Superman Origins

The origin story of Superman, DC Comics' most popular franchises, is a theme that has been explored and revised often throughout the many years of continuity. Although the details have notably varied in each retelling, common themes remain the same. Superman is rocketed from the doomed planet Krypton to Earth, where he is found and raised by a kindly couple in Smallville, Kansas. Growing up, he develops super-powers and travels to the city of Metropolis where he becomes Superman to protect the people.

History

Publication

The Golden and Silver Ages explored their own versions of Superman (Earth-Two) and Superman (Earth-One) to different extents, but the concept was drastically altered and intensified in 1986, when the Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooted Superman's history. Requiring a new origin, a six-issue limited series The Man of Steel was published reexamining and revising the early life of Superman. This was considered the authoritative story for a large number of years. In 2004, author Mark Waid created a newer, updated story; Superman: Birthright, which was considered equally as authoritative. However, it directly conflicted with many details in Byrne's earlier work. To sort out the differences between the two, Geoff Johns was commissioned to write Superman: Secret Origin in 2009, which is meant to fully explain Superman's new history following Infinite Crisis, another series which fundamentally altered history.

Issues

By publication date:

Action Comics #1 (June, 1938)
Superman #1 (June 1939)
Superman #53 (July–August 1948)
Superman #58 (May 1949)
Action Comics #158 (July 1951)
Superman #146
Adventure Comics #396 (August, 1970)
Amazing World of Superman #1 (1973)
Action Comics #500 (October, 1979)
DC Comics Presents #29 (January, 1981)
Action Comics #850 (July, 2007)
Action Comics #977 (June, 2017)

Other storylines:

World of Krypton (1979)
Krypton Chronicles (1981)
The Man of Steel (1986)
Superman: Birthright (2003)
Superman: Secret Origin (2009)
Superman and the Men of Steel (2011)
Superman: Year One (Volume 1) (on Earth-31) (2019)

Notes

Trivia

Links and References

Origin of Superman at Wikipedia.org

Origin of Superman

The Origin of Superman is a popular concept fundamental to the Superman mythos that has received multiple treatments and iterations, usually involving significantly different versions of events.

The Man of Steel

The Man of Steel #1 • The Man of Steel #2 • The Man of Steel #3 • The Man of Steel #4 • The Man of Steel #5 • The Man of Steel #6

Superman: Birthright