On the 18th of April 1938, a small comic book hit newsstands that would change the landscape of American pop culture forever. Inside the first issue of Action Comics, a baby named Kal-El was sent from the exploding planet Krypton to the American countryside. He landed near the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, where he was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent. They named him Clark Kent, instilling him with strong morals that would guide his future as a vigilante. The Kents quickly realized he was superhuman, as the Earth's yellow sun granted him physical and sensory abilities far beyond those of a human. He was nearly impervious to harm and capable of unassisted flight, a walking miracle in a world of ordinary people. This origin story established the archetype for the superhero genre, creating a character who used extraordinary abilities to fight evil and avert disasters. While earlier characters existed who arguably fit this definition, it was Superman who popularized the genre and established its conventions. He became the best-selling superhero in American comic books up until the 1980s, and the comic book series featuring him remains the best-selling in the world with 600 million copies sold.
The Rejected Manuscript
The journey to publication began years before the comic book hit shelves, starting with a short story titled The Reign of the Superman published in January 1933. Jerry Siegel, a high school student in Cleveland, wrote the story and his friend Joe Shuster provided illustrations for it. The titular character was a homeless man named Bill Dunn who was tricked by an evil scientist into consuming an experimental drug. The drug gave Dunn the powers of mind-reading, mind-control, and clairvoyance, which he used maliciously for profit and amusement. When the drug wore off, he was left a powerless vagrant again. Siegel and Shuster then shifted to making comic strips, but newspaper editors were not impressed with their early ideas. They told the duo that if they wanted to make a successful comic strip, it had to be something more sensational than anything else on the market. This prompted Siegel to revisit Superman as a comic strip character, modifying his powers to make him even more sensational. Like Bill Dunn, the second prototype of Superman was given powers against his will by an unscrupulous scientist, but instead of psychic abilities, he acquired superhuman strength and bullet-proof skin. This new Superman was a crime-fighting hero instead of a villain, because Siegel noted that comic strips with heroic protagonists tended to be more successful. Siegel and Shuster showed this second concept to Consolidated Book Publishers, based in Chicago, but they later pulled out of the comics business without ever offering a book deal because the sales of Detective Dan were disappointing. Shuster reacted by burning their rejected Superman comic, sparing only the cover, and they continued collaborating on other projects for a time.The Evolution Of A Hero
Siegel wrote to numerous artists to find a partner to replace Shuster, but the first response came in July 1933 from Leo O'Mealia, who drew the Fu Manchu strip. In the script Siegel sent to O'Mealia, Superman's origin story changed again. He was a scientist-adventurer from the far future when humanity had naturally evolved superpowers. Just before the Earth exploded, he escaped in a time-machine to the modern era, whereupon he immediately began using his superpowers to fight crime. O'Mealia produced a few strips and showed them to his newspaper syndicate, but they were rejected, and the strips were lost. In June 1934, Siegel found another partner, an artist in Chicago named Russell Keaton. In the script Siegel sent Keaton, Superman's origin story further evolved. In the distant future, when Earth was on the verge of exploding due to giant cataclysms, the last surviving man sent his three-year-old son back in time to the year 1935. The time-machine appeared on a road where it was discovered by motorists Sam and Molly Kent. They left the boy in an orphanage, but the staff struggled to control him because he had superhuman strength and impenetrable skin. The Kents adopted the boy and named him Clark, teaching him that he must use his fantastic natural gifts for the benefit of humanity. Keaton produced two weeks' worth of strips based on Siegel's script, but they were rejected, and he abandoned the project. Siegel and Shuster reconciled and resumed developing Superman together. The character became an alien from the planet Krypton, and Shuster designed the now-familiar costume. He created tights with an S on the chest, over-shorts, and a cape. They made Clark Kent a journalist who pretended to be timid, and conceived his colleague Lois Lane, who was attracted to the bold and mighty Superman but did not realize that he and Kent were the same person.The Deal That Changed Everything
