Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the template for superheroes with Superman, who first appeared in 1938. Superman's core super powers are quirks of his biology -- he's strong enough to shatter an asteroid, his enhanced senses allow him to read a newspaper thousands of miles away, and his invulnerability allows him to survive a nuclear blast. Many other heroes have limited versions of Superman's abilities, such as Spider-Man, whose super-strength allows him to lift 10 tons, or Marvel's Luke Cage, who's impervious to gunfire, but can be injured by heavier weaponry. Daredevil, Marvel's blind superhero, posses powers revolving around his remaining heightened senses, such as hearing that allows him to act as a human lie detector by listening to a person's heartbeat.
Some heroes rely on a range of psychic powers to battle malefactors, reading their opponents' thoughts or moving objects through the power of their minds. Professor Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men, can read minds and communicate telepathically. Professor Xavier can also directly affect a person's brain, rendering himself invisible to his target or obliterating swaths of a person's memory. Jean Grey, a deceased former member of the X-Men, also had telepathy and her telekinetic powers allowed her to manipulate objects as massive as a fighter jet.
Many heroes have flight and other motion-based abilities that facilitate reaching an emergency and open up tactical options during combat. Dozens of superheroes and villains can fly -- from Wonder Woman, able to defy gravity through force of will, to Iron Man, whose armored boots have jets that allow him to take to the sky. Super-speed is another mainstay of comic books, with heroes such as the Flash able to surpass light speed. Flash's speed also enables him to incapacitate far stronger opponents by allowing him to throw hundreds of punches within the space of a second.
Energy manipulation powers are common among comic book characters, giving heroes and villains a range of offensive capabilities. Before his untimely death in 2011's "Fantastic Four #587," the Human Torch could transform his body into burning plasma and manipulate heat and fire, allowing him to project jets of flame at his opponents. Magneto, a longtime X-Men antagonist, can manipulate Earth's electromagnetic fields, which gives him enough control over ferrous metal to assemble intricate equipment or to simply bludgeon an opponent with debris from a distance. Green Lantern wears a ring that can create any solid object he's able to visualize, using his willpower to generate an exotic green energy. This energy also allows Green Lantern to fly and provides life support in the vacuum of space.