Superman's Different Origin Stories

[Slimybug]

Just trying to recount how many times the (mainstream) comics have gone over this.

1) The Golden Age version, not sure of the exact issue number or year.

2) In the Silver Age, they changed his origin so he was Superboy first, not sure if they ever retold the Krypton origin.

3) 1986-87. Post-Crisis. Man of Steel #1-6 by John Byrne (1986).

4) 2003-04. Superman: Birthright. They redid the origin again, but I'm not sure what the in-universe explanation was for time, and his origin, changing.

5) 2009-10. New Earth (Post-Infinite-Crisis) Superman: Secret Origins, by Geoff Johns.

6) New 52, by Grant Morrison.

What's your favorite?

Also, does anyone know the information missing above? Like what the in-universe explanation was for the origin changing to that in Birthright?

[manwhohaseverything]

I prefer the first pages of action comics #1 as origin and some of more fun comics..I don't care for the bill finger origin.Also like new52 superman origin.I liked waid's origin and of the post crisis origins i like for all seasons purely for the innocence of the character.Overall the least interesting thing about the character..Might as well say "The superman fell from the sky in a giant ball of fire" be done with it.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Honestly, I love parts of all of them. I think Superman's origin works best as a mythological buffet in which you can pick and choose which parts you like best depending upon the story.

Sometimes that story works better with dead Kents, sometimes it works better with them alive. Sometimes a story works best with Clark making his first public appearance in Metropolis while others work best with him as graduating from Superboy to Superman. Lex Luthor can work equally well as first meeting Superman as an adult in Metropolis or as a teenager in Smallville.

Picking just one feels kinda reductive at this point since all the various interpretations of his origin have proven their worth in my eyes.

[superduperman]

(Rubs hands together) Okay, l consider this my territory. There are actually several Golden and Silver age origins.

1938: This was in Action #1. It was one page and didn't mention either Krypton by name or have the Kents in it. He was found by a passing motorist with no name and turned over to an orphanage where he displayed his strength.

1939: This was in Superman #1 and is the one most people are familiar with. It's the one that gets reprinted the most. It's the first time Krypton is mentioned by name and we meet the Kents. We get to see more of him growing up and we get to watch his parents die.

1945: The origin of Superboy. This one appeared in More Fun #101 and isn't as well known but it is more or less a rehash of the 1939 where we get to see more of Krypton and a lot of the mythos that we are familiar with about Krypton gets established. Such as Kryptonians being stronger than humans.

1949: This one is interesting in that it doesn't acknowledge Superboy existing at all even though he had his own book by that point. It hasn't been reprinted very often.

1951-2(?): Never read this one but supposedly this is the first one that acknowledges Superboy exists.

1961: This is what is generally considered the Silver Age origin. It combined various elements that were established in the comics from the fifties. Like his history as Superbaby and how he learned to fly and finding Krypto and learned about Krypton and Kryptonite.

1973: Not sure this one is considered "canon" but it was through a special magazine that came out for the city of Metropolis. Curt Swan said at one point this was his favorite project and the art shows. It's basically an update of the 1949 origin with elements of the SA thrown in. I would recommend finding it just for the art. It's some of his best work.

1979: This one was basically an update of the 1961 origin with a little more comprehensive detail and a Luthor story thrown in. Some of the dialogue is cringey but it works for what the time period.

1986: Unless something was published between '79 and this, I don't know about it. This is the Byrne reboot to make Superman more "realistic". Having him "born" on Earth throwing out most of the SA elements like Superboy and his history with the Legion and other Kryptonian survivors.

2001: Not sure if this is considered a "reboot" but the Return to Krypton storyline basically said "Oh, by the way, the whole SA Krypton really did exist and we fooled you so you wouldn't miss it". This would probably be considered the first real contradiction of the post-Crisis era.

2003: Birthright. I'm still convinced that this was intended to be DC's version of the Ultimates universe and somebody (Didio) talked them into making it canon due to the success of Smallville. This was considered the first official hardcore reboot of the post-Crisis era. It's basically the Smallville origin put into the mainstream universe. With all the continuity problems that would go along with trying to do that to an ongoing series.