In June 1935, Siegel and Shuster finally found work with National Allied Publications, a comic magazine publishing company in New York owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Wheeler-Nicholson offered to publish Superman in one of his own magazines, but Siegel and Shuster refused his offer because Wheeler-Nicholson had demonstrated himself to be an irresponsible businessman. He had been slow to respond to their letters and had not paid them for their work in New Fun Comics #6. They chose to keep marketing Superman to newspaper syndicates themselves. Despite the erratic pay, Siegel and Shuster kept working for Wheeler-Nicholson because he was the only publisher who was buying their work. In early January 1938, Siegel had a three-way telephone conversation with Liebowitz and an employee of McClure named Max Gaines. Gaines informed Siegel that McClure had rejected Superman, and asked if he could forward their Superman strips to Liebowitz so that Liebowitz could consider them for Action Comics. Siegel agreed. Liebowitz and his colleagues were impressed by the strips, and they asked Siegel and Shuster to develop the strips into 13 pages for Action Comics. Having grown tired of rejections, Siegel and Shuster accepted the offer. At least now they would see Superman published. They submitted their work in late February and were paid for their work, $10 per page. In early March they signed a contract at Liebowitz's request in which they gave away the copyright for Superman to Detective Comics, Inc. This was normal practice in the business, and Siegel and Shuster had given away the copyrights to their previous works as well. The duo's revised version of Superman appeared in the first issue of Action Comics, which was published on the 18th of April 1938. The issue was a huge success thanks to Superman's feature.The Golden Age And The Silver Age
Since 1938, Superman stories have been regularly published in periodical comic books published by DC Comics. The first and oldest of these is Action Comics, which began in April 1938. Action Comics was initially an anthology magazine, but it eventually became dedicated to Superman stories. The second oldest periodical is Superman, which began in June 1939. Action Comics and Superman have been published without interruption, ignoring changes to the title and numbering scheme. Several other shorter-lived Superman periodicals have been published over the years. Superman is part of the DC Universe, which is a shared setting of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, and others. More Superman comic books have been sold in publication history than any other American superhero character. Sales data first became public in 1960, and showed that Superman was the best-selling comic book character of the 1960s and 1970s. Sales rose again starting in 1987. Superman #75, published in November 1992, had over 23 million copies sold, making it the best-selling issue of a comic book of all time, due to a media sensation over the death of Superman in that issue. Sales declined from that point on. In March 2018, Action Comics sold just 51,534 copies, although such low figures are normal for superhero comic books in general. The comic books have become a niche aspect of the Superman franchise due to low readership, though they remain influential as creative engines for the movies and television shows. Comic book stories can be produced quickly and cheaply, and are thus an ideal medium for experimentation. Whereas comic books in the 1950s were read by children, since the 1990s the average reader has been an adult.The Tragedy Of Creators
In a contract dated the 1st of March 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave away the copyright to Superman to their employer, DC Comics, prior to Superman's first publication in April. Contrary to popular perception, the $130 that DC Comics paid them was for their first Superman story, not the copyright to the character. That, they gave away for free. This was normal practice in the comic magazine industry and they had done the same with their previous published works, but Superman became far more popular and valuable than they anticipated and they much regretted giving him away. DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster, and they were paid well because they were popular with the readers. Between 1938 and 1947, DC Comics paid them together at least $401,194.85. Siegel wrote most of the magazine and daily newspaper stories until he was conscripted into the United States Army in 1943, whereupon the task was passed to ghostwriters. While Siegel was serving in Hawaii, DC Comics published a story featuring a child version of Superman called Superboy, which was based on a script Siegel had submitted several years before. Siegel was furious because DC Comics did this without having bought the character. After Siegel's discharge from the Army, he and Shuster sued DC Comics in 1947 for the rights to Superman and Superboy. The judge ruled that Superman belonged to DC Comics, but that Superboy was a separate entity that belonged to Siegel. Siegel and Shuster settled out-of-court with DC Comics, which paid the pair $94,013.16 in exchange for the full rights to both Superman and Superboy. DC Comics then fired Siegel and Shuster. DC Comics rehired Jerry Siegel as a writer in 1959. In 1965, Siegel and Shuster attempted to regain rights to Superman using the renewal option in the Copyright Act of 1909, but the court ruled Siegel and Shuster had transferred the renewal rights to DC Comics in 1938. Siegel and Shuster appealed, but the appeals court upheld this decision. DC Comics fired Siegel once again, when he filed this second lawsuit. In 1975, Siegel and several other comic book writers and artists launched a public campaign for better compensation and treatment of comic creators. Warner Brothers agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a yearly stipend, full medical benefits, and credit their names in all future Superman productions in exchange for never contesting ownership of Superman. Siegel and Shuster upheld this bargain. Shuster died in 1992. DC Comics offered