# Superman's powers - How many were present originally and how were the new ones introduced? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580 "2012-07-08T03:28:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/21 "2012-07-09T00:21:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The silly thing about the walk through walls story was that Superman didn’t need to do it; he defeated the villain through a trick. Was that the episode where the villain jumped the gun on the statute of limitations because Superman advanced the clock? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/22 "2012-07-09T00:38:34Z")
I remember his Super Eating power–he was having dinner with Lois and needed to go change into Superman just as he was served a whole game hen. He picked it up and, while nobody was looking, just sucked all the meat off of the chicken. Rather than crushing it into a greasy pellet, because that would have been nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/23 "2012-07-09T00:48:59Z")
How does that “super fast typing” work? There were many stories where Clark Kent would type out his stories at super speed, and while I could buy that he could hit those typewriter keys at the speed of sound _they would still only pop back up at their normal speed._ ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/24 "2012-07-09T00:50:01Z")
Here is the passing through walls power start at 3:30 [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Yk51JfAt0) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/25 "2012-07-09T01:40:18Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I remember a Superman story from the mid 60’s. It wasn’t a comic, but was sort of a short novel format with few pictures. At the end of the story he caught the criminal, and then snapped his fingers and _levitated_ a camera lens (part of the story) into his hand. I wasn’t more than 10 but even then I thought that was strange. Not the first time. Although sick from Kryptonite Superman managed to [hypnotize and levitate Lois Lane](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g242PXxOZNI&feature=related), and then be a real jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/26 "2012-07-09T09:53:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > [humorless & clueless pedant] > Seeing how both those only happened in the Fortress, I’m happy to say they were both applications of Kryptonian tech rather than super-powers. > [/humorless & clueless pedant] I’m pretty sure Supes said that he used that particular skill while in school, presumably to win at Hide and Seek. He’s a big cheater. Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/27 "2012-07-09T10:02:18Z")
Wasn’t there a comic with pink Kryptonite that turned Superman gay? Which made me say wait he isn’t even human, but then made me say would it matter if the other species is a Kryptonite fascimile? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/28 "2012-07-09T10:08:05Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Wasn’t there a comic with pink Kryptonite that turned Superman gay? > > Which made me say wait he isn’t even human, but then made me say would it matter if the other species is a Kryptonite fascimile? Yes, but that was a one-panel throw away joke from when Peter David’s Supergirl finds herself in an alternate Silver Age. I understand her daughter with that Earth’s Superman is still roaming the multiverse, acting like a precocious part-Kryptonian child would. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/29 "2012-07-09T11:50:14Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Since he loves to subtly focus his heat vision on stuff without melting his glasses, he made the lenses from that nigh-indestructible clear dome of his Kryptonian rocket ship; without realizing it, he’d also been focusing his _“I Don’t Look Like Superman”_ hypno-beam through 'em ever since. > > Which means the oft-derided glasses are still the key to making the whole thing work! And the reason the glasses amplified his “I’m not Superman” mental mantra is that the glass from his spaceship was the antenna used to telepathically educate him on his way to Earth. I’ve never cared much for Superman, but I’ve always loved that bit of retconned explanation for why a pair of glasses is sufficient to keep anyone from recognizing him when he was Clark Kent. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/30 "2012-07-09T15:21:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How does that “super fast typing” work? There were many stories where Clark Kent would type out his stories at super speed, and while I could buy that he could hit those typewriter keys at the speed of sound _they would still only pop back up at their normal speed._ Kryptonian typewriter, obviously, manufactured at the Fortress and smuggled into the Planet offices (and onto Clark’s desk) for just that reason. Superman had a lot of stuff like that. His wardrobe as Clark Kent was all specially trated so as to be compressible (by super-pressure) to the size small sheet of paper so he could store it in his cape pouch. That became an issue when he was a news anchor and had to wear clothes provided by the station, and thus didn’t have complete control over what he wore anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/31 "2012-07-09T15:29:37Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > A lot of crazy-ass powers were added in the Silver Age and quietly dropped after Crisis. I can’t think of anything on the level of “super ventriloquism” that was added (or used) after 1986. There was his “Energy-Superman” phase, but that was more a complete (temporary) redo than adding a new power. