Whereas Superboy and Mon-El had such raw power, Jo had to be more selective when using his powers. Part of the explanation is that Jo was imbued with his "ultra" energy after being eating by a space whale. He did not absorb solar radiation like Kal and Lar so he seemed to have a more finite energy source. He could do everything they could do, allegedly one power at a time.
But let's look at it closer. Jo's Penetra vision did not have the same limitations as X-Ray vision. Jo had a version of heat vision called Flash vision. He never appeared to have, or use, super-hearing. Super-breath may have varied over the eras. He appeared to have super-strength, invulnerability, flight and super-speed. Pre-Crisis, Jo was once mentioned of only getting tougher, and not really a true invulnerability. In fact, he is susceptible to certain forms of radiation. I'm not sure I dig the extra weakness, given that he had to shift powers.
He has been seen running at super-speed. I'm not quite sure how he is able to fly at super-speed. Isn't that using two powers at the same time? Pre-Crisis Jo sets up a whole conundrum. He was seen able to fly under his own power at high rates of speed, possibly the speed of light. I question this. If we look back at some other Pre-Crisis heroes, Hawkman was once noted for flying 225 mph. I'll assume that is significantly faster than Legionnaires can fly with a flight ring. But we have to remember that Hawkman doesn't wear a special suit or breathing apparatus. If he was capable of flying faster, he would have to deal with being able to catch his breath and additional stresses on his body which includes his heart's ability to pump blood. Even if Jo is able to fly with super-speed, not having invulnerability that absorbs the g-forces won't get him very far.
Additionally, how is he able to use super-strength without some additionally physiological changes? He doesn't have the dense Kryptonian cell structure. Some people may say that he diverts some of his energy to invulnerability but this distorts the logic of him having one power at a time.
The elephant in the room is invulnerability itself. Many plot points show Jo taken out because his invulnerability is not active and he couldn't switch fast enough. Unless he had to concentrate on it, why would invulnerability not be his default state?
Now let's explore him Post-Crisis which wasn't ever discussed. This is significant as how we define Kal El's powers has changed via John Byrne. Kal can basically store up and release solar energy, or convert it to psychokinetic energy. This bio-energy helps explain heat vision and the super-flare power. The psychokinetic energy explains super-strength via tactile telekinesis, flight and invulnerability. Invulnerability would be his bio-energy aura and act like a force field to give him invulerability. I don't know how super-breath, telescopic vision and super-hearing are explained by this but this post isn't about Kal.
If we take Jo's ultra-energy in the same application, it will actually explain a lot: the super-strength without the enhanced physiology, the invulnerability, his Flash vision. Still couldn't quite explain how he is able to fly at near-Daxamite speeds though. Unlike the Flash, he does not have the speed force to protect him. Unlike Wonder Woman, he does not have godly gifts to protect him. I think Jo could still be able to fly faster than with a flight ring, but I have to draw the line and him being able to keep pace with Mon-El. It still doesn't make sense. However, applying this logic, it would make the bio-aura his default power and he would always be invulnerable unless he chose to use the power elsewise. And invulnerability/force field is actually a pretty awesome power alone.
Now, the real question is there anything Jo could do that Kal and Lar can't do? That is an interesting proposition that begs the response: how much should he be able to do? Could he read minds? Alter his density? I'm not sure I'm crazy about that as it can take the spotlight off other Legionnaires or possibly make him a deus ex machina, displaying never been seen powers. Save any force field tricks for Brainy. Maybe an Ultra-punch that works like the Iron Fist?
I think in the spirit of creating new and interesting Legionnaires, it would be wrong to give Jo extra abilities. However, I would also remove his "special" weakness to radiation (it should affect him the same as everyone else if his invulnerability aura isn't active) and keep his flight speed fast but not too fast. I feel this doesn't diminish Jo at all and maybe keeps some of these idiot type moments from happening.
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