Superman

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Superman in Action Comics v1 #1000.

Superman is a male comic superhero character who featurs in DC Universe.

Biography

Golden Age

Superman in Action Comics v1 #1.

The Superman of Earth-2, during the 1940s.

Originally Kal-L, last survivor of the planet Krypton, he was rocketed to Earth as his planet destroyed itself. Raised by John and Mary Kent, a farmer family, as their son Clark, he discovered as he grew older that Earth's lighter gravity and yellow sun gave him superhuman powers. Clark's good upbringing gave him a desire to help others, so in 1938 he become the first costumed superhero, Superman.

At first, he was superhumanly strong, could execute incredible leaps taller than the tallest buildings, was faster than a speeding bullet and was invulnerable to weapons weaker than a bursting shell. However, as he grew older and absorbed more solar energy, his powers increased until he could fly and use a variety of vision powers, including x-ray vision, heat vision, telescopic vision and microscopic vision. He also gained powers such as super-breath and super-hearing. Working in Metropolis as a reporter for the Daily Star, Clark met his life-long love, Lois Lane.

Superman fought many villains, including the Ultra-Humanite and the criminal genius Luthor (who made extensive use of kryptonite, a substance that could weaken or kill him; magic was the only other thing that could especially harm him). He served with distinction as a member of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron. Later in his career, he built his Fortress of Solitude.

Clark and a fellow reporter stopped by the police station looking for stories, and were alerted to a suicide at the Bronson and Meeks Brokers firm. His fellow reporter learned that the suicide lost his fortune investing in Black Gold oil stock, and he called Bronson and Meeks murderers, noting that he himself had lost money on the worthless stock. Clark came up with a plan to expose the brokers, and disguised as "Homer Ramsey" he visited every client they bilked, and cleared out his savings to buy their stocks. He investigated the Black Gold drill site, and learned they'd never bothered to actually drill. As Superman he assembled the rig, and ug until he a rich patch of hit oil. Bronson and Meeks were shocked at the news about the oil, and were determined to buy back the stock they'd sold, but "Homer" refused to do business with them. The brokers contacted hitmen Louie the Rat and Nate the Snake to rub him out, but Homer made short work of them, and dumped them on the brokers' doorstop. Homer finally agreed to play ball, but demanded 1 million from the brokers. They sold all their assets to pay him, but then Superman wrecked the rig he'd set up and set the oil patch ablaze, bankrupting Bronson and Meeks, and he warned them to never try and cheat anyone again. (Action Comics v1 #11)

Superman saved a suicidal man from hanging himself from a tree, and he explained that he'd stolen from his employer and lost all the money on gambling. Superman told him to turn himself in, saying it was better than losing his life, and he kept thinking about the corruptive powers of gambling. Clark went to editor Taylor, offering to do an investigative report on gambling, knowing someone in city hall was keeping the bigger operations in business. Clark interviewed police commissioner Watson, who said his mans had their hands full with murders and robbery and couldn't spare time to bust up gambling rings. Clark rebuked him sharply, and was told to leave Watson's office. Superman targeted Marty Kaye, who ran the Dixie Club, smashing the club's gambling machines, and getting the gamblers to help him when he showed them the games were rigged. He ripped apart Kaye's safe, took the money, and handed it out to the impoverished. Superman physically busted up every gambling joint in town, until the ringleaders called Watson for help. Superman told Watson the jig was up, and he was forced to resign. superman warned the top gamblers to leave Metropolis or he'd kill them. (Action Comics v1 #16)

Superman saved utilities magnate B. Drexel Rutherford and his wife from a blaze in their homes, and approached them afterwards as Clark Kent to learn what happened. Rutherford admitted that a seeming madman approached him claiming to be able to control rainfall, and after he sent him on his way his company was the victim of a number of unfortunate accidents. The Rainmaker threatened to destroy the imperial dam, and Superman dropped by to investigate, only to see an explosion rock the Rutherford office near the dam. He saved the employees, and was approached by one of Rainmaker's goons, who warned him to stop interfering in his boss' plans. Superman made it clear he wouldn't be bullied, and coerced the thug into revealing where the Rainmaker's hideout was. Superman confronted the villain, but couldn't stop him from activating the rain-making device, which quickly flooded the dam. The dam burst, but Superman dug a trench to divert the water into an arid valley. Perry sent Lois on a plane to cover the story, but the treacherous weather downed the aircraft, and Superman was forced to save Lois and the other passengers. The Rainmaker tried to take Lois hostage in desperation, but she freed herself from his grasp and he fled. Superman pursued the Rainmaker, who tripped and smacked his head into a rock, dying instantly. Superman returned to Metropolis to write up the story, and rubbed the fact that he'd scooped Lois again in her face. (World's Best Comics v1 #1)

