SmallvilleCast Talk Episode 193 - SUPERMAN'S NEW SUPERPOWER???

Ahead of the debut of the Man of Steel’s new power and costume in Wednesday’s Superman #38, DC Comics has released a graphic charting the history of his abilities, from super-speed to flight to, now, super flare.

The conclusion of the “Men of Tomorrow” storyline by Geoff Johns, John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson, the new issue apparently climaxes with the unleashing of what the writer calls “the most destructive power Superman has.”

“And he’s not exactly excited about it because it is so dangerous and there are consequences,” Johns said.

DC bills super flare as Superman’s “first new power in decades,” which, judging from the rather incomplete graphic, may be a reference to the addition of heat vision in 1949. Of course, the Man of Steel has sported new abilities since then — as recently as 1998’s Superman Red/Superman Blue storyline.