Superman is confusing



Look, we all love Superman but with a character that long-lived who has been written by so many different writers it was inevitable that his comic story continuity would eventually become a snarled mess...but not in the expected manner.

Superman has been effectively had the same main back story in all incarnations: rocketed from a dying world to be raised by adopted parents. The origin never had any problems... but the life of Superman on Earth was not treated very consistently.

Those inconsistencies really didn't matter until an effort to explain the difference between the Golden and Silver Age characters was made with. Now, the Golden Age heroes were from an alternate Earth, Earth-Two. The problem was, however, the simplified and streamlined history of Earth-Two Superman had very little in common with the Golden Age Superman. Superman of Earth-Two had worked at the Daily Star under editor George Taylor. In reality, the Daily Planet and Perry White had been around since 1940, and these stories were still popular and occasionally reprinted. This decision potentially swept those adventures under a rug.

Writers and editors had different ideas on what stories happened on Earth-Two, Earth-One, or somewhere else. Or where Earth-One actually started, questions that remain mostly unanswered to this day. Eventually, the concept of "Earth-Two-A" was created. This was a variant of Earth-Two with characteristics of Earth-One stories. Several other inconsistencies were much later explained with even more in-between worlds, like Earth-Twelve, Earth-Thirty-Two and Earth-Forty. This did not clear things up as much as they had intended.

The Crisis on Infinite Earths was a reboot, setting up a "one Earth one timeline concept" for all its heroes. It soon went pearshaped for many, including Superman. Then DC would do more history-changing events like Zero Hour, Hypertime, JLA/Avengers, and Infinite Crisis which messed up what little continuity the New Earth Superman did have. This was the case for so many characters another reboot, Flashpoint, was created. It ended confusion. For a bit.

Don't get us started on Rebirth.

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When did Earth-One Superman begun his career?
There is a big problem; for there was no definite passage about when the adventures of the Golden Age Superman (who appears to be different from the Earth-Two version) ended and when adventures on Earth-One begun. Some catalogs indicate stories of the same comic book happening in different Earths.
 * Superman's first appearance as Superboy dates back to 1944 . However, a problem arises if you take into account that Captain Comet, the first hero of Earth-One, began his career in 1951. Then the 1944 story would be the future; a related problem is that the Superman of 1949 presents an adventure when he was Superboy pushing his career well before 1951.
 * A retcon indicates that Superboy began his career during the term of an American president strongly resembling John Kennedy (1961 to 1963) (Superboy Vol 2 23), but that would deny Superman Vol 1 170, where the hero, already adult, meets Kennedy and reveals his identity to him.
 * Another retcon indicates that Clark Kent and Lana Lang leave Smallville and move to Metropolis, where they enter college during the Vietnam War, which occurred between 1955 and 1963; it is understood that Superboy was in his last years before adopting the nickname of Superman. (Superman Vol 1 370)
 * Yet another retcon indicates that Superboy would have become Superman at some point in the 1970s; however, we see the hero apprehending Luthor for attempting to hack bank accounts with a computer, which would be inconsistent with the technology of the time. (Superman: The Secret Years Vol 1 1-4)


 * Mark Gruenwald suggested the adventures of Superman (and Batman) between (1951) and (1960) took place on another Earth which he dubbed Earth-E.


 * Justice League of America Vol 1 144 states that in February 1959, an embryo of what one year later would become the Justice League was formed when Commander Blanx and his group of white Martians went after the Martian Manhunter following his trail. If we take into account this story, with Superman already adult among the group, the three previous retcons are invalid. The story suggests hysteria in the population due to the Cold War, which could only match the reality of 1959, and can not be embedded in another era.

Origin of powers

 * 1938: A brief one one panel explanation of Superman's powers states "Kent came from a planet whose inhabitants whose physical structure was millions of years advanced from our own. Upon reaching maturity the people of his race became gifted with incredible strength."
 * 1939: Superman appeared in newspaper form with an expanded version of the origin detailing that at maturity all natives of his planet Krypton had the same abilities as Superman.  even stated "It is not too far fetched to predict that some day our very own planet may be peopled entirely by Supermen!" (sic)
 * 1945: his powers are explained as a result of Earth's lesser gravity.
 * 19?? (not before 1950): his powers are derived of exposure to Earth's yellow sun; in Krypton, the star was red, and consequently Kryptonians had no powers while in Krypton. Red sun becomes one of Superman's regular weaknesses. (It retcons old stories where Kryptonians have powers even in their world).
 * 19??: It is discovered that Superman is vulnerable to magic.
 * 1980: Superman discovers why he is vulnerable to magic (Magic was rare on Krypton, then Kryptonians have no defense against it).

