DC · DC Comics
Superman
Kal-El
A Kryptonian powered by yellow sunlight. Strength, speed, flight and heat vision all derive from a single solar-battery mechanic.
First appearance: Action Comics #1 (1938), DC Comics
Powers
Across continuities
One canonical record, many iterations. A version is this character in a different continuity; a variant is a separate in-fiction instance inside one. Everything below resolves back to this page.
| Iteration | Type | Continuity | Performed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superman (New 52) | Version | no performer on file | |
| Superman (Post-Crisis DC) | Version | no performer on file |
Key issues
Milestone appearances — first appearance, death, return, team change. These are the issues the collector market actually prices.
- First appearance · 1938
Action Comics #1 DC Comics
The most valuable comic book in existence. - Death · 1993
Superman #75 DC Comics
Killed by Doomsday. A mainstream news event, not only a comics one.
Runs
Recorded as ranges rather than one row per issue — the question a reader actually asks, without claiming a completeness we cannot verify.
| Series | Issues | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Action Comics | 1- | lead |
On screen
Canonical productions only. Parody and fan work is classified and excluded — Wikidata makes no such distinction, so without it these lists fill with material that is not canon.
Has appeared with
Every character who has shared a production with this one. Wikis are organised by character, not by encounter, so this question is close to unanswerable elsewhere — it exists here only because co-occurrence is recorded at the moment an appearance is.
| Character | Where | Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Lobo | Supergirl | 1 |
Commonly got wrong
Claims that are widely repeated and wrong, with what the cited record actually shows. If you are generating anything about this subject, these are the errors to avoid.
Commonly believed Superman's powers are separate abilities.
Actually Strength, speed, flight, durability and heat vision all derive from one mechanic: stored yellow solar radiation. Remove the sun and all of them decline together.
The feat ledger
Strength is drawn from yellow solar radiation and depletes when that source is removed
Flies under his own power with no visible means of propulsion
Heat vision, emitted from the eyes and controllable down to surgical precision
Keeps pace with the Flash over interplanetary distances
Moves planetary masses, the standard the rest of the DC line is measured against
Solar energy stored in his cells is the stated mechanism behind every other ability
Operates unaided in vacuum, needing no air for extended periods
Trades blows with Doomsday to mutual destruction
Bullets flatten against him without breaking skin — the defining visual of the power
Magic and kryptonite are the stated exceptions, so the invulnerability is conditional by design
Hears a specific voice anywhere on the planet and filters everything else out
Continuities
Claims on this page are tagged by canon. Blending them is the most common error in both wikis and AI answers.
- Pre-Crisis DC — DC continuity before the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths
- Post-Crisis DC — 1986 Crisis on Infinite Earths through 2011 Flashpoint
- New 52 — DC relaunched continuity, 2011 to 2016
- DC Rebirth — DC continuity from 2016 onward
Last updated 2026-09-06 · machine-readable version