He is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, they say. He is Superman, and on this day in 1938, he made his debut as a comic book character in Action Comics #1. When two high school kids Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster set out to create a superhero in 1933, they wanted it to be someone who would fight crime, who would bring hope and justice to the masses. Siegel and Shuster, both sons of Jewish immigrants in Cleveland, had seen it all—poverty, hunger, and the power of rich over the poor. Superman, the world's first superhero, set the stage for countless superheroes over the following decades.
Since he first appeared on the pages of the comic magazine, Superman, with his noble motives, superpowers, the iconic tights and briefs on the outside and a flowing cape, has transformed into a pop culture icon. While Siegel conceived the character, his origins and mission, artist Shuster gave him the looks. He might just be the timid, spectacled Clark Kent from the fictional town of Smallville, but when the world is in need of help, he rips off his regular clothes and whooshes past in his superhero costume with 'S' emblazoned on his chest. Well, for the uninitiated, Superman is an 'alien' from a distant planet named Krypton. His father, Joe-El, who was also a scientist, realised that the planet is dying and was about to explode. In an attempt to save his infant son Kal-El, he puts him on a spaceship and sends him to earth, where Kal-El is adopted by Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha who bring him up as their own son, Clark. While he is not wearing the cape, Clark works as a journalist with the Daily Planet in the fictional city of Metropolis.
Superman's powers are no secret, and they have been evolving with time. But what is it that powers this Kyptonian hero? Looking at it scientifically, the superhero derives much of his power from stored-up solar energy. His body can tap into the energy from the yellow sun, unlike from Rao, Krypton's red sun. It is this yellow light that lends him his supernatural powers, super speed and even healing powers. Yet another one of his superpowers is heat vision—the power to release massive amounts of solar energy through focused beams from his eyes.
However, heroes, too, have weaknesses. It is ironic that the one thing that makes him vulnerable is kryptonite—radioactive fragments of his home planet Krypton. For reasons that have never really been revealed, an exposure to kryptonite dampens the power of the superhero. It might sound illogical, but that is how it is. That said, as long as Superman has access to the yellow light of the sun, he is immortal.
Today, Superman is a brand in itself with comic strips, merchandise, movies and cartoons based on the character. More than seven decades from his debut, the superhero has come a long way. And all that after Superman's creators struggled for almost six years to sell the concept until Detective Comics (now, DC comics) took a chance. What's sad is that Superman visionaries Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to DC for a menial sum of $130, a deal that went on to haunt them forever.
