Action Comics Action Comics 901 (plus issues numbered 0 and 1,000,000; as well as 13 Annuals) Main character(s) Edit Block Action Comics #1 (June 1938), the debut of Superman. Cover art by Joe Shuster. Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics, Inc., and later as National Comics and as National Periodical Publications, before taking on its current name of DC Comics, a subsidiary of Time Warner. Publication history Edit Block Superman Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster saw their creation, Superman (also known as Kal-El, originally Kal-L), launched in Action Comics #1 in April 1938 (cover-dated June). Siegel and Shuster had tried for years to find a publisher for their Superman character (originally conceived as a newspaper strip) without success. Superman was originally a bald madman created by Siegel and Shuster who used his telepathic abilities to wreak havoc on mankind. He appeared in Siegel and Shuster's book Science Fiction.

Siegel then commented, "What if this Superman was a force for good instead of evil?" The writer and artist had worked on several features for National Periodical Publications' other titles (Slam Bradley in Detective Comics, for example) and were asked to contribute a feature for National's newest publication. They submitted Superman for consideration and, after re-pasting the sample newspaper strips they had prepared into comic book page format, National decided to make Superman the cover feature of their new magazine. Early anthology Originally, Action Comics was an anthology title featuring a number of other stories in addition to the Superman story. Zatara, a magician, was one of the other characters who had their own stories in early issues. (Zatanna, a heroine introduced in the 1960s, is Zatara's daughter.) There was also the hero Tex Thompson, who eventually became Mr. America and later the Americommando. Vigilante also enjoyed a lengthy run in this series. Sometimes stories of a more humorous nature were included, such as those of Hayfoot Henry, a policeman who talked in rhyme.

Gradually, the size of the issues was decreased as the publisher was reluctant to raise the cover price from the original 10 cents, so there were fewer stories. For a while, Congo Bill and Tommy Tomorrow were the two features in addition to Superman (Congo Bill eventually gained the ability to swap bodies with a gorilla and his strip was renamed Congorilla), but soon after the introduction of Supergirl in issue #252 (May 1959) the non-Superman-related strips were crowded out of Action altogether. Since then, it has generally been an all-Superman comic, though other backup stories such as the Human Target occasionally appear. Hiatus, name changes, publication changes, and special numbering In number of issues, Action Comics is the longest running DC Comics series, followed by Detective Comics; however, it cannot claim to have had an uninterrupted run, due in large part to two separate occasions on which the title was put on a three-month hiatus. The first of these occurred during the summer of 1986, with issue #583 bearing a cover date of September, and issue #584 listing January 1987.

The regular Superman titles were suspended during this period to allow for the post-Crisis revising of the Superman story through the publication of John Byrne's six-issue The Man of Steel limited series. Publication was again suspended between issues #686 and #687 (February and June 1993) following the "Death of Superman" and "Funeral for a Friend" storylines, before Action Comics returned in June with the "Reign of the Supermen" arc. (The two "Funeral for a Friend" issues, #685 and #686, featured the cover announcement of "Supergirl in Action Comics", highlighting the passing of Superman.) In 1988, DC Comics tried unsuccessfully to return the format of the comic to an anthology and publish it on a weekly basis. After May 1988's landmark issue #600, issues #611-615 all bore August cover dates. The Action Comics Weekly experiment lasted only until the beginning of March 1989, however, and after a short break, July's issue #643 brought the title back onto a monthly schedule.

(However, the temporarily increased frequency of issues allowed Action to further surpass the older Detective Comics in the number of individual issues published. It originally passed Detective Comics in the 1970s when that series was bi-monthly for a number of years.) Another departure from a strict monthly schedule were the giant-size Supergirl reprint issues of the 1960s (published as a 13th issue annually): issues #334 (March 1966), #347 (March/April 1967), #360 (March/April 1968), and #373 (March/April 1969). An issue #0 (October 1994) was published between issues #703 and #704 as part of the Zero Month after the "Zero Hour" crossover event. There was also an issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the "DC One Million" crossover event in October 1998 between issues #748 and #749.

Starting with issue #875, Thara Ak-Var and Chris Kent, two characters introduced in the "New Krypton" story arc, took Superman's place as the main protagonists of the comic, while Superman left Earth to live on New Krypton. These are written by Greg Rucka with artist Eddy Barrows, who left the art duties on Teen Titans to pencil Action. Action Comics Weekly For slightly less than a year in 1988–1989, the publication frequency was changed to weekly and the title became Action Comics Weekly, and was an anthology format series; this change lasted from issue #601 to issue #642. During this time, Superman appeared only in a two-page story per issue; however, he was still the only character to appear in every issue of the run. Due to going weekly for this period, Action Comics was able to surpass the issue total of Detective Comics, despite that title being older by a year. Prior to its launch, DC cancelled its ongoing Green Lantern title Green Lantern Corps, and made Green Lantern Hal Jordan and his adventures exclusive to Action Comics Weekly.

During the Action Comics Weekly run, a Green Lantern Special was published in 1988, tying in with the events happening in Action Comics Weekly. Green Lantern was soon moved out of the title, with Green Lantern Special #2 (1989) published concluding the story plots from Action Comics Weekly, and the character was relaunched with a limited series in 1989 (Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn), followed up by a new ongoing series in June 1990 (Green Lantern vol. 3). The rest of these issues featured rotating serialized stories of other, mostly minor, DC heroes, as try-outs that led to their own limited series. Characters with featured stories in the run included Black Canary, Blackhawk, Captain Marvel, Catwoman, Deadman, Nightwing, Phantom Lady (Dee Tyler), Phantom Stranger, Secret Six, Speedy, and Wild Dog. Each issue also featured a two-page Superman serial, a feature which, according to an editorial in the first weekly issue, was intended as a homage to the Superman newspaper strips of the past. The final issue of the weekly was originally intended to feature a book-length encounter between Clark Kent and Hal Jordan penned by writer Neil Gaiman.

