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Superman
came to Earth as a baby from the planet Krypton; on Earth he had super
strength, X-ray vision and could fly. His only weakness was the substance
Kryptonite, which rendered him powerless. He kept his identity secret,
posing as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent and changing into his Superman
costume with the distinctive "S" on the chest whenever he set out to do
good deeds. Other key characters included his love interest Lois Lane,
his news editor Perry White, and the villainous Lex Luthor. Superman
was created in 1938 by artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel.
As an
influential archetype of the superhero genre, Superman possesses extraordinary
powers, with the character traditionally described as "faster than a speeding
bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings
in a single bound", a phrase coined by Jay Morton and first used in the
Superman radio serials and Max Fleischer animated shorts of the 1940s as
well as the TV series of the 1950s. For most of his existence, Superman's
famous arsenal of powers has included flight, super-strength, invulnerability
to non-magical attacks, super-speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat,
telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super-hearing, and super-breath,
which enables him to freeze objects by blowing on them, as well as exert
the propulsive force of high-speed winds
The
source of Superman's powers has changed subtly over the course of his history.
It was originally stated that Superman's abilities derived from his Kryptonian
heritage, which made him eons more evolved than humans. This was soon amended,
with the source for the powers now based upon the establishment of Krypton's
gravity as having been stronger than that of the Earth. This situation
mirrors that of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter. As Superman's powers
increased, the implication that all Kryptonians had possessed the same
abilities became problematic for writers, making it doubtful that a race
of such beings could have been wiped out by something as trifling as an
exploding planet. In part to counter this, the Superman writers established
that Kryptonians, whose native star Rao had been red, only possessed superpowers
under the light of a yellow sun. More recent stories have attempted to
find a balance between the two explanations.
Superman
is most vulnerable to Kryptonite, mineral debris from Krypton transformed
into radioactive material by the forces that destroyed the planet. Exposure
to Kryptonite radiation nullifies Superman's powers and immobilizes him
with pain; prolonged exposure will eventually kill him. The only mineral
on Earth that can protect him from Kryptonite is lead, which blocks the
radiation. Lead is also the only known substance that Superman cannot see
through with his x-ray vision. Kryptonite was first introduced to the public
in 1943 as a plot device to allow the radio serial voice actor, Bud Collyer,
to take some time off. Green Kryptonite is the most commonly seen form
but writers introduced other forms over the years, such as red, gold, blue
and black, each with its own effect. Superman has also been regularly
portrayed as being vulnerable to attacks of a magical or mystical nature. Lex
Luthor is Superman's archenemy.
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