Powers by appearance
Index of Superman powers as these began to appear.
 * Invulnerability, Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Speed (running), Super-Leaping: 1938
 * Enhanced Hearing:
 * Telescopic Vision:
 * X-Ray Vision:
 * Superhuman Reflexes: Superman is seen grabbing bullets for the first time in ???
 * Facial Metamorphosis: 1939 (?)
 * Flight: Not before 1940
 * Death Simulation (He could halt his heartbeat, simulating death): 1940
 * Super-Breath:
 * Heat Vision: In the beginning, his Heat Vision was concentrated X-Ray.
 * Time Travel: 1949
 * Eidetic Memory:
 * Hypnosis:
 * Dimensional Travel:
 * Superventriloquism:

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Timeline

 * 1938: Superman (Clark Kent) is created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He's a reporter working for the Cleveland-based Daily Star under editor George Taylor. This is soon changed to Metropolis, and the newspaper becomes the Daily Planet.
 * 1940: The radio show The Adventures of Superman introduces a new editor, Perry White. He is introduced into comics later that year. This marks the first appearance of Earth-Two-A. In the same year, Justice Society of America (JSA) begins to be published and although Superman does not appear in the first stories, he is already quoted as a member of the team.
 * 1941: First historical participation of Superman in a JSA adventure.
 * 1942: Imaginary Stories - albeit not yet named as such - are introduced. is retroactively identified as the first Imaginary Story, though it originally didn't run with that banner. The many "what-if" Imaginary Stories that follow are later explained as taking place on other worlds, though some are dreams or metafiction.
 * 1945: Superman's heretofore unexplored youth in Smallville is explored with the introduction of Superboy, the teenage Clark Kent.
 * 1947: A new origin shows Clark Kent went to high school in Metropolis rather than Smallville. This is later retconned to have taken place on Earth-Forty.
 * 1951: Superman's origin is retold, which now includes his career as Superboy.
 * 1958: Super-Girl is created via magical totem staff.
 * 1959: Supergirl is introduced as Superman's cousin.
 * 1969: Eight years after Barry Allen discovered Earth-Two the Superman of Earth-Two has his first, non-retroactive, appearance.
 * 1976: On Earth-Two, Power Girl is introduced as Kal-L's cousin and new JSA member.
 * 1977: The origin of the Justice Society is retroactively told as having occurred in 1940, and Earth-Two Superman was one of its founding members.
 * 1979: It is revealed that on Earth-Two, soon after George Taylor retired as Daily Star editor in the 1950s, both Perry White and Clark Kent tried to assume the position, with Kent victorious. This retroactively eliminates Perry as editor in Golden Age stories.
 * 1980: An Earth-Two Lana Lang is retroactively introduced in 1950s; she and her family had left Smallville when she was very young. Clark Kent and Lana Lang never met during their youth, unlike their Earth-One counterparts.
 * 1985–1986: Crisis on Infinite Earths introduces a Superboy on Earth-Prime, Supergirl dies, then the end of the saga erases the existence of the multiple Earths and Supergirl.
 * 1986: The concepts of Earth-Two-A, "Earth-B", and Earth-Twelve are established to explain inconstencies in Earth-One and Earth-Two stories, many of which involved Superman.
 * 1986: Post-Crisis Superman is introduced by John Byrne's Man of Steel minisseries. Superman's story is reset, where he was less powerful, never was a Superboy, and was the last surviving Kryptonian (never having a cousin). Kal-El was rocketed to Earth in embrionic state, born on Earth. All his villains and support cast changes too. Luthor was now a businessman, not a mad scientist.
 * 1987: A Pocket Universe is introduced to explain a Superboy on the Legion of Super-Heroes. ;
 * 1987: Power Girl, who can no longer be Kryptonian, is retconned as Arion's granddaughter.
 * 1988: A new Supergirl is introduced; she is a protoplasmic creature from the Pocket Universe.


 * 1994: Zero Hour introduces very few changes for Superman, none of which proved to be permanent. The biggest one is that Superman developed his powers only in adulthood, so his football trophies at high school and college were won honestly.
 * 1999: Hypertime is discovered after a villain named Gog keeps killing Superman one day earlier than the last.
 * 2001: Everything Superman knew about Krypton was a lie created by his father Jor-El. In this newly revealed past Superman was born on Krypton and was rocketed to Earth as a small child.
 * 2002: The Krypton Superman was told about and traveled to was an an elaborate trap created by Brainiac 13.
 * 2003: Superman: Birthright retcons Superman's story again: he was born on Krypton and was rocketed to Earth as a small child; Luthor is born in Smallville.
 * 2004: A new Supergirl, (again) Superman's cousin, is introduced.
 * 2006: Power Girl's origin is changed back to her being from Earth-Two.