Powers:
super strength, flight, invulnerability, super speed, heat vision, freeze breath, x-ray vision, superhuman hearing, healing factor
Alias/Alter Ego:
Man of Steel
Base of Operations
Metropolis
Real Name
Kal-El, Clark Joseph Kent
The most recognized superhero in pop culture, Superman has been elevated to mythic folkhero status. Rocketed to Earth from the dying planet Krypton, baby Kal-El was found by a farming couple who named the boy Clark Kent and raised him as their own. Discovering his enormous powers, they instilled in him strong moral values—and inspired him to become a hero.
Superman has super-everything—strength, speed, flight, invulnerability as well as his renowned X-ray and heat vision. The most powerful being on the planet, his amazing abilities are also a melancholy reminder of how different he is from the people he’s dedicated to protect.
A universal icon, Superman means different things to the many diverse people he inspires: He’s an alien; an immigrant from a faraway land just looking to help; a country boy fighting the never-ending battle for truth and justice. And recent comics have truly spotlighted his role as the people’s hero: Following a neophyte Man of Steel still learning his powers’ limits, Superman fights the evil corporate tycoons and corrupt one-percenters that have overwhelmed the establishment.
Superman has super-everything—strength, speed, flight, invulnerability as well as his renowned X-ray and heat vision. The most powerful being on the planet, his amazing abilities are also a melancholy reminder of how different he is from the people he’s dedicated to protect.
A universal icon, Superman means different things to the many diverse people he inspires: He’s an alien; an immigrant from a faraway land just looking to help; a country boy fighting the never-ending battle for truth and justice. And recent comics have truly spotlighted his role as the people’s hero: Following a neophyte Man of Steel still learning his powers’ limits, Superman fights the evil corporate tycoons and corrupt one-percenters that have overwhelmed the establishment.
Although Superman's origin has been retold many times, the story has remained somewhat consistent throughout. Superman's story tells of his birth as Kal-El to renowned scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara on the alien planet Krypton. When Jor-El discovers that the planet is going to explode, he puts Kal-El in a spaceship heading to the planet Earth, which crashes in a field in the state of Kansas.
The ship and its occupant are found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, a farming family, who take him in as their own. As he grows, so do his strength and his strange and awesome abilities, fueled by Earth's yellow sun. As an adult, he moves to the bustling City of Tomorrow, Metropolis, becoming a field reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper, and donning the identity of Superman.