Superman is the hero of heroes; the incorruptible ideal by which we, as the human race, should strive to be. He's the icon that other superheroes look up to. He's long since permeated the stories he stars in and has become an instantly recognizable symbol across the globe regardless of race, creed, gender, or sexuality. He's a reminder that no matter how dire things look, no matter how dark and pessimistic things will get -- and they will -- there's always something greater to strive towards. That there's hope for tomorrow, and that we're all strong enough to make it happen.

Loading

Joey Esposito, Senior Editor

.@joeyesposito he's able to fly above us but chooses to walk among us - human nature is an inspiration. We just have to SEE what he sees.



— Bryan Q. Miller (@bryanQmiller) April 18, 2013

Sean Allen, Community Manager

.@joeyesposito Superman the movie came out the year I was born. As the only son of a single mother, I grew up knowing a man can fly.



— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) April 18, 2013

Stephen Ng, Editor, IGN Game Help

@joeyesposito @ign Superman is aspirational. He's the best of us. Who we strive to be. Doing the right thing, not as an option but a default



— Adam P. Knave (@adampknave) April 18, 2013

Benjamin Bailey, IGN Comics Review Crew

@joeyesposito -Superman became a symbol of strength for our whole family as Ryan fought (and beat) cancer. twitter.com/BethKaboth/sta…



— Beth Kaboth (@BethKaboth) April 18, 2013

Joshua Yehl, IGN Comics Review Crew

@joeyesposito optimism. Superman represents the hope that mankind can have a better tomorrow. Shame more people don't think that way. @ign



— Sarah Bell (@IAmGiantWoman) April 18, 2013

Chuck Osborn, Managing Editor

@joeyesposito Permanence. Of both the medium and the ideals Superman represents.



— Poet Mase (@PoetMase) April 18, 2013

Jesse Schedeen, IGN Comics Review Crew

@joeyesposito Superman is different so because he is different, people accepts him, making people like me who is different because I have >



— Andy Behbakht (@Samaritan93) April 18, 2013

@joeyesposito (cont) Aspergers, able to accept myself who is different. That is why Superman means so much to me; he inspires me.



— Andy Behbakht (@Samaritan93) April 18, 2013

Mitch Dyer, Associate Editor

@joeyesposito He shows is that the world may not accept us for what we are, but that we can, and should, strive to make a difference in it.



— David Short (@dshort_0610) April 18, 2013

Roth Cornet, Editor, IGN TV

@joeyesposito superman means the greatest example of humanity. He helps his fellow man bc it's the right thing to do.



— Randy Z. Ochoa (@rzochoa) April 18, 2013

Greg Miller, Executive Editor, Mega Franchises

@joeyesposito Superman is what the real world needs. More than any other super hero. And not because of his powers, but his choices.



— Mark Boss (@markB0SS) April 18, 2013

Rich George, Senior Editor

@joeyesposito Superman is strength tempered with compassion. Power that protects. Wisdom and courage and love, showing us a better way.



— Ian Menard (@IanMenard) April 18, 2013

Eric Goldman, Executive Editor, IGN TV

@joeyesposito Superman is hope. A child raised by flawed humans, with unlimited power, that chooses to be better for the hope of tomorrow.



— neolego (@neolego) April 18, 2013

Audrey Drake, Editor, IGN Nintendo

@joeyesposito Superman is the ultimate sense of dreams. Every kid wants to be Superman. He is the idea that nothing is impossible



— Greg McCrohan (@Gregular_Greg) April 18, 2013

Scott Collura, Senior Editor

@joeyesposito @ign Superman is a slice of Americana. Too much of what defines America has been discarded, not him, somehow he stays relevant — Kevin Fitzgerald (@jamman39) April 18, 2013

Steve Butts, Editor-in-Chief

@joeyesposito Superman, an alien with godlike abilities, taught me more about what it means to be human than any real human being.



