ABOUT SUPERMAN'S NEW POWER AND NEW COSTUME

Superman may be the oldest superhero on the DC Comics roster, but there's still room to add new wrinkles to the cape. The latest evidence came in the form of "Superman" #38, released early last month, where the current creative team of writer Geoff Johns and artist John Romita Jr. added a new power to the Man of Steel's arsenal -- a high-powered solar flare, deployed during battle with newly introduced character, Ulysses.

That solar flare comes with a price -- Superman losing his powers for a period of 24 hours. That's the backdrop of "Superman" #39, scheduled for release on March 18 -- a temporarily human Caped Crusader bonding with Jimmy Olsen, who he revealed his secret identity to the issue before. "Superman" #39 is also Johns' final issue on the series, as the demands on his time as DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer (have you seen how many TV and film projects they have in the works?) have dropped his monthly comic output down to one title (for now), "Justice League." Romita steps into the role of both artist and writer with "Superman" #40, and new series writer Gene Luen Yang is set to join the veteran illustrator on the series in June.