Superman

20th-century American comic-strip superhero who first appeared in Action Comics in June 1938 and in a newspaper strip in January of the following year; both were written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joseph Shuster. Superman, the “man of steel,” later became the protagonist of a radio show, animated-film cartoons, a novel, a Broadway musical, a television series, and motion pictures.

Superman, as the story goes, was sent as a baby to Earth by his parents from their home on the doomed planet Krypton. He was found and reared in mid-America by Martha and Jonathan Kent, who named him Clark.

As a boy he discovered the latent native powers that would later evolve into flight, X-ray vision, and unlimited strength—the hallmarks of Clark Kent's alter ego, Superman. This dual identity provided the central tension of the saga. As the mild-mannered Kent, he worked as a reporter on the Daily Planet in Metropolis, where he developed a romantic interest in fellow reporter Lois Lane. She, however, dazzled by the courageous crime-fighting exploits of Superman and unaware of his secret identity, continually rejected Kent's overtures. Superman, invulnerable to all dangers except for the mysterious substance Kryptonite, in turn remained resolutely aloof and independent in his fight for “truth, justice, and the American way.”