Throughout nearly nine decades of comic book existence, Superman has displayed numerous powers, both well-known and less familiar ones. While his legendary strength, invulnerability, flight, and speed are commonly associated with him, his powers have expanded significantly during the Golden and Silver Ages of comics. During these periods, Superman demonstrated a wide range of abilities that ranged from mind control to telepathy and even time travel.
However, among all his powers, one stands out as being particularly unusual – it’s quite extraordinary! This power set that Superman once possessed is undoubtedly one of the strangest.
(Note: “During the Golden and Silver Ages of comics” can be replaced with “In the early years of comic books”, for a more concise phrasing)
To discover this extraordinary power set, we need to travel back to Superman Volume 1 #125 from November 1958. The comic immediately hooks readers with a thrilling sneak peek of what’s to come; on the cover itself, Superman is shown firing rainbow beams from his fingertips, which is indeed true. However, it’s important to note that this isn’t just a cosmetic power or the only one he gains in this issue.
In issue #125 of Superman, our hero stumbles upon an alien spacecraft and subsequently uncovers a startling revelation: most of his powers, excluding flight and invincibility, have mysteriously vanished. To his surprise, he is left with a peculiar ability – a rainbow-hued burst that not only looks appealing on the comic pages but also serves a purpose. It turns out that this energy simply causes crooks to capitulate and yield. Incredibly, it’s that simple. As soon as the rainbows (though they aren’t exactly vibrant in the actual comics) appear, criminals have no chance of escaping. This newfound power seems like a handy, quirky tool, but the story takes things to an even more peculiar level because Superman can emit other forms of energy from his hands as well.
The situation uncovers an additional ability for Superman – he can project a miniature replica of himself from his hand, which is quite unsettling, to say the least. This miniature Superman, referred to as the Proxy, possesses all the original powers that Superman lost upon encountering the mysterious alien spacecraft. Believe it or not, this isn’t a figment of our imagination; it’s straight from the comic books! People find the Proxy adorable, but Superman feels differently, and his displeasure intensifies as the Proxy’s popularity grows as a hero.
Superman Gets His Powers Back (But At a Cost)
Luckily for Superman, he won’t have to step aside for his diminutive counterpart for much longer, but his handling of the Proxy is less than what one might expect from the Man of Steel. Recognizing that he can command the Proxy, when a meteorite filled with kryptonite poses a threat to Metropolis, Superman merely instructs the Proxy to handle it, nonchalantly remarking that if the kryptonite were to destroy him, so be it. When evil-doers gather some of the kryptonite to use against Superman, the Proxy instead confronts it and disappears, leaving Superman’s powers intact. A brief thought crosses his mind that perhaps the Proxy had a life of its own, but he quickly dismisses it as unimportant.
The depiction of Superman, who’s frustrated at not receiving recognition for his heroic acts and appears careless about the possibility of endangering a possibly conscious entity to reclaim his powers, is somewhat surprising given our contemporary view of the character. However, it’s important to remember that this was during the Silver Age (the time when this comic was originally published), which was quite distinct from modern times.
To be fair, this grimmer portrayal of Superman isn’t even the most unusual event in Superman #125 – that title might go to “Lois Lane’s Super-Dream,” where Lois dreams she gains powers from Superman’s blood. We’ll delve into that tale another time.
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2025-02-08 18:09