While Gaiman's story primarily teamed up Green Lantern and Superman, it also featured other characters from Action Comics Weekly, including the Blackhawks (in flashback), Deadman, and the Phantom Stranger. The story ran counter to DC editorial policy at the time as it portrayed Hal Jordan and Clark Kent as old friends who knew each other's secret identities. This was not considered canon in 1989 (though other issues of Action Comics Weekly implied Hal and Clark were friends) and Gaiman was unwilling to change this aspect of the story. The story was pulled and a different story was run. Gaiman's story was finally published as a one-shot in Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame in November 2000. 2000s After the "One Year Later" company-wide storyline, Action Comics had a crossover arc with the series Superman, titled "Up, Up and Away!" and which told of Clark Kent attempting to protect Metropolis without his powers and eventually regaining his powers. Afterward, he leaves Earth and is replaced by the new Nightwing and Flamebird as the starring characters of the book. Starting in July 2009, Action Comics includes back-up stories featuring Captain Atom.

On February 22, 2010, a copy of Action Comics #1 (June 1938) sold at auction for $1 million, besting the $317,000 record for a comic book set by a different copy, in lesser condition, the previous year. The sale, by an anonymous seller to an anonymous buyer, was through the Manhattan-based auction company ComicConnect.com. Although DC had initially announced that Marc Guggenheim would take over writing of the title following the War of the Supermen limited series, he was replaced by Paul Cornell. Cornell has stated that Lex Luthor would feature as the main character in Action Comics from issues #890-900 and Death would appear in issue #894, with the agreement of the character's creator, Neil Gaiman. In April 2011, the 900th Action Comics issue was released. It served as a conclusion for Luthor's Black Ring storyline and a continuation for the Reign of Doomsday storyline. Collected editions The Action Comics series is included in a number of trade paperbacks and hardcovers. These generally reprint only the Superman stories from the given issues.

The Superman Chronicles Volume 1: reprints issues #1-13; New York World's Fair Comics #1; Superman #1; January 2006; ISBN 978-1-4012-0764-9 Volume 2: reprints issues #14-20; Superman #2-3; February 2007; ISBN 978-1-4012-1215-5 Volume 3: reprints issues #21-25; New York World's Fair Comics #2; Superman #4-5; August 2007; ISBN 978-1-4012-1374-9 Volume 4: reprints issues #26-31; Superman #6-7; February 2008; ISBN 978-1-4012-1658-0 Volume 5: reprints issues #32-36; Superman #8-9; World's Best Comics #1; August 2008; ISBN 978-1-4012-1851-5 Volume

 6: reprints issues #37-40; Superman #10-11; World's Finest Comics #2-3; February 2009; ISBN 978-1-4012-2187-4 Volume 7: reprints issues #41-43; Superman #12-13; World's Finest Comics #4; July 2009; ISBN 978-1-4012-2288-8 Volume 8: reprints issues #44-47; Superman #14-15; April 2010; ISBN 978-1-4012-2647-3 Superman in the Forties, includes issues #1-2, 14, 23, 64, 93, 107; November 2005; ISBN 978-1-4012-0457-0 Superman in the Fifties, includes issues #151, 242, 252, 254-255; October 

2002; ISBN 978-1-56389-826-6 Superman in the Sixties, includes issue #289; October 1999; ISBN 978-1-56389-522-7 Superman in the Seventies, includes issue #484; November 2000; ISBN 978-1-56389-638-5 Superman in the Eighties, includes issues #507-508, 554, 595, 600, 644; April 2006; ISBN 978-1-4012-0952-0 Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 1: reprints issues #1, 7-20, and summarizes #2-6; May 1998; ISBN 978-1-56389-335-3 Volume 2: reprints issues #21-36; December 1998; ISBN 978-1-56389-4

26-8 Volume 3: reprints issues #37-52; August 2001; ISBN 978-1-56389-710-8 Volume 4: reprints issues #53-68; June 2005; ISBN 978-1-4012-0408-2 Volume 5: reprints issues #69-85; March 2007; ISBN 978-1-4012-1188-2 Awards Action Comics #687-689 were part of The Reign of the Supermen storyline, which won the 1993 Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story that year.[citation needed] See also Religion and Characters in Action Comics (vol.

1) #1 (June 1938): untitled 1-page Superman origin story Source: Action Comics (vol. 1) #1 (June 1938): untitled 1-page Superman origin story , pg. 1. Written by Jerry Siegel. Art by Joe Shuster. BELOW: Champion of the oppressed: "Early, Clark decided he must turn his titanic strength into channels that would benefit mankind": Source: Action Comics (vol. 1) #1 (June 1938): untitled 1-page Superman origin story , pg. 1, panel 7. Written by Jerry Siegel. Art by Joe Shuster. See also: benefit mankind ; Superman (Clark Kent) BELOW: Superman's origin is reminiscent of the Biblical story of Moses being set in a basket on a river in order to save his life. Being sent by his father to Earth to "benefit mankind" is reminiscent of the Biblical account of Jesus.

Superman - Superhero Wiki Encyclopedia Superman Superman art by Sebastian Columbo Contents Real name: Kal-El (Kryptonian name)/ Clark Joseph Kent (Earth Name) Occupation: Reporter and novelist Marital Status: Married ( Lois Lane ) Height: 6' 3" (190 cm) Weight: 225 lbs (102 kg) Eyes: Blue First Appearance: ACTION COMICS #1 (June 1938) original version THE MAN OF STEEL #1 mini-series (June 1986), current version Superman fan art by Roger Caldwell Superman Summary Superman is a character of DC Comics , a comic book superhero widely considered to be one of the most famous and popular such characters and an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics , Inc. in 1938, the character first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips, and video games.

With a premise that taps into adolescent fantasy, Superman is born Kal-El on the alien planet Krypton , before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father moments before the planet's destruction. Adopted and raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent , and imbued with a strong moral compass. Upon reaching maturity the character develops superhuman abilities, resolving to use these for the benefit of humanity. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book . While referred to less flatteringly as "The Big Blue Boy Scout" by some of his fellow superheroes, Superman is hailed as "The Man of Steel," "The Man of Tomorrow," and "The Last Son of Krypton," by the general public within the comics. As Clark Kent, Superman lives among humans as a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Metropolis newspaper The Daily Planet ( the Daily Star in original stories). There he works alongside reporter Lois Lane , with whom he is romantically linked. This relationship has been consummated by marriage on numerous occasions across varying media, and the union is now firmly established within the current mainstream comics continuity.