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/32 "2012-07-09T16:28:52Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Was that the episode where the villain jumped the gun on the statute of limitations because Superman advanced the clock? Yup. And if the villain had waited another half hour instead of coming back immediately, he would have been just fine. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/33 "2012-07-09T16:43:25Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > it was established in the first issue that a mundane artillery shell could break the skin. Man, that’s gotta smart. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/34 "2012-07-09T17:07:45Z")
People have said his powers came and went. Did they explicitly say, “I used to have super-typing powers, but now I don’t” or did he just not use that power anymore? What I’m asking is, is Superman unable to use those powers anymore, or does he just choose to not use them? Were previous powers explicitly deleted? I’m unfamiliar with the Crisis mentioned above, which apparently adjusted his powers. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/35 "2012-07-09T18:39:47Z")
It was rare that they were specifically deleted (other than by the reboots). They’d just be ignored. Remember again, up until the 1960s, no one expected strict continuity in the comics and the audience did not worry about minor inconsistencies for some time after that. I think the assumption was that people outgrew comics so no one remembered what happened five years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/36 "2012-07-10T13:17:37Z")
I remember a Silver Age comic (I think it was a \*Brave and the Bold \*reprint) with the following line of dialog from Superman: “Using my super-strong hair as a mop, I’ll clean up this mess.” Silly, yes, but at least it wasn’t Supergirl doing it, unlike the Bionic Woman, who used her powers for housework all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/37 "2012-07-10T13:57:12Z")
Since no one else has mentioned the [“shooting a tiny Superman out of his hand”](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=superman%20shooting%20a%20tiny%20superman%20out%20of%20his%20hand&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CGYQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comicsalliance.com%2F2010%2F06%2F11%2Fask-chris-13-batman-vs-psychiatry-and-supermans-strangest-p%2F&ei=VTT8T6zbJIis8QTEzKTFBg&usg=AFQjCNGM8lMPfiBYGKxejD_ztCxcSFLFtQ) power, I will. (Apologies for hideous google link; not sure if Comics Alliance is blocked from work.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/38 "2012-07-10T14:07:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I think the assumption was that people outgrew comics so no one remembered what happened five years ago. The usual quoted number is 7 years. This didn’t just apply to dropping Superman’s powers, it went all the way to wholesale reusing old stories. (For example, Supergirl’s first encounter with the Legion of Superheroes was almost word for word identical to Superboy’s - they changed all the 'Superboy’s to 'Supergirl’s, and the location from Smallville to Metropolis (and, oddly, removed one jokey ‘futuristic’ ice cream name, while retaining the now nonsensical joke that surrounded it), but aside from that…) ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/39 "2012-07-10T14:17:37Z")
Egads, Tom Scud! I missed that episode. And it was ONE episode. Never to be mentioned again. As the linked article (great comic blog, by the way) says > [@](#): > > Superman eventually gets jealous of all the attention his pint-sized doppelganger is getting and tries to kill it, but it dies saving his life and then he feels badly, and – as you might expect – this is never mentioned again. Just another Tuesday in the Silver Age. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580/40 "2012-07-10T14:37:57Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I remember a Silver Age comic (I think it was a \*Brave and the Bold \*reprint) with the following line of dialog from Superman: “Using my super-strong hair as a mop, I’ll clean up this mess.” > > Silly, yes, but at least it wasn’t Supergirl doing it, unlike the Bionic Woman, who used her powers for housework all the time. What’s wrong with that? She was cleaning her own house as I recall, not someone else’s. If you had super-speed, wouldn’t you use it for mundane, boring things? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-powers-how-many-were-present-originally-and-how-were-the-new-ones-introduced/627580.md?page=3)