— Isaac Pekeles (@DrP_323) April 18, 2013

Today is the 75th anniversary of Action Comics #1 -- released on this date in 1938 -- which introduced the world to both Superman and the intrepid reporter Lois Lane. To celebrate their birthdays, we've compiled not only our thoughts, but yours as well, on what makes the Man of Steel and his leading lady so beloved almost a century after their introduction. Superman is really a man – not an alien, at least, not how I see him -- raised with the strongest moral compass the world has ever seen, and it's because he's a part of humanity -- not above it or apart from it -- that he's able to demonstrate that moral compass as an example for the rest of us.At the most basic level, Superman has been a guiding force through my entire life. Superman's been my favorite hero since I was a kid, when I made my grandmother, Rao bless her, run down the hill in my backyard with capes tied around our necks, arms outstretched. She died when I was in the first grade; my first real taste of mortality. But it was through Superman’s resilience of the loss of not only his Earth-parents but his entire home world that told me you’ll always come out the other side of life’s inevitable tragedies stronger than before.It’s because of Superman’s utter inspiration that I know that no matter how cynical I get or how dim the future looks, all I have to do is look up and know that we can be so much better. To me, the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane represents the most empowering love story you could possibly tell. Every man is looking for his Lois Lane. A strong, empowered, independent women that is as stubborn as she is supportive.In the same regard, every Lois Lane is also looking for a Superman, someone that is physically strong and emotionally tough, but also vulnerable and caring. Together they demonstrate everything that is wonderful about finding (and searching) for the one person that makes you whole. Superman is the uber-immigrant, something people often forget. He’s not human but merely looks human. Kal-El the Kryptonian-American represents the best in our human society, hence the tagline, “Truth, justice, and the American way.” He is the epitome of what we should strive to be – honest, forthright, humble yet assertive – qualities and traits we’ve come to neglect or dispense with in society.As Kal-El’s Superman evolved over the decades, I suspect that his writers were deliberately reminding Superman’s readers of this high ideal, and given what meager powers we have at our disposal, not to do the best thing but to do the right thing, regardless of the times we live in. For the first Halloween I can remember, sometime during the distant 1980s, I was dressed as Superman. My mother tells me this a costume I insisted on, which is probably true. This was long before I was introduced to the world of comic books and I had yet to see any cartoons starring the Man of Steel, but I still knew. As I kid, I just looked at that "S" and knew; I knew that Superman was, and always will be, the ultimate superhero. I wanted to emulate that. I wanted to be that.Now, many, many years later, I have kids of my own. My son, who is probably around the same age I was that Halloween oh so long ago, sleeps with a Superman comforter he picked out himself. If you ask him to name a superhero -- he knows many, his favorites being Batman and the Hulk – his first answer is always “Superman.” He says that because he knows, just like we all do. Before we become old and jaded with the world, we get it, we look at the "S" and know it stands for something. We know what it means to be a superhero. In All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, a young woman named Regan with colored hair and numerous piercings gets ready to jump off a ledge. Superman appears just in the nic of time -- like he always does -- to hold her in arms that can bend steel and wrap her in a cape that has brushed the sun and tell her, “You’re much stronger than you think you are.”I can only imagine Regan’s inner monologue was something like this:“Me? Strong? I’m not strong. I’m miserable and I’ve given up. You're the strong one, Superman. You’ve probably never felt like this in your life. But then again, here you are standing next to me. In a world full of other people in pain and danger, you stopped to remind me that I have real strength. Coming from the world’s strongest man, that sure does mean a lot. If someone with a bajillion different kinds of visions can see strength in me, then I guess all I needed was a reminder that it’s there. Oh, and man does your cape smell nice.” Truth, Justice, and the American Way -- I admit without shame that one of my earliest role models was Superman. Though I’m not Kryptonian, don’t exhibit super-human strength or flight, and am not a fictional character (I think), my personal value system has been directly influenced by the Man of Steel. Not because he has the power to leap tall buildings or alter the course of mighty rivers, but because of his incorruptible moral compass that exists beneath the impenetrable skin.