Superman
+ Superboy
Created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Schuster
+ History
Superboy shows leadership initiative.
From Adventure #346 (1966). Art
by Sheldon Moldoff.
One of Luornu's several crushes.
From Adventure #348 (1966). Art by George Papp.
It takes a family
to defeat the dark side.
From Legion v.2 #294 (1982). Art by Keith Giffen.
Superman is the son of Jor-El and Lara of the distant planet Krypton. Soon after his birth, Jor-El discovered that the entire planet Krypton was geologically unstable and about to explode. Baby Kal-El's parents made plans to save their son, and built a rocket ship to carry him to the planet Earth, where he would be raised in safety and benefit from life under a yellow sun.
On Earth, the rocket was discovered in Smallville, Kansas, by Jonathan and Martha Kent, a kindly Midwestern couple. The Kents had been unable to conceive themselves, and adopted the child, naming him Clark Kent (after her maiden name, Clark). Winter soon came to Kansas and the couple used their relative isolation to create a story — that Clark had been conceived and carried over the winter months. Clark grew up an honest midwestern boy, but soon discovered his great powers, most notably flght and super strength. (Action Comics #1, Superman: Birthright #1)
To hide his growing powers, Clark led a relatively isolated childhood on the farm. The Kents quickly discovered that he also posed a potential danger to other children if his powers could not be controlled. For this reason, he was forbidden to engage in sports, which further isolated him from his classmates.
Though Kal-El's rocket contained artifacts from Krypton, the Kents were unable to glean much useful information from it, or the crystals therein. In time, Clark learned at the very least the name of his home planet, and that the crystal held secrets he could not yet unlock. For this reason, he was elated the day another rocket landed in Smallville. It bore a youth from the planet Daxam, who landed with amnesia, and speaking in Kryptonese. Clark believed that this boy was his long-lost brother, and the boy named himself Mon-El. But when Mon-El was exposed to lead, his memory returned and told Clark that he'd followed his rocket's trail from Krypton after its destruction. Clark had no choice but to place Mon-El into the Phantom Zone, where his lead poisoning would be halted until a cure could be found. (Sueprboy #89, Action Annual #10)
Indeed, strange visitors became Clark's very best childhood friends. A few years later, he was visited by three youths from 1,000 years in the future: the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Legionnaires had broken the codes of time travel, but could not resist the temptation to meet their greatest inspiration and hero, Superman. When they arrived they were surprised to find only a boy who barely knew of his own powers. As they departed, the lonely Clark begged them to take him with them into the future. They agreed, paving the way for Clark's membership and numerous adventures in the Legion. (Adventure #247, Action #858)
As Clark neared graduation, he met an unlikely friend, another transplant to Smallville. Young Lex Luthor was also a loner, and they became good friends. The two of them shared an interest in astronomy, and as fate would have it, Lex had also found a sample of the crystals and kryptonite from Clark's arrival on Earth. Later, Lex was able to use the crystal to open a portal allowing him to veiw events on the planet Krypton — until his device exploded. In the resulting conflagaration, his house burnt and he permanently lost his hair. (Superman: Birthright #8, 5.04)
After he graduated from high school, and in his downtime during college, Clark embarked upon a worldwide tour. (#2) When he returned to Smallville, he was determined to learn more about his alien heritage and convinced his mother to unearth his spaceship. They used an alien tablet to access Kryptonian historical records and he learned of his family's "S" insignia. Martha used this symbol on a costume designed for Clark's super-powered adventures. Martha also encouraged him to dress — while in civilian attire — in a professional but nondescript way, complete with faux glasses. Clark then mastered different body languages for both his "identities." (#3)
After college, Clark interviewed for a job at the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. There he met Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. The editor, Perry White was unsure of Clark's ability to aggressively pursue a story. When a terrorist robot opened fire on the Planet building, Clark ducked out to don his costume and confront it. (#4) After his public debut in costume, the Daily Planet's web site dubbed him "Superman" — and Clark was hired as a reporter. (#5)
When Clark went with Lois to visit Lex Luthor at his Lexcorp headquarters, Luthor pretended not to know Clark. He also guessed correctly that Superman was not from Earth. (#6) Eventually Clark uncovered Luthor's evil machinations and, as Superman, he burst in on Luthor. In that visit, Lex revealed things gleaned from the sunstone crystals, things that not even Clark had known about his homeworld, Krypton. (#9) Luthor proceeded to stir public distaste for Superman and engineered an attack to look like a Kryptonian invasion, with warships bearing Superman's insignia. (#10) It was Lois who exposed Lex's attack as a hoax. But before his plans were snuffed out, Lex used the sunstone portal to communicate with Kryptonians of the past. Superman, Lex and Lois bore witness to the planet's destruction in this way. Jor-El and Lara also appeared, seconds after launching their son. Clark was able to send them a message through the portal; just before their deaths, his parents heard him say "Mother... Father... I made it." (#12)
Losing the Never-Ending Battle
Superman's success against impossible odds leads most people to believe that he is truly undefeatable. For so long, the Man of Steel managed to overcome a variety of weaknesses and triumph no matter how dire the odds. But one foe would prove his equal in strength, and surpass him in ferocity. This creature, called Doomsday, was the product of Kryptonian bio-engineering.
