The introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry, and is the start of the Golden Age of comics.

Not to be confused with Superman supervillain Cyborg Superman, a technopathic entity who prefers cybernetic forms, who is occasionally referred to as merely " The Cyborg.

To deflect suspicion that he is Superman, Clark Kent adopted a largely passive and introverted personality with conservative mannerisms, a higher-pitched voice, and a slight slouch.

This personality is typically described as " mild-mannered ", perhaps most famously by the opening narration of Max Fleischer's Superman animated theatrical shorts.

In the Pre-Crisis comic book title Superman Family, Clark is featured in a series of stories called " The Private Life of Clark Kent ," where he solves problems subtly without changing into Superman.

Adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent from the Kansas town of Smallville, Clark ( and thus Superman ) was raised with the values of a typical rural American town, including attending the local Methodist Church ( though it is debated by comic fans if Superman is a Methodist ).

Feeling that Clark is the real person and that Clark is not afraid to be himself in his civilian identity, John Byrne has stated in interviews that he took inspiration for this portrayal from the George Reeves version of Superman.

In " Visitor ," Lois finds Superman at the Kent farm with Lana Lang and asks him point-blank if he is Clark Kent.

In the 2009 retcon of the mythos, Lois Lane is fully aware from the beginning, along with Perry White, that the meek, pudgy and bumbling Clark Kent deliberately holds himself back: however, still far from associating him to Superman, they simply believe he's hiding his qualities as a good reporter.

In the current continuity established by DC's " New 52 " relaunch in 2011, Lois Lane remains unaware that Clark is Superman.

In the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes, his secret identity is historical fact, with exhibits at a Superman Museum depicting the hero and his friends and family's adventures.

* The explanation most commonly offered is simply that, despite their physical resemblance, Superman and Clark are perceived as being too different in mannerisms and personality to be the same individual.

A new element that has shown up recently is the fact that most people only know of Clark as a name in a byline, and only see Superman from a distance, if they see him at all.

Since the shorts were produced during the rise of film noir in cinema, the change was usually represented as a stylized sequence: Clark Kent's silhouette is clearly seen behind a closed door's pebble glass window ( or a shadow thrown across a wall ) as he strips to his Superman costume.

The CBS Saturday morning series The New Adventures of Superman produced by Filmation Studios — as well as The Adventures of Superboy from the same animation house — featured the iconic " shirt rip " to reveal the " S " or Clark Kent removing his unbuttoned white dress shirt in a secluded spot, usually thanks to stock animation which was re-used over dozens of episodes, to reveal his costume underneath while uttering his famed line " This is a job for Superman!

Later in the film, when the need to change is more urgent ( as he believes the city is about to be poisoned by Lex Luthor ), he simply jumps out a window of the Daily Planet offices, changing at super-speed as he falls ( the film merely shows the falling Kent blurring into a falling Superman ) and flies off.

A relatively recent debate is which of the two identities ( Superman or Clark Kent ) is the real person and which is the façade.

As part of the continuity changes which followed The Man of Steel and Superman: Secret Origin, Luthor is shown actively participating in the creation of three Superman villains, Parasite ( indirectly ), Bizarro ( the failed result of an attempt to clone Superman ), and the cyborg Metallo.

Six Flags's nominal expansion into Europe saw a similar refurbishment of the Belgian Walibi attraction, both parks benefiting from the group's rights to use Warner Brothers characters within them, leading to the creation of a Looney Tunes-themed area and a powered-launch coaster themed around popular comic figure Superman, later changed to the Xpress.

After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern superhero film, Superman, starring Christopher Reeve.

The series strongly influenced the creation of the acclaimed animated television series Batman: The Animated Series, as well as the similar-looking Superman: The Animated Series.

Lex Luthor stated that he formed the Injustice Gang in response to the creation of the new League because, while he perceived previous Leagues to be mere annoyances at best, he saw Superman's leadership as being Superman ' throwing down the gauntlet '.

Ultra tries hypnotizing him by placing a helmet on his head, but Superman fakes being controlled, and when he is taken to spread the plague with a henchman, he destroys the " fantastic airship of Ultra's creation " that was spreading its " cargo of Purple Death ".

It was responsible for the creation of the new Superboy, cloned from genetic material obtained from both Superman and Lex Luthor ( originally, the human DNA was identified as that of Project director Paul Westfield ).

) Other books written by Dini for DC have featured his Batman Animated creation Harley Quinn as well as classic characters Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Zatanna.

In 1938, he starred in The Gladiator, a loose film-adaptation of Philip Gordon Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator, which influenced the creation of Superman.

In that role he adopted a higher voice and a more introverted personality – clearly establishing that Kent is the secret identity and Superman is the true person.

More than half of the footage filmed for Superman II by the originally credited director ( Richard Lester ) has been removed from the film and replaced with Donner footage shot during the original principal photography from 1977 – 1978.

* Man and Superman ( 1902 – 03 )

In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer – directed superhero film, Superman Returns.

* In January – February 1950, Superman journeys to Mars to help actor-director Orson Welles smash a plot by the Martian dictator Martler to " blitzkrieg the solar system " and conquer the Earth ( S No. 62 / 1: " Black Magic on Mars!

Except for the Superman cartoons and the features sold to MCA ( to end up with Universal ), most television prints of these films have had their titles remade to remove most traces of their connection to Paramount – the original copyright lines were left intact on Popeye cartoons ( the Popeye cartoons have been restored for DVD release with the original Paramount titles ).

They gained television rights to the fourth Superman film as part of the Cannon library, as well as Superman III and Supergirl – both of which were produced by the Salkinds.

The latter two titles are now owned by WB for all media, but Superman IV is still part of Paramount's library for over-the-air TV and digital rights ( though WB did handle these rights for a three-year license 2006 – 09 );

Framestore was also nominated for Oscars in 2007 ( Superman Returns ), in 2009 ( The Dark Knight ) and again in 2010 ( Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ).

** Superman – Fleischer Studios, Paramount-Max Fleischer

* Superman & Bugs Bunny ( DC Comics, July – October 2000 )

* Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – Tim Lake in episode " Don't Tug on Superman's Cape "

* Power Girl ( Kara Zor-L ) – A version of Kara Zor-El from the parallel world Earth-Two, the cousin of Superman ( Kal-L ).

* Laurel Gand ( Andromeda ) – Laurel Gand was the post-Crisis / Glorithverse replacement for the pre-Crisis Supergirl in the Legion of Super-Heroes after the latter was removed from the continuity following The Man of Steel reboot of Superman.

* Ariella Kent – Supergirl of the 853rd century, later revealed to be the daughter of post-Crisis Linda Danvers and Silver Age style Superman from the Many Happy Returns story arc.

Smallville is retroactively shown as the Golden Age Superman's childhood hometown as well, as seen in the " Mr. and Mrs. Superman " series in Superman Family, as well as in New Adventures of Superboy # 15-16 ( March – April 1981 ).

* The New Adventures of Superman ( 1966 – 1967 CBS )

* The Superman / Aquaman Hour of Adventure ( 1967 – 1968 CBS )

* The Batman / Superman Hour ( 1968 – 1969 CBS )

* Billy Nelson ( actor ) ( 1903 – 1973 ), actor in Stamp Day for Superman

* Christopher Reeve ( 1952 – 2004 ), of Superman fame, kept a sailboat, the sloop-rigged Chandelle, at a Fairhaven shipyard and sometimes flew into New Bedford Regional Airport to pick it up or to stay in town during a stopover en route to Martha's Vineyard.

* Kirk Alyn ( 1910 – 99 ), the first on-screen Superman, was born in Wharton, the son of Hungarian immigrants.