Is Superman, Jewish? Is he a miracle child of Hanuman, the Hindu deity? Could he be Christian? Or, is he an alien–a mere by-product of science fiction? The short answer is: it depends on whose version you buy.

When Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster created the fictional character, Superman, they envisioned him as a superhuman with a distinct American personality. He is a figment of their imagination, a character in a science-fiction book, embedded in American society.

As the story goes, he is an alien from planet Krypton. According to the first comic strip, Action Comics #1, published by DC Comics on 18 April 1938, his biological family–father Joe El and mother Lara–name him Kal-El at birth and send him to the earth, moments before Krypton gets destroyed by a catastrophic event. His spaceship lands in the American countryside in a small town, Smallville, and a farmer couple – Jonathan and Martha Kent – find the baby, adopt him, and name him Clark Kent.

As a child, Clark displays superhuman abilities–incredible strength, impervious skin, X-ray vision, and so on. When he grows up, he decides to use his abilities for the good of humanity and takes on the role of a crime-fighter.



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