Superman chest shield as drawn in 1940 SupermanThe Man of Steel
Page three

Comic Ages

American comic book history is normally divided into publishing ages, and Superman is the character those divisions were built around. He begins the Golden Age in 1938, survives the collapse that ended it, is rebuilt for the Silver Age, is deliberately weakened in the Bronze Age, and is restarted from scratch in the Modern Age.

Reading the eras side by side shows how much of the character is negotiable. The costume, the powers, the tone and even the chest emblem were redrawn for each period, as the four versions of the shield below make clear.

The plain triangular Superman chest shield used in 1938
1938
The 1939 version of the Superman chest shield
1939
The wider 1943 version of the Superman chest shield
1943
The modern Superman logo used for the 2025 film
Today
A modern Superman costume photographed at New York Comic Con in 2017
A boy reading a comic book in a photograph taken in 1942
Age one

Golden Age

1938 – 1956

The original run. Siegel and Shuster's Superman is a rough social crusader who goes after wife beaters, corrupt politicians, slum landlords and arms dealers rather than costumed villains. He is powerful but limited: he leaps instead of flying, and a bursting shell can hurt him.

Sales were enormous and the format spread across the industry within a year. By the end of the period the tone had softened considerably, partly because of the character's move into radio and animation and partly because of growing public pressure over comic book content.

  • Debuts in Action Comics #1, 1938
  • Own title, Superman #1, 1939
  • Flight and kryptonite arrive from radio
  • Comics Code Authority, 1954
George Reeves in costume as Superman during the 1950s
Ages two and three

Silver & Bronze

1956 – 1985

The Silver Age turns Superman into science fiction. Editor Mort Weisinger builds a whole mythology around him: the Fortress of Solitude, the bottled city of Kandor, coloured kryptonite, Bizarro, Brainiac, Krypto and, in 1959, Supergirl. The stories become imaginative and often deliberately strange, and his power level rises to the point where he can move planets.

The Bronze Age reacts against exactly that. In 1971 Denny O'Neil's Kryptonite Nevermore destroys most of the kryptonite on Earth and cuts his abilities down, aiming for a character who can actually be challenged. The period is also when Siegel and Shuster publicly campaigned for recognition and were finally given a credit and a pension in 1975.

  • Supergirl introduced, 1959
  • Fortress of Solitude and Kandor established
  • Kryptonite Nevermore, 1971
  • Creator credit restored, 1975
Superman, Supergirl and Batgirl costumes photographed at WonderCon in 2016
Age four

Modern Age

1986 – 2011

Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped out decades of accumulated continuity, and in 1986 John Byrne restarted the character in the six issue miniseries The Man of Steel. Clark Kent became the real identity rather than the disguise, the Kents survived into his adult life, Superboy was removed from his history and Lex Luthor was rewritten as a corporate billionaire instead of a mad scientist.

The period produced the best selling Superman stories ever published. The Death of Superman in 1992 killed him against the creature Doomsday and became a mainstream news event; Reign of the Supermen followed with four replacements before his return, and Clark and Lois were married in 1996.

  • The Man of Steel reboot, 1986
  • The Death of Superman, 1992
  • Reign of the Supermen, 1993
  • Marriage to Lois Lane, 1996
A contemporary Superman costume photographed at Brussels Comic Con in 2022
Age five

Contemporary

2011 – present

In 2011 DC restarted its entire line as The New 52. Superman was made younger and less established, the marriage was erased, and the costume was redesigned with armoured plating and no red trunks. The reception was mixed, and the changes were steadily reversed.

DC Rebirth in 2016 restored the married, more experienced version and introduced his son Jon Kent, who has since taken on the identity himself. The current approach keeps two Supermen in print at once and leans back towards the optimistic reading of the character that the 2025 film also adopted.

  • The New 52 relaunch, 2011
  • DC Rebirth, 2016
  • Jon Kent becomes Superman, 2021
  • Red trunks restored, 2021
Chronology

Key publishing dates

The dates below mark the points where the direction of the character measurably changed, either because of a new creative team, a company wide reboot or an outside pressure such as the Comics Code.

  1. 1938

    Action Comics #1 introduces Superman and effectively creates the superhero genre.

  2. 1949

    Kryptonite crosses over from the radio serial into the comics and becomes his defining weakness.

  3. 1959

    Supergirl arrives and the Superman Family expands into a full line of connected titles.

  4. 1971

    Kryptonite Nevermore reduces his powers to make the stories competitive again.

  5. 1986

    John Byrne's The Man of Steel reboots the character after Crisis on Infinite Earths.

  6. 1992

    The Death of Superman becomes one of the best selling comic storylines ever published.

  7. 2011

    The New 52 restarts continuity again with a younger, redesigned Superman.

  8. 2016

    DC Rebirth restores the married version and brings his son Jon Kent into the main line.