Real Name: Clark Kent / Kal-L
Born circa 1917
First appearance: Action Comics #1 - 1938
Fictional history:
Similar to the story we all know, the infant Kal-L was placed into a rocket and launched into space mere moments before Krypton exploded. When the rocket came down on Earth, it was found by an elderly couple, John and Mary Kent (both around 50 years old). After delivering its young package, the rocket was destroyed by flames. Though they first delivered the child to an orphanage, they soon returned and adopted him.
The child Clark grew up a strong and healthy boy, remarkable but not unbelievable. It was not until he was a young man that he developed his powers to the point that he could bend thick steel bars, outrun automobiles (not a great achievement considering the top speed of cars at that time ;-) ), and leap over buildings. His invulnerability was limited to the point that a bursting shell might damage his skin. Sadly, his adoptive parents died when Clark was still a young man. Taught to respect truth, justice, and the American way by his adoptive parents, he decided to use his powers to champion those ideals. He moved to Metropolis and attempted to land a job as a reporter at the major newspaper, the Daily Star. He believed that by working at a major newspaper he could find out about people in need of his help. Unfortunately, he was turned down.
Now, in 1938 around the age of 21, Clark first donned his colorful costume. Superman, in his first official action, prevented a lynching, and guess who landed the story. Report in hand, Clark Kent wins a job as a reporter for the Daily Star. It was there, at the Daily Star, that Clark Kent first met Lois Lane, and the well-known triangle began. Clark liked Lois, Lois like Superman. It was also at this point that Clark began acting "mild-mannered," meek, and rather spineless.
Over time, Superman's power grew and grew. Eventually, he could truly fly, his invulnerability increased, he developed x-ray and heat vision, he gained super hearing, telescopic vision, and microscopic vision, and his speed increase to the point that he could break the lightspeed barrier and travel through time. It was then that Superman first encountered kryptonite. It was learning his weakness to kryptonite that lead Superman to learn about his Kryptonian origins and his family, also discovering his birth name Kal-L.
After many years of crime fighting, a villain called "the Wizard" finally got the better of Superman when he cast a spell which caused Clark to forget that he was Superman. As a normal person, Clark dropped the meek facade and began acting heroically in his civilian life. Clark, as a reporter, quickly became nearly as troublesome for the criminal element as Superman had been. It was during this period that Lois fell in love with Clark and married him. Soon after the wedding, Lois realized the truth and reversed the spell. This is how Lois and Clark originally got married.
Clark continued to age at a rate which appeared normal, but his powers did not diminish. He also became the editor of the Daily Star. As he neared 70, things fell apart, however. That is when the Crisis occured, and the Earth-2 Superman joined his Earth-1 counterpart and many other heroes in battling the Anti-Monitor. He actually saved the universe during Crisis, landing the final blow to defeat the Anti-Monitor, but trapped with Superboy of Earth-Prime and certain to die. At the last minute, they were transported to a paradise-like alternate dimension where they were left after the Crisis along with Lois, and Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 who was a good guy.
Literary history:
Where the Golden Age Superman ended and the Silver Age Superman began is a bit unclear, as it was not a purposeful change. After DC introduced new versions of old heroes, they decided they needed to explain the change, so the introduced the concept of multiple Earths, often shown in the Flash title since Barry Allen could travel between the worlds. But since Superman (and Batman) were commonly associated with both groups of heroes, it was decided that a different version lived on each Earth. The Golden Age (Earth-2) Superman had a static origin date, while the Silve Age (Earth-1) Superman had a floating origin of approximately 30 years prior to the story being told.
Notes:
The Kryptonian name is spelled differently than it is today (Kal-El).
This is the original comic book version of the Superman character.
The Golden Age Superman was published from 1938 through the late 40s, and then continued to be published up through the 80s as the Earth-2 Superman who continued to age (unlike the Earth-1 counterparts).
For those who think the S-shield on L&C sucked, please consider the original.
The original Superman never acted as Superboy.