The character's cast, powers, and trappings have slowly expanded throughout the years. Superman's origin was changed over time to allow for adventures as Superboy , and other survivors of Krypton were created, including Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. In addition, Superman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film. The motion picture Superman Returns was released in 2006. In the seven decades since Superman's debut, the character has been revamped and updated several times. A significant overhaul occurred in 1986, when John Byrne recreated the character, reducing Superman's powers and erasing several characters from the canon, in a move that attracted media attention. Press coverage was again garnered in the 1990s with the Death of Superman , a storyline which saw the character killed and later restored to life. The copyright is again currently in dispute, with changes in copyright law allowing Siegel's wife and daughter to claim a share of the copyright for the character Superboy. Publication history Superman Creation "The Reign of the Super-Man" in the fanzine Science Fiction vol. 1, #3 (June 1933).

Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel first created a bald telepathic villain bent on dominating the entire world. He appeared in the short story "The Reign of the Super-Man" from Science Fiction #3, a science fiction fanzine that Siegel published in 1933. Siegel re-wrote the character in 1933 as a hero, bearing little or no resemblance to his villainous namesake, and began a six-year quest to find a publisher. Titling it The Superman, Siegel and Shuster offered it to Consolidated Book Publishing, who had published a 48-page black-and-white comic book entitled Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48. Although the duo received an encouraging letter, Consolidated never again published comic books. Shuster took this to heart and burned all pages of the story, the cover surviving only because Siegel rescued it from the fire. Siegel and Shuster each compared this character to Slam Bradley, an adventurer the pair had created for Detective Comics #1 (May 1939). By 1934, the pair had once more re-envisioned the character.

He became more of a hero in the mythic tradition, inspired by such characters as Samson and Hercules , who would right the wrongs of Siegel and Shuster's times, fighting for social justice and against tyranny. It was at this stage the costume was introduced, Siegel later recalling that they created a "kind of costume and let's give him a big S on his chest, and a cape, make him as colorful as we can and as distinctive as we can." The design was based in part on the costumes worn by characters in outer space settings published in pulp magazines, as well as comic strips such as Flash Gordon, and also partly suggested by the traditional circus strong-man outfit. However, the cape has been noted as being markedly different from the Victorian tradition. Gary Engle described it as without "precedent in popular culture" in Superman at Fifty: The Persistence of a Legend. The pants-over-tights outfit was soon established as the basis for many future superhero outfits. This third version of the character was given extraordinary abilities, although this time of a physical nature as opposed to the mental abilities of the villainous Superman. The locale and the hero's civilian names were inspired by the movies, Shuster said in 1983.

"Jerry created all the names. We were great movie fans, and were inspired a lot by the actors and actresses we saw. As for Clark Kent, he combined the names of Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. And Metropolis, the city in which Superman operated, came from the Fritz Lang movie [Metropolis, 1927], which we both loved". Although they were by now selling material to comic book publishers, notably Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publishing, the pair decided to feature this character in a comic strip format, rather than in the longer comic book story format that was establishing itself at this time. They offered it to both Max Gaines, who passed, and to United Feature Syndicate, who expressed interest initially but finally rejected the strip in a letter dated February 18, 1937. However, in what historian Les Daniels describes as "an incredibly convoluted turn of events", Max Gaines ended up positioning the strip as the lead feature in Wheeler-Nicholson's new publication, Action Comics. Vin Sullivan, editor of the new book, wrote to the pair requesting that the comic strips be refashioned to suit the comic book format, requesting "eight panels a page".

However Siegel and Shuster ignored this, utilizing their own experience and ideas to create page layouts, with Siegel also identifying the image used for the cover of Action Comics #1 (June 1938), Superman's first appearance. In a recent USA Today article it was revealed that Jerry Siegel's father was robbed and killed at the age of 60 on the night of June 2, 1932. It is believed that perhaps this may have led to the creation of Superman. Perhaps Jerry Siegel used the experience to imagine a super powered man who was bullet proof that would protect the innocent and stop crooks in their tracks. Superman Debut Forward Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The debut of Superman. Cover art by Joe Shuster. Man of Steel #1 alternate cover (July 1986), written and drawn by John Byrne. Superboy made his first appearance in More Fun Comics #101, but took three issues before he made his first cover appearance in More Fun Comics # 104. Superman's first appearance was in Action Comics #1, in 1938. In 1939, a self-titled series was launched.

The first issue mainly reprinted adventures published in Action Comics, but despite this the book achieved greater sales. 1939 also saw the publication of New York World's Fair Comics, which by summer of 1942 became World's Finest Comics. With issue #7 of All Star Comics, Superman made the first of a number of infrequent appearances, on this occasion appearing in cameo to establish his honorary membership of the Justice Society of America. Initially Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would provide the story and art for all the strips published. However, Shuster's eyesight began to deteriorate, and the increasing appearances of the character saw an increase in the workload. This led Shuster to establish a studio to assist in the production of the art, although he insisted on drawing the face of every Superman the studio produced. Outside the studio, Jack Burnley began supplying covers and stories in 1940, and in 1941, artist Fred Ray began contributing a stream of Superman covers, some of which, such as that of Superman #14 (Feb. 1942), became iconic and much-reproduced.

Wayne Boring, initially employed in Shuster's studio, began working for DC Comics in his own right in 1942 providing pages for both Superman and Action Comics. The scripting duties also became shared. In late 1939 a new editorial team assumed control of the character's adventures. Whitney Ellsworth, Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff were brought in following Vin Sullivan's departure. This new editorial team brought in Edmond Hamilton, Manly Wade Wellman, and Alfred Bester, established writers of science fiction. Superboy To 80's Revamp By 1943, Jerry Siegel was drafted into the army in a special celebration, and his duties there saw high contributions drop. Don Cameron and Alvin Schwartz joined the writing team, Schwartz teaming up with Wayne Boring to work on the Superman comic strip which had been launched by Siegel and Shuster in 1939. In 1945, Superboy made his debut in More Fun Comics #101. The character moved to Adventure Comics in 1946, and his own title, Superboy, launched in 1949.

The 1950s saw the launching of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (1954) and Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane (1958). By 1974 these titles had merged into Superman Family, although the series was cancelled in 1982. DC Comics Presents was a series published from 1978 to 1986 featuring team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters of the DC Universe. In 1986, a decision was taken to restructure the universe the Superman character inhabited with other DC characters. This saw the publication of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow", a two part story written by Alan Moore, with art by Curt Swan, George Perez and Kurt Schaffenberger. The story was published in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583, and presented what Les Daniels notes as "the sense of loss the fans might have experienced if this had really been the last Superman tale." Superman was relaunched by writer & artist John Byrne, initially in the limited series The Man of Steel (1986). 1986 also saw the cancellation of World's Finest Comics, and the Superman title renamed Adventures of Superman.