Lois had Daily Planet pressman Carl run off a gag paper featuring an expose revealing Clark Kent as Superman in order to play a practical joke on her co-worker. Clark didn t think it was funny, and he was aghast when Carl came down with appendicitis and without him around to stop production the paper made its way into the hands of the public. Perry White was furious that Lois had ruined his newspaper s reputation, and wanted to fire her, but she thought he was overreacting. Clark decided to save her job, and told Perry they could play it up as a good natured hoax. Perry liked the idea of saving face and selling papers, so he told Clark to dress as Superman and keep up the act for a while. Perry let his friend Lee Brandon, head of the Third National Bank, in on the hoax, and for a publicity stunt they hired actors to pretend to rob the bank and have Clark save the day. Mobster Ironjaw Grogan was in the Daily Planet building and overheard them. Realizing an opportunity for easy money, he had his gang replace the actors, and robbed the bank. Superman foiled them, then quickly changed back to Clark, and claimed he d chickened out on the publicity stunt. The Daily Planet then revealed Lois article as a hoax, and Clark was happy his secret was still safe. (Superman v1 #20)

During a battle against Swami Riva, the glowing stone Riva wore in his turban fell which was revealed to be actually Kryptonite. In order to find out why Kryptonite made him weak, Superman went on a voyage of discovery to find out the stone's origins. Superman was able to time travel under his own power to watch his father Jor-L and the events that led to him being sent to Earth. Later, he defeated Riva, and cast the two known fragments of Kryptonite into a river. (Superman v1 #61)

The JSA disbanded in the 1950s, and Clark Kent settled down with Lois (although he continued to battle evil). Eventually, by the time of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kent was the editor of the Daily Star.

To prove his superior powers, the Wizard cast a spell to rid the world of Superman. The spell misfired, and made Clark merely repress his superhero identity. Freed of his need to repress his more aggressive and assertive persona, Kent acted out his nature, but without his costume and his flight abilities. Kent continued to battle evil as an open, crusading reporter for some time, even directly engaging in hand-to-hand battles against criminals, which, of course, he would routinely win, due to his superhuman strength and bulletproof skin-density. Also freed of his self-restrictions, Kent once again expressed his affections for Lois. Without his clumsy acts and disappearing devices, he eventually won the heart of Lois Lane as Clark Kent. The two married, but Lois discovered Clark's secret while on their honeymoon when trying to cut Clark's hair, which broke the scissors Lane used. Torn between her love of Kent and the world's need for its most-noted hero, Mrs. Lane-Kent tracked down the Wizard, and made him reverse the spell. Lois then tried to forsake their marriage, but Kent wouldn't let her. Kent decided to confirm their marriage in both Earth and Kryptonian ceremonies. (Action Comics v1 #484)

Unfortunately, the Crisis obliterated his existence on the new merged "Earth-Sigma" in favor of his younger Earth-1 counterpart. Nearly driven mad by his loss, Clark ultimately opted to stay behind in the anti-matter universe along with Earth-Prime's Superboy to defeat the Anti-Monitor. Just as he thought his end was near, however, Alexander Luthor offered an alternative- he could be with his wife in a pocket dimension. The original Superman accepted, but despaired for a time about being trapped there and unable to return to normal reality. However, he recently learned that hypertime offers a pathway back, one which he might take- eventually.

Silver Age

The Superman of Earth-1.

Largely identical in origins, powers and motivations to the Earth-2 version, except that his real name is Kal-El and that he had his full complement of powers from childhood on, fighting crime in Smallville as Superboy. He met Lana Lang and Pete Ross in Smallville, his first love and his best friend, and also had a kryptonian dog, Krypto as a pet. His cousin Kara Zor-El, another survivor of Krypton's doom, came to Earth and became Supergirl.

