Superman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc. in 1938, the character first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 30, 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips, and video games. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book. The character's appearance is distinctive and iconic: a blue, red and yellow costume, complete with cape, with a stylized "S" shield on his chest. This shield is now typically used across media to symbolize the character.
The original story of Superman relates that he was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father Jor-El, moments before Krypton's destruction. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent and imbued with a strong moral compass. Very early he started to display superhuman abilities, which upon reaching maturity he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity.
While referred to less than flatteringly as "the big blue Boy Scout" by some of his fellow superheroes, Superman is hailed as "The Man of Steel", "The Man of ...
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I like him. His prominence in my personal collection is limited to the The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Returns trade paperbacks and a few favored individual issues - Superman #199 and Adventures of Superman #463 are particular favorites. My preferred Superman stories are those which don't take themselves too seriously.