COMIC BOOK HISTORY
Who is SUPERMAN?
Superman is a DC Comics superhero. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in 1932. 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 the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre.
SUPERMAN's first Comicbook Appearance
The look of Superman was modeled after actor Douglas Fairbanks, while his alter ego, Clark Kent, was based on actor Harold Lloyd.
Superman was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father Jor-El, moments before Krypton's destruction.
When his rocket landed on Earth, in a place called Smallville, he was discovered and adopted by a farmer and his wife. Kal-El was raised as Clark Kent and was imbued with a strong moral compass by his adoptive parents.
Because of Clark's Kryptonian heritage he had abilities far beyond that of normal human beings. As he grew up these abilities increased and he also developed new ones.
He would later move from the farmlands of Smallville to the big city of Metropolis. In this new place, Clark Kent worked as a newspaper reporter.
Though he would spend more time being the news, when the mild-mannered Clark Kent transforms into the Man of Steel, the superhero which the whole world knows as SUPERMAN.
With Superman's lengthy comicbook career, our hero has undergone his fair share of changes (costume-wise and power-wise). His origins has been told and retold several times, though its basic structure is kept intact (born from doomed Krypton and raised by kindly Earth couple).
Here is a look of his earlier costumes, the main color scheme remains consistent throughout but the design of the shield constantly varies.
In 1944, Superman vol.1 no.26, was the first time the costume of Superman was trademarked. This became the iconic look of Superman.
In the 1990s, after the event called Death of Superman (in which our hero did not stay dead for long), we first encounter the resurrected Man of Steel in a black costume, sporting long hair and seemingly powerless.
Eventually Superman regained his powers and returned to his classic costume, but sticked for awhile with the long hair.
A bigger change happened with Superman, in Superman vol.2 no.123, when a magic spell gone awry transformed the Man of Steel to an energy-based life form. Along with the change of his composition, and his power set, he also had a drastic change in costume. This version of Superman would also end up creating a duplicate of himself but in a different color scheme.
After a year of being energy-based, the Man of Steel reverted back to his old iconic and non-electric singular self. He went back into using his old costume. After a tragic event, Superman altered the shield on his costume to a more somber color to remember those who have fallen.
In a storyline involving Superman staying with other Kryptonians in the Bottle City of Kandor, he wore an ultra stylized black, red and silver costume.
Among his wardrobes, Superman also has a lead suit for those occasions when he needs something to protect himself from Kryptonite.
When the Bottle City of Kandor transformed into a full-fledge planet known as New Krypton, Superman served his fellow Kryptonians under the Military Guild. He wore a military-looking uniform.
Even with several costume changes and upgrades, Superman would often go back to wearing his classic costume.
Though recently a big shakeup happened in the DC Universe, and we're seeing a different take on Superman. We see the Man of Steel with a hipper and more modern interpretation with his attittude and his costume. How long this new version will last, only time will tell.
The Different Looks of Imaginary/Parallel Universe Supermen
Superman (Earth-Two)
Rocketed from the dying planet Krypton by his scientist father, Jor-L, baby Kal-L landed in Smallville, where he was found and raised by John and Mary Kent. Instilled with their moral values, and finding himself possessed of powers beyond those of regular men, Clark Kent took on the identity of Superman, the greatest hero of Earth-Two.
Superman (Earth-1)
In Earth-1, Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world, he has to hide his extraterrestrial qualities and force himself to masquerade as a human twenty-something.
Ultraman (Earth-3)
Ultraman is an evil counterpart of Superman, he lives in a parallel world where the morals of people are reversed.
Herr Superman (Earth-8)
A German Superman who serves under the villaionous Monarch's army.
Superman (Earth-10)
This Superman was one of the superhumans appointed by that universe's Adolf Hitler to be one of his heroes. This Superman became a member of the Gerechtigkeitliga, enforcers of the Nazis' regime.
Overman (Earth-Ten)
Rocketed to Earth as a baby from the dying world of Krypton, Kal-L landed in the occupied Sudetenland in 1938. From the rocket that carried him, Nazi scientists reverse-engineered the technology to win the war, and Overman became the hero of "a utopia built on human suffering".
