Superman (1939). Certain materials such as lead can block his X-ray vision. Superman can project beams of heat from his eyes which are hot enough to melt steel. He first used this power in "Superman" #59 (1949) by applying his X-ray vision at its highest intensity. In later stories, this ability is simply called "heat vision". Superman can hear sounds that are too faint for a human to hear, and at frequencies outside the human hearing range. This ability is introduced in "Action Comics" #11 (1939). "Action Comics" #1 (1938) explained that Superman's strength was common to all Kryptonians because they
Adventure Comics adventure series. In issue #12 when the series was titled "New Adventure Comics", Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel introduced the first version of the character Jor-L as a science fiction detective in the far future; the character would eventually become the alien father of Superman, although the first Superman story, in "Action Comics" #1, would not appear until more than a year after Jor-L's first appearance. The series' focus gradually shifted to superhero stories starting with the debut of the Sandman in issue #40. Other superheroes who appeared in the early days of "Adventure" included Hourman (from #48 to #83);