The Power of Convenience

When you think about Superman, what comes to mind? His colorful costume? That little curl he does in his hair? Or is it Superman's toy chest of superpowers? Outside the strength and the flight and the heat vision, Superman has a lot of underrated superpowers. So many that it merits it's own post!

Early in his creation, Superman was given a new power constantly to suit whatever challenge was given to him, as comic books became more fine tuned writers found it difficult to continue this formula and removing his plot convenient powers it became difficult to challenge the hero. With incredibly strong characters, there's an idea that their strength makes up for their intelligence, but not Superman. Kryptonians already have higher intelligence than humans, but because Superman's body is enhanced by Earth's yellow sun his mind can operate faster than a supercomputer. This brain power allows him to create advanced technology, plan detailed strategies, recall his memories flawlessly and recite any language he comes in contact with. He also has the power of Super Ventriloquism, allowing him to copy any voice and throw his voice across vast distances. Superman is often recognized for his immense muscle, but his fighting capabilities aren't strictly tied to his strength. Superman has trained in hand-to-hand combat with Batman, Wonder Woman and alien warlord Mongul. Superman is also a master of two Kryptonian martial arts, Torquasm-Roa and Torquasm-Vo. You may know of Superman's freeze breath, but his lungs are capable of more than frosting criminals. His lungs can blow small objects precisely, suck the air of an enemies lungs and even destroy star systems by sneezing. He could also reshape his facial structure and muscle build to disguise himself. If that doesn't work, Superman once changed his entire appearance into a stereotypical alien through shapeshifting. Superman could achieve mind control and hypnosis via telepathy for a time, as well. Additionally, in the Christopher Reeves movies, Superman could erase anyone's memory by kissing them. Take that in for a minute. His other movie powers included created a ball of heat, using a beam that could reconstruct structures, throwing a plastic net off his chest, and traveling back in time by flying against the Earth's orbit. Superman could devourer and digest food in the blink of an eye, like most of my relatives. Not very helpful sure, but what about Superman's duplication powers? Superman, on occasion, has split into two entities-Superman Blue and Superman Red-with the only difference being their costumes. This would allow Superman to not only save twice as many lives, but also double date. Superman's oddest power, in my opinion, was the power to create small clones of himself. He could once create miniature Supermen-of equal strength-from his hands and assign them tasks. Wait, could those mini-Superman create even smaller Supermen? My brain hurts!

Nowadays Superman's powers are a bit more balanced and writers have been able to find decent challenges for him. Most people assume Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite, but on the contrary Superman is also damaged by magic, his X-Ray Vision can't see through lead and if Superman is drained of yellow sunlight or exposed to red sunlight his superpowers fade away. So while Superman may not be as overpowered as he used to be, it is always fun to go back and revisit his ridiculous feats. Hope it gave you a good laugh, thanks for reading!