Jonathan and Martha instilled in their adopted son a good sense of right and wrong and an appreciation to help others. The young Clark took the advice to heart and, when he was eight years old, became active as the new hero Superboy. Clark's first outing as Superboy was to rescue a married couple who were also government nuclear scientists working on a top-secret project from the clutches of an international spy. (Superboy v1 #196)

Superboy discovered his origins from Krypton for the first time by overtaking light rays reflected off the dead planet prior to its destruction. (Superboy v1 #89)

Superboy was contacted by Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad of the Legion of Super-Heroes and offered an invitation to join their group. Although Superboy technically failed his initiation test, he had been diverted from his goals by simulated crises created by the Legionnaires, as the true test was to see how Superboy would handle rejection, as a heuristic of his strength of character. Once satisfied, the Legionnaires inaugurated Superboy. (Adventure Comics v1 #247)

While bearing witness to Professor Dalton's exhibition of a Duplicator Ray, which could theoretically materialize perfect copies of existing objects down to the molecular level but actually created imperfect duplicates, Superboy was accidentally hit by the ray. The product of this mishap was the materialization of a malformed copy of Superboy, possessing all of Superboy's powers and vague hints of his memories, but bearing an ugly, chalk-white, chiseled face and a subnormal intelligence. Overhearing Superboy calling it "bizarre," the creature assumed that its name must be "Bizarro" and wandered aimlessly as Superboy and the U.S. Army endeavored, unsuccessfully, to destroy it. Bizarro met only one human who was cordial to it, much less not running in terror from it: a blind girl, who could not perceive Bizarro's appearance and therefore could not be repulsed by it. Superboy ultimately figured out that the irradiated fragments of Dalton's destroyed Duplicator Ray had a similar effect on Bizarro that Kryptonite had on him. Possibly realizing that he did not belong in this world, Bizarro collided directly with Superboy while Superboy was holding an irradiated fragment of Dalton's machine as a shield. As a result, Bizarro disintegrated into the unliving matter from which it was formed. Tragically, Bizarro accomplished its one and only good deed only in death, as the vibrations from its collision with Superboy miraculously restored the blind girl's sight. The girl's final words on the matter - "I never saw Bizarro myself, while blind! But I know, from his gentle voice, that he must have had a kind face!". (Superboy v1 #68)

It is during his youth that Clark first encounters the juvenile 5th-dimensional imp Mxyzptlk, who breached the third-dimension with a space warp against the wishes of his elders. For no reason other than the sake of mischief-making, Mxyzptlk tries to prank Superboy several times, but Mxyzptlk's parents reveal to Superboy that the imp can be forcibly recalled to the 5th dimension for a 90-day period if he says his name backwards - "Kltpzyxm." Tricking Mxyzptlk into doing as such begins a long rivalry between Clark and Mxyzptlk which would extend well into Clark's adult life. (Superboy v1 #78)

Superboy also fought the Kryptonite Kid of Blor, an alien criminal whose mutation by a Green K space-cloud gave him the ability to emit an aura of Kryptonite radiations and transmute anything else into Green K. The Kryptonite Kid came to Earth in order to become the planet's greatest criminal, knowing of his ability to uniquely affect Kryptonians and Superboy in particular. In their first encounter, Superboy was only saved from the Kryptonite Kid by Mxyzptlk, who reasoned that if the Kryptonite Kid were allowed to kill Superboy that he would be deprived of years' worth of fun playing pranks at the Boy (later Man) of Steel's expense. (Superboy v1 #83)

The Kryptonite Kid returned to challenge Superboy and after putting the hero at his mercy forced Superboy to trade Krypto's life in exchange for his own, believing that the guilt Superboy would suffer due to his irrevocable moment of cowardice would be a far more agonizing punishment than mere death. However, Superboy deceived the Kryptonite Kid by producing a robot duplicate of Krypto made out of lead mechanical components. The Krypto android duplicate lured the Kryptonite Kid in his spaceship through a Red K space-cloud, altering the Kryptonite Kid's radioactive aura to invert his moral compass and temporarily reform him for the duration of the Red K effect. Although Superboy knew his nemesis would revert to his original evil ways once the effect wore off, the dispositional altered Kryptonite Kid left Superboy and the Earth alone and was not seen for quite some time. (Superboy v1 #99)

Clark Kent worked for the Daily Planet, his boss was Perry White, and his co-workers included Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Later, Clark would work for WGBS-TV, with his boss Morgan Edge, and Steve Lombard and Lana Lang as co-workers. This Superman's Fortress of Solitude was much more elaborate, locked with a huge key. He also had a broader range of vulnerabilities, including numerous varieties of kryptonite.

The mightiest incarnation of Superman, his enemies included Lex Luthor (an enemy from his days as Superboy on), Brainiac and Metallo, among many others. The leader of the Justice League of America, Superman was recognized as the world's greatest hero, and his legend would endure for centuries.