Superwoman (Earth-11)
Superwoman of Earth-11's history and adventures are unknown, but presumably similar to the exploits of Superman.
Superman (Earth-16)
Christopher Kent developed differently from his other dimensional counterparts in terms of his physical and mental background. He was raised in a traditional Buddhist monastery.
Superman Kingdom Come (Earth-96)
The origin of this Superman is the same as that of the main universe Superman. He just have other and different adventures, and is a much older character.
Superman Red Son (Earth-30)
This version of Superman had his rocket land on a Ukrainian collective farm in Communist Russia under the control of Josef Stalin instead of Smallville,USA.
Green Lantern (Earth-32)
Clark Kent was contacted by the Guardians of the Universe at the Kent farm and became a Green Lantern.
Super-mage (Earth-33)
The leader of the House of Kryptonian Magic, Kal-El possesses all the powers of his other-dimensional counterparts, but also has a knowledge of Kryptonian magic.
Superman (Earth-Prime)
The sole survivor of Krypton of the Earth-Prime universe and one of the heroes of the First Crisis, Superboy-Prime went insane over the losses he had suffered and the darkening of New Earth.
Superman Red & Superman Blue (Earth-162)
The original Superman-Red/Superman-Blue tale is an "Imaginary Story" that appears in Superman (vol. 1), #162 (July 1963).
The Nova (Earth-178)
When Superman temporarily loses his powers, he adopts the secret identity of "The Nova".
Superman: Kal (Earth-395)
Baby Kal-El lands in medieval England, he grows up to become a blacksmith, where he forges the future Excalibur and a suit of armor out of the metal of his spaceship.
Superman: The Dark Side (Earth-1198)
Kal-El's rocket is diverted from Earth to Apokolips, and Superman is raised by Darkseid. He started out as a "Destroyer" but later became a "Creator".
Superman: A Nation Divided (Earth-1863)
Superman as a Union soldier during the American Civil War. This also has connections, near the end, with The Lone Ranger.
Superman's Metropolis (Earth-1927)
A fusion of the Superman mythos with Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
Superman (Earth-D)
This character first appeared on Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths
Superman: Legacy
A Kryptonian named Gar-El flees Krypton and conquers 18th century Earth. Two hundred years later, his descendant Kal fights against his rule.
Superman: Unforgiven
Jor-El convinces the Science Council to relocate selected Kryptonians to Earth. Twenty years later, his son must help humans and Kryptonians live in harmony.
Superman: Feral
In 19th century India, Kal-El is raised by wolves. Loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories, with added elements of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels.
Superman: At Earth's End
After a world-altering event, a group of emotionless logical cyborgs are overseeing Earth's return to greatness. Superman who has lost his strength tries to regain it in a hovering city, where he is able to receive the benefits of the sun's rays.
Sovereign: League of Justice
A quartet of teenagers find themselves joined up with fantasy fiction versions of the Justice League heroes.
Superman: Distant Fires
A nuclear holocaust destroys civilization and deprives Superman and many other surviving heroes of their powers.
Batman: Speeding Bullets
Kal-El is raised by the Waynes who are murdered by a mugger, and becomes a superpowered version of Batman.
Superman: Last Son of Earth
Baby Clark Kent arrives on the planet Krypton in a rocket from the doomed planet Earth. While struggling to find his place there as an adult, he discovers a Green Lantern power ring.
Superman: True Brit
Kal-El lands in the English countryside and is raised to be "ordinary" and not draw attention. Nonetheless, he becomes a British superhero, before the tabloids try to knock him down.
Superman: Created Equal
A cosmic plague hits Earth, killing all men except for Superman and Lex Luthor.
Superman: Monster
A Frankenstein pastiche in which Vicktor Luthor finds a crashed rocket with a dead infant inside, and sets about bringing it back to life using his experimental machinery.
Superman: Doom Link
Superman is a super-hero who fights alongside Batman to protect Metropolis. A Green Kryptonite meteor crashed to Earth and spread the mineral around the planet, removing Superman's invulnerability but none of his other powers. He is forced to wear Cyber-Link Armor to compensate, which gives him invulnerability and allows him to interface with nearby technology.