“I never lie,” he told Lois Lane in the first Superman movie… and he meant it. He is the unwavering light in a world of darkness; a man who can’t be bought, doesn’t cheat, and never betrays his values to win. (Injustice doesn’t count.) While I can’t pretend to match that high standard of excellence, I’d like to think that I’m a little bit better of a person (even without powers) thanks to Superman. If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen me rant at some point against the people who complain about Superman being “too overpowered” or “not relatable.” Those complaints have no merit as far I'm concerned, and I notice that the only people who actually voice them are the ones who have never bothered to read a Superman comic in their adult life.To me, Superman is one of the most fundamentally relatable superheroes. His greatest struggle isn't battling Doomsday or Brainiac – it's the fact that he's so profoundly alone in the world. He's forced to put on his goofy, bumbling Clark Kent face every day as he goes about the normal world. He's forced to put on his sublimely perfect Superman face as he sets out to save the world from all manner of threats. Beneath those two personas is simply Kal-El, a humble guy with a bottomless heart who just wants to fit in and find a new family to replace the one he lost on Krypton and the one he lost in Kansas. It's the persona that so few people in the DC Universe ever come to know.Superman isn't perfect. He's not the strongest person in the universe. He has weaknesses, both physical and psychological. What makes him the greatest hero of them all is the fact that he never gives up hope and never stops fighting for us. Even Peter Parker has moments of doubt and despair where he chooses to hang up his costume. Superman is the one hero who's entirely incorruptible. Growing up, I never liked Superman, despite my infatuation with superheroes. Kent was too perfect, the polar opposite of Bruce Wayne’s deeply flawed character – he couldn’t be touched, he could see through walls, he could rewind time, he can stop nukes in a heartbeat. But as I grew older, I grew to appreciate a character I still sort of resent. I loved Superman when he was at his most imperfect – when he was doing something wrong, or even evil.Falling under Ivy’s control in Hush, trying to stop (and kill!) Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, these are the moments that make Superman real. Maybe that’s what makes him so magnificent – he’s living so large and flying so high that watching him fall from his perfect grace is the best way for me to enjoy him. I think that makes me a bad person. I know I’m a bit unusual, but the Superman moment that stands out to me is a newly-humanized Clark getting a beat down in the diner in Superman II. Why? He’d considered his powers a burden, he wanted to live a real life -- a human life -- and so he chose to give them up. I loved that; loved watching him struggle with imperfection, vulnerability and humanity – as we all must. More than that, though, I loved that the ultimate lesson was that giving up an essential part of his nature was to rob the world, and himself, of something both necessary and beautiful.Not because he was a superhero, but because he was Kal-El and Clark Kent. Not one or the other. Sometimes the very things that we think are our burdens, frailties or limitations, can be our greatest strengths. That’s true for all of us, superhuman or not. To me, Superman is about the idea that being ordinary or extraordinary is just a matter of perspective. We are all extraordinary in some contexts, and ordinary in others. What’s important is that we embrace our full selves, who we really are, no matter the context. It's hard to put into words what Superman means to me -- a Midwestern kid with dark rimmed glasses who became a mild-mannered reporter. Believe it of not, I went to Catholic school my entire time leading up to college, and to this day, doing the right thing isn't "WWJD," it's what would Superman do. He's an ideal -- a vision to strive for.Clearly, for me, not in the athletic sense -- in the sense of giving people the benefit of the doubt, being someone people can look up to, doing the right thing even when no one is looking. He's a character that could rule the world if he wanted to, but he chooses to serve others. I hope at least a glimmer of those principles shine through in my daily actions. Growing up, I thought Superman was lame. He didn’t have claws, like Wolverine. He wasn’t as relatable as Spider-Man. Where was his edge? Where were the cool powers? Every hero can fly. Every villain is super strong. How unoriginal. How