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Superman (fictitious character), is a superhero, present in comic books bearing his name from DC Comics. The character has also been in various television series and movies.

Note: For Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the Übermensch ("superman" or "overman" in the German language) see Übermensch.

History

Superman was invented by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and originally appeared in Action Comics in 1938. They sold the rights to the company for $130 and when the popularity of the character led them to sue for more in 1947 they were fired. Superman has been more or less consistently popular throughout the 20th century.

Synopsis

Clark Kent is the the secret "civilian" identity of Superman. The story of Superman's origin is a science-fiction update of the common origin story of various culture heroes eg. Moses, Gilgamesh, who, to save them from death as babies, are placed in a basket to float downriver: born as Kal-el on the planet Krypton, while still a baby he was put into a spaceship alone by his father, Jor-El, and escaped moments before his home-planet exploded. His spaceship finally landed on Earth. He was adopted by a family in Smallville, and was raised there until, as an adult, he moved to Metropolis. As Kent he works as a reporter at the Daily Planet, a major newspaper in Metropolis. A co-reporter is Lois Lane, who also is the target of Kent's/Superman's romantic affections. A central part of the storyline is Lane's affection for the strapping superhero and rebuttals of all advances from the meeker Clark Kent.

Superman possesses a number of extraordinary powers, rendering him -- in terms contemporary to the 1950s -- "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". Other powers include X-ray vision, heat vision, near-invulnerability to damage, and the power of flight. The origin of Superman's powers is the solar radiation of Earth's sun, which differs from the radiation of the star around which Superman's native planet, Krypton, orbits. The yellow sun of earth grants him powers he would not have under Krypton's red sun. The remains of the shattered planet spread throughout the universe as a green crystalline or metallic substance known as kryptonite, which is harmful to Superman and robs him of his powers when it is in close proximity to him. A variant form of kryptonite is "red kryptonite", which does not usually damage him directly but has highly unpredictable effects on his psyche and powers (for example, red kryptonite exposure once transformed Superman's head into that of a giant ant). There have been a number of other lesser-known variants of kryptonite, introduced sporadically over the years whenever a particular plotline required them and then forgotten, but in a recent revision of the DC shared story universe they have been retconned out of existence.

Other characters

Famous characters in Superman include Lois Lane, the criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, the Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen, and a host of various supervillains.

Cultural influences

Both Superman's name and the premise of his character owe a large debt to the concept of the Übermensch, developed by the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Superman is a staple of American pop culture.

The Superman character has made the transition to television and movies, both on multiple occasions. Among the actors who have played the role are George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, and Dean Cain.

• 1940s Two Superman serials starring Kirk Alyn as Superman: Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman
• 1980s Superman films: I - IV, Christopher Reeve as Superman
• 1990s Lois and Clark' television series, Dean Cain as Superman
• 2000s Smallville television series

There have also been numerous animated TV cartoon series starring the Man of Steel. They can be summarized as follows:

• 1960s: Filmation Batman-Superman Adventure Hour
• 1970s: Hanna-Barbera Productions produces several Super Friends series
• Early 1980s: Super Powers: Galactic Guardians
• Late 1980s: Short-lived Superman series based on the "new" DC Comics Superman
• 1990s: Superman: The Animated Series by Warner Bros.
• 2000s: Justice League by Warner Bros.

DC Comics has copyrighted variations on the "super" theme, such as "superdog" and "supergal" to circumvent parody or product confusion. Nevertheless, a great many imitations and parodies of Superman have appeared over the years. One of the first Superman imitations, Whiz Comics' Captain Marvel, sparked legal action because of its similarities to Superman. Several famous spoofs of Superman have become famous (at least among children who grew up at the time of their popularity) include Mighty Mouse, Underdog, and Super Goof.

In the 1990s, comic book artist and writer Rob Liefeld created a Superman imitation and starred him in his own comic book series, called Supreme. The series sold moderately well at first, but sales dwindled until the series was taken over with issue #41 by writer Alan Moore. Moore produced about fifteen issues of Supreme that paid homage to the classic "Silver Age" Superman before his 1985 retcon.