A second volume of Superman was launched in 1987, running until cancellation in 2006. This cancellation saw Adventures of Superman revert to the Superman title. Superman: The Man of Steel was launched in 1991, running until 2003, whilst the quarterly book Superman: The Man of Tomorrow ran from 1995 to 1999. In 2003 Superman/Batman launched, as well as the Superman: Birthright limited series, with All Star Superman launched in 2005 and Superman Confidential in 2006. Current ongoing publications that feature Superman on a regular basis are Superman, Action Comics, Superman Confidential, All-Star Superman, Superman/Batman, Justice League of America, Justice League Unlimited, Justice Society, and The Legion of Super-Heroes In The 31st Century. The character often appears as a guest star in other series and is usually a pivotal figure in DC Comics crossover events. On February 12, the radio series officially debuts Action Comics #23 has Superman's arch-nemesis criminal scientist Luthor with red hair. Clark Kent's newspaper is now called the Daily Planet in Superman #4.

It was the radio show that first changed the name of the newspaper to the Daily Planet, and called the editor Perry White. Superman #7 introduces Perry White as Clark's newspaper editor. Siegel and Shuster do a 2 page story for Look magazine called "How Superman Would End the War". 1941 All-Star Comics #7 includes Superman and Batman as honorary members of the Justice Society of America superhero group. World's Best Comics #1 begins with Superman and Batman in separate stories. 96 pages for 15 cents. World's Best Comics becomes World's Finest Comics with issue #2 and lasted until 1986. Superman had appeared on the cover of New York World's Fair 1940 comic with Batman and Robin. Superman #10 has a bald Luthor. 1942 On January 28, 1996, Jerry Siegel dies at age 81. In Action Comics #720 Lois Lane breaks off her engagement with Clark Kent. On June 16, 1996, Curt Swan dies at age 76.

Superman is a central character in the Elseworld's 4-part mini-series Kingdom Come written by Mark Waid, art by Alex Ross. In an alternate future, Wonder Woman persuades a self-exiled Superman to lead a group of heroes against a younger violent generation of superhumans. Supergirl #1 debuts as a monthly, after Supergirl had an earlier 1994 four part mini-series and appearing in Showcase. Superman Adventures #1 debuts as a monthly tie-in with the WB Network's cartoon show Superman. Superman loses his powers when the Sun goes out in the Final Night 4-part mini-series. After becoming engaged again to Lois in Superman #118, Clark and Lois are married in the special one-shot Superman: The Wedding Album featuring numerous artists and writers. 1997 Superman joins Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter to form the JLA (Justice League America). Superman is again involved in a DC vs Marvel cross-over, parts 1 & 4 of All Access. Superman regains his powers in Superman - The Man of Steel #64, after losing them in the 1996 Final Night mini-series.

Superman's powers change dramatically, making him an energy-based being. A new blue and white containment suit was made for him to be able to control the new powers. Officially announced in the landmark issue Superman #123. 1998 Mayor Berkowitz is assassinated. Lex Luthor and the Contessa have a child called Lena. Superman is split into 2 seperate beings: Superman Red and Superman Blue thanks to the teaming-up of the Cyborg and Toyman in the special Superman Red/Superman Blue #1. Superman Red & Superman Blue and various other DC heroes battle to protect earth from the Millennium Giants. By expelling all their energies, the two Supermen save the day. In a 60th Anniversary special Superman Forever #1, Superman is returned to his classic blue, red and yellow costume and his traditional powers. The Daily Planet is bought out by Lex Luthor who immediately shuts down the Newspaper leaving Clark without a job. Lois & Jimmy (along with other Daily Planet staff) are hired by Lex's new News Network.... LexCom.

1999 After having some precognitive dreams of disasters, Superman decides to leave behind his life as Clark Kent and become Superman 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Superman builds an army of Superman Robots to protect the earth from itself, setting himself up as King of the World. Dominus is discovered to be behind Superman's dellusions, and is sent into the Phantom Zone by Superman, who goes about trying to restore his reputation and the world's faith in him. 2000 Lex Luthor mysteriously sells back the Daily Planet, and the great Metropolitan Newspaper is up and running with Clark, Lois, Jimmy and Perry back on board. Clark takes on the job of Foreign Correspondent. On New Year's Eve, a future version of Brainiac (Brainiac 13) materializes and taps into earth's power, upgrading Metropolis into a futuristic city. Only Superman's use of Kryptonian technology stops Brainiac 13, but Lex Luthor sacrifices his daughter Lena to gain control of the new hi-tech Metropolis. Superman rebuilds the Fortress of Solitude within a Tesseract with Steel's help. Lois begins acting very strange, rebelling against Clark.

Finally Superman discovers that it was actually the Parasite masquerading as Lois. Superman becomes critically ill due to nanobot technology infecting him internally with kryptonite. He is saved by Steel, Supergirl, Superboy and the Atom who conduct a microscopic rescue. Superman finds himself in a strange alternate reality where he is regarded as the world's worst Super-villain. It isn't until Mxyzptlk reveals that he stupidly gave the Joker his powers that Superman realizes that the Joker has altered reality to fit his own twisted mind, and together with Steel, Lois and Batman, things are finally returned to normal. 2001 Lex Luthor becomes the President of the U.S.A. John Henry Irons and Professor Hamilton devise a way for Superman (and Lois) to travel through the Phantom Zone to Krypton, where Kal-El meets his parents, Jor-El and Lara, and his pet dog Krypto. After some highly action packed adventure, Superman and Lois return to Earth, with Krypto close behind. Superman is badly hurt and spooked by a super-powerful man calling himself General Zod, however their ongoing battle is interrupted when Earth is attacked by the galactic power known as Imperiex.

