Full record for superpower n.
| Definition | an ability beyond what is human |
| OED requirements | antedating 1945 |
| Earliest cite | in Supersnipe Comics Vol. 2, #8 |
| Comment | Jeff Wolfe submitted a 1987 cite from Victor Milan, from the anthology "Wild Cards" edited by George Martin. Rex Smith submitted a 1984 cite from the players' manual for the game "Golden Heroes", and a 1979 cite from the rules for "Villains & Vigilantes".
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a 1975 reprint of Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" from his collection "All the Myriad Ways". Alexx Kay submitted a cite from Ron Goulart's article "The Second Banana Superheroes" from a 1997 reprint of Lupoff and Thompson's "All In Color For A Dime"; Malcolm Farmer verified the cite in the 1970 first edition. Cory Panshin submitted a 1966 cite from an article by Alexei Panshin in Riverside Quarterly. Jay Rudin submitted cites from the April 1958 and December 1959 issues of Adventure comics. Jay Rudin submitted a 1952 cite from Superman Vol 1, #76. Fred Galvin submitted a 1945 cite from Supersnipe Comics Vol 2, #8. (There are no citations in the OED for the sf sense.) |
| Last modified | 6 July, 2008 |
Citations for superpower n.
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| 1945 Supersnipe Comics Apr. 36 | I heard what you were talkin' about, and I , the mighty Supersnipe - will use all my super-powers to stop you! |
| 1952 E. Hamilton in Superman May–June 1 (in figure) | Superman, mighty man of steel whose super-powers have conquered catastrophes and wrecked wrong-doers! |
| 1958 O. Binder in Adventure Apr. 1 (in figure) | But don't cheer too soon for the boy of steel , until you see what happens when he competes with three youngsters who have gained super-powers of their own! |
| 1959 Adventure Dec. 1 (in figure) | Wow! Look at those three super-youths from the future, with only one super-power each, overpowering that rampaging monster! |
| 1963 R. Goulart Second Banana Superheroes in D. Lupoff & D. Thompson All In Color For Dime (1970) 240 | Miss Victory was in reality a Washington D.C., secretary. She, too, fought subversion at home and, not having any super powers, had to depend on a second-hand convertible for transportation. |
| 1966 A. Panshin in Riverside Q. Jan. 45 | The story's premises are not true: there are no Martians of the sort Heinlein writes of, and no super powers are available to those who think proper Martian thoughts. |
| 1971 L. Niven Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex in All Myriad Ways (1975) 77 | All known forms of kryptonian life have super-powers. |
| 1979 J. Dee & J. Herman Villains &igilante Vigilantes 18 | If a character has a super-power which raises any of his characteristics to a score of twenty or over, no amount of additional training will raise the rating in that category any further. |
| 1979 J. Dee & J. Herman Villains &igilante Vigilantes 1 | Players familiar with role-playing games will find most systems employed in these rules to be familiar. Due to the large number of super-powers and weapons they will find parts of the combat system unfamiliar. |
| 1983 R. Short Gospel from Outer Space iii. 42 | Jesus was very cautious in using the ‘super-powers’ of his Father, although he obviously could have at any time. |
| 1984 S. Burley & P. Haines Golden Heroes 50/1 | Freeform Shapechange , characters with this type of Shapechange can transform into any living creature that is approximately the size and shape of a human being. They do not gain any special characteristics or advantages from the change but keep their own normal Attributes (ie those of the original non-superpowered Basic Character), senses, Movement, attacks, etc., and retain no Superpower other than Shapechange, no matter what or who they change into. |
| 1992 Locus Aug. 51/2 | Comic sf novel about an editor who develops superpowers after exposure to radioactive water. |