Superman next had to brave his greatest challenge when faced with the radical reinvention of his two greatest enemies. After one of his defeats by the Man of Steel, Lex Luthor absconded once more for the planet Lexor, where he learned that his wife Ardora had since given birth to a young son Lex, Jr. Meanwhile, one of Luthor's servant robots activated a satellite over Earth that captured the city of Metropolis in a force field that threatened to destroy it. Over the next several weeks, Superman wracked his brain to think up a way to block the force field without endangering Metropolis, while Lex discovered an Ancient Lexorian laboratory and used its technology to create a suit of super-powered armor for himself. In anticipation of his inevitable encounter with Superman once the force field threat had been neutralized, Luthor tested the armor's abilities by perpetrating destructive raids on Lexor, under the guise of the Mystery Marauder. Superman eventually disposed of the satellite after containing the force-field with his indestructible cape, then used an anti-red-sun "sunscreen" to mitigate his power loss and allow him to capture Lex on Lexor. Luthor battled Superman with his armor upon the Man of Steel's arrival, shocking the population of Lexor with the revelation that he was secretly the villain who had recently been terrorizing the planet. Lex unleashed an energy-weapon on Superman, but the discharge deflected off Superman's chest and struck the Neutrarod, a pillar-shaped machine that Luthor had created to stabilize the pressures in Lexor's core. As a result, the Neutrarod had an energy-overload and accelerated the internal processes that would have built up to the destruction of the planet, causing the horrific demise of Lexor's population of billions, including Ardora and Lex, Jr. Superman presumed Luthor also perished in the explosion, but Luthor's armor saved his life. Luthor automatically blamed Superman for Lexor's annihilation and resolved to destroy Superman with a fury he had never been capable of before. Afterwards, Brainiac simulated a sun to go supernova from within his prison at the core of the wrecked Planet-Eater. Instead of blasting him free, the energies released transformed Brainiac from matter to energy, in which state Brainiac drifted to the massive supercomputers built by an ancient race on a distant world. Brainiac assimilated more knowledge that he had ever thought possible, in the process acquiring the deranged belief that the "Master Programmer" of reality destined Superman to be his executioner, and returned to the remains of the Planet-Eater in order to reconstruct his body anew. The "new" Brainiac decided that the first step to surpassing his divine terror would necessitate the conquest of the entire inhabited universe. He elected to start with Systus 2, turning that world's missile defense system against its own population and enslaving the survivors. Only one survivor of the carnage was permitted to escape to call for Superman's help at his Fortress of Solitude. As planned, this drew Superman to Systus 2, where Brainiac's Skull Ship rendered him powerless with a red-sun radiation missile. (Action Comics v1 #544)

Supeman fell under a psychic compulsion to retrieve the Kryptonite meteorite which first carried the Appellaxian Crystal Creature to Earth, same as the other JLA founding members experienced compulsions to retrieve the other Appellaxian meteorites. The rest of the Justice League quickly gathered that the founders were under some sort of mental domination connected to the meteorites and attempted to stop their teammates from accomplishing their objective. Hawkman was dispatched to intercept Superman's retrieval attempt in Greenland and expected only to face Superman Robots due to the meteorite's Kryptonite substance, but the real Man of Steel appeared, coated in a plasti-lead transparent body-sheath, and punched the Winged Warrior into Earth's orbit, where he was hit by a Zeta Beam by pure chance and sent back from Rann to Justice League Satellite. Superman and the other League founders gathered the meteorites at the location of the League's long-abandoned Secret Sanctuary, where the Appellaxians regenerated from them thanks to "clone-seeds" left behind at the time of their first emergence. With this, Superman and the others were released from the Appellaxian's psychic domination and regrouped with the rest of the JLA to destroy the extraterrestial elementals and save the world from their depredations. Superman, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Black Canary, Batman, and Green Arrow confronted and defeated the Wood-King, the Mercury Monster, and the Crystal Creature, while other JLA squads encountered and neutralized the other Appellaxian challengers elsewhere. Finally, the shattered remnants of the Appellaxians' corporeal avatars were blasted into the Sun with the meteorites that first transported them to Earth, and Green Arrow was convinced to rejoin the Justice League once the fighting had concluded. (Justice League of America v1 #200) Afterwards, Superman, Flash, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, and Hawkman took an unusual metahuman bank-robbery case from the FBI and learned that Ultraa was responsible, having been manipulated into becoming a criminal by a smooth-talking ex-con. The JLA captured Ultraa's toxic "friend," but permitted Ultraa to retreat from the civilization that so abused him to return to the Australian Outback where he felt at home. (Justice League of America v1 #201)

Post-Crisis

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Kal-El

Largely identical to the Earth-1 version, except that Clark's powers were not fully attained until he was an adult (no Superboy era) and were much less than that of his Earth-1 predecessor. This Superman's version of Krypton was also very different. A Kryptonian artifact known as the Eradicator came to Earth with Kal-El, and influenced his life on several occasions. Superman was not a member of the original Justice League of America, but he has since become the leader of the newest incarnation of the JLA.

