Superman
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Wikipedia-Article "Superman"
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Superman, aka "The Man of Steel", is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938 and eventually became a popular and well-known comic book icon.
The character, created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel for National Comics (today DC Comics), subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, and video games. Superman was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton. He was sent to Earth in a rocket by his scientist father Jor-El moments before Krypton exploded, landing on Earth outside the town of Smallville, where he was discovered and adopted by the amiable Jonathan and Martha Kent. As he grew, he discovered that he possessed superhuman powers. When not fighting the forces of evil as Superman, he lives disguised as Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Daily Planet. Clark works alongside reporter Lois Lane, with whom he is romantically involved. In current comics continuity, they are married. However, he had several other relationships during his years in comics. The character's adventures are today published in a number of comic books.
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Character history
Superman's abilities and relationships have changed over time. Editors and writers used the process of retroactive continuity, or retcon, to adjust to changes in popular culture, eliminate restrictive segments of the mythos, and permit contemporary storylines. These changes, while significant, permit the retention of the core elements that make Superman an iconic character.
The story of Superman's origin parallels that of other cultural heroes and religious figures [1] who were spirited away as infants from places where they were in danger.
Golden Age version
- Main article: Kal-L
In the original Golden Age comics (as shown in Action Comics #1 (1938), Superman (volume 1) #1 (1939), and Superman (volume 1) #61 (1949), as well as in later post-Golden Age stories such as Secret Origins (volume 2) #1 (1986)), noted scientist Jor-L had discovered his planet of Krypton was about to explode yet was unable to convince his fellow Kryptonians to save themselves. However, he did manage to construct a spaceship to save his and his wife Lora's infant son, Kal-L. The ship was launched just as the planet finally exploded, with Kal-L landing on Earth around the end of World War I; his landing was watched by passing motorists John and Mary Kent. The couple took the infant to an orphanage, and soon returned to adopt the child, naming him "Clark." (The names of Jor-L, Kal-L, Lora, John and Mary were eventually changed to the more modern "Jor-El", "Kal-El", "Lara", "Jonathan" and "Martha" by the the late 1940s/early 1950s).
Clark grew up in an ordinary childhood on the Kent family farm, slowly discovering that he possessed various superpowers, but unaware of his Kryptonian origins. After the deaths of his parents in 1938, Clark decided to use his powers for the benefit of humanity, constructing a stylized costume and moving to the nearby city of Metropolis. Obtaining employment at the newspaper the Daily Star, Clark soon made his debut as the world's first superhero, Superman. Eventually, Superman's powers increased over the 1940s from his earliest appearances, including vast increases in his superstrength and gaining the ability to fly (his earliest comics featured Superman able to only leap about an eighth of a mile at a time). In Superman (volume 1) #61 (1949), Superman finally learned of the existence of Krypton.
During the 1940s, Superman also became a member of the Justice Society of America, though was shown only participating in two cases in the original Golden Age stories (All-Star Comics #8 and #36).
After the establishment of DC Comics' Multiverse in the 1960s, it was established retroactively that the Golden Age version of Superman lived on the parallel world of Earth-Two, while his Silver Age counterpart lived on Earth-One (although the character, having never gone away after the end of the Golden Age, had been published as one ongoing incarnation since his debut). 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. In the late 1970s, Superman discovered a rocket of Kryptonian origin landing on Earth, which contained his cousin, Kara Zor-L; after acclimating to Earth, Kara became the superheroine Power Girl. Superman also continued in serving with the revived Justice Society as a member; he was revealed to have been a founding member of the group in the team's origin story in DC Special #29. In the early 1980s, Superman was also shown to have been a 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. The Earth-Two Superman, along with his wife Lois, were spared from annihilation, however, and entered a "paradise" dimension at the end of the series. This Superman 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.
Silver Age version
During the 1940s and 1950s, various familiar elements of the Superman mythos were gradually added, and became firmly established by the late 1950s. This included a greater emphasis on the science fiction elements of Superman's world, including his Kryptonian origins, as well as an updated version of his origin story.
In the version that had become extant by the early 1960s (and memorably summarized at the start of each episode of the 1950s Adventures of Superman television series[2]), Superman was born on Krypton as Kal-El, the son of Jor-El, a scientist and leader, and Lara, a former astronaut. When Kal-El was two or three years old, Jor-El learned that Krypton was doomed to explode, and he brought this to the attention of Krypton's ruling leaders, the Science Council. Disbelieving Jor-El's prediction, they refused to warn their fellow Kryptonians, and forbade Jor-El to do so. Jor-El and Lara promised that they wouldn't leave Krypton (Lara vowed to stay by her husband's side rather than accompany Kal-El to Earth, so that his ship would have a better chance of surviving the trip), and decided to use the little time remaining to save their son. Moments before Krypton exploded, Jor-El launched Kal-El in a rocket ship towards Earth, knowing that Earth's lower gravity and yellow sun would give the boy extraordinary powers.