Shuster's heirs a stipend in exchange for never challenging ownership of Superman, which they accepted for some years. Siegel died in 1996. His heirs attempted to take the rights to Superman using the termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976. DC Comics negotiated an agreement wherein it would pay the Siegel heirs several million dollars and a yearly stipend of $500,000 in exchange for permanently granting DC the rights to Superman. DC Comics also agreed to insert the line By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family in all future Superman productions. The Siegels accepted DC's offer in an October 2001 letter. Copyright lawyer and movie producer Marc Toberoff then struck a deal with the heirs of both Siegel and Shuster to help them get the rights to Superman in exchange for signing the rights over to his production company, Pacific Pictures. Both groups accepted. The Siegel heirs called off their deal with DC Comics and in 2004 sued DC for the rights to Superman and Superboy. In 2008, the judge ruled in favor of the Siegels. DC Comics appealed the decision, and the appeals court ruled in favor of DC, arguing that the October 2001 letter was binding. In 2003, the Shuster heirs served a termination notice for Shuster's grant of his half of the copyright to Superman. DC Comics sued the Shuster heirs in 2010, and the court ruled in DC's favor on the grounds that the 1992 agreement with the Shuster heirs barred them from terminating the grant. Under current US copyright law, Superman's first appearance in Action Comics #1 is due to enter the US public domain on the 1st of January 2034. However, this will only apply at first to the character as he is depicted in 1938. In addition DC Comics retains trademarks on Superman's name, image and S logo, and unlike copyrights, trademarks do not expire unless they cease to be used.The Man Of Steel In Media
Superman has been adapted to other media including radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games. The radio series The Adventures of Superman ran from 1940 to 1951 and would feature Bud Collyer as the voice of Superman. Collyer would also voice the character in a series of animated shorts produced by Fleischer/Famous Studios and released between 1941 and 1943. Superman also appeared in film serials in 1948 and 1950, played by Kirk Alyn. Christopher Reeve would portray Superman in the 1978 film and its sequels, and define the character in cinema for generations. Superman would continue to appear in feature films, including a series starring Henry Cavill and a 2025 film starring David Corenswet. The character has also appeared in numerous television series, including Adventures of Superman, played by George Reeves, and Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Tim Daly. The radio series The Adventures of Superman ran from 1940 to 1951 and would feature Bud Collyer as the voice of Superman. Collyer would also voice the character in a series of animated shorts produced by Fleischer/Famous Studios and released between 1941 and 1943. Superman also appeared in film serials in 1948 and 1950, played by Kirk Alyn. Christopher Reeve would portray Superman in the 1978 film and its sequels, and define the character in cinema for generations. Superman would continue to appear in feature films, including a series starring Henry Cavill and a 2025 film starring David Corenswet. The character has also appeared in numerous television series, including Adventures of Superman, played by George Reeves, and Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Tim Daly. The character's persona has also inspired the creation of characters such as Supergirl, Superboy and Krypto the Superdog. Superman maintains a secret hideout called the Fortress of Solitude, and his enemies include Brainiac, General Zod, and archenemy Lex Luthor. He exists within the DC Universe, where he interacts with other heroes including fellow Justice League members like Wonder Woman and Batman, and appears in various titles based on the team. Different versions of the character exist in alternative universes, the Superman from the Golden Age of comic books has been labeled as the Earth-Two version while the version appearing in Silver Age and Bronze Age comics is labeled the Earth One Superman.On the 18th of April 1938, a small comic book hit newsstands that would change the landscape of American pop culture forever. Inside the first issue of Action Comics, a baby named Kal-El was sent from the exploding planet Krypton to the American countryside. He landed near the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, where he was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent. They named him Clark Kent, instilling him with strong morals that would guide his future as a vigilante. The Kents quickly realized he was superhuman, as the Earth's yellow sun granted him physical and sensory abilities far beyond those of a human. He was nearly impervious to harm and capable of unassisted flight, a walking miracle in a world of ordinary people. This origin story established the archetype for the superhero genre, creating a character who used extraordinary abilities to fight evil and avert disasters. While earlier characters existed who arguably fit this definition, it was Superman who popularized the genre and established its conventions. He became the best-selling superhero in American comic books up until the 1980s, and the comic book series featuring him remains the best-selling in the world with 600 million copies sold.
