Superman I

Superman I

Created by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Real Name:  Kal-L

Alias:  Clark Kent

Current Occupation:  Adventurer

Parents:  Jor-L and Lora (natural parents, deceased); Ebin and Sarah Clark Kent (adoptive parents, deceased)

Siblings:  None

Spouse:  Lois Lane Kent (deceased)

Children:  Joel Kent

Group Affiliation:  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron, Club of Heroes

Place of Birth:  Krypton

Current Place of Residence:  A space craft which serves as a mobile "Fortress of Solitude"

First Appearance:  Action Comics # 1, June 1938

Biography:

When he was just an infant, Kal-L was rocketed to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton by his scientist father Jor-L.  On Earth, Kal-L grew was adopted by the Kents and named Clark.  As he grew older, he found that he had powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

His parents asked that he keep his powers a secret.  As a teen, Clark was visited by a boy from the future called Superboy, who helped train him to use his powers.

After his parents died, he moved to Metropolis, where he became a reporter, pretending to be a weak and timid coward while operating secretly as the urban legend that would be dubbed by fellow reporter Lois Lane as "the Superman".

Clark did remain a secret to the world, though his appearances did get enough attention for rumors to abound of his existence and even for comics, movies, radio dramas and the like to be made based on these stories.  The government became aware of "the Superman" in reality and recruited him to join three different top secret teams.  First he served in the 1930s with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  Then became a reserve member of the Justice Society of America, and finally during World War II he was recruited to join the All-Star Squadron.

After the war, Clark went into semi-retirement.  After a spell by the evil Wizard made him forget he was Superman, he grew braver as Clark, and proposed to Lois.  It was her then that learned his secret and helped him restore his memory.

The couple married and had a son named Joel.  Because Lex Luthor exposed Lois to gold kryptonite while she was pregnant, her child was born with no super-powers, something he came to resent once he learned his father was Superman.  Eventually he came to terms with this.

Though Clark was retired, occasionally he would resurface to aid other heroes such as Spider-Man, or to take on threats like the Hulk.

He eventually found that he was needed less and less as his legacy was being continued.

A Daxamite named Mon-El came to Earth and became Superman II.  Clark's cousin Kara Zor-L came to Earth and began operating as Power Girl.

Then, in 1982, super-heroes were revealed to the world with the debut of Powerkid, which caused a "Super Explosion".  This plus the loss of Lois to cancer were the catalysts that caused Clark to make the decision to leave Earth behind and seek adventure in the stars.

Not long after Clark's departure, his grandson Sam took on the role as the third Superman, though Sam  would only operate a few years before being killed by Doomsday.

In the mid 21st century, a Superman will appear as a member of Justice League Unlimited.  It could be that this is Mon-El, but very likely it is confirmation of rumors that following Sam's death, a clone had been created.

Comments:

There are three versions of Superman in the Wronskiverse which can be confusing since they contradict each other, unless someone like me can be creative enough.

The first Superman to be brought in was the Super Friends version, via the 1984 He-Man/Super Friends crossover in Super-Heroes that featured the Sword of Power.  Thus all his Super Friends and 1960s animated stories were in.

Then following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the post-crisis DCU was incorporated into the Wronskiverse, which brought that Superman in, up until December 1992 when I phased them out.

Then in 2004, I incorporated Win Scott Eckert's Crossover Chronology, which brought in the golden age Superman.

So with the golden age Superman, the canon is all stories published up to December 1945, and post-golden age stories that occur in the 1930s and 1940s up to the end of the war.  And then also any appearances in Crossovers.  This of course also includes his appearances in Powerman and Mystery Men.

The silver age version (Mon-El/Bob Kent) is the New Adventures of Superman and all incarnations of Super Friends.

Then the modern version (Sam Kent) is all post-crisis stories published from Man of Steel to Death of Superman.

Note that in the Wronskiverse, the first two Supermen operated in secret, and the third was actually considered a second stringer, as Powerman had the honor of being considered Earth's primary protector.  (This is a concept my son laughs at.)  From 1979 to 1985, many of the stories that were in DC attributed to Superman actually happened to Super-Bob/Powerkid instead.