Kal-El's ship landed in a field near the town of Smallville, and was discovered by the elderly Kent couple. They named him Clark, after Martha's maiden name. After formally adopting him, the Kents raised him on their farm through his preschool years. By the time Clark started school, the Kents had sold their farm and moved into Smallville, where they purchased a general store. During this time, both Clark and the Kents had discovered Clark's amazing powers, and, with the Kents realizing the good he could do with his powers, began training their adopted son to use his powers wisely. At the age of eight, Clark adopted the superhero identity Superboy, and began to fight crime, both in the present and in a far future time as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. After he graduated from high school and the Kents died, Clark moved to Metropolis to attend Metropolis University. During his junior year, Clark changed his superhero name to Superman. After graduating with a degree in journalism, Clark was hired by the Daily Planet.
In 1971, the Galaxy Broadcasting System and its president, Morgan Edge, purchased the Daily Planet, with Edge subsequently naming Clark Kent as the lead anchorman for its Metropolis television station, WGBS-TV. Later in the 1970s, Clark would be joined in his newscasts by childhood friend Lana Lang as a co-anchor.
This version of Superman was retired in 1986 after the continuity-altering miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. Just before the reboot of the character, he was given a sendoff in the two-part non-canonical story Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, written by Alan Moore with art by Curt Swan.
Man of Steel version
In 1986, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries (usually referred to as simply "Crisis"), DC Comics hired writer/artist John Byrne to recreate the Superman character and retell the Superman mythos, reshaping the previous forty-eight years of stories by putting several new twists on the established mythos.
In this post-Crisis version, as seen in Byrne's miniseries The Man of Steel, Superman—like all post-Crisis Kryptonians— was created through in-vitro fertilization on Krypton. While a fetus, he escaped Krypton's destruction in a spacecraft (his "birthing matrix" with a rocket engine attached), and landed some fifty years later on Earth, just outside of Smallville, Kansas. Effectively this Superman was born on Earth, and was a son of Earth as much as of Krypton. As in the original version, he was found and adopted by the Kents, and raised like a normal human. In the retelling, Clark's powers developed gradually, beginning with his invulnerability, and he didn't fly until he was a teenager. After leaving Smallville, he traveled the world before settling in Metropolis, completing his education, and going to work at the Daily Planet. Clark did not become a superhero until just before starting work at the Daily Planet, when he prevented an experimental spacecraft from crashing in Metropolis. The Kents were kept alive during Clark's transition to Superman.
In the post-Crisis comics, Clark Kent is presented more as the "real" person, with Superman the secret identity that he presents to the world to prevent his enemies from harming his family or friends. Also post-Crisis, people do not suspect that Superman is hiding his real identity because he wears no mask. The concept that Clark is the real man, and the greater emphasis on his earthly upbringing, is a deliberate reversal of the earlier, pre-Crisis version. Another significant aspect of the post-Crisis Superman's reinvention was a reduced level of powers compared to his previous incarnation, with abilities such as travelling through time under his own power removed outright and other powers, notably his invulnerability and super-strength, vastly reduced.
Another change made in Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries was the reduced emphasis on Superman's Kryptonian heritage. In past exploits, it was often shown that Superman was not only fully aware of his heritage, but had become completely versed in its language, culture, and other elements. In John Byrne's revamp, Superman only first learned of his Kryptonian heritage as an adult, upon being exposed to a memory implant generated by his birthing matrix in Man of Steel #6. While such Kryptonian technology (demonstrated by such beings as the Eradicator) was able to help bolster his knowledge, Superman was no longer a completely-Kryptonian-educated man.
As in the original continuity, Lois Lane is Clark Kent/Superman's love interest. In the early 1990s, Lois and Clark fell in love. Clark soon told her he was Superman, which caused a brief strain in their relationship, but they eventually married, in the mid-1990s special Superman: The Wedding Album.
Birthright version
In 2004 DC published an updated version of Superman's origin in the 12-issue miniseries Birthright. Written by Mark Waid, the miniseries brings back some of the pre-Crisis elements eliminated by John Byrne, including an emphasis on alien heritage over human upbringing, and introducing elements of the Smallville television series.
Among the changes made, the "birthing matrix" explanation was replaced by the more well-known rocket ship explanation, with Kal-El sent from Krypton as an infant, not a fetus. There are two portrayal styles of Clark Kents--"Smallville Clark" and "Metropolis Clark". "Smallville Clark" is the real person (who is also Kal-El and Superman) while "Metropolis Clark" is the mild-mannered persona he uses to blend in with other people.
Unlike the previous Man of Steel origin story, this origin doesn't eliminate most of the previous post-Crisis Superman stories told, though what impact it will have on future stories (and some previous post-Crisis stories' status) remains to be seen.
