (under the alias Count Rominoff) wants Lois to do an interview with him to convince the world his people are not barbarians. Of course, Dracula being Dracula, he can’t resist hypnotizing Lois and making her come to him through a fog-shrouded forest (in skimpy bedroom attire no less). Luckily, Superman is there to save Lois when she’s attacked by savage werewolves and ward off Dracula himself. By morning, however, everything seems normal… until Clark discovers all the wine bottles in the cellar are full of human blood, causing “Count Rominoff” to drop all pretense and reveals his true target — the Man of Steel himself. Noting that whenever Lois Lane is in danger, Superman arrives, Dracula reveals that he just wanted Superman to show up at his castle so he could have a Kryptonian powered soldier in his army of the undead.
Thanks to the magical nature of his powers, Dracula is able to effectively hypnotize Superman and draw him close enough for his fangs to penetrate the Man of Steel’s invulnerable skin. What happens next, however, is simultaneously logical and hilarious. Apparently Dracula forgot to take into account that Superman’s abilities are solar-powered and his cells contain an unbelievable amount of energy taken from pure daylight. When a vampire bites Superman, he’s essentially taking a bite out of the sun — which isn’t a good move for Dracula. The Lord of the Vampires ends up withering away into a lifeless husk and crumbling to dust. Fortunately, both Lois and Clark decide Superman’s rule against killing shouldn’t really apply if your enemy is already dead.
Of course, this comic does establish that Superman can be controlled and even harmed by vampires as long as they don’t try to actually bite him. That being said, this being DC Comics, retcons and multiple changed premises have allowed Superman to be temporarily afflicted with vampirism for various reasons. In a classic Superfriends episode, for instance, the Man of Steel gets turned into one of the undead after being struck by Dracula’s laser vision (yes, really). Still, none of these transformations have proved permanent, indicating that the daylight in Superman’s cells will eventually allow him to shake off the curse of the undead. Even if it comes from Dracula himself.