Presents,
Who is Superman?
A History of the Man of Steel.
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KryptonThe series of novels featuring John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs had a major influence on Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel (the creators of Superman) "Carter was able to leap great distances because Mars was smaller than the planet Earth, and he had great strength," recalled Siegel. "I visualized the planet Krypton as a huge planet, much larger than Earth, so whoever came to earth from that planet would be able to leap great distances and lift great weights." On the Superman radio program the planet Krypton was on the other side of our sun, later Krypton would be in a distant solar system orbitting a red sun. |
"Rocketed to Earth ..."
Jor-El and Lara are the biological parent of Kal-El, the infant that would grow up to become Superman. One of the top scientists of his planet, Jor-El predicted Krypton's distruction, although he could convince no one else on the planet of the danger. Finally, with Krypton in its death-throes, Jor-El launched his infant son to Earth.
Among Jor-El's other accomplishments is the discovery of the Phantom Zone and the decision to use it as a form of punishment for criminals.
...and who disguised as Clark Kent,
Superman's Earthly foster parents have been a part of the legend almost since the beginning, although it took quite a while for their names to be estalished. The first time their names are given, they are called John and Mary Kent (Superman #53), on radio, telivision, and in George Lowther's novel ("Superman" published in 1942 by Random House.), they are Eben and Sarah Kent. In Action #158 (1951) and onward, they are Jonathan and Martha. Originally a farm couple, they moved to Smallville when their adopted son reached school age and opened a general store. It is generally accepted that they both died within a few months of each other, whereupon Clark left Smallville for Metropolis.
Until 1947, it was believed that the Kents and their son kept his super-powers a great secret, but in that year his adventures as a costumed Superboy in and around Smallville began being published.
The Maid of Might
In Argo City on Krypton lived Zor-El, brother of Supermans father Jor-El. Though he believed his brother's predictions of Krypton's impending demise his plan for salvation was to raise a dome over the whole city. When Krypton exploded, Argo City remained intact. In time Zor-el's daughter, Kara was born there. But all was not well, the chunk of Krypton upon which Argo City rested turned to Anti-kryptonite and slowly began to kill all the inhabitants. In order to save his now teen-aged daughter, Zor-El launched her to Earth to join her cousin.
On Earth, Kara adopted the name Linda Lee (adding Danvers when she was adopted) and operated as Superman's "secret weapon." A few years later, her presence was revealed to the world and she began her public career. In her nearly three decades in comics, she appeared in Action Comics, Adventure Comics, and two different series bearing her name.
Kandor
Argo City was not the only hunk of Krypton To survive it's destuction. Kandor, once the proud capital city of the planet Krypton, was stolen away from it's home planet and reduced in size by the spacefaring villain Brainiac. Intending to collect cities from across the galaxy to repopulate his homeworld, Brainiac placed the miniaturized Kandor in a protective glass bottle.
Many years later, long after Krypton had met it's fiery fate, Superman himself rescued the tiny city from Brainiac. The Man of Tomorrow brought Kandor and all it's inhabitants to this Arctic Fortress of Solitude. There, he has toiled away for many hours in the hope of someday finding a way to restore Kandor to it's original size.
As a living remnant of Krypton, Kandor holds much interest for Superman. Fortunately, Kryptonian scientist Zak-Kul discovered a way to use the rare element Illuim 349 to shrink or enlarge individual people, making it possible for Superman himself to enter Kandor. Because Kandor replicates Krypton's gravity field, however, Superman loses his super-powers when he visits the city.
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Return to Superman.
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Superman created by Jerry Seigel & Joe Shuster.
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