2006: Sometime around the time of Infinite Crisis they tried to do a combination Birthright/post-Crisis origin that didn't quite work.

2009: Secret Origin: I feel like this one was weaker than the rest because it tried too hard to be everything to everyone. It's "neo-Silver Age". It basically just felt like they were trying to come up with a way to incorporate all the SA elements they tried to put back in over the previous decade but just threw everything together all at once. Krypto arrives on Earth the same day he becomes Superboy? Really? That's convenient.

2011-14: I'm gonna get dragged for this but I feel like New 52 did a better job of the "try to be all things to all people" thing better than Johns did. I included both years because his ACTUAL origin wasn't published until 2014. It was basically the GA origin with elements of the Legion thrown in (if it had a weak spot, I would say it was that. The Legion connection seemed forced to me).

2016-???: Whatever the hell it is we have now. If some post-Rebirth definitive origin has been published, I don't know about it. This seems to be a hodge podge of everything closer to Johns origin though I have no idea if that's official.

In terms of what the in universe explanation was for Birthright, it had something to do with Superboy Prime punching the Source Wall or something like that. It's more like "we made a bad editorial decision and have to cover our asses somehow".

[Slimybug]

Just did some digging into a similar thread I started years ago, and someone said there that there was a "futuresmiths" storyline that included time travel, and was heavily implied to be the reason Superman's origin changed.

[Lightning Rider]

Honestly, I love parts of all of them. I think Superman's origin works best as a mythological buffet in which you can pick and choose which parts you like best depending upon the story.

Sometimes that story works better with dead Kents, sometimes it works better with them alive. Sometimes a story works best with Clark making his first public appearance in Metropolis while others work best with him as graduating from Superboy to Superman. Lex Luthor can work equally well as first meeting Superman as an adult in Metropolis or as a teenager in Smallville.

Picking just one feels kinda reductive at this point since all the various interpretations of his origin have proven their worth in my eyes.

Well said.

Superduperman, thanks a great breakdown also. Thanks for that.

[DABellWrites]

(Rubs hands together) Okay, l consider this my territory. There are actually several Golden and Silver age origins.

1938: This was in Action #1. It was one page and didn't mention either Krypton by name or have the Kents in it. He was found by a passing motorist with no name and turned over to an orphanage where he displayed his strength.

1939: This was in Superman #1 and is the one most people are familiar with. It's the one that gets reprinted the most. It's the first time Krypton is mentioned by name and we meet the Kents. We get to see more of him growing up and we get to watch his parents die.

1945: The origin of Superboy. This one appeared in More Fun #101 and isn't as well known but it is more or less a rehash of the 1939 where we get to see more of Krypton and a lot of the mythos that we are familiar with about Krypton gets established. Such as Kryptonians being stronger than humans.

1949: This one is interesting in that it doesn't acknowledge Superboy existing at all even though he had his own book by that point. It hasn't been reprinted very often.

1951-2(?): Never read this one but supposedly this is the first one that acknowledges Superboy exists.

1961: This is what is generally considered the Silver Age origin. It combined various elements that were established in the comics from the fifties. Like his history as Superbaby and how he learned to fly and finding Krypto and learned about Krypton and Kryptonite.

1973: Not sure this one is considered "canon" but it was through a special magazine that came out for the city of Metropolis. Curt Swan said at one point this was his favorite project and the art shows. It's basically an update of the 1949 origin with elements of the SA thrown in. I would recommend finding it just for the art. It's some of his best work.

1979: This one was basically an update of the 1961 origin with a little more comprehensive detail and a Luthor story thrown in. Some of the dialogue is cringey but it works for what the time period.

1986: Unless something was published between '79 and this, I don't know about it. This is the Byrne reboot to make Superman more "realistic". Having him "born" on Earth throwing out most of the SA elements like Superboy and his history with the Legion and other Kryptonian survivors.

