Fun facts.

Superman has been around since 1938, so he has collected a lot of trivia, and a lot of made-up trivia too. Every fact below links to a source in the list, and we’ve labelled the era each one belongs to.

Firsts and origins

1. Superman couldn’t fly at first. In Action Comics #1 (June 1938) he leapt about an eighth of a mile. Read how he got airborne on can Superman fly?
2. Action Comics #1 went on sale on 18 April 1938, two months before its June cover date.
3. Kryptonite was invented for radio, in The Adventures of Superman serial in June 1943. It reached the comics in 1949, and that first comic kryptonite was coloured red. See every kryptonite colour.
4. A 1940 kryptonite story was never published. “The K-Metal from Krypton” was written in 1940 but shelved.
5. His parents had other names first. The 1939 newspaper strips called them Jor-L and Lora; George Lowther’s 1942 novel gave the names Jor-El and Lara.
6. The Kents had five sets of names before Jonathan and Martha: Mary (1939), Eben and Sarah (1942), Eben and Martha (1948 serial), John and Mary (1948 comic), then Jonathan (1950) and “Marthe”, later Martha (1951).
7. His powers have had three explanations: a super-evolved race (1938), Earth’s lower gravity (1940s) and the yellow sun (from about 1960). See Superman’s solar battery.

Powers and weaknesses

8. Heat vision began as a stronger X-ray. In Superman #59 (1949) he melts a glacier with his eyes. See heat vision.
9. Lead isn’t a weakness. It only blocks his X-ray vision and shields him from kryptonite.
10. Freeze breath dates from 1959, in Superman #129.
11. The solar flare is a 2015 power. It burns all his stored energy in one blast and leaves him powerless for about a day.
12. There are more than 20 colours of kryptonite, from green to periwinkle, and three more were added in 2025.

Identity and personality

13. The glasses are hypnotic. Superman #330 (1978) explained them as Kryptonian lenses that boost a low-level hypnosis. James Gunn confirmed in April 2026 that they work that way in his films too.
14. The S didn’t always mean hope. It began as “S for Superman”; the 1978 film made it a family crest, and “hope” came with Superman: Birthright (2003–04).
15. His birthday isn’t settled. 29 February began as a 1960s letters-page joke; DC has also celebrated 18 April.
16. He doesn’t have a canon favourite food. The Ma Kent’s apple pie claim has no comic source. See Superman’s personality.
17. He shaves with heat vision, according to secondary sources citing Superman #139 (1960) and The Man of Steel #4 (1986). See how Superman shaves.

Family and film

18. Superman’s son came out as bisexual in Superman: Son of Kal-El #5 (2021). See Jon Kent.
19. Krypto was inspired by a real dog in Superman (2025): James Gunn’s rescue dog, Ozu. See Krypto.
20. Christopher Reeve and George Reeves weren’t related. Reeves was born George Brewer.

Radio, rivals and Britain

21. Perry White and Jimmy Olsen were born on the radio. Perry was first heard in February 1940 and Jimmy was named in April 1940, before either reached the comics. See Superman’s friends and allies.
22. “The American way” was a wartime addition. The radio serial added it to his motto in September 1942, and DC swapped it for “a better tomorrow” in 2021. See Superman’s famous quotes.
23. Lex Luthor had red hair. He debuted with a full head of it in Action Comics #23 (1940) and went bald in Superman #10 (1941), reportedly through an artist’s mistake.
24. The Man of Tomorrow nickname dates from 1939, from New York World’s Fair Comics #1, and it’s now the title of the 2027 film, where Brainiac is the villain.
25. A British comic showed him flying in 1939. The cover of Triumph #772 (5 August 1939) has him soaring, long before the American comics settled on flight. See Superman and Britain.
26. “Real kryptonite” was identified in London. In 2006 the Natural History Museum helped confirm jadarite, a white mineral whose formula almost exactly matches the kryptonite label in Superman Returns. The press spotted the match in April 2007.

For the basics, start with the Superman fact file. For the character’s history in one read, see Superman’s history. Superman is DC’s, not Marvel’s, but he met Spider-Man in 1976: see every Marvel crossover.