This incarnation's foes include businessman Lex Luthor, Darkseid, Brainiac-13 and more. Years ago, Superman died in battle against the destructive beast Doomsday, and was replaced by four ersatz Supermen (one of which, the Cyborg, was a villain in disguise) before being restored to life by his Fortress of Solitude.

Later, Lois and Clark married, although their marriage has been rocky at times. Still later, when the sun was snuffed out temporarily and he lost his powers, Superman acquired energy-based powers and even split into two beings, Superman Blue and Superman Red. However, those powers were exhausted battling the Millennium Giants. Superman continues to serve as the epitome of the superheroic ideal.

One day, Metropolis came under attack from a monstrous being known as Doomsday who went on a rampage after being freed from his imprisonment. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #18)

After the world ending threat with the sun had been resolved, Lois returned from her time abroad and reconciled with Clark; the two decided to resume their engagement and get married right away. Lucy Lane threw Lois a bridal shower and a bachelorette party, while Clark had a bachelor party thrown at the Ace O' Clubs. Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane were chosen as best man and maid of honor. Perry White attended the wedding ceremony, but unfortunately didn't feel well enough to make the reception. Batman revealed that an apartment building where Lois wanted to rent was owned by Bruce Wayne, and so, as a wedding gift, allowed for Clark and Lois to move into the building. (Superman: The Wedding Album v1 #1)

A growing threat came to emerge from a powerful cosmic being known as Imperiex with Earth being bound to get dragged into an intergalactic war. The Justice League rallied in space, taking on Imperiex's scout drones, but were taken out one by one. Superman watched several of his friends fall and the apparent destruction of Atlantis. (JLA: Our Worlds at War v1 #1) Every major superhero team on Earth began taking up arms against Imperiex. Even Superman fought side-by-side with Doomsday, the monster having been revived by Steel and the Suicide Squad on orders from President Luthor, with each destroying dozens of probes before the real Imperiex Prime arrived. (Adventures of Superman v1 #594) With battles against Impreiex drones taking place worldwide, Superman was distracted and missed his wife's call when her father General Sam Lane had been attacked at the White House. With Superman too busy protecting the Earth, Lois' father died. (Action Comics v1 #781)

Another Kryptonian rocket fell to Earth similar to Clark's and was discovered by Batman and Superman. The pod's passenger was none other than Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin. (Superman/Batman v1 #8) Despite Batman's suspicions, Clark was thrilled to meet Kara and was determined to take her in. Nonetheless, Wonder Woman, after listening to Harbinger's troubling prophecies, took Kara to Themyscira to keep her safe and train her. (Superman/Batman v1 #9) Diana's fears proved to be justified when Darkseid's troops invaded Paradise Island and kidnapped Kara. (Superman/Batman v1 #10) Outraged, the trinity traveled to Apokolips where Darkseid has brainwashed Kara into becoming his newest Female Fury. (Superman/Batman v1 #11) Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman forced Darkseid to give Kara back. (Superman/Batman v1 #12) After a tough battle, Superman pinned Darkseid to the Source Wall to protect his cousin, and Kara officially took on the mantle of Supergirl. (Superman/Batman v1 #13)

One day, having discovered a Brainiac drone outside of the Daily Planet, Superman learned from the robot that he had never truly fought Brainiac before, and all the earlier encounters Superman had ever had with the villain had been with one of his probes. (Action Comics v1 #866) Superman flew all through the galaxy in an attempt to track down the real Brainiac, but, during in his search, he was captured by the villain and brought about Brainiac's ship. (Action Comics v1 #867) When Superman recovered, he finally was face to face with the true Brainiac, who had been studying, shrinking, bottling and collecting civilizations throughout the galaxy in his quest for knowledge. (Action Comics v1 #868)