The Rejected Manuscript
The journey to publication began years before the comic book hit shelves, starting with a short story titled The Reign of the Superman published in January 1933. Jerry Siegel, a high school student in Cleveland, wrote the story and his friend Joe Shuster provided illustrations for it. The titular character was a homeless man named Bill Dunn who was tricked by an evil scientist into consuming an experimental drug. The drug gave Dunn the powers of mind-reading, mind-control, and clairvoyance, which he used maliciously for profit and amusement. When the drug wore off, he was left a powerless vagrant again. Siegel and Shuster then shifted to making comic strips, but newspaper editors were not impressed with their early ideas. They told the duo that if they wanted to make a successful comic strip, it had to be something more sensational than anything else on the market. This prompted Siegel to revisit Superman as a comic strip character, modifying his powers to make him even more sensational. Like Bill Dunn, the second prototype of Superman was given powers against his will by an unscrupulous scientist, but instead of psychic abilities, he acquired superhuman strength and bullet-proof skin. This new Superman was a crime-fighting hero instead of a villain, because Siegel noted that comic strips with heroic protagonists tended to be more successful. Siegel and Shuster showed this second concept to Consolidated Book Publishers, based in Chicago, but they later pulled out of the comics business without ever offering a book deal because the sales of Detective Dan were disappointing. Shuster reacted by burning their rejected Superman comic, sparing only the cover, and they continued collaborating on other projects for a time.
The Evolution Of A Hero
Siegel wrote to numerous artists to find a partner to replace Shuster, but the first response came in July 1933 from Leo O'Mealia, who drew the Fu Manchu strip. In the script Siegel sent to O'Mealia, Superman's origin story changed again. He was a scientist-adventurer from the far future when humanity had naturally evolved superpowers. Just before the Earth exploded, he escaped in a time-machine to the modern era, whereupon he immediately began using his superpowers to fight crime. O'Mealia produced a few strips and showed them to his newspaper syndicate, but they were rejected, and the strips were lost. In June 1934, Siegel found another partner, an artist in Chicago named Russell Keaton. In the script Siegel sent Keaton, Superman's origin story further evolved. In the distant future, when Earth was on the verge of exploding due to giant cataclysms, the last surviving man sent his three-year-old son back in time to the year 1935. The time-machine appeared on a road where it was discovered by motorists Sam and Molly Kent. They left the boy in an orphanage, but the staff struggled to control him because he had superhuman strength and impenetrable skin. The Kents adopted the boy and named him Clark, teaching him that he must use his fantastic natural gifts for the benefit of humanity. Keaton produced two weeks' worth of strips based on Siegel's script, but they were rejected, and he abandoned the project. Siegel and Shuster reconciled and resumed developing Superman together. The character became an alien from the planet Krypton, and Shuster designed the now-familiar costume. He created tights with an S on the chest, over-shorts, and a cape. They made Clark Kent a journalist who pretended to be timid, and conceived his colleague Lois Lane, who was attracted to the bold and mighty Superman but did not realize that he and Kent were the same person.
