Originally posted by R.O.T. Yahman
Here's some info from Wiki about Superman .... if you don't know who he is !
For other uses of this term, see Superman (disambiguation).
Superman
Superman #204. Art by Jim Lee.
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Action Comics #1 (1938)
Created by Jerry Siegel
Joe Shuster
Statistics
Real name Kal-El, adopted as Clark Joseph Kent
Status Active
Affiliations Batman
Previous affiliations Justice League; Legion of Super-Heroes (Pre-Crisis as Superboy), Justice Society of America (Pre-Crisis as Kal-L), All-Star Squadron (Pre-Crisis as Kal-L)
Notable aliases The Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow, the Last Son of Krypton, the Metropolis Marvel, the Action Ace, Big Blue, Supes
Notable relatives Lois Lane (wife), Jor-El (father, deceased), Lara Lor-Van (mother, deceased), Jonathan Kent (adoptive father), Martha Kent (adoptive mother), Lady Nara (great-grandmother, deceased), Seyg-El (grandfather, deceased), Zor-El (uncle, deceased), Alura In-Ze (aunt, deceased), Kara Zor-El (cousin), Kon-El (partial clone, "cousin"
, Kal-L (alternate universe version)
Notable powers Flight, invulnerability, super-strength, super-speed in running and flight, super-breath and lung capacity (including freeze breath), super-hearing, vision powers including x-ray vision, heat vision, telescopic vision and microscopic vision, as well as other sensory powers
Superman, aka "the man of steel", is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938, and has for several decades been one of the most popular and well-known comic book icons.
The character, created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel for National Comics (today DC Comics), subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, and video games. Superman was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton. He was sent to Earth in a rocket by his scientist father Jor-El moments before Krypton exploded, landing on Earth outside the town of Smallville, where he was discovered and adopted by the amiable Jonathan and Martha Kent. As he grew, he discovered that he possessed superhuman powers. When not fighting the forces of evil as Superman, he lives disguised as Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Daily Planet. Clark works alongside reporter Lois Lane, with whom he is romantically involved. In current comics continuity, they are married. However, he had several other relationships during his years in comics. The character's adventures are today published in a number of comic books.
Contents
1 Character history
1.1 Golden Age version
1.2 Silver Age version
1.3 Man of Steel version
1.4 Birthright version
2 Clark Kent
3 Personality and character
4 Powers and abilities
5 Publication history
6 Awards
7 Cultural influences
8 Characters
8.1 Supporting characters
8.2 Villains
9 Superman in popular culture
10 Additional reading
11 References
12 Notes
13 See also
14 External links
Character history
Superman's abilities and relationships have changed over time. Editors and writers used the process of retroactive continuity, or retcon, to adjust to changes in popular culture, eliminate restrictive segments of the mythos, and permit contemporary storylines. These changes, while significant, permit the retention of the core elements that make Superman an iconic character.
The story of Superman's origin parallels that of other cultural heroes and religious figures who were spirited away as infants from places where they were in danger.
Golden Age version
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Cover of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman. Art by Joe Shuster.In the original Golden Age comics (as shown in Action Comics #1 (1938), Superman (volume 1) #1 (1939), and Superman (volume 1) #61 (1949), as well as in later post-Golden Age stories such as Secret Origins (volume 2) #1 (1986)), noted scientist Jor-L had discovered his planet of Krypton was about to explode yet was unable to convince his fellow Kryptonians to save themselves. However, he did manage to construct a spaceship to save his and his wife Lora's infant son, Kal-L. The ship was launched just as the planet finally exploded, with Kal-L landing on Earth around the end of World War I; his landing was watched by passing motorists John and Mary Kent. The couple took the infant to an orphanage, and soon returned to adopt the child, naming him "Clark." (The names of Jor-L, Kal-L, Lora, John and Mary were eventually changed to the more modern "Jor-El", "Kal-El", "Lara", "Jonathan" and "Martha" by the late 1940s/early 1950s).
Clark grew up in an ordinary childhood on the Kent family farm, slowly discovering that he possessed various superpowers, but unaware of his Kryptonian origins. After the deaths of his parents in 1938, Clark decided to use his powers for the benefit of humanity, constructing a stylized costume and moving to the nearby city of Metropolis. Obtaining employment at the newspaper the Daily Star, Clark soon made his debut as the world's first superhero, Superman. Eventually, Superman's powers increased over the 1940s from his earliest appearances, including vast increases in his superstrength and gaining the ability to fly (his earliest comics featured Superman able to only leap about an eighth of a mile at a time). In Superman (volume 1) #61 (1949), Superman finally learned of the existence of Krypton.
During the 1940s, Superman also became a member of the Justice Society of America, though was shown only participating in two cases in the original Golden Age stories (All-Star Comics #8 and #36).
After the establishment of DC Comics' Multiverse in the 1960s, it was established retroactively that the Golden Age version of Superman lived on the parallel world of Earth-Two, while his Silver Age counterpart lived on Earth-One (although the character, having never gone away after the end of the Golden Age, had been published as one ongoing incarnation since his debut). A series of stories in the 1970s established that the Earth-Two Superman, after losing his memory thanks to the Wizard, had married his version of Lois Lane in the 1950s (Action Comics #484, (1978)), followed by having him become the editor-in-chief of the Daily Star. In the late 1970s, Superman discovered a rocket of Kryptonian origin landing on Earth, which contained his cousin, Kara Zor-L; after acclimating to Earth, Kara became the superheroine Power Girl. Superman also continued in serving with the revived Justice Society as a member; he was revealed to have been a founding member of the group in the team's origin story in DC Special #29. In the early 1980s, Superman was also shown to have been a member of the All-Star Squadron during World War II.
During the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, the various parallel Earths were collapsed into one, retroactively eliminating Earth-Two and all that it contained. The Earth-Two Superman, along with his wife Lois, were spared from annihilation, however, and entered a "paradise" dimension at the end of the series. This Superman wasn't seen again until the miniseries The Kingdom in 1999, where it was revealed that he had found a means of exiting his dimension, but chose not to at that time. In Infinite Crisis #1 (2005), the Earth-Two Superman was shown as having observed events in the post-Crisis DC Universe from his dimension, and finally decided to re-enter the mainstream DC Universe. What role he plans to play in the current events of the DC Universe remains to be fully seen.
All this damn writing is not even necessary it clogs up the threads, I am pretty sure every one knows who superman is.