Clark Kent
- Main article: 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 transferrence 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 miniseries, young Clark Kent studied the Meisner technique so that he could seamlessly move between his Clark and Superman personas.
Personality and character
- Main article: Personality of Superman
Originally, Superman's personality could be rough and destructive. Although nowhere near as cold-blooded as the early Batman, the early Superman did not have a "no-kill" policy and evildoers would occasionally meet fatal ends when dealing with the hero. In the Silver Age, the writers moved toward his better known "boy scout" persona. In fact, so far did the writers move from the grim and gritty original version, that he tended to be naive, even about his deadliest enemies. Also, Superman's intelligence now was genius level. Even so, Superman's capacity for a violent anger is a key element to many of the most dramatic moments in his appearances. That allows readers and watchers to see that Superman's goodness is not inherent to his being, but learned, like it is with us.
Recent writers have attempted to deepen Superman's persona and provide a rationale for his goodness. Far from a perfect individual, Superman is often pictured with a sense of childish innocence mixed with patriarchal restraint. He is also a man with an incredible depth of feeling, often struggling with the differences between the right answer and the practical one. In many ways, Superman is truly one of the most "human" heroes conceived, since he responds to emotional grief in stark contrast to the way he shrugs off bullets, bombs, and death-rays. On several recent occasions, Batman has faced Superman, and Batman has served as a foil to Superman's goodness; Batman, in his more recent incarnations, won't hesitate to use guile or underhanded tactics to gain an advantage, while Superman will be overly hesitant to use his natural gifts as an unfair edge.
Powers and abilities
- Main article: Powers and abilities of Superman
Superman possesses extraordinary powers which render him, as stated in the lead-in to the 1950s television series, "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". Superman's famous arsenal of powers include flight, super strength and invulnerability, super speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision) and super hearing. His powers were relatively limited in the early stories, but grew to become near-godlike by the 1980s. After Byrne's 1986 rewrite, Superman's powers were diminished, though have grown again since then, possessing enough strength to lift and hurl mountains. One thing that has remained largely unchanged, however, is that Superman's powers come from exposure to the earth's yellow sun and low gravity. It should also be noted that in some early stories, it was stated that Superman's powers are things that all Kryptonians can do.
Publication history
- Main article: History of Superman
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.
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".
During a multimedia career spanning over sixty 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. 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 his The 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.
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.
Cultural influences
- Main article: Cultural influences on Superman
Some people incorrectly believe that Superman is partly based on philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch, which literally translates to "overman" but could also mean "superman". It is also believed that Superman may in fact have been partly inspired by the Jewish legends of the Golem, a mythical being created to protect and serve the prosecuted Jews of ancient Warsaw and later revived in popular culture in reference to their suffering at the hands of Nazis during WWII.
Characters
Supporting characters
- Main article: Supporting characters of Superman
Lois Lane is perhaps the character most commonly associated with Superman, as his colleague, love interest, and later confidante of his dual identities, and now wife to Clark Kent.
Main supporting characters include Daily Planet coworkers Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent's boss Perry White; Clark Kent's adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent; childhood sweetheart Lana Lang and best friend Pete Ross; and former college love interest Lori Lemaris, a mermaid. Incarnations of Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, and Superboy have also been major characters in the mythos, as well as Batman and Superman's fellow members of the Justice League of America (of which Superman is usually a member).
Minor supporting characters over the years have included Superman's technologial aid and eccentric inventors Professor Emil Hamilton and Professor Phineas Potter, Metropolis police officers Inspector William Henderson, Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, and former sailor-turned-bartender Bibbo Bibbowski.
Villains
- Main article: Enemies of Superman
Superman also has a rogues gallery of supervillain enemies, including his most well-known enemy, Lex Luthor, who has been envisioned over the years in various forms as either a rogue scientific genius with a personal vendetta against Superman, or a powerful but corrupt CEO of a conglomerate called LexCorp.
The alien android (in most incarnations) known as Brainiac is considered by some as the second worst nemesis of Superman. In one way, the enemy that accomplished the most, by actually killing Superman, is the raging monster Doomsday. Darkseid, one of the most powerful beings in the DC universe, has also proven a formidable nemesis in the past.
Other enemies of note include the fifth-dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk, the imperfect Superman clone Bizarro, criminal cyborg Metallo, Kryptonian criminal General Zod (and other Kryptonians imprisoned in the Phantom Zone),the Parasite, the Prankster, Terra-Man, the Toyman, Gog, and the Metropolis gang known as Intergang (which includes mad scientists such as Dabney Donovan and Dr. Killgrave).