The Deal That Changed Everything
In June 1935, Siegel and Shuster finally found work with National Allied Publications, a comic magazine publishing company in New York owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Wheeler-Nicholson offered to publish Superman in one of his own magazines, but Siegel and Shuster refused his offer because Wheeler-Nicholson had demonstrated himself to be an irresponsible businessman. He had been slow to respond to their letters and had not paid them for their work in New Fun Comics #6. They chose to keep marketing Superman to newspaper syndicates themselves. Despite the erratic pay, Siegel and Shuster kept working for Wheeler-Nicholson because he was the only publisher who was buying their work. In early January 1938, Siegel had a three-way telephone conversation with Liebowitz and an employee of McClure named Max Gaines. Gaines informed Siegel that McClure had rejected Superman, and asked if he could forward their Superman strips to Liebowitz so that Liebowitz could consider them for Action Comics. Siegel agreed. Liebowitz and his colleagues were impressed by the strips, and they asked Siegel and Shuster to develop the strips into 13 pages for Action Comics. Having grown tired of rejections, Siegel and Shuster accepted the offer. At least now they would see Superman published. They submitted their work in late February and were paid for their work, $10 per page. In early March they signed a contract at Liebowitz's request in which they gave away the copyright for Superman to Detective Comics, Inc. This was normal practice in the business, and Siegel and Shuster had given away the copyrights to their previous works as well. The duo's revised version of Superman appeared in the first issue of Action Comics, which was published on the 18th of April 1938. The issue was a huge success thanks to Superman's feature.
The Golden Age And The Silver Age
Since 1938, Superman stories have been regularly published in periodical comic books published by DC Comics. The first and oldest of these is Action Comics, which began in April 1938. Action Comics was initially an anthology magazine, but it eventually became dedicated to Superman stories. The second oldest periodical is Superman, which began in June 1939. Action Comics and Superman have been published without interruption, ignoring changes to the title and numbering scheme. Several other shorter-lived Superman periodicals have been published over the years. Superman is part of the DC Universe, which is a shared setting of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, and others. More Superman comic books have been sold in publication history than any other American superhero character. Sales data first became public in 1960, and showed that Superman was the best-selling comic book character of the 1960s and 1970s. Sales rose again starting in 1987. Superman #75, published in November 1992, had over 23 million copies sold, making it the best-selling issue of a comic book of all time, due to a media sensation over the death of Superman in that issue. Sales declined from that point on. In March 2018, Action Comics sold just 51,534 copies, although such low figures are normal for superhero comic books in general. The comic books have become a niche aspect of the Superman franchise due to low readership, though they remain influential as creative engines for the movies and television shows. Comic book stories can be produced quickly and cheaply, and are thus an ideal medium for experimentation. Whereas comic books in the 1950s were read by children, since the 1990s the average reader has been an adult.
The Tragedy Of Creators
In a contract dated the 1st of March 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave away the copyright to Superman to their employer, DC Comics, prior to Superman's first publication in April. Contrary to popular perception, the $130 that DC Comics paid them was for their first Superman story, not the copyright to the character. That, they gave away for free. This was normal practice in the comic magazine industry and they had done the same with their previous published works, but Superman became far more popular and valuable than they anticipated and they much regretted giving him away. DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster, and they were paid well because they were popular with the readers. Between 1938 and 1947, DC Comics paid them together at least $401,194.85. Siegel wrote most of the magazine and daily newspaper stories until he was conscripted into the United States Army in 1943, whereupon the task was passed to ghostwriters. While Siegel was serving in Hawaii, DC Comics published a story featuring a child version of Superman called Superboy, which was based on a script Siegel had submitted several years before. Siegel was furious because DC Comics did this without having bought the character. After Siegel's discharge from the Army, he and Shuster sued DC Comics in 1947 for the rights to Superman and Superboy. The judge ruled that Superman belonged to DC Comics, but that Superboy was a separate entity that belonged to Siegel. Siegel and Shuster settled out-of-court with DC Comics, which paid the pair $94,013.16 in exchange for the