Superman is, without a doubt, the best-known of all the comic superheroes. In fact, his popularity launched the Golden Age of comic books in the USA. Created by Canadian artist Joe Shuster and American writer Jerry Siegel, he first appeared in Action Comics way back in 1938.
His fans know him as the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow and as the Last Son of Krypton. Even little kids know him as the dashing, athletic figure in blue tights and flowing red cape. Superman was born as Kal-El on the alien planet of Krypton. Sent to the Earth as a baby just before Krypton was destroyed, he was raised as Clark Kent by foster parents. When he became aware of his own extraordinary powers he began to use them for the good of humanity in the guise of Superman. As Clark Kent he is a mild-mannered, bespectacled, journalist and reporter. This double-identity is a common factor that most superheroes share.
Superman was modelled on mythical heroes like Hercules and Samson. His creators were deeply influenced by the science fiction stories of the time, and by films of Robinhood. The Superman legend grew with time, and soon stories about his boyhood avatar as Superboy became popular.
Later teams of writers and artists made him more and more invincible. He could fly; he had extraordinary x-ray vision; he had super-hearing; he also had super-breath – he could freeze objects by blowing on them. In 1986, John Byrne stepped in to give him some limitations. Superman still had all these super attributes, but he could be immobilised, even killed by exposure to Kryptonite. This made him vulnerable, and his adventures became all the more exciting.
Superman has a whole lot of supporting characters who appear regularly in most stories. Lois Lane, his colleague, later became his wife. Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lana Lang, Lois Lemaris, are all on his side. Lex Luther, an evil scientist and chief of Lex Corp, Brainiac, an alien android, and Doomsday, a terrible monster, are some baddies that Superman encounters repeatedly.
The success of Superman led to the creation of a whole lot of superheroes. He made his mark not only in comic books but also on radio and television and in many famous films. He has ruled so long over the imagination of people all over the world that he has been studied in depth by scholars, researchers and sociologists.