Superman
Superman is a fictional character created in the mid-1930s by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and currently published by DC Comics under a variety of titles. The first comic book superhero, Superman spawed a pantheon of other similar characters, and a comics industry in which Superman alone was selling at well over a million copies as early as 1942 [1]; he would later star in books, radio, animation, television, and film. Superman is seen as a symbol of America, reflected in his red and blue costume and marketing material describing his mission as the protector of "truth, justice, and the American way".
Comics lore
Superman is the last son of Krypton, a distant planet much larger than Earth with a red sun. Raised by two Methodist Kansas farmers, Superman was blessed by his alien heritage with great powers. In his initial appearances, his power set consisted of being "faster than a speeding bullet", "more powerful than a locomotive", and "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". Since then, his powers have been expanded to include incredible strength, super speed, flight, invulnerability, super breath, super intelligence, heat-ray eyes, freezing breath, passing through matter, unaided intersteller travel, and various forms of superhuman senses (super-hearing; x-ray, heat, telescopic, and microscopic vision) - Superman's excessive and ever-changing powers are often the subject of criticism or parody. He is severely weakened by green kryptonite, can be reduced to normal human levels of power by light from a red sun, and is vulnerable to magic.
He lives a secret double life, posing as the "mild-mannered reporter" Clark Kent. He specifically works in the news media so he can more easily hear about and attend the scenes of crimes. In most continuities, Superman is romantically involved with Lois Lane, a fellow reporter, and his best friend is teenage cub reporter, later photographer, Jimmy Olsen.