Superman in popular culture
- Main article: Superman in popular culture
In addition to comic books, Superman has made the transition to radio, television, movies, and video games each on multiple occasions. Among the actors who have played the role are Kirk Alyn, Tim Daly, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, and Brandon Routh. There have also been numerous animated cartoon series starring the Man of Steel.
Superman has also long been a popular subject for music, inspiring songs by artists ranging from The Kinks and Barbra Streisand of one generation through The Sugarhill Gang, The Commodores, Genesis, R.E.M., Crash Test Dummies, Goldfinger, and Spin Doctors to current performers like Eminem, Dream Theater , Laurie Anderson, Miguel Bosé, Three Doors Down, Our Lady Peace, Five For Fighting, Powerman 5000, and SR-71.
As an iconic character, Superman has often been parodied. He has also had characters modeled after him, in a form of homage.
Additional reading
- Last Son of Krypton - a novel by Elliot S! Maggin: Superman's "life story" is told and he faces a mysterious alien ruler.
- What makes Superman so darned American? - an Essay by Gary Engle about the Identity of Superman
- Miracle Monday - a novel by Elliot S! Maggin: tells the story of Superman trying to stop an entity of pure evil from causing universal chaos.
- "It's Superman!" - A novel by Tom De Haven: A new interpretation of Superman's origins, taking place in 1935, and going more into Superman's motivations.
- "For the Man Who Has Everything" - written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons: Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman journey to Superman's Fortress of Solitude to celebrate his birthday only to find their friend rendered comatose by an alien parasite that grants its host the illusion of their heart's desire. Originally published in Superman Annual #11 and recently adapted for the animated series Justice League Unlimited by J.M. DeMatteis. Reprinted in Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore (ISBN 1401200877)
- Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? - written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Curt Swan and George Pérez: The final chapter on the pre-Crisis Silver/Bronze Age Superman. Originally published in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583.
- The Man of Steel - written and illustrated by John Byrne: The revamp of Superman's origins following the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- The Death of Superman, World Without a Superman, and The Return of Superman - written by various artists, notably Dan Jurgens: the story of Superman's death, the world's (and his loved ones') reaction, and his eventual return. A novelization of the trilogy, entitled The Death and Life of Superman, was written by Roger Stern.
- Kingdom Come - written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Alex Ross: A painted epic, in which Superman has temporarily retired, giving way to a new breed of reckless, morally ambiguous superheroes. The story was novelized by Elliot S! Maggin.
- Superman For All Seasons - written by Jeph Loeb, illustrated by Tim Sale: Superman as a young man in a timeless, Rockwellian America, from confused lad to superpowered metropolite.
- "Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter" - written and illustrated by Kyle Baker: Letitia babysits the superpowered baby Clark, who rampages around the Kent's farm and ends up in a microwave oven. The story won the Eisner Award for Best Short Story in 2000.
- Superman: Red Son - written by Mark Millar, illustrated by Dave Johnson: Elseworlds story asks "What if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?" Superman now stands for workers' rights and the struggle for global equality, and sets out to promote world communism.
- Superman: Birthright - a twelve issue maxiseries written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Leinil F. Yu: A "re-imagining" of Superman which brings back some old, pre-Crisis concepts and adds new modern ones.
- Superman: Secret Identity - written by Kurt Busiek, with watercolor illustrations by Stuart Immonen, this presents the story of a man in the real world named Clark Kent who discovers as a teenager that he possesses the powers of the fictional Man of Steel. This poignant story uses Superman as a metaphor for each major stage of human life (youth, adult, parent, old age).
- "Übermensch!" - Kim Newman's 1991 short story that, à la Superman: Red Son, examines a Superman raised not in Kansas, but in Bavaria during the rise of Nazism. Several decades after fighting for "Strength, purity, the Aryan way," Superman is a prisoner in Spandau Prison who receives a visit from an aging Nazi hunter.
References
- An Analysis of Superman, The Man of Steel
- Superman - The Man
- Theoretical Origin of Kryptonians
- IDENTITY CRISIS: The Many Faces of the Man of Steel Commentary on the origins of an American cultural phenomenon
- Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex an essay by Larry Niven about Superman's sexual and reproductive problems. (Note: This essay deals with adult subject matter and may be offensive to some people.)
- Superman's Shield and its History, studying the development of Superman's shield emblem in its various incarnations and reimaginings.
- How Jews Created the Comic Book Industry Part I: The Golden Age (1933 - 1955)
- Alan Kistler's Profile On: Superman – A three-part retrospective by comic book historian Alan Kistler.
Notes
- ^ Such as Moses, Gilgamesh or Krishna.
- ^ 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 neverending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way."
- ^ The use of the name 'Clark' came from actor Clark Gable.
- ^ 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.
See also
- List of comics regularly featuring Superman
- Supporting characters of Superman
- Enemies of Superman
- Superman in popular culture
- Powers and abilities of Superman
- Personality of Superman
- History of Superman