Superman: Age of Wonder
Baby Clark arrives in mid-1800s Kansas. Clark grew up and developed his Kryptonian powers, seeing how America and the world is expecting an "Age of Wonder" with technological innovations, Clark decided to help speed up the advancement.
Superman: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes
Superpowered beings keep their existence quiet; the JLA becomes an unaccountable conspiracy.
Hoshi: Shogun of Steel
Superman set on feudal Japan
Superman Prime
The Gold Superman Prime is quite possibly the most powerful being in the DC universe. His time spent within the sun, has grown his abilities astronomically.
Here's a few more:
ANIMATED APPEARANCE/S
1941–1943: Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios' Superman theatrical cartoon
1966-69: The New Adventures of Superman
1973 - 1985: Super Friends
1988: Superman
1996–2000: Superman: The Animated Series
2000: Batman Beyond
2001–2006: Justice League / Justice League Unlimited
2004: Static Shock
2005: Krypto the Superdog
2006: Superman: Brainiac Attacks
2006–2008: Legion of Super Heroes
2007: Superman: Doomsday
2007–2008: The Batman
2008: Justice League: The New Frontier
2009: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
2010: DC Super Friends
2010–2011: Batman: The Brave and the Bold
2010: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
2010: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
2010–present: Young Justice
2010: Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam
2011: All-Star Superman
2012: Justice League: Doom
LIVE APAPTATION/S
TELEVISION
1952–1958: Adventures of Superman
George Reeves
1961: The Adventures of Superboy
Johnny Rockwell
1975: It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman
David Wilson
1988–1992: Superboy
John Haymes Newton
Gerard Christopher
1993–1997: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Dean Cain
2001–2011: Smallville
Tom Welling
FILM
Kirk Alyn
1948: Superman
1950: Atom Man vs. Superman
George Reeves
1951: Superman and the Mole Men
Christopher Reeve
1978: Superman: The Movie
1981: Superman II
1983: Superman III
1987: Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
Brandon Routh
2006: Superman Returns
Henry Cavill
2013: Man of Steel
POWERS & ABILITIES
Note: Due to the nature of comicbooks being an on-going tale, the character's powers along with the character's appearance, is in a constant state of flux.
Kryptonian Physiology: Superman's cellular structure is more dense, resilient and biologically more effective than human tissue. Strangely enough, he does not seem to possess superhuman strength levels despite his enhanced cellular ability without his cellular structure charged with yellow solar energy. Without such charging, his strength seems on par for a human of his height and weight who engages in regular physical activity. As an alien he possesses several organs whose functions are not yet disclosed or understood but are believed to be part of and perhaps even the source of his biomatrix force field and reclamation aura. Superman's body also stores energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powers most of Superman's electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision. Superman's body also stores energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powers most of Superman's electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision. It also supplements his physical strength by a factor of 12,000 times or so.
Solar Battery: Technically, this is the main source of Superman's powers.As a Kryptonian,Supermans cells absorb only yellow solar energy, and this in turn, fuels all of his powers and abilities. Superman's cells also store solar energy as well, allowing him to retain his powers under roofed structures or even at night, although he eventually needs a yellow sun to recharge his powers.
Superhuman Strength: The exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown. This is because Superman's strength, like his other powers, has fluctuated over time, however, his strength should effortlessly range into the multi-megaton level at the very least. While the exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that his strength easily surpasses the capacity to lift 1,000,000 tons, but how much more is not known exactly. Arguably the strongest being on the planet and one of the strongest beings in the Universe.
Invulnerability: Superman's body is nigh-invulnerable. This ability's levels have changed over time. He has taken a blast equivalent to a million nuclear war heads point blank and remained conscious.
Superhuman Stamina: Superman has the ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an undefined period. Theoretically, most incarnations of the character has unlimited stamina as his enhanced nourishment is produced from the solar energy his cells process. Superman like other Kryptonians does not get tired and does not need to eat or sleep and can be sustained on Solar energy alone. He can also hold his breath for an undefined duration.