An enormous war ensues, with Earth allied with Apokolips and other previous enemies in a joint effort to stop Imperiex from destroying the entire universe. However their defeat of Imperiex results in the equally dangerous return of Brainiac 13... but ultimately he too is defeated. The death toll from the war is enormous. 2002 Superman begins seeing a psychiatrist... Dr Claire Foster. Clark publishes an article about Lex Luthor's involvement in the Imperiex War. Clark is fired by Perry White (who then secretly hires him to work undercover to dig up dirt on Lex). Lex discovers Superman is really Clark Kent! However his memory is wiped clear of this knowledge when Manchester Black (who also knows the secret) starts attacking everyone Clark Kent has ever known. 2003 Lana Lang goes missing in Suicide Slum. After much trouble Clark Kent finally saves both himself and Lana thanks to some help from a young girl called Traci Thirteen. Superman battles Darkseid to reclaim the soul of John Henry Irons. Superman discovers Hope, one of Lex Luthor's personal bodyguards, tortured and held prisoner on a sub-level of LexCorp Towers.

Clark Kent returns to the Daily Planet with a front page article all about Luthor's involvement in the scandal. A new Supergirl called Cir-El arrives in Metropolis claiming to be Superman and Lois' future daughter. Created by the Futuresmiths, Cir-El is revealed not to be Superman's daughter when he travels into the future with a future version of himself. 2004 At first thinking he is Kal-El on Krypton, Superman soon realizes that he's actually in the Bottled City of Kandor, where somehow 100 years have passed since his last visit. Civil unrest within the city leads to an all-out battle between Superman and Preus, a Kandorian policemen of sorts, who thinks Superman is an imposter sullying the name of the House of El. Clark Kent is demoted from his job at the Daily Planet due to his expose on President Luthor, and left to work in the Shack, the lowest position a reporter can have. Gog comes to town looking to destroy Superman... and nearly succeeds. Left badly injured, and with Lois on assignment in Umec, Superman recovers under the care of Lana Lang (now separated from Pete Ross).

Lana tells Clark she loves him and tries to convince him that he and Lois are not right for each other. Lois is shot while on assignment in the war-torn nation of Umec. Superman rescues her, but has to sit idly by as doctors try to save her, vowing he'll never leave her side again. A Kryptonite meteor crashes to Earth. Kara Zor-El, Superman's Kryptonian cousin is housed within a rocket embedded in the meteor. She takes up the mantle of Supergirl. 2004+ A year ahead of the events mentioned above, Superman finds himself in an awkward position. He confides in a priest called Father Leone. A million people have vanished, amongst them Lois, due to a weapon that he hunts down. Finding the weapon in the possession of a General Knox (who took it from a desparate dictator), Superman battles Equus, a creature loyal to Knox, only to have Equus turn on the weapon again, causing more people to vanish off the face of the earth. In possession of the weapon, Superman is confronted by the JLA about its use, and just barely trusted to tackle this problem on his own.

2005 Superman battles General Zod in Metropia (the reality set up in the Phantom Zone by the vanishing machine). Metropia is destroyed and everyone who vanished is returned to earth, including Lois and Superman. Superman has a tough start to the year, fighting villains such as Repo Man, Preus and Gog... and finding a strange ally in Doomsday. A brother and sister Parasite team show up to cause trouble, thanks to Superman latest nemesis, Ruin. Pete Ross is framed as being Ruin, but Superman later discovers that Ruin is actually Professor Emil Hamilton. Pete and Lana both now Superman's secret now, and after looking like getting divorced decide to work things out between them. Superman is transformed by Eclipso and does battle with Captain Marvel. They defeat Eclipso who declares war on Shazam for revenge. Superman builds a new Fortress of Solitude in the Amazon jungle. Superman begins to lose his mind, as someone is forcing him to believe he is fighting major villains when in fact he's hurting his own friends.

Wonder Woman discovers it is Max Lord mind-controlling Superman, and deciding she has no other way of freeing Superman, she kills Max Lord by breaking his neck. With a crisis looming, OMAC units swarm into Metropolis and all over the world. 2006 Superman's South American Fortress of Solitude is destroyed in a battle with a new Blackrock. The Infinite Crisis sees Superman first battling Superman from Earth-2, then teaming up with him to defeat the deranged Superboy-Prime to save Earth from Alexander Luthor's plan to remake Earth. Alexander Luthor is killed by Joker, while Superboy-Prime is jailed by the Guardians of Oa. Superman-2 apparently perishes in the battle. Superman finds himself powerless after the Crisis, and leaves Supergirl to protect Metropolis in his absence, while he concentrates on being Clark Kent for the Daily Planet for the next 12 months. 2006+ One Year Later - Superman's powers re-emerge, as Luthor's plans to use the Kryptonian Sunstone and all the Kryptonite on Earth to reawaken a dormant Kryptonian battle ship beneath the Earth comes to fruition.

Intergang send a horde of villains to defeat Superman, but his newly emerged, and somewhat enhanced powers, are too much for them. Having defeated Luthor and now in possession of the Sunstone, Superman goes to the arctic, throws the Sunstone, and creates a new crystalline Fortress of Solitude. Superman sets about confirming to the world that he is indeed back, stopping an alien Auctioneer from abducting Earth's super powered heroes and villains. Battling an alien known as Subjekt-17 in Russia, Superman's fight is interrupted when Arion arrives and tells him that his actions on Earth are dooming the planet to a future oblivion, showing Superman, Lois, Jimmy and Perry a look at the future in store if Superman does not stop his super heroic immediately. 2007 Clark and Lois adopts Lor-Zod (General Zod's son) and give him the name Chris Kent. Zod, Ursa and Non are joined by other Phantom Zone criminals and attack Earth. Superman rescues Jonathan Kent from Bizarro, who has created his own Bizarro World. Superman discovers a Kryptonian named Kristen Wells (aka Karsta) living on Earth.

2008 Queen Bee, in Lana's image, comes to take over the world. Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes go up against Earthman and his xenophopic teachings. The truth about Toyman's origins is revealed. Cat Grant and Steve Lombard join the Daily Planet. Superman battles Atlas. Superman Chronicles vol. 1: v. 1: Amazon.co.uk: Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster: 9781845762599: Books By Nicholas Richard Pearson on 5 Jan. 2016 Format: Paperback Verified Purchase The Superman Chronicles serves to provide fans of the Man of Steel, and of popular culture in general, with a cost-friendly alternative to its counterpart 'Archives' and 'Omnibus' series; attempting to distribute every Superman story in chronological order from the character's debut appearance in Action Comics #1 onwards. It is intended to print stories onto more inexpensive newsprint-style paper within soft-cover binding for the trade paperback market, as opposed to the glossy and shiny interiors that the Archives series presents.

