Superman is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC

Comics, and is considered an American cultural icon.

[1][2][3][4]
Superman was created by writer
Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school students living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933; the
character was sold to Detective Comics, Inc. (later DC Comics) in 1938.
[5][6]
Superman 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 and establish its primacy within the
American comic book.
[1]

Superman's appearance is distinctive and iconic. He usually wears a blue costume, red cape, and
stylized red-and-yellow "S" shield on his chest.
[7][8][9]
This shield is used in a myriad of media to
symbolize the character.
[10]

The origin story of Superman relates that he 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. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as
Clark Kent and imbued with a strong moral compass. Very early on he started to display
superhuman abilities, which, upon reaching maturity, he resolved to use for the benefit of
humanity. Superman resides and operates in the fictional American city of Metropolis. As Clark
Kent, he is a journalist for the Daily Planet, a Metropolis newspaper. Superman's primary love
interest is Lois Lane and his archenemy is supervillain Lex Luthor.
[11]

Superman has fascinated scholars, with cultural theorists, commentators, and critics alike
exploring the character's impact and role in the United States and worldwide. The character's
ownership has often been the subject of dispute, with Siegel and Shuster twice suing for the
return of legal ownership. Superman has been labeled as the greatest comic book hero of all time
by IGN, as the editors pointed out that Superman was the blueprint for superheroes as we know
them today.
[12]

Contents
1 Publication history
o 1.1 Creation and conception
o 1.2 Publication
o 1.3 Influences
o 1.4 Copyright issues
2 Fictional character biography
o 2.1 Age and birthday
o 2.2 Personality
o 2.3 Other versions
3 Powers and abilities
4 Supporting cast
o 4.1 Enemies
5 Cultural impact
o 5.1 Inspiring a market
o 5.2 Merchandising
o 5.3 In other media
o 5.4 Musical references, parodies, and homages
o 5.5 Literary analysis
o 5.6 Critical reception and popularity
o 5.7 Video games
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Publication history
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, then students at Cleveland's Glenville High School, first conceived
Superman as a bald telepathic villain bent on world domination.
[5][6]
The character first appeared in "The
Reign of the Superman", a short story from Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization
#3, a fanzine published by Siegel in 1933.
[6]
Siegel re-envisioned the character later that year as a hero
bearing no resemblance to his villainous namesake, with Shuster visually modeling Superman on Douglas
Fairbanks Sr. and his bespectacled alter ego, Clark Kent, on a combination of Harold Lloyd
[13][14]
and
Shuster himself, with the name "Clark Kent" derived from movie stars Clark Gable and Kent Taylor.
[15]

Lois Lane was modeled on Joanne Carter, who later became Siegel's wife.
[15]
Comic strips such as Li'l
Abner and Dick Tracy influenced its original artwork.
[citation needed]
Siegel and Shuster then 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 (March 1937).
[16]
Siegel, believing that Superman would not progress with Shuster, contacted artists Tony Strobl,
Mel Graff, and Russell Keaton as potential collaborators on the strip.
[17]
Artwork produced by
Keaton based on Siegel's treatment shows the concept evolving. Superman is now sent back in
time as a baby by the last man on Earth, where he is found and raised by Sam and Molly Kent.
[18]

However, Keaton did not pursue the collaboration, and soon Siegel and Shuster were back
working together on the character.
[17]

The pair re-envisioned the character, who became more of a hero in the mythic tradition, inspired
by such characters as Samson and Hercules,
[19]
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."
[7]

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,
[20]
and also partly
suggested by the traditional circus strong-man outfit, which comprised a pair of shorts worn over