What powers does superman have?
In his earliest appearances Superman had far fewer powers than he does now, and he has demonstrated powers in the past which he is no longer considered to have. Originally, Superman had enormous strength, was relatively invulnerable, could run as fast as a speeding automobile, and couldn’t actually fly but could take bounding leaps of up to an eighth of a mile (including apparently straight up). Although that list of abilities looks slim in comparison to what he was later able to do, those abilities served him well for his first two years of existence. The first new ability to be added to that basic list was the addition of “x-ray eyes,” which was an innovation that was first used on the Superman radio program. The same year (1940), when Superman was adapted to cartoons by the Fleischer Brothers studio he also gained the ability of true flight rather than taking great leaps, because the director of the cartoons thought the audience would laugh if Superman acted like a sort of “super-ka