Volume One was published on 4th January 2006 for the American market, with its Kindle counterpart given a much later release date of 13th June 2013. It collects previously released golden-age Superman stories stretched across from June 1938 to July 1939 in magazine form from Action Comics #1-13, New York World's Fair Comics #1 and Superman #1 (with the first Superman magazine publication collecting stories previously published in Action Comics #1, which are not reprinted here again for reader convenience sake). The Übermensch Superman concept was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, with Schuster providing illustration to Siegel's storytelling. In this and subsequent golden age stories, there features a Superman having just reached maturity and having a side-job as a newspaper reporter at the Daily Star, using his leads at the newspaper office to fight crime at street level; being seen as somewhat of a vigilante by the police force and criminal underworld alike. Basically, Superman is envisioned as a herald of justice to beat the outstanding cruelties that the American populace were exposed to during such a prolific war-torn era.

Read more › Superman Publication History | DC Database | Fandom powered by Wikia Golden Age Origins The first Superman character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster was not a hero, but a villain. Their short story "The Reign of the Superman" concerned a bald-headed villain bent on dominating the world. The story did not sell, forcing the two to reposition their character on the right side of the law. In 1935, their Superman story was again rejected by newspaper syndicates wanting to avoid lawsuits, who recognized the character as being similar to a lead character from Philip Wylie's 1930 novel. DC decided to take a chance with Superman, figuring if any lawsuits were filed, they would just drop the feature. Early sketch of Superman/Clark Kent The revised Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 , June 1938. Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the company for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material. The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1941 that the pair was being paid still a fraction of DC's Superman profits.

In 1946, when Siegel and Shuster sued for more money, DC fired them, prompting a legal battle that ended in 1948, when they signed away any further claim to Superman or any character created from him. DC soon took their names off the byline. Following the huge financial success of Superman: The Movie in 1978 and news reports of their pauper-like existences, Warner Communications gave Siegel and Shuster lifetime pensions of $35,000 per year and health care benefits. In addition, any media production which includes the Superman character must include the credit, "Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster". Close-up of Action Comics #1, the character's first published appearance World's Fair Superman first appeared in the flesh at the 1940 New York World's Fair, portrayed by actor Ray Middleton. Ray Middleton as Superman, 1940 Silver Age During a multimedia career spanning over seventy years, Superman has starred in nearly every imaginable situation, and his powers have increased to the point that he is nearly omnipotent.

This poses a challenge for writers: "How does one write about a character who is nearly as powerful as God?" (Superman's Kryptonian name, Kal-El , resembles the Hebrew words for "voice of God") This problem contributed to a decline in Superman's popularity, especially during the 1960s and 1970s under the editorship of Mort Weisinger and then Julius Schwartz , when Marvel Comics brought a new level of character development to mainstream comic books. The Silver Age Superman Superman #149 - One of many "Deaths of Superman" Bronze Age Kal-L , the "other" real Superman After the establishment of DC Comics' Multiverse in the 1960s, it was established retroactively that a second primary Superman lived on the parallel world of Earth-Two. This Superman was supposed to be the Superman of the "Golden Age" comics, while the Silver Age incarnation had his adventures in the then current Earth designated as Earth-One .

It was this separation of the two primary versions of the character that was meant to explain away problems of the character, who never ceased publication from the end of the Golden Age, such as one ongoing incarnation since his debut being still in his late twenties while shown in several specific Golden Age stories and not aging during all that time and many other supportive element conflictions. The writers of DC at the time did not originally believe that having two active Supermen would be successful sales and wrote that the Earth-Two Superman only as a one time event to clear up this problem. However the character along with the other now named Earth-Two incarnations proved so successful that Kal-L was brought back as a reoccurring character being featured in the renamed "Superman Family" series and hence un-retired though on a limited basis. However the writers at DC mostly did not want to do two Superman and mostly wrote the Earth-Two Superman almost as a direct copy of the main Superman with only superficial differences such as Kal-L discovered a rocket of Kryptonian origin landing on Earth, which contained his cousin, Kara Zor-L who like the main Supergirl after acclimating to Earth, Kara-L became the superheroine Power Girl .

Despite being almost a parallel some writers started to develop specific differences between the two due to success of the character with older readers. While the success of the "other" Superman was definite, many writers originally did not want to have too many conflicting stories and had Kal-L resigned from the revived Justice Society as a full time active member in order to allow Power Girl to take his place in the team. Kal-L (shown with Earth-One "S" shield) retiring from the Earth-Two JSA in order to let Kara-L assume his position in the JSA ( Showcase #99 ) The revamped Earth-Two Superman proved so successful that he rejoined the JSA while Power Girl left to join Infinity Inc. while Kal-L's specific background was developed separate from the original Golden Age stories, most notably in 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 which were never done to the true Golden Age Superman.

Kal-L was revealed to have been a founding member of the Earth-Two Justice Society in the team's origin story in DC Special #29 . In the early 1980s, the Earth-Two Superman was further revamped to have been an active 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. Kal-l, along with his wife Lois Lane-Kent , were spared from universal annihilation that destroyed their source universe, and entered a "paradise" dimension at the end of the series. Kal-L 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. The Earth-Two Superman was written to be different from the primary Superman in every aspect such as his aging and his power levels.

For example while incredibly powerful, the Earth-Two Superman is always written as being considerably weaker than the Earth-One Superman. The Superman of Earth-One was written as easily move planets while the Superman of Earth-Two was shown moving ocean liners. When originally introduced as separate character in Justice League of America #79 , Kal-L was shown to be an even match to the Earth-One Superman. This would be changed in the very next meeting in order to distinguish the two Justice League of America #91 , where the Earth-Two Superman was shown to be definitely less powerful to the "main" Superman though still incredibly powerful. These distinctions would be fleshed out fully as the Earth-Two Superman was used more repeatedly, such as showing Kal-L growing less powerful as he aged over the years, directly aging whereas the Earth-One Superman incarnation seemed to remain permanently youthful, marrying his Lois and focusing openly on his life as Clark Kent while the "main" Superman was almost used exclusively as the hero who fought the"never ending battle for truth justice and the American Way" and never really developing Clark as his real persona. Modern Age By the early 1980s, DC Comics had decided that a major change was needed to make Superman more appealing to current audiences.