2001: Not sure if this is considered a "reboot" but the Return to Krypton storyline basically said "Oh, by the way, the whole SA Krypton really did exist and we fooled you so you wouldn't miss it". This would probably be considered the first real contradiction of the post-Crisis era.

2003: Birthright. I'm still convinced that this was intended to be DC's version of the Ultimates universe and somebody (Didio) talked them into making it canon due to the success of Smallville. This was considered the first official hardcore reboot of the post-Crisis era. It's basically the Smallville origin put into the mainstream universe. With all the continuity problems that would go along with trying to do that to an ongoing series.

2006: Sometime around the time of Infinite Crisis they tried to do a combination Birthright/post-Crisis origin that didn't quite work.

2009: Secret Origin: I feel like this one was weaker than the rest because it tried too hard to be everything to everyone. It's "neo-Silver Age". It basically just felt like they were trying to come up with a way to incorporate all the SA elements they tried to put back in over the previous decade but just threw everything together all at once. Krypto arrives on Earth the same day he becomes Superboy? Really? That's convenient.

2011-14: I'm gonna get dragged for this but I feel like New 52 did a better job of the "try to be all things to all people" thing better than Johns did. I included both years because his ACTUAL origin wasn't published until 2014. It was basically the GA origin with elements of the Legion thrown in (if it had a weak spot, I would say it was that. The Legion connection seemed forced to me).

2016-???: Whatever the hell it is we have now. If some post-Rebirth definitive origin has been published, I don't know about it. This seems to be a hodge podge of everything closer to Johns origin though I have no idea if that's official.

In terms of what the in universe explanation was for Birthright, it had something to do with Superboy Prime punching the Source Wall or something like that. It's more like "we made a bad editorial decision and have to cover our asses somehow".

I agree with Morrison's New52 and Johns's Secret Origins, and I don't like Morrison's Action Comics run. Still did a better job than Geoff Johns story, which felt more like vignettes than an actual story. Mostly because Morrison had time t space everything out. Johns had like six issues to fit everything together.

[Jim Kelly]

(Rubs hands together) Okay, l consider this my territory. There are actually several Golden and Silver age origins.

1938: This was in Action #1.

ACTION COMICS 1 (June 1948)--untitled by Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster. Siegel and Shuster originally did this story as a comic strip in hopes of getting it syndicated. Editor Vin Sullivan had them paste up those panels for a comic book story--thus the hatching on Superman's costume.

SUPERMAN, the daily newspaper strip, dailies 1 - 12, January 16th - January 28th, 1939, by Siegel and Shuster. The first detailed account of Krypton's destruction, with Jor-L and Lora.

1939: This was in Superman #1

SUPERMAN (1939) [not numbered]--untitled by Siegel and Shuster--using some of the same panels as in ACTION COMICS 1, from their unpublished comic strip and other panels.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN radio serial, debuting on February 12th 1940, the first episode, "The Baby From Krypton" tells the origin of Superman, including scenes on Krypton (Agnes Moorehead voiced Lara). In this version, baby Kal-El grows into an adult on his way to Earth.

SUPERMAN (1941)--"The Mad Scientist" Max Fleischer cartoon, directed by Dave Fleischer. A brief account of the origin appears at the beginning.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1942)--the novel by George Lowther.

1945: The origin of Superboy. This one appeared in More Fun #101

MORE FUN COMICS 101 (January-February 1945)--"Superboy" from an original script by Siegel (circa 1940) with additions/changes by Don Cameron, art by Shuster.

SUPERMAN (1948), the serial, starring Kirk Alyn.

1949: This one is interesting in that it doesn't acknowledge Superboy existing at all even though he had his own book by that point. It hasn't been reprinted very often.

Actually 1948--

SUPERMAN 53 (July-August 1948)--"The Origin of Superman" by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye--it's been reprinted fairly often, at least nine times by my count.

SUPERMAN 61 (November-December 1949)--"Superman Returns to Krypton" by Finger and Al Plastino. Superman travels into the past to witness his origins on Krypton. From this point on, several stories will show parts of Superman's origin story. For the sake of time, I won't try to find all those, since there are hundreds. Superman's origin story was reviewed quite often.