came to earth
On Earth, the mindless beast awoke and continued on its singular mission — to kill the Kryptonian (Superman) on that world. Their epic battle left the Justice League shattered and the Clark himself eventually fell at the same time as Doomsday, from simultaneous punches. Superman died that day in Lois' arms. (Superman v.2 #75)
He was buried in Metropolis, but his body did not remain there for long. The public did realize that his body was taken by the sentient Kryptonian artifact called the Eradicator. The Eradicator was designed to preserve Kryptonian life, and latched onto the faintest glimmer of life left in Kal-El's body. In the Fortress of Solitude, Superman was restored to full health over the course of several months. In his absence, an army of Supermen arose to take his place, including the Eradicator itself, who took human form. Another pretend-Superman was the new Superboy, a clone created from a mixture — of all things — of Superman and Lex Luthor's DNA.
Doomsday returned as well, but Superman was unable to respond to the JLA's calls for help immediately. (Doomsday Wars #1) They soon discovered that it was Brainiac's conscience that inhabited Doomsday's body, and that the villain had released Doomsday from the End of Time. (#2) Superman managed to separate Brainiac from Doomsday's body and Doomsday was coerced into a transporter tube to the moon. Afterwards, he and the JLA devised a new prison for Doomsday: he would bounce between transporter tubes, never allowed to become whole. (#3)
Doomsday remained in the transporter prison until President Lex Luthor demanded his release to aid in the war against Imperiex. He ordered the Suicide Squad to free Doomsday and Manchester Black "reprogrammed" the monster to attack Imperiex instead of Superman. Doomsday and Superman destroyed many of Imperiex's probes before Doomsday was vaporized. (Adventures of Superman #594) Lex later, re-cloned Doomsday and the monster was transformed by the Joker's gas into Doomsday Rex. Superman again defeated him, and Luthor handed Rex over to Darkseid.
A League of His Own
Not long after his debut as Superman, Clark joined new super-heroic friends to form the Justice League of America. This team first came together to fight an alien invastion by the Appellaxians. (JLofA #9, 200)
After several incarnations of the League, Superman returned to full-time duty to lead the American branch of the Justice League International. (Justice League Spectacular #1) He served in this capacity until his death. (Superman #75) After his revival, he declined to rejoin the group (Justice League America #86) until the formation of the next JLA (JL: Midsummer's Nightmare #3) and has been a steadfast member ever since. He, Batman and Wonder Woman meet yearly in order to oversee the tradition of the JLA — regardless of whether they are not currently members. Superman is considered by most to be the default leader of the JLA, although he does not hesitate to defer to his comrades as needed.
Not the Last Son...
Clark has discovered that he is not the last free Kryptonian, as he grew up believing. For years, he wondered if the heroine called Power Girl was his long-lost cousin from Krypton. But Power Girl's memories were incoherent and Clark never truly believed her claims.