full rights to both Superman and Superboy. DC Comics then fired Siegel and Shuster. DC Comics rehired Jerry Siegel as a writer in 1959. In 1965, Siegel and Shuster attempted to regain rights to Superman using the renewal option in the Copyright Act of 1909, but the court ruled Siegel and Shuster had transferred the renewal rights to DC Comics in 1938. Siegel and Shuster appealed, but the appeals court upheld this decision. DC Comics fired Siegel once again, when he filed this second lawsuit. In 1975, Siegel and several other comic book writers and artists launched a public campaign for better compensation and treatment of comic creators. Warner Brothers agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a yearly stipend, full medical benefits, and credit their names in all future Superman productions in exchange for never contesting ownership of Superman. Siegel and Shuster upheld this bargain. Shuster died in 1992. DC Comics offered Shuster's heirs a stipend in exchange for never challenging ownership of Superman, which they accepted for some years. Siegel died in 1996. His heirs attempted to take the rights to Superman using the termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976. DC Comics negotiated an agreement wherein it would pay the Siegel heirs several million dollars and a yearly stipend of $500,000 in exchange for permanently granting DC the rights to Superman. DC Comics also agreed to insert the line By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family in all future Superman productions. The Siegels accepted DC's offer in an October 2001 letter. Copyright lawyer and movie producer Marc Toberoff then struck a deal with the heirs of both Siegel and Shuster to help them get the rights to Superman in exchange for signing the rights over to his production company, Pacific Pictures. Both groups accepted. The Siegel heirs called off their deal with DC Comics and in 2004 sued DC for the rights to Superman and Superboy. In 2008, the judge ruled in favor of the Siegels. DC Comics appealed the decision, and the appeals court ruled in favor of DC, arguing that the October 2001 letter was binding. In 2003, the Shuster heirs served a termination notice for Shuster's grant of his half of the copyright to Superman. DC Comics sued the Shuster heirs in 2010, and the court ruled in DC's favor on the grounds that the 1992 agreement with the Shuster heirs barred them from terminating the grant. Under current US copyright law, Superman's first appearance in Action Comics #1 is due to enter the US public domain on the 1st of January 2034. However, this will only apply at first to the character as he is depicted in 1938. In addition DC Comics retains trademarks on Superman's name, image and S logo, and unlike copyrights, trademarks do not expire unless they cease to be used.
The Man Of Steel In Media
Superman has been adapted to other media including radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games. The radio series The Adventures of Superman ran from 1940 to 1951 and would feature Bud Collyer as the voice of Superman. Collyer would also voice the character in a series of animated shorts produced by Fleischer/Famous Studios and released between 1941 and 1943. Superman also appeared in film serials in 1948 and 1950, played by Kirk Alyn. Christopher Reeve would portray Superman in the 1978 film and its sequels, and define the character in cinema for generations. Superman would continue to appear in feature films, including a series starring Henry Cavill and a 2025 film starring David Corenswet. The character has also appeared in numerous television series, including Adventures of Superman, played by George Reeves, and Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Tim Daly. The radio series The Adventures of Superman ran from 1940 to 1951 and would feature Bud Collyer as the voice of Superman. Collyer would also voice the character in a series of animated shorts produced by Fleischer/Famous Studios and released between 1941 and 1943. Superman also appeared in film serials in 1948 and 1950, played by Kirk Alyn. Christopher Reeve would portray Superman in the 1978 film and its sequels, and define the character in cinema for generations. Superman would continue to appear in feature films, including a series starring Henry Cavill and a 2025 film starring David Corenswet. The character has also appeared in numerous television series, including Adventures of Superman, played by George Reeves, and Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Tim Daly. The character's persona has also inspired the creation of characters such as Supergirl, Superboy and Krypto the Superdog. Superman maintains a secret hideout called the Fortress of Solitude, and his enemies include Brainiac, General Zod, and archenemy Lex Luthor. He exists within the DC Universe, where he interacts with other heroes including fellow Justice League members like Wonder Woman and Batman, and appears in various titles based on the team. Different versions of the character exist in alternative universes, the Superman from the Golden Age of comic books has been labeled as the Earth-Two version while the version appearing in Silver Age and Bronze Age comics is labeled the Earth One Superman.