1951-2(?): Never read this one but supposedly this is the first one that acknowledges Superboy exists.

ACTION COMICS 158 (July 1951)--"The Kid from Krypton" by Edmond Hamilton (maybe), Boring and Kaye.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN television series--first episode air date September 19th, 1952,"Superman On Earth" written by Robert Maxwell and Whitney Ellsworth. The Science Council wear recycled costumes from the wardrobe department--Jor-El wears Buster Crabbe's Flash Gordon outfit; other scientists wear refitted Captain Marvel and Captain America costumes.

1961: This is what is generally considered the Silver Age origin.

SUPERMAN 146 (July 1961)--"The Story of Superman's Life" by Otto Binder and Plastino

1973: Not sure this one is considered "canon"

THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN [Metropolis Edition] (1973)--"The Origin of Superman" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Carmine Infantino, Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. In black and white originally, this was reprinted in colour for the first time in LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION C-31 (October-November 1974) and then in the soft back book SECRETS ORIGINS OF THE SUPER DC HEROES (1976) [in time for Christmas (guess who found this under the Christmas Tree)]. The story is based on the one in SUPERMAN 53 (which is probably why Superboy doesn't appear).

SUPERMAN (1978), the movie directed by Richard Donner--written by Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton and Tom Mankiewicz.

1979: This one was basically an update of the 1961 origin

ACTION COMICS 500 (October 1979)--"The Life Story of Superman" by Martin Pasko, Curt Swan and Francisco Chiaramonte. At 64 pages this was the most comprehensive origin story to that date, bringing in a lot of the mythology that had accumulated over the decades and some added information.

[Ascended]

Honestly, I love parts of all of them

This. Even the bad stories and retellings, like Johns' Secret Origin, have a silver lining or two. In Johns' case, his origin was bland and flavorless, less a story *or* origin and more a bullet list of pre- and post-Crisis elements he wanted to coexist. But the fact that it was just a basic outline without any voice or personality of its own actually made it a fantastic origin to use in comics because other writers could add things into all the empty spaces Johns left, assign a tone or vibe that fit their story without contradicting the origin's flavor, and make it feel universal.

Same goes for all the others; there's always something good to take away. With early post-Crisis, I hate how Clark himself was handled but Metropolis, Lex, and the supporting cast were great. With 00's era post-Crisis, the efforts to put the Silver Age toys back in play felt weird and forced and awkward, and probably contributed to the entire line going off the rails, but Clark's mythos was still (re)expanded to encompass a scope we hadn't seen very often since the 85 reboot, and that was cool.

Of all the various origins, Morrison's New52 is my favorite. I do agree with Bored that the Legion connections felt a tad forced, but in my opinion it was only a bit, and it felt far more natural than other post-Crisis efforts to reinsert the Legion into Clark's story.

Oh, since I said a mean thing about Johns, I'll say a nice one. I think his Legion had a mountain of potential and was more interesting than what Morrison showed us in the 52. Johns' Superman and the Legion story is arguably one of the best Legion stories of its decade and, I think, one of Johns' best Superman stories (though I think Johns is a terrible "S" writer so I guess that bit is faint praise).

[The Frog Bros]

The single page origin in All-Star is among my personal faves simply because it fits that story absolutely perfectly. Part of why it works is because everyone already knows the story, thanks to the many tellings and re-tellings of the origin. I feel like Morrison used the common knowledge to keep it simple and to a tee.

Having said that, my favorite “true origin” would probably be Morrison Action and/or Birthright. Big picture plot-wise, Lex being in Smallville is not one of my preferred plot points but in that particular context, I like Waid’s version of it. In a vacuum, it’s not something I’m generally a fan of though.

As for Secret Origin, I've always likened it to a greatest hits album. Covers the well known stuff but not always everyone's cup of tea or necessarily the best way to get the full appeal of a band. But for some people, it's their jam and that's cool too.