Writer-artist John Byrne joined Superman and re-started with the company requested Man of Steel retelling of his origin. This 1986 reboot brought substantial changes to the character and met huge success at the time, being one of the top-selling books. The re-launch of Superman comic books returned the character to the mainstream, again in the forefront of DC's titles. Artist John Byrne 's Modern Age / Post-Crisis Superman All Star Superman, launched in 2005, is an ongoing series under DC's All Star imprint, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely . DC claims that this series will "strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements". The All Star imprint attempts to retell some of the history of DC's iconic characters, but outside of the strict DC universe continuity. Birthright Revamp Mark Waid 's Superman: Birthright was a major revamp of the Post-Crisis Superman and his origin. Waid was assigned the task to streamline the comic origin make is similar to both the movies (with then unreleased "Superman Returns" ) as well as--perhaps especially-- Smallville , which had proven very popular. The following summary is from the 12-issue series.

The cold, fairly dystopian re-imagining of Krypton created by John Byrne was jettisoned. Much like Jeph Loeb and others had done with their "Return to Krypton" arcs, Waid restored the idea of Krypton being more like it had been in the Silver Age--a place of great wonder and myth. In Jor-El's words, the "people grew tired of war, so they made peace; they feared the unknown, so they conquered it with science; and they yearned for heaven, so they created it beneath their very feet...". A substantial change was with the S-shield as well--no longer was it a symbol for his family's house, as it had been in the Silver Age, or merely an "S" standing for Superman, as it had been in Byrne's revamp, but now it was the Kryptonian symbol for hope. It was shown to be a popular symbol, used on flags, paintings, jewelry, and monuments all over Krypton. It was also on a red, blue, and yellow tapestry that was included in Kal-El's rocket ship.

Jor-El was still the scientist whom no one would believe, but instead of Kal-El being an embryo when he was rocketed off, he was again said to be a young child. The Kents were still farmers, as always, but they were even younger than they had been before. Whereas John Byrne had portrayed them as perhaps in their early to mid thirties when they found Kal-El (making them in their mid sixties or perhaps even seventies during Superman's adventures), Waid portrays them as being between 20 and 25 (again to make them closer to their Smallville counterparts). Their characters are also given an overhaul in their personalities to make them more "modern." Martha, for example, is far from the simple lovable, wise farmer's wife who loves to bake and knit. She is portrayed as being fascinated with aliens, U.F.O.s, etc., and even runs her own website dedicated to such stuff when Clark is in his twenties. The entire dynamic between Jon and Clark regarding his Superman identity has also been reversed. In Byrne's era, Superman was committed to using his powers in secret, and once "outed" he retreated to Smallville, unsure of what to do.

It was Jonathan's suggestion that he adopt a costume and dual identity, inspired by the JSA of the 1940s. Waid's story, however, has Clark coming up with the idea of the costume and identity, and shows Jon dismayed at the idea, feeling like Clark is trying to abandon his identity (and, by extension, his connection to his earth family). Waid also brought about a new (or arguably, reintroduced an old) vision power, sometimes referred to as "soul vision." Essentially, Clark can see the "aura" surrounding a living being--an aura that disappears when they die. Waid introduced this as a way of explaining why Clark feels so compelled to defend life, as he can literally see it. Going along with this power, Waid also changed Clark into a vegetarian. These decisions have met with mixed reactions from fans [1] .

Infinite Crisis and 52 revamp The writers of DC have again changed the character in some profound ways due to Infinite Crisis and 52 , selecting to add and remove certain aspects of the character that have been noted in past incarnations after Waid's Birthright that had proven to be unacceptable to many of the specific printed page fans such as Luthor and Kent being almost the same age and interacting as teenagers which they felt negated much of the printed page character's backstories and development. Many of Waid's "Smallville" series compliant edits have since been removed from the yet "revamped again" current incarnation of the character in order to make the character more appreciated to the expectations of the specific printed page fans of the character, as opposed to making the printed page match the expectations of the now obvious separate and non-conforming incarnation of the character from the television Smallville. The most notable change is in the origin of the present printed page incarnation, who is again a very young babe, almost borne on Earth as done in the Byrne revamp, as opposed to the young toddler that was reflective of return of many of the Silver Age elements of the character in Waid's do over.

Also notable is Clark is again an open meat eater enjoying his silver age favorite Beef Wellington, negating or drastically reducing the so called soul vision aspect. While eliminating many of the Birthright series, many of these Silver Age elements are still used in the character and storyline. Superman is again written to appreciate and actively uses his Kryptonian heritage as he helps Lor-Zod and Supergirl fully adjust to life on Earth, rather than just as a historical notation. Serials Radio Program The 1940s radio serial, The Adventures of Superman , introduced Perry White , Jimmy Olsen and Inspector Henderson to the Superman story. The series also introduced kryptonite , and told the first stories about Superman meeting Batman . Narrator Bill Kennedy intoned at the start of each program: "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way." Movie Serials The first animated Superman series was a string of eight-minute cartoon shorts produced by Max and Dave Fleischer for Fleischer studios, Superman . Beginning in 1941 , Fleischer Studios produced nine animated segments of Superman, at which point production was switched over to Famous Studios, where the series continued until 1943 . In total, seventeen episodes were completed and have been widely released on both VHS and DVD formats throughout the years. Fleischer Superman Superman came to the silver screen in two live-action movie serials in the 1940s, portrayed by Kirk Alyn . Mild Mannered Reporter Clark Kent (Kirk Alyn) Man of Steel (Kirk Alyn) You Will Believe a Man Can Fly (Kirk Alyn) Movies Superman returned to the silver screen in 1978's Superman: The Movie . It spawned three sequels of varying degrees of success and quality.

Christopher Reeve as Superman Superman Returns In 2006, the long languishing Superman movie franchise got a restart with Superman Returns . Director Bryan Singer has said that the continuity is "branching off from" elements of "the first two Superman films with Christopher Reeve," which serve as, as he puts it, a "vague history." Thus, the film disconsiders the plot of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace . Television DC Animated Superman Superman: The Animated Series ran from 1996-2000 and followed the adventures of Superman as he defended both Metropolis and the entire Earth. The title for episodes airing under the title The New Batman Superman Adventures is The New Superman Adventures, as acknowledged by WB. Related Articles Notes Clark Kent Clark Kent is the secret identity of Superman. Kent, as opposed to Clark, is traditionally presented as behaving in a more introverted or "mild-mannered" manner compared to his superheroic self. As Clark Kent, Superman has always worn his costume underneath his Clark Kent clothes, which lends itself to easy transference between the two personalities.

