Up in the Sky

[deckardcanine]

Way back in 1938, when Superman debuted,
Compared with now, he wasn’t all that powerful a dude.
He basically was limited to powers you’d expect
From people who evolved for stronger gravity’s effect.
It seems that Planet Krypton had been bigger than the Earth,
And thus a native humanoid was stronger right from birth.
He’d leap the height of 20-story buildings in a bound
But couldn’t get much hang time in before he hit the ground.
While hardy, just a bursting shell could penetrate his skin.
He could lift heavy weights but not reverse the planet’s spin.
His hearing wasn’t special, nor his breath. His eyes produced
No heat or X-ray vision. Then he got a major boost:
The Silver Age of Comic Books would let the hero gain
New powers almost every week, which proved to be a pain.
It seems he’d gathered hundreds till the writers cut them back
To eight, the ones he has today. That is a better tack,
But still he leaves most other comic supers in the dust.
Resetting him completely has been off and on discussed
By writers as they struggle to make stories with suspense,
But old-school powers could be dull in yet another sense.
Which Superman do you prefer: the one who did the least,
The one who came near godhood, or the one who got decreased?