Shortly after Brainiac's invasion had been stopped, Superman received news that General Zod had declared war on Earth. Outraged, Superman attempted to stop him but was held down by Ursa and Non. Zod revealed that, from the very beginning, he planned to invade Earth and allowed Superman to join the Military Guild so that the Man of Steel would unknowingly train his soldiers to use their powers. Superman argued that a war would mean the end of both Earth and New Krypton, but Zod started the attack anyway. (Superman: War of the Supermen v1 #0) Superman and Zod brought their fight to space, narrowly avoiding New Krypton's quick and spontaneously total destruction. Though Supergirl survived, her mother was not so lucky, leading Supergirl to angrily join the remaining Kryptonian forces' side in the war on Earth. (Superman: War of the Supermen v1 #1) Though Superman and his cousin temporarily fight, Clark convinced Supergirl to calm down and understand the consequences of her actions while human lives were at stake as Zod's Kryptonian military invaded Earth and Mars. In a planetary defense move, Luthor and General Lane reverse engineered Kryptonian technology and used it to turn the sun red. With their powers gone, Superman, Supergirl and thousands of Kryptonians almost suffocated in space. (Superman: War of the Supermen v1 #2) However, Thara Ak-Var came to sacrifice herself to turn the sun back yellow. (Superman: War of the Supermen v1 #3)

In the aftermath, Superman and Lois reflected on the harsh pointlessness of the war that cost so many human and Kryptonian lives. In response, Lois promised to write the truth about her father Sam Lane's actions in the war, despite the media portraying him as a hero for his 'defensive action.' The couple were left wishing that maybe someday humanity would be ready for interaction with other alien races again. (Superman: War of the Supermen v1 #4)

The new Batman tracked him down and asked him to stop, believing that Clark was in the middle of an emotional breakdown, but Superman insisted the journey was something he needed to do. Superman was met with further criticism in Ohio when a super-villain fight ravaged a small town, raising the question of whether he was to be held responsible. (Superman v1 #703)

The villain that had secretly been plaguing Superman was revealed to be Lisa Jennings, a woman who became the physical embodiment of Superman's depression and self-doubt through exposure to a Kryptonian Sunstone and had also received his powers. Superman disarmed her using his hope, having beaten his depression and decided to embrace his legacy. Giving signal watches to his closest allies, he formed the Supermen of America with Iron Munro, Livewire, Steel, Superboy, Super-Chief and Supergirl. This team that embodied the values of "Truth, Justice and the American way" would eventually persevere into the future as the Superman Squad. (Superman v1 #714)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Kal-El

During Clark's childhood, Martha was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent chemotherapy for the affliction; Clark was not told until well into her treatment, when Clark struggled with a new student attending the school, Caleb Withers. Caleb was something of a bully, with misplaced aggression spurred on by his abusive father. Clark struggled with the urge not to respond to Caleb's behavior in kind, something his mother talked him out of, telling him that it was better to help people find the good within themselves rather than correct their behavior by force. As they were leaving, Caleb kicked a soccer ball into Martha's head, knocking her down and inadvertently removing her wig, revealing to Clark her hair loss. Later that evening, he snuck over to Caleb's house, with the intent to destroy Caleb's bicycle in retribution, only to discover Caleb's drunk father abusing him. As Caleb's father attempted to drive off, he nearly drove into oncoming traffic, with Clark saving his life. He then brought the unconscious man to the local clinic, leaving him there anonymously. Afterward, Clark attempted to cut off his own hair in solidarity with his mother, only to discover that his invulnerability made that impossible at the time. Later, Clark was able to reach Caleb, that he wasn't his father, and that he didn't have to be him. Caleb eventually apologized to Martha, revealing that he'd cut his own hair in solidarity with Martha as part of his apology. He left to live with his aunt in Metropolis, and one day would grow to run a community center for at-risk youth. (Action Comics 2022 Annual v1 #1)

During the Zero Year, Clark attempted to personally disperse Hurricane Rene as it bore down on the coastline, still unsure of the upper limits of his powers. His attempt to divert the hurricane was unsuccessful, but he did succeed in rescuing the tanker Jean-Marie, which had at the time been carrying his childhood friend, Lana Lang, as its engineer. (Action Comics v2 #25)

Overview

Personality and attributes

In one incarnation, Clark and Lois decided to adopt the child a foster-son that was a seemingly abandoned Kryptonian child that they decided protect with them giving him the name Christopher Kent. (Action Comics v1 #846) The child was in reality Lor-Zod who was the son of General Zod and his Lieutenant Ursa. (Action Comics v1 #846)

At one point, his wife Lois Lane came to give birth to a healthy baby boy where the couple decided to name their child after their respective fathers leading to him being named Jonathan Samuel Kent. (Convergence: Superman v1 #2)

