Warning: Spoilers for Action Comics #1080
Superman may seem invulnerable on a superficial level, hence his Man of Steel nickname, but he still has his weaknesses. Power Girl has just discovered a way to tap into a classic Kryptonian superpower, proving that it's easier to defeat Superman than expected. If a villain discovered Power Girl's clever new anti-Kryptonian strategy, then Superman could be in serious trouble.
Action comics #1080 by Mark Waid, Clayton Henry, Matt Herms and Dave Sharpe pits Superman and his allies against an army of escaped Phantom Zone prisoners who have scattered across the galaxy. One of these evil Kryptonians, Faora Hu-Ul, fights Power Girl in New Thanagar and appears to have the upper hand. Then, Power Girl catches her off guard by whistling.
It turns out that Power Girl whistles at a frequency high enough to damage Faora and make her recoil in pain. Kryptonians' superhuman hearing has gone from an advantage to a debilitating weakness, and even Superman is not immune to this flaw.
Power Girl Confirms Superman's Enhanced Hearing Is His Biggest Weakness
One of Superman's iconic Kryptonian powers has a critical flaw
Power Girl is also Kryptonian, so she has a deep understanding of the abilities that members of her race possess. As such, she is able to hatch her plan to release a shrill tone and activate Faora's hearing. Most Kryptonian powers – heat vision, durability, icy breath, and more – are indisputably beneficial and have no apparent consequences for the user. Overhearing, on the other hand, can be perceived as a vulnerability. All it takes is one particularly sharp sound to knock a Kryptonian down and countas depicted when Power Girl manages to capture Faora in a Phantom Zone projector after whistling.
Superman's hearing is typically painted in a positive light. As he flies over Metropolis, he is able to hear anything and everything across the entire planet. Years of practice have taught you to distinguish between different sounds and focus on what you need to hear, so you can alleviate natural disasters by following a rumble on the ground or stop a villain when you hear civilians screaming. Still, aAs useful as Superman's hearing is, Power Girl has proven that she can easily be turned against him and turned into a weapon. In fact, Superman's hearing has caused him harm before.
Superman's super hearing has had devastating drawbacks in the past
As powerful as Superman is, loud noises can cause great harm to him
Enhanced hearing is one of the few powers at Superman's disposal that can become a weakness. In Action comics #1058 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Rafa Sandoval, the caveat of this power is presented when Superman faces a dark version of himself who shares his abilities. To defeat his opponent, Superman tricks him into using his hearing, and the enemy is quickly overwhelmed by all the sounds hitting him at once. The noise is enough to make your ears bleed, which proves how dangerous hearing can become if the noise reaches an unbearable level.
Superman has used this power to take down other Kryptonians, but it has also been used against him by former allies who know how he operates. Node Injustice continuity, for example, Black Canary stands her ground against a villainous Superman thanks to her sonic scream, channeling a frequency that bursts your eardrums. Meanwhile, within DC's main continuity, Batman has followed Power Girl's example by whistling when he knows Superman is listening. Anyone with knowledge of their hearing has the means to defeat Superman by generating sound – even if it's just a whistle – which makes this one of his most dangerous mistakes.
How is Superman's hearing among other Kryptonian weaknesses?
Superman can overcome this limitation by training, but is that enough?
Superman's enhanced hearing is one of several weaknesses he and his fellow Kryptonians face as a result of their unique alien physiology. Kryptonite is the most well-known, as it depletes your energy and makes you vulnerable, but this element comes in variants beyond the standard green. Red Kryptonite can transform a Kryptonian's physical form in horrific ways, while gold Kryptonite can block their powers entirely. In addition to kryptonite, since Kryptonians draw their power from yellow sunlight, being under a red sun drains their power. Of these responsibilities, superhearing stands out for one important reason.
When Superman lets his guard down or faces a particularly loud metahuman like Black Canary, his hearing can become his undoing.
Although Superman has not yet developed a tolerance for the weaknesses mentioned above, he has the ability to overcome the disadvantages of his hearing. In the case of his dark doppelgänger, the super-powered hearing hurts him because he's not used to it. About that, Superman has become accustomed to hearing all of Earth's sounds at all times, and therefore can avoid being overwhelmed by noise in most cases. This advantage does not mean that he is always invulnerable to this flaw in his biology. When Superman Let your guard down or face a particularly loud metahuman like Black Canary, your hearing could become your undoing.
Action comics #1080 is now available from DC Comics.