In the wake of John Byrne's The Man of Steel, the contemporary reboot of Superman continuity, many traditional aspects of Clark Kent were dropped in favor of giving him a more aggressive and extroverted personality, including such aspects as making Kent a top football player in high school, along with being a successful author. Recently, some aspects of this change have been dropped, in favor of bringing back elements of the earlier "mild-mannered" version of Kent. In Metropolis, Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet, "a great metropolitan newspaper" which allows him to keep track of ongoing events where he might be of help. Largely working on his own, his identity is easily kept secret. Fellow reporter Lois Lane became the object of Clark's/Superman's romantic affection. Lois's affection for Superman and her rejection of Clark's clumsy advances have been a recurring theme in Superman comics, television, and movies. Some fans have noted that in order for the disguise to be credible, Clark has to be at least as skilled an actor as Christopher Reeve himself; in the Birthright mini-series, young Clark Kent studied the Meisner technique so that he could seamlessly move between his Clark and Superman personas.

Trivia Superman's "S" shield has differed in the different eras. The modern Superman, under John Byrne , had the "S" as nothing more than that: just an S which stood for Superman, stitched together by Martha Kent after Superman's debut in Metropolis. With Mark Waid 's Birthright series, the "S" shield was re-imagined as the Kryptonian symbol for "hope." After Infinite Crisis , it was further revealed that an inverted "S" shield was the symbol for resurrection. There have been a number of TV shows and movies on Superman. The TV show Smallville focuses on a teenage Clark Kent. Prior to Superman: Birthright, Superman's favorite food was Beef Bourguignon with Ketchup, but following Mark Waid's retcon, Superman is now a vegetarian. The use of the name 'Clark' came from actor Clark Gable. The name 'Kent' came from Kent Taylor, actor and the brother-in-law of Jerry Siegel's wife. The prospect of Superman and Wonder Woman as a couple has been an ongoing debate among fans. In the John Byrne revamp of Superman, Superman felt a very strong attraction to Wonder Woman, even to the point of dreaming and fantasizing about her.

While Superman initially thought romance would never be a part of his life due to his crime fighting, he thought for a time that his subconscious was telling him that Wonder Woman was the closest match he would ever find in a potential romantic partner. There have also been hints over the years that Wonder Woman herself is attracted to Superman. According to official DC facts, Superman stands 6 foot 3 inches and weighs 225 pounds. His given age has varied over the decades; during the 1970s and 1980s, his age in most stories was 29, while the timeline given in Zero Hour #0 and most stories written since then increased his age to 35. One of Superman's favorite snacks are soft pretzels from a neighborhood vendor named Mahjoub. Actor Michael Dangerfield lent his voice to the character of Superman on the Krypto the Superdog animated series. Actor Yuri Lowenthal provides the voice for Superman-X , a 41st century clone of Superman on the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series.

Links and References The Beginning | The Evolution of Superman | Rolling Stone The Evolution of Superman Tracing 75 years of the Man of Steel from his origins to Zack Snyder's reboot 10 All Stories The Beginning If Cavill's Superman is an immigrant having trouble assimilating into his adopted homeland, he's actually come a fitting full circle since Superman's earliest days. The character was invented by two Jewish teens from Cleveland, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, whose self-published 'zine introduced Superman in 1933. But Super-scholars generally date his birth to his 1938 appearance in Action Comics #1, with its iconic cover image of Superman hoisting a car over his head. That was the first time he was exposed to a national audience, thanks to publisher National Allied Publications (later DC Comics, the publisher that would go on to popularize Batman, Wonder Woman and a host of others).

The familiar backstory was already in place: the infant Kal-El, lone survivor of his destroyed planet, lands in middle America, is raised as unassuming Clark Kent, recognizes that his superhuman powers oblige him to help the weak, and uses his identity as big-city reporter Kent as a cover for his heroic activities as Superman. Today, that issue of Action Comics, generally regarded as the first superhero comic book, can go for $2 million a copy, but Siegel and Shuster earned just $130 for the rights to their work. Of course, Superman immediately took off in popularity, leading Siegel and Shuster to spend a lifetime battling DC over royalties – over the share of the American Dream they felt had been denied them. GCD :: Issue :: Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #1 superhero Characters: Superman [Clark Kent]; George Taylor; Lois Lane; Evelyn Curry; Bea Carroll; Butch Matson; Senator Barrows; Alex Greer Synopsis: Superman delivers a witness to the governor to stop an execution, then stops a wife-beater. Later Superman, as Clark Kent goes out with Lois, but she earns the wrath of Butch Matson and Superman must save her.

Finally, Clark is assigned a story on the South American republic of San Monte. He heads to Washington D.C. to find out who is behind Senator Barrows pushing legislation which will embroil the United States in a war in Europe by grabbing lobbyist Alex Greer and scaring the truth out of him. Reprints: Superman [Clark Kent]; Lois Lane; Davey Merrill; Mr. Tweed; Mrs. Tweed Synopsis: Clark arrives for a date with Lois, who is making a donation to the Brentwood Rehabilitation Home. Clark tells her that the place is more interested in money than their young charges. Lois decides they should visit the home so that she can disprove Clark. After a pleasant visit, Lois and Clark are stopped by a charge, Davey Merrill, who cut his hands climbing the wall just to ask for something to eat. Once they feed him, he tells them all about the horrible conditions at the home. Reprints: superhero Characters: Superman [Clark Kent]; George Taylor; Lois Lane; Sgt. Casey [as Sgt. Clancy]; John (cameo, contruction company head, death); Sam Goetz; Mr.

Jackson (villain, introduction); Mayor Hansen (villain, introduction) Synopsis: When a department store collapses and the head of the construction firm that erected it is slain, Clark Kent smells a story in the making, and knows it when, as Superman, he investigates the construction of the city's new Municipal Stadium. At the opening day ceremonies of the stadium it collapses, and, while Superman rescues children, Lois Lane is seriously injured and taken to the hospital where a transfusion is necessary...provided by Clark Kent! Reprints:

Question: With a June, 1938 cover date, Action Comics #1 introduced what iconic character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster?
Answer: Superman