Facts about Superman

The source of Superman's powers has changed subtly over the course of his history.

Superman was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father moments before the planet's destruction.

Superman came at number 2 in VH1's Top Pop Culture Icons 2004.

The 1955 Austrian State Treaty ended the occupation of Austria following World War II and recognized Austria as an independent and sovereign state.

DC Comics Presents was a series published from 1978 to 1986 featuring team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters of the DC Universe.

Jules Feiffer has argued that Superman's real innovation lay in the creation of the Clark Kent persona, noting that what "made Superman extraordinary was his point of origin: Clark Kent."

Superman's first appearance was in Action Comics #1, in 1938.

Superman's Kryptonian name, "Kal-El," resembles the Hebrew words ??-??, which can be taken to mean "voice of God"..

By 1974 these titles had merged into Superman Family, although the series was cancelled in 1982.

Exposure to Kryptonite radiation nullifies Superman's powers and immobilizes him with pain; prolonged exposure will eventually kill him.

Today, Superman adheres to a strict moral code, often attributed to the Midwestern values with which he was raised.

Superman's appeal to licensees rests upon the character's continuing popularity, cross market appeal and the status of the S-Shield, the magenta and gold S emblem Superman wears on his chest, as a fashion symbol.

Gary Engle described it as without "precedent in popular culture" in Superman at Fifty: The Persistence of a Legend.

The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1940 that the pair was each being paid $75,000 a year, a fraction of National Comics Publications' millions in Superman profits.

Superman's large cast of supporting characters includes Lois Lane, perhaps the character most commonly associated with Superman, being portrayed at different times as his colleague, competitor, love interest and/or wife.

Superman, although an alien gifted with incredible powers, chooses to honor human moral codes and social mores.

The Superman films have, as of 2007, received a number of nominations and awards, with Christopher Reeve winning a BAFTA for his performance in Superman.

Superman has been interpreted and discussed in many forms in the years since his debut.

Writers found it increasingly difficult to write Superman stories in which the character was believably challenged, so DC Comics made a series of attempts to rein in the character.

Al Plastino was hired initially to copy Wayne Boring but was eventually allowed to create his own style and became one of the most prolific Superman artists during the Gold and Silver Ages of comics.

Superman can be rather rigid in this trait, causing tensions in super hero community, notably with Wonder Woman (one of his closest friends) after she killed Maxwell Lord.

Clark Kent, Superman's secret identity, was based partly on Harold Lloyd and named after Clark Gable and Kent Taylor.

Superman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be one of the most famous and popular such characters and an American cultural icon.

Superman is most vulnerable to Kryptonite, mineral debris from Krypton transformed into radioactive material by the forces that destroyed the planet.

Through his benign, controlled authority, Superman renders the city open, modernist and democratic; he furthers a sense that Le Corbusier described in 1925, namely, that 'Everything is known to us'.

Incarnations of Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, and Superboy have also been major characters in the mythos, as well as the Justice League of America (of which Superman is usually a member).

Byrne also re-established Superman's adoptive parents, The Kents, as characters.

Don Cameron and Alvin Schwartz joined the writing team, Schwartz teaming up with Wayne Boring to work on the Superman comic strip which had been launched by Siegel and Shuster in 1939.

Writers gradually increased his powers to larger extents during the Silver Age, in which Superman could fly to other worlds and galaxies and even across universes with relative ease.

The 1990s saw Superman killed by the villain Doomsday, although the character was soon resurrected.

Superman was relaunched by writer & artist John Byrne, initially in the limited series The Man of Steel (1986).

Stories making reference to the possibility of Superman siring children have been featured both in and out of mainstream continuity.

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.

The 1960s saw the introduction of a second Superman, Kal-L. DC had established a multiverse within the fictional universe its characters shared.

Superman: The Man of Steel was launched in 1991, running until 2003, whilst the quarterly book Superman: The Man of Tomorrow ran from 1995 to 1999.

A second volume of Superman was launched in 1987, running until cancellation in 2006.

Current ongoing publications that feature Superman on a regular basis are Superman, Action Comics, Superman Confidential, All-Star Superman, Superman/Batman, Justice League of America, Justice League Unlimited, and The Legion of Super-Heroes In The 31st Century.

The character Superman and his various comic series have received various awards over the years.

The second Superman was introduced to explain to the reader Superman's membership of both the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America and the 1960s superhero team the Justice League of America.

The enemy that accomplished the most, by actually killing Superman, is the raging monster Doomsday.

Danner was the main character of the 1930 novel Gladiator by Philip Wylie, and is possessed of same powers of the early Superman.

The concept itself had originally been established to the reader in 1939, in the Superman comic strip.

Superhero comics are now established as the dominant genre in American comic book publishing, with many thousands of characters in the tradition having been created in the years since Superman's creation.

Superman is often seen as being an analogy for Jesus, being a savior of humanity.

Superman has X-ray vision: walls become permeable, transparent.

Wayne Boring, initially employed in Shuster's studio, began working for DC Comics in his own right in 1942 providing pages for both Superman and Action Comics.

The details of Superman's origin, relationships and abilities changed significantly during the course of the character's publication, from what is considered the Golden Age of comic books through the Modern Age.

In 2006 Superman is stripped of his powers, although these are restored within a fictional year.

In 2003 Superman/Batman launched, as well as the Superman: Birthright limited series, with All Star Superman launched in 2005 and Superman Confidential in 2006.

Superman has also held fascination for scholars, with cultural theorists, commentators, and critics alike exploring the character's impact and role in the United States and the rest of the world.

Superman took on the role of social activist, fighting crooked businessmen and politicians and demolishing run-down tenements.

Superman has also been regularly portrayed as being vulnerable to attacks of a magical or mystical nature.

Superman has come to be seen as both an American cultural icon and the first comic book superhero.

Lead is also the only known substance that Superman cannot see through with his x-ray vision.

Superman, given the serial nature of comic publishing and the length of the character's existence, has evolved as a character as his adventures have increased.

The powers and villains were developed through the 1940s, with Superman developing the ability to fly, and costumed villains introduced from 1941.

Having lost his homeworld of Krypton, Superman is very protective of Earth, and especially of Clark Kent’s family and friends.

An influence on early Superman stories is the context of the Great Depression.

John Byrne rewrote Superman, removing many established conventions and characters from continuity, including Superboy and Supergirl.

Superman became popular very quickly, with an additional title, Superman Quarterly quickly added.

In 2003, DC Comics began to publish a new series featuring the two characters titled Superman/Batman.

The alien android (in most incarnations) known as Brainiac is considered by Richard George to be the second most effective enemy of Superman.

In 1986, Bradbury collaborated with a cable network to develop a series all his own, Ray Bradbury Theater that was aired until 1992.

Creators have discussed the idea of whether Superman pretends to be Clark Kent or vice versa, and at differing times in the publication either approach has been adopted.

Superman as a character is still seen as being as relevant now as he has been in the 70 years of his existence.