pedestrian.I turn 30 years old next week, and the older I get, the more I’ve come to appreciate idealism and symbolic perfection. There’s something noble about the infallible hero that challenges the impossible threats and overcomes them. In a world of explosions and bombings and terrorists, the escapism represented by super heroes – and particularly Superman – is certainly welcome. He’s not human. He’s not from this world. Yet he will protect us to his dying breath.In a world that can often feel dark and depressing, Superman is the light. And despite being a fictional creation, there’s something comforting about that. There’s something warming that there is an idea so pure. Superman is our hopes and our ideals, and everything we’ll never quite manage to be. That might sometimes make him boring. That might sometimes mean he lacks some of the nuance of more tortured heroes. But that’s okay. That’s exactly why he needs to exist. I’m a Marvel guy, but Superman was my first superhero, and Kal-El makes a hell of an impression. I can vaguely recall seeing Superman: The Movie in the theater as a very young kid and just being blown away by it – by the way Christopher Reeve so completely embodied Superman, in both his physicality and his demeanor. When he says he stands for truth, justice and the American way, damn it, you believe it.As the years went on and I gravitated to other superheroes, in both comics and film, I always came back to Superman and found myself loving what he stood for. He’s an ideal to be sure, but he also feels fully formed, incredibly compassionate and, yes, relatable. The best Superman stories, including that first Reeve movie, underline that if someone had all this power, they could indeed use it for the best causes, if they just have the right guidance and strength of character. And who wouldn’t want parents like Jonathan and Martha to provide that guidance? Superman is the embodiment of everything heroes mean to me. While Batman will always be my favorite (you know… because Batman), Superman is a true pillar of all that it means to be… well, super. He has larger than life abilities, powerful ideals, and he never stops believing in people or in the world. Some may call these traits outdated or even cheesy, but to me they’re the very things that made me fall in love with the idea of heroes (and, in turn, with the wonderful world of comics) in the first place.So what does Superman mean to me? The answer to that is not short. He’s my childhood. He’s that shining figure, that beacon of hope that gives the world an outside look at itself, as well as that beacon of truth and justice that (one can hope) the world will always strive towards. Happy birthday, Supes. And thanks for giving me something to believe in all these years. Of course I always loved Superman, even if I grew up as more of a Batman kid. But these days I've connected with the character in a renewed way, watching along with my five-year-old son as he essentially discovers "Kal-El of Krypton" -- as the kid calls him sometimes -- for the first time. My worn and torn DVD copies of the great Superman: The Animated Series have been our chief playing ground in this regard, with side trips to the Donner films of course, a comic here and there, and most recently that new Man of Steel trailer."Look, it's the baby Superman," the kid said to me as Russell Crowe cradled his onscreen child in the clip. And then Kevin Costner has that line: "You are my son." Man. When the hell did I start identifying less with Superman and more with Pa Kent and Jor-El?! Me and Superman go back a long way. I was six years old when Richard Donner's Superman movie came out and my dad, who never outgrew his love of comic books, took me to see it on opening night. At the time, I just thought it was cool that Superman could fly and stop bullets, but as I got older, there was something else about Superman, something that had nothing to do with his powers, that made him even more important. Sure, Superman can be seen as a sort of Space Jesus, or an idealized version of the immigrant's American Dream, but what makes Superman "Super" is his ethical strength.Here's a guy who can do almost anything he wants and chooses to dedicate himself to upholding law and order. He believes not only in the value of society, which is quite literally alien to him, but also of all of the individuals who live within it. And he expects that same sort of dedication to Truth, Justice, and the American Way from everyone, no matter how powerless they feel in their particular circumstances. To me, that was, and continues to be, massively inspirational.So... what do the Man of Steel and Lois Lane mean to you?

Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito , or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN . After Man of Steel comes out, his life will lose all sense of direction and purpose.