Years later, his true cousin, Kara Zor-El, did indeed come to Earth. (Superman/Batman #8) Although Kara was born before Kal-El, her ship had been waylaid on its journey and arrived on Earth much later. Kara was tormented by suppressed memories that hid the truth — that she had in fact been sent by her father, Zor-El, to kill the infant Kal-El on Earth! Kara eventually conquered her "programming" and told Clark the truth. (Supergirl v.5 #17-19) She took the name Supergirl and began following in her cousin's footsteps. (#12)
Since Kara's arrival, Clark and Lois have also adopted another Kryptonian boy. This boy, Lor-Zod, was born to General Zod and Ursa — Kryptonian prisoners of the Phantom Zone. Lor-Zod's parents used him as a way to break free. After Superman defeated the prisoners of the Phantom Zone, Lor-Zod remained with he and Lois, as their adopted son, Christopher Kent. (Action #844-846, 851, Annual #11)
If that weren't enough, Superman found another rogue Kryptonian living on Earth, Karsta Wor-Ul had been a member of Dru-Zod's Kryptonian army hundreds of years before. These outlaws fled Krypton after Dru-Zod lost power and became wanted across the galaxy. She spent centuries in space, and after her compatriots had died, she fled to Earth to follow the news of a Kryptonian there. Karsta helped Superman defeat an alien invasion, but chose to leave Earth. She does not know if any other Kryptonians remain at large in the universe. (Superman #669-670)
Notes
Post-Infinite Crisis Superman continuity is governed by Superman: Birthright maxi-series. This series took cues from both the "Smallville" television series, the Superman movie series, and the "Legion of Super-Heroes" cartoon series, all of which show a young Clark Kent gradually coming into his powers, but never taking the name "Superboy." Part of this trend was due to legal claims brought against DC Comics by the heirs of Superboy's creator, Jerry Siegel.
Birthright #12 asserted that Clark only learned his Kryptonian name, Kal-El, from Luthor's viewscreens as an adult. But in Action Comics Annual #10, Clark is a boy and already knows his name of Kal-El. Since Birthright was not necessarily meant to rewrite Superman's at the time of its publication, I defer to latter-day tales for definitive answers.
In post-Crisis continuity, Superman was removed from having been a founder of the Justice League of America. He was said to not have officially joined the League until Justice League Spectacular #1. He helped defeat the Appelaxians, but did not officially meet the JLA until their battle against Xotar, the weapons master. Although the JLA unanimously voted to admit the Man of Steel into their ranks, he declined, citing responsibilities that would prevent him from dedicating the amount of time necessary for League membership. (Brave & Bold #29, Action #650, JLA: Year One #7) He did promise to come to the League's aid if they needed him, a promise he kept.
In Justice League: Incarnations #3, this was changed again, as he was made the JLA's fifth non-charter member. But he quickly removed himself from full-time status in favor of reserves, citing doubts about his ability to work in a group. Some insight on this switch is gained by Phil Jimenez who said via e-mail:
"Folks behind the scenes decided they weren't happy with Superman's "helper" status to the JLA in the post-Crisis early days, so I believe they made him an official member at the end of the JLA's first year." (24 April 2001)
All of this JLA tinkering was undone by the Infinite Crisis. Superman is once again a founder of the JLA, per 52 #51 (April 2007).
In the DC/Marvel Amalgam universe cross-over (1996), Clark Kent was known as Super-Soldier, founder of the Judgment League Avengers (JLA). Also, Lois Lane married (and was murdered by) Lex Luthor, the Green Skull. They had a daughter, Selina who became Madame Cat.
Jim Shooter
on Superboy: This could take volumes. But it won't. He is the most complex
character, and the best. Not for nothing is this guy the greatest hero
ever. He is control of himself, his life and his power, incredibly so.
A fantastic person. —Interlac (1976)
Tom & Mary Bierbaum on Superboy: He's basically what we tried to turn Mon-El/Valor into—the greatest hero of them all, the standard by which all that follows would be measured. For the Legionnaires, his presence is something akin to a contemporary club of U.S. presidents being joined by Abraham Lincoln.