Powers and abilities

His emotional state correlates to fluctuations in his solar storage. The more stress he was under then the more energy he retains from the sun. (Adventures of Superman v1 #636)

Using this ability, he could trace cell-phone signals. (The Brave and the Bold v3 #16) He could also trace frequency links with this power. (Superman v1 #664)

He could magnify this vision to the point of being able to see individual strands of DNA in someone and the genetic markers of human blood. (Superman v2 #219) Superman was shown to be capable of seeing the genetic make-up of the New Gods. (Superman Annual v1 #13)

Superman can vibrate his molecular structure at various levels to achieve various effects. (Superman/Batman Annual v1 #1) Through this means, he could excite the molecules of whatever substance he vibrates through to critical mass causing it to explode. (Superman v2 #82)

He could also vibrate so fast that light does not reflect off him, rendering him invisible. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #110)

On Earth, he came to create the Fortress of Solitude that was at first located in the Arctic Circle and served as his headquarters. (Superman v1 #392)

Notes

Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster where he made his first appearance in Action Comics v1 #1 (April, 1938).
In World's Finest v1 #63 (1953), he masqueraded as Dasher Drape a professional hitman who worked for Big Jim Paulson due to Clark Kent resembling the moustached criminal allowing for him to infiltrate the mob to capture its head
In Superman v1 #257 (1972), it was established that the name Kal-El was derived from Kryptonese with El meaning child and Kal meaning Star thus making it stand for Star Child.
In Superman v1 #42 (1946), he was forced to briefly adopt the civilian guise of Kenneth Clarkson after his Clark Kent persona walked by a sewer gas explosion making it appear that he had died.
In Action Comics v1 #178 (1953), he posed as a hoodlum named Harry Denver in an effort to infiltrate the Dreamorama.
In Superman v1 #89 (1954), he posed as a hobo named Charlie Kendall in order to uncover and apprehend a blackmailer.
In Superman v1 #124 (1958), he posed as a construction worker named Kirk Brent in an effort to uncover the illegal activities of construction manager Bart Benton.
In Superman v1 #126 (1958), after an experiment with Kryptonite he briefly lost his memory of his true identity causing him to adopt the guise of blonde haired Englishman Clarence Kelvin who was hired as a reporter at the Daily Planet.
In Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane v1 #56 (1965), he briefly took the identity of a Ideal-Man.
In Superman v1 #163 (1963), Superman after exposure to Red Kryptonite was placed in a sanitorium and gave a false identity as Cal Ellis.
In Action Comics v1 #314 (1964), a computer simulation conducted by Jor-El showed him his son Kal-El's life on other worlds. On Xann, he became Birdman who was a pigmy among the giant inhabitants on the world. On Valair, he became a hero to its underwater dwelling people. On Ntann, he became a heroic archer without powers due to living under a world with a red sun. On Saruun, where he was raised by a retired lawman on a world without sunlight leading to Kal-El becoming a vigilante named the Diro after the winged bat-like creatures of the planet. On Gangor, he was raised as a scientist where he gained the powers of a speedster from an experiment and operated as a hero on that world. Ultimately, Jor-El concluded from the simulations that his son would never find happiness on these worlds leading to him sending Kal-El to Earth.
In Action Comics v1 #322 (1965), Superman was affected by a ray from the Superman Revenge Squad that caused him to be a coward in both his civilian and hero personas. This saw him create a new identity as the moustached Brad Dexter who worked at a newspaper in Chicago. The Dexter identity retained his brave nature and his work colleague Loretta Land was smitten with him.
In Action Comics v1 #372 (1969), Superman suffered from a loss of his memories and came to believe that his civilian identity was the wrestler known as the Masked Superman. He later came to learn that the real Masked Superman person was actually a fan who took on a motif in honour of his hero and operated as a pro-wrestler.
In Action Comics v1 #374 (1969), Superman suffered from a loss of his memories and came to believe his secret identity was that of the criminal king of the underworld known as Super-Thief. This led to him believe he led a double life as a hero and a villain but came to realise the truth and that the real Super-Thief had died a while ago in a police ambush.
In Action Comics v2 #11 (2012), he briefly adopted the civilian identity of fireman Johnny Clark after his Clark kent persona was seemingly killed publicly.

