Superman has an almost endless number of super powers but did you know he can also use his glasses to hypnotize others? Believe it!

Ah, Superman! Able to defy gravity, bend steel in his bare hands, shrug off bullets, and hypnotize people? Yes, strange as it may seem, Supermans multitude of powers once included super-hypnotism. Even stranger? He was able to enhance his power with his Clark Kent glasses!

Back in the Silver Age, Superman enjoyed a number of offbeat powers from super plasticity (which allowed him to reshape his face), super-ventriloquism (which allowed him to mimic any voice and throw his voice anywhere), and even a super-kiss! However, while many of these powers had a limited shelf life, super-hypnosis kept showing up in many of Clark Kents adventures and eventually became the official reason why no one recognized Clark Kent was Superman!

Related: Superman Hides His Costume In The WEIRDEST Place

Superman could originally use his power of super-hypnosis simply by looking at a person and concentrating. In certain stories, he also employed a watch, which he swung back and forth in front of his subjects like a stage hypnotist. He even managed to use his power of super-hypnosis on himself on certain occasions, although like many hypnotists, he claimed that his subjects needed to want to be hypnotized in order for this superpower to work.

Other times, however, this didnt appear to be true. During one of Mr. Mxyzptlks schemes, Superman wound up being caught in a warped world where the male and female genders were switched, causing him to contend with a Superwoman and a Wonder Warrior. At one point, he was captured and his super powers were muted by a helmet full of Kryptonite gas. Despite this, Superman was able to use some reflected light off of his helmet to shine a beam into Wonder Warriors eyes and hypnotize the male Amazon into a deep sleep.

Interestingly then, it appeared that Supermans super-hypnotism was more of a learned ability than a Kryptonian super power. However, in other Superman comic books, he learned he had unknowingly been using Kryptonian technology for years to super-hypnotize everyone. In Superman #330, Clark finally starts questioning his use of glasses as a disguise and concludes that its the dumbest disguise hed ever seen. Wondering how his Clark Kent disguise managed to fool people all these years, he starts wondering if an ace reporter like Lois Lane has just been humoring him all these years.

Later, however, Superman discovers the secret to his disguise actually lies in special properties in his glasses. Since the lenses in Clark Kents glasses are actually made of the plexiglass window from the rocket ship that brought him to Earth, the lenses actually amplify his super-hypnotic abilities whenever he wears his glasses, causing people to see Clark Kent as a frailer and weaker man than Superman.

Superman found he could even use his Kryptonian lenses to brainwash his foes as he did when he tackled the Parasite, an enemy who had leached away his superpowers, and hypnotized him into giving him those powers back. Since the Parasite clearly didnt want to be hypnotized, Clark Kents glasses apparently gave Superman the power to mind control anyone he wanted to. (Fortunately, he was too super-ethical to use this power immorally as far as anyone knows).

Eventually, the mind-controlling glasses and super-hypnosis power were dropped as Superman entered the modern age. Later writers simply explained that people didnt suspect Clark was Superman because Superman never let on that he had a dual identity. Even Lex Luthor refused to believe Superman would lower himself to pretend to be an ordinary mortal, even after a super computer deduced Clark Kent was Superman. Nevertheless, at one time, Clark Kents glasses actually did give Superman the power of mind control and allowed the most stupid disguise in the world to actually fool people for years.

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Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

Michaels background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

Visit Michael Jungs website for information on how to hire him, follow him on Twitter Michael50834213, or contact him directly: michael(at)michaeljungwriter(dot)com.

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Superman's Glasses Are Secretly Used For Mind Control - Screen Rant