[superduperman]

This. Even the bad stories and retellings, like Johns' Secret Origin, have a silver lining or two. In Johns' case, his origin was bland and flavorless, less a story *or* origin and more a bullet list of pre- and post-Crisis elements he wanted to coexist. But the fact that it was just a basic outline without any voice or personality of its own actually made it a fantastic origin to use in comics because other writers could add things into all the empty spaces Johns left, assign a tone or vibe that fit their story without contradicting the origin's flavor, and make it feel universal.

Same goes for all the others; there's always something good to take away. With early post-Crisis, I hate how Clark himself was handled but Metropolis, Lex, and the supporting cast were great. With 00's era post-Crisis, the efforts to put the Silver Age toys back in play felt weird and forced and awkward, and probably contributed to the entire line going off the rails, but Clark's mythos was still (re)expanded to encompass a scope we hadn't seen very often since the 85 reboot, and that was cool.

Of all the various origins, Morrison's New52 is my favorite. I do agree with Bored that the Legion connections felt a tad forced, but in my opinion it was only a bit, and it felt far more natural than other post-Crisis efforts to reinsert the Legion into Clark's story.

Oh, since I said a mean thing about Johns, I'll say a nice one. I think his Legion had a mountain of potential and was more interesting than what Morrison showed us in the 52. Johns' Superman and the Legion story is arguably one of the best Legion stories of its decade and, I think, one of Johns' best Superman stories (though I think Johns is a terrible "S" writer so I guess that bit is faint praise).

The one positive thing I can say about the Johns run was that his Legion story was so good that they adapted it for the Smallville comic. They merged it and New Krypton together in a way that I think handled both very well.

[Stanlos]

Just trying to recount how many times the (mainstream) comics have gone over this.

1) The Golden Age version, not sure of the exact issue number or year.

2) In the Silver Age, they changed his origin so he was Superboy first, not sure if they ever retold the Krypton origin.

3) 1986-87. Post-Crisis. Man of Steel #1-6 by John Byrne (1986).

4) 2003-04. Superman: Birthright. They redid the origin again, but I'm not sure what the in-universe explanation was for time, and his origin, changing.

5) 2009-10. New Earth (Post-Infinite-Crisis) Superman: Secret Origins, by Geoff Johns.

6) New 52, by Grant Morrison.

What's your favorite?

Also, does anyone know the information missing above? Like what the in-universe explanation was for the origin changing to that in Birthright?

Are these really that different? It feels like the overall architecture is the same. Aquaman has had a truly different origin. (I will not even acknowledge the changes to particular stunning brunette Amazon)

[JBatmanFan05]

Actually 1948--

SUPERMAN 53 (July-August 1948)--"The Origin of Superman" by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye--it's been reprinted fairly often, at least nine times by my count.

SUPERMAN 61 (November-December 1949)--"Superman Returns to Krypton" by Finger and Al Plastino. Superman travels into the past to witness his origins on Krypton. From this point on, several stories will show parts of Superman's origin story. For the sake of time, I won't try to find all those, since there are hundreds. Superman's origin story was reviewed quite often.

I always loved how Bill Finger, Batman's co-creator, did some of the best tellings of Superman's origin. Just something I love about how Bill was such a workhorse writer, a writer's writer, toiling away at DC on various properties, leaving his mark.

Siegel was very much of the same vein and of course many other writers of that era (John Broome, etc).

[manwhohaseverything]

What i love about maz fliescher cartoon is that it's much more streamlined as an origin.The older origins were convoluted as eff.Not,as convoluted as hawkman or something.But still...

Bill finger was very much a work horse and a true creative..I don't care for his origin for superman cause it just felt forced and not in character for superman.Ofcourse the character was changing prior.It's mostly because of comics code and stuff like that.

[JBatmanFan05]

What i love about maz fliescher cartoon is that it's much more streamlined as an origin.

Yea, I can agree with that. It's the stripped down origin really. Doesn't get into much details. Fans applauded when Morrison opted for the super brief bare origin route in All Star Superman. I think fans can and do tire over constant argument about Superman's origin.

Anyway, though not a comic book origin per se, I hold the Fleischer Superman origin from 1941 right up there as a key great origin telling, as important and great as the best comic ones.