Post-Crisis: The Pocket Universe Superboy
Superboy Kal-El of Krypton (in an alternate dimension)
First appearance: (body, as "Reflecto") Legion of Super-Heroes
v.1 #276; (body of Superboy, mind of Ultra Boy) Legion of Super-Heroes
v.1 #279; (body and mind) Legion of Super-Heroes v.1 #281
Joined Legion: behind the scenes, after Legion of Super-Heroes v.1
#282
Left Legion / Death: Legion of Super-Heroes v.2 #38
Historical knowledge of the twentieth century is not completely
precise. There had never been any reason to think that Superman had
been a super-hero while in his teens, so it was widely believed that
his career didn't start until he was an adult. This assessment changed...for
a while.It all started shortly after Ultra Boy was believed dead,
killed by a band of space pirates. Out of the blue, a hero calling
himself Reflecto appeared to the Legion, with a costume like that
of Stig Ah, but powers like a Daxamite, and a great interest in the
welfare of Phantom Girl. But the Legion had no time to puzzle out
the stranger's identity, as the Earth was being blackmailed by Grimbor
the Chainsman. Everyone, including Grimbor, guessed that Reflecto
was Ultra Boy, not dead after all. When Reflecto tried to confront
Grimbor, the Chainsman forced him to use his super-strength, and
then tried to blast him, as Ultra Boy can only use one power at a
time. But when the blast came, Reflecto was still standing...and
underneath the blasted-away Reflecto costume was the symbol of Superman.
But stranger still, the mind inside the body was that of Jo Nah.
In order to figure out what was going on, a group of Legionnaires traveled back in time to when Superman would have been a boy. They discovered a robed villain called the Time Trapper, who found an unconscious Ultra Boy in the dimension in which he had been trapped, and attempted to use Superboy as a way to get to the thirtieth century and rule it. When the Legionnaires captured the Time Trapper (or so they thought), they had Ultra Boy back alive, and the boy who would become the world's greatest hero as a new member.
Or so they thought. When Cosmic Boy took a vacation back in the twentieth century, he met a Superman who did not recognize him...and who claimed to have never been called Superboy.Cosmic Boy was then captured and toyed with by the Time Trapper, who was by far more powerful than he had seemed before. When he escaped, he convinced the Legion to send an expedition back to Superboy's time, where they found the familiar world they had been expecting. Half of the team went into Smallville to speak to Superboy...and didn't come back. The others saw Superboy chase after them with a stasis ray and escaped into the time stream, exiting, accidentally, in Superman's time. Superboy followed them, and, after a fight between Superboy and Superman, Superboy surrendered. He explained that his world was about to be destroyed in what came to be known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the Time Trapper built a machine that could save his world...if he would capture the Legionnaires and bring them to him. The Legion brought Superman back to his proper time, and they and Superboy went to confront the Trapper.
It was then that they learned the full truth about Superboy. The Time Trapper had wished to rule the world of the thirtieth century, but without interference, the sorcerer Mordru would have been too powerful for him to beat. So he created a "pocket dimension", which Mordru wouldn't notice, and built a legend of young heroism. He created a Krypton, slightly different from that of Superman, and an Earth, also slightly different, so that young Kal-El, Krypton's last survivor, would become a super-hero in his youth, and inspire a team of young heroes in the future, to weaken Mordru enough so that the Trapper could beat him. But someone (it was Glorith, but the Trapper was unaware of that) blocked his pocket dimension from any contact with the real universe, and his plan was abandoned. Then, when the barrier was shattered by a strange combination of energies (Ultra Boy's ultra-energy force field and the space-pirates' blaster), he saw an opportunity to reassert himself in the real timeline, and created the Reflecto situation.
Superboy, outraged by this and by the Trapper's demand that he kill the Legionnaires himself, refused to go along with the Trapper's scheme any longer. The Time Trapper was undisturbed by this and simply destroyed the machine that he used to save Superboy's universe from the Crisis. After many failed attempts at stopping the wall of anti-matter, Superboy realized that the only part of the machine that the Time Trapper broke was the containment vessel for its energies. Superboy inserted himself in its place and saved his world for good, dying in the process on what to the Legionnaires was July 20, 2987. He was buried on Shanghalla, in the thirtieth century...the only part of the real universe in which he existed.uK&
In early 2996, when Zero Hour struck the thirtieth century, the accompanying time-anomalies caused Superboy, from before his death, to appear at that time, while the Legion was fighting Mordru and Glorith. As before, he inspired the Legion to victory, before disappearing back to the twentieth century...and then, to oblivion.
+ Powers
Superman possesses the same powers as all Kryptonians under a yellow sun: super-strength, super-speed, invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision, and freezing breath.
He can survive unaided in space roughly two hours by holding her breath, but does require oxygen.
These powers can be negated primarily by red sunlight, kryptonite and magic.
Appearances + References
Too numerous to list |
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... and others too numerous to list. |
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