Superman was a villain!
The hero we’ve come to know as “Superman” made his first appearance in Jerry Siegel’s and Joe Schuster’s, “The Reign of The Superman” created in January 1933. Interestingly, Siegel first envisioned superman as a bald villain who has an intense, insatiable desire to attain power and control. This is certainly the opposite of the Superman we know today, who is the glowing insignia of integrity. The story was unsuccessful and Superman was later re-envisioned as a superhero. After revamping the character, Siegel and Schuster were still unsuccessful in pitching their comic strip ideas to newspaper publications. The pair finally got their break when the strip was picked up by a DC comic predecessor, who encouraged them to rework it into a 13-page story for Action Comics issue #1, which became the most successful and treasured comic book of all-time.
The S means more than 'Super.'
The S on Superman’s chest, contrary to popular belief, represents more than just his name. The S actually represents his Kryptonian family symbol. In addition the S also means resurrection. The interpretation that the S represented his name, was inspired by reporter Lois Lane.
Superman was not born with powers.
Shockingly, the strongest hero in the DC universe was born without powers. Krypton, Superman's planet of origin, orbits a red sun, thus making him and the people of Krypton powerless. But under the earth’s yellow sun, Superman’s cells absorb the solar rays making him incredibly powerful. Of course this process started as Superman came of age. Because as he became older he was more capable of storing energy and transforming it in an effective way. Alas, his powers are only formidable when under the yellow sun. If he goes to another planet with no yellow sun he becomes weaker.
At first, he could not fly.
When Superman was first created, he wasn’t able to fly. Initially, he was characterized as being incredibly strong, invulnerable to the strongest weaponry, and could leap over tall buildings with a single bound. He officially gained the ability to fly in comics in 1941. In later years was given new abilities such as enhanced senses, x-ray vision, arctic breath, super-speed, and increased healing.
The government censored Superman
The U.S. Government censored Superman during World War 2, because they didn’t want any mention of the atomic bomb being circulated by the press. Well, DC found out about it and did it anyway. DC developed a comic where Superman’s nemesis, Lex Luthor, unleashes an attack in which he called an “atomic bomb.” This, of course, prompted the Government to take action and delay the publication. The U.S. Government, again, censored another comic which was developed in the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The comic is based on Superman showing an atom bomb test to the U.S. army. And a Superman newspaper strip revealing the “atom smasher.”