Flight: Under one Earth gravity Superman is capable of flying at faster than light speeds. He tends to fly at speeds of Mach 10 in the atmosphere. His control of his flight is perfect and he can perform aerobatic feats such as hovering, flying backwards and even lifting great weights while flying. Superman can fly at speeds many times faster than light. Superman has the ability to fly in outer space. He has been seen to fly to the moon in minutes so we can assume that he can fly faster than that outside of atmospheric interference.
Superhuman Speed: Superman is capable of enhanced reflex action and the ability to move at incredible speeds by sheer force of will. Superman can move at speeds much faster than light and is one of the fastest beings in the Universe. Superman can match most other speedsters in their ability to perform super fast movements, reactions, and processes.
Superhuman Hearing: The ability to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. The only Earth creature who can detect sounds at the frequency he can is a blue whale (0.01-200,000 Hz). He has shown enough control to block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source/frequency. He can hear every single heartbeat, as well as the blood pumping through everyone's veins, hear every foot step, every cell phone signal as it lances through the air and more. He can identify a person by their heartbeat, or pick out a single voice in an entire world.
Super Smell: On various occasions, Superman has demonstrated that his sense of smell is significantly enhanced to the point he can smell odours across the entire planet without any problem.
Super Scream: In one instance, Superman was shown to have the ability to project a "super scream" from his vocal cords. He used this ability to cancel out the impending threat of an already exploding nuclear detonation.He used this power(or something similar to it)when he destroyed Darkseid's essence from the Miracle Machine by singing a cord at such a frequency that it countered Darksied's own vibrational frequency,thus destroying his essence.
Self-Sufficiency: Doesn't need to eat and sleep so long as he's under the effects of yellow sun radiation. His body stores the energy necessary to negate eating and sleeping for an indefinite period.
Healing Factor: In the extreme event that Superman is harmed, either by an alien matching his own strength or other occurence, he has been shown to have the ability to heal almost instantaneously from any wound, assuming that the process is not impeded from some outside factor i.e. Kryptonite. This "healing factor" is supplemented by his stores of solar energy and also seems to be an unconscious ability, as Superman does not seem to have the ability to control when he heals and when he doesn't. Much like a human has no control over their immune system.
Super Breath: The ability to create hurricane force winds by blowing, and to chill his breath in order to freeze a target (this latter ability has also been called "freeze breath" and "arctic breath"). The ability to chill inhaled air is a function of Superman's great strength and invulnerability. When Superman takes air into his lungs they compress the incoming gas. When this gas expands upon exhalation, in a fashion analogous to the operation of an air conditioners compressor, the sudden increase in volume of the gas causes its temperature to drop proportionally to the size of this expansion. Superman can also breathe in large amounts of air, an ability used when dealing with and disposing things like clouds of poison gas.
Heat Vision: The ability to fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it with the conscious act of activating this power. Visually, the power is typically depicted as two beams of red light firing from his eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing Superman to work undetected. His heat vision is so powerful that they are able to power up the giant ion planet moving engines with his heat vision alone, annihilate an entire army of Doomsday clones in one blast, and has even been stated to rival the heat of a Star. The area of effect can be consciously determined by Superman, down to the microscopic level. Recent stories imply the precision is so exact it can bypass a target's outer shell (not causing damage to a person's skull for surgical purposes).
Super Vision: He also possess a superior sensory arrangement of microscopic, telescopic, infrared and ultraviolet visual capabilities. He is able to see the entire spectrum. STAR Laboratories has not been able to complete define how Superman has been able to utilize his powerful senses, part of the mechanism is physical, part of it is believed to be psionic in nature. Abilities include:
Electro-magnetic Spectrum Vision:Superman can see into all of the EM Spectrum. He can see and identify radio/television and any and all broadcast/transmitted frequencies, allowing him to avoid detection through radar or satellite monitoring methods. Superman can see the aura that every living thing generates.
Telescopic Vision: The ability to focus his vision to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics.
Microscopic Vision: The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the sub atomic level.
X-Ray Vision: The ability to see through anything except lead. Opponents sometimes used lead-lined constructs in an attempt to hide things from Superman. He can see things behind a wall as if the wall were not there, or can "peel back" layer after layer of matter in his mind. Kal-El is able to focus his vision past layers of matter, literally seeing "through" them -- possibly perceiving x-rays, cosmic rays or other forms of energy invisible to normal human vision which pass through Earth's atmosphere (and solid objects) after emission from stars. Since it is passive, this ability would not generate harmful radiation in the same manner as a focused projection of hard X-rays.