Alternate Versions

In Justice League of America v1 #29 (1964), an alternate version of the character named Ultraman appeared in a reality designated as Earth-3 in the Multiverse.
In World's Finest v1 #178 (1968), an alternate version of Superman appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-178 in the Multiverse. This version lost his powers but became inspired at the heroism of Green Arrow and Speedy who operated without superpowers. Thus, he adopted a masked vigilante as The Nova where he used a glider to fight crime but his secret identity was discovered by criminal mastermind Mr. Socrates who blackmailed him into fighting Batman and Robin.
In DC Comics Presents v1 #87 (1985), an alternate version of Superman appeared as an inhabitant of the former Earth-Prime reality in the Multiverse.
In Superman v1 #423 (1986), a alternate version of Superman appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-423 in the Multiverse. On this world, his powers were removed through exposure to Gold Kryptonite and took the identity of Jordan Elliot where he married Lois Lane and had a son named Jonathan Elliot.
In Kingdom Come v1 #1 (1996), an alternate version of Superman appeared in the Kingdom Come reality designated as Earth-22 in the Multiverse. In an alternate future, the staff of the Daily Planet were killed by the Joker, who was in turn killed by Magog. Superman became disillusioned after public opinion overwhelmingly supported the anti-hero's murder of the Joker, and went into self-imposed exile. He was eventually drawn back after the nuclear destruction of Kansas indirectly caused by Magog's Justice Battalion, forming the Justice League of the World to rein in the new, violent generation of "superheroes." However, this eventually developed into a war between superhumans, many of which were killed by a fearful United Nations. Superman eventually settled down with Wonder Woman, and they had a child, Jonathan Kent, whom they asked Batman to be the godfather to. However, they were targeted by Gog, who believed Superman was a false messiah. He kidnapped the newborn Jonathan and took him back to the past. During the ensuing battle with Gog alongside their past selves- which resulted in the discovery of hypertime- Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman from the future believed their history had been wiped out. Instead, Hypertime- and their adult son, who had the ability to travel through it- gave them a path back home.
In Superman: Dark Side v1 #1 (1998), an alternate version of Superman appeared in an Elseworld reality that was designated as Earth-1198 in the Multiverse. His father Jor-El realized that the planet was on the brink of destruction, so he placed his son in a spaceship to escape certain death. Rocketed to Earth, the space ship was intercepted by Metron who gave the child to Darkseid, raising him as his son to became the most powerful warrior of Apokolips. Finally revealed, the Superman quickly defeated Kalibak and became the new champion of Apokolips, gaining fame across the planet. His true mission at hand, Kal-El led a battalion against the God planet New Genesis in order to plant the Omega Warhead in the heart of the planet, finally destroying the home of the New Gods. As the planet died, Kal-El approached the Highfather who revealed him the truth about his origin and The Source's prophecy for him, ultimately transporting him to Earth. He fell on the planet and nearly drowned to death by his heavy armor, forcing him to remove it before falling unconscious and being saved by a woman called Lane.
In Tangent Comics: The Superman v1 #1 (1998), an alternate version of Superman appeared in the Tangent Comics reality that was designated as Earth-9 in the Multiverse.
In Superman: Last Son of Earth v1 #1 (2000), an alternate version of Superman appeared in an Elseworld reality located in the Multiverse. Baby Clark Kent was born to brilliant scientist Jonathan Kent and his wife, Martha Kent, named after Martha's family name. Believing the world to be ending, Jonathan Kent liquidated all his assets to build a rocket for his wife and child to survive in the upper atmosphere, which he completed over a month after Clark's birth. However Martha decided to stay with him, and only Clark was launched into orbit. Once in orbit his rocket passed through a wormhole to a faraway planet, named Krypton. Jor-EL investigated the disruption Kal's landing brought, also bringing librarian Lara Lor-Van with him. There they found the infant Clark among the wreckage, struggling to breath and move in Krypton's atmosphere and gravity. Bringing both the child and Lara into his home, he decides to keep the child in a null gravity field so that he may survive. After half a Kryptonian solar cycle, he begins to increase gravity and atmospheric pressure so that he can adapt to Kryptons conditions. Also during this time Lara had taken the role of the boys mother, revealing his existence to the elders.
In All-Star Superman v1 #1 (2006), an alternate version of Superman appeared in a reality located in the Multiverse.
In Superman: American Alien v1 #1 (2016), an alternate version of Superman appeared in a reality located in the Multiverse.

In other media

Television

Films

Video games

Novels

Appearances

Action Comics 1: (1938)
Superman v1:
Justice League of America v1:
JLA v1:
Superman/Batman v1:
Superman v2:
Batman/Superman v1:
Superman and the Authority v1:
Superman: Warworld Apocalypse v1:
Superman: Kal-El Returns Special v1:

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