Superman's Powers and Abilities

It's Super-Ambiguous-Power-Set Man! Superman, the Man of Steel, has plenty of weird powers in addition to his core strengths.

Over the years, Superman's level of power has fluctuated perhaps more than any other hero's — he's gained them, lost them, grown weaker and stronger pretty much from the moment he was created, culminating in the addition of a new power last week. Here's your guide to the Man of Steel's power creep.

As GENE LUEN YANG takes over the adventures of a SUPERMAN with substantially less power, we look back at the craziest powers the MAN OF STEEL has ever had.

Love Superman but not sure how the Man of Steel gets his powers? We breakdown the real science (fiction) that fuels Superman's coolest abilities.

Strength, speed and flight are just the beginning with Superman. Here are 15 other powers the Man of Steel has used over the years.

Superman, Clark Kent is a DC Comics character part of Justice League

The powers of the DC Comics character Superman have changed a great deal since his introduction in the 1930s. As the character developed, his abilities were enhanced in order to maintain the interest of his audience. The extent of his powers peaked during the 1970s and 80's, to the point where it became difficult to create suitable challenges for the character. As a result, his powers were significantly reduced when his story was rebooted by writer John Byrne after the Crisis on Infinite Earths series. After Byrne's departure, Superman's powers were gradually increased again, although he still remains weaker than his Pre-Crisis incarnation.

The powers of DC Comics character Superman have changed since his introduction in the 1930s. Many other DC Comics characters have Superman's abilities from Kryptonian DNA, such as Zod, Kara Zor-El, and even the hybrid Superboy. The extent of Superman's powers peaked during the 1970s and 1980s to the point where various writers found it difficult to create suitable challenges for the character. Lex Luthor described Superman as a "living god" on Earth. As a result, his powers were significantly reduced when his story was rebooted by writer John Byrne after the Crisis on Infinite Earths series. After Byrne's departure, Superman's powers were gradually increased again, though with greater in-story explanation than his Pre-Crisis incarnation.