Origin History-Of Superman

The **origin of Superman** and his superhuman powers have been a central narrative for Superman since his inception, with the story of the destruction of his home planet, his arrival on Earth and emergence as a superhero evolving from Jerry Siegel's original story into a broad narrative architype over the course of Superman's literary history and as the character's scope continues to expand across comics, radio, television and film.
The original story was written by Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster, and published as a part of the character's first appearance in *Action Comics* #1 (June 1938). As more stories were published, more details about the original story were established. These stories explored individual details, such as the planet Krypton, the source of Superman's powers and his relationships with supporting characters. Because continuity was looser during the Golden Age and the Silver Age, many of these stories contradicted each other.
As Superman was adapted into other media, his origin story has been frequently retold. These origin stories adhere to the basic framework created by Siegel and Shuster, with minor variations made to serve the plot or to appeal to contemporary audiences. Some of the details created for these adaptations influenced the origin story in the mainstream comic series.

## Basic story

While the individual details vary, certain key elements have remained consistent in almost all retellings.
Superman is born **Kal-El** on the alien planet Krypton. His parents, Jor-El and Lara become aware of Krypton's impending destruction and Jor-El begins constructing a spacecraft to carry Kal-El to Earth. During Krypton's last moments, Jor-El places young Kal-El in the spacecraft and launches it. Jor-El and Lara die as the spacecraft barely escapes Krypton's fate. The explosion transforms planetary debris into kryptonite, a radioactive substance that is lethal to superpowered (via Earth's yellow sun) Kryptonians.<be/>The spacecraft lands in the rural United States, where it is found by a passing motorist. Jonathan and Martha Kent adopt Kal-El and name him **Clark Kent**. As Clark grows up on Earth, he and his adoptive parents discover that he has superhuman powers. The Kents teach Clark to use these powers responsibly to help others and fight crime.
Clark keeps his powers secret in order to protect his family and friends, who might be endangered by his criminal enemies. In order to use his powers to help humanity, Clark creates the alter ego of Superman. A number of elements are added to each identity to keep them distinct enough to prevent the casual observer from matching them. Superman wears a characteristic red and blue costume with a letter "S" emblem and a cape. Clark Kent takes to wearing glasses, styling his hair differently, changing his body language, significantly altering his voice, and wearing looser clothing and suits that hide his physique.
Clark Kent moves to Metropolis and takes a job as a reporter at the *Daily Planet*, where he meets his friends and co-workers, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and editor Perry White. Superman becomes the subject of frequent headline stories written by Lois, and the two become romantically attracted to each other.

## Info

The origin presented in Richard Donner's 1978 *Superman* film is considered to be the definitive origin story not only for Superman, but a template for origins stories in the super hero movie genre. The film keeps the classic components intact, but explores more of Clark's boyhood in Smallville. Much of the film's groundwork is laid during the film's first sequences on the planet Krypton, with actor Marlon Brando portraying Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El. In this film, Jonathan Kent dies but Martha survives to see her adopted son become Superman.
*Superman* is divided into three basic sections, each with three distinct themes and visual styles. The first segment, set on Krypton, is meant to be typical of science fiction films, but also lays the groundwork for the Jesus Christ analogy that emerges in the relationship between Jor-El and Kal-El. The second segment, set in Smallville, is reminiscent of 1950s films, and its small-town atmosphere is meant to evoke a Norman Rockwell painting. The third (and largest) segment was an attempt to present the superhero story with as much realism as possible (what Donner called "verisimilitude"), relying on traditional cinematic drama and using only subtle humor instead of a campy approach.

## References

1. ↑ Richard Donner, Tom Mankiewicz, DVD audio commentary, 2001, Warner Home Video