ABILITIES
Master Combatant: He has been trained by both Wildcat (in Boxing), and Mongul in the fighting arts. Superman has fought and learned from Wonder Woman. He has also learned more advanced martial arts techniques from Batman.
Genius-Level Intellect: Superman has shown incredible intelligence and computational abilities; his mind works sharply and with extreme speed relative to earth-humans. His analytical powers are impressive — he is able to use his senses to read information directly from machines.
Indomitable Will: Superman has shown to have a powerful Force of Will, completely free of evil or temptation. Having been raised by a kindly Kansas farmer and his wife, Superman was taught to protect life and help others. He is very optimistic and never gives up, even when things look bad.
Torquasm Vo: Torquasm Vo is a Kryptonian discipline that Superman uses sometimes. It is basically a means of focusing ones mental discipline to help fight adverse effects such as mental domination. It can be used to manipulate someone's mind. Superman used that ability during his fight against the Eradicator. It was used to create an illusion to let Superman enter inside the Eradicator.
Torquasm Rao: Allows him to tap into his instincts and seperate himself from his body.
Leadership: Superman has proven many times over his ability to command respect and inspire others with his charisma, ardor, and idealism. He often serves as the primus inter pares of the Justice League.
Limiters: Over the course of his life and acquisition of power under a yellow sun, Superman has learned how to place mental inhibitors on his own power. These "limiters" as he calls them, are used to keep his power in check so that he doesn't accidentally "flex and cause the tectonic plates to shift". Though it is known that he has placed several of these limiters within his own mind, it is unknown how many and just how powerful he would be if he decided to release them all. To him, they are the barriers that allow him to be human enough to live a normal life, and he only ever releases one of them when fighting a particularly powerful opponent or performing a predominately difficult task.
Strength levelClass 100+; the exact magnitude of Superman's strength is unknown but he has demonstrated that his strength is so vast, that he is capable of even moving an object as large as a planet. This ability to move large objects suggests that his apparent strength may be partially psionic in nature due to the laws of physics which place clear limits on a human-sized object moving a planetary-sized one. (Superman would tend to go-through such a body before he could impart a motion to it because of his small size relative to such a body and the essential 'granular' nature of a planets composition. Also, when Superman is shown lifting an object such as a large building, if native strength was all that he employed in the effort, the building would crumble under its own weight.)
WEAKNESSES
Magic: Superman's biomatrix is his most powerful asset, but the strength of this field is also its greatest weakness. It's permeability to certain wavelengths makes Superman vulnerable to certain radiations, particularly magical energies whose chaotic electromagnetic or extradimensional signatures disrupt this forcefield. Superman's vulnerability to magic varies on the special effects of the magic. No magic seems to be able to directly destroy him unless it comes from a semi-divine or divine source. He can be injured and worn down by magical entities. Magic can have powerful and unpredictable effects on Superman and his magical enemies have often proven to be the most dangerous. Recently, Superman has learned more about magic with the help of Zatanna and he is able to counter almost every spell. Magic has unknown effect on him.
Kryptonite: Since the destruction of Krypton, its remains (rendered radioactive by the explosion) have been spreading throughout the universe as Kryptonite, a crystalline substance whose specific radiation is lethal to Kryptonians native to this reality. The most common form of Kryptonite is Green Kryptonite, and its effect is directly poisonous. Kyrptonite from other realities does not necessarily have the same effects on all Kryptonians. For example, Kryptonite from the Pocket Universe is not as lethal to Superman as Kryptonite that comes from his native reality. Superman was able to survive inside a Red Sun that was surrounded by Kryptonite.
Solar Energy: Superman abilities will eventually weaken without replenishing his energy reserves with normal (yellow) sun radiation. When exposed to the same red solar radiation as Krypton's red sun Rao, it causes Superman to lose his powers within a large amount of exposure until the exposure to yellow sunlight will reverse this effect.
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SOURCES: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman || http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman || http://www.newsarama.com/comics/agent-of-style-superman-110805.html ||
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