Superman came to live amongst normal people from the planet Krypton. He was transported from the planet as a baby in a “pod” when the planet was about to be destroyed. He landed on a farm in Kansas and was raised by the farmer and his wife as their own son. As he grew into a young boy he discovered his powers and as an adult resolved to only use them for the good of mankind.
As he was “adopted” by the farmer and his wife they named him Clark Kent. Clark goes to the city to find work (and well, he can be with more people and therefore help them sooner) and secures a position at a newspaper in Metropolis called The Daily Planet. As his cover he accepts the position of a reporter and never progresses higher through choice.
At the Daily Planet, Clark meets and falls in love with Lois Lane, she however, is not interested in Clark, she is only interested in Superman who she falls madly for. As she does not know that Clark IS Superman this causes a bit of confusion at times. No-one but his parents actually know that Clark and Superman are one and the same, although they are NEVER seen together, you’d think someone would work it out!
Superman’s powers are ranging, an oft repeated phrase associated with him is that he is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”. Of course he has superhuman strength (which is common amongst super heroes), he also has X-ray vision, which means he can see through most things (walls, doors, floors, ceilings etc.), the only known component he cannot see through is lead. He also possesses super hearing, which enables Superman to know when someone is in trouble as they tend to yell, scream or shout for help, which he can hear from miles and miles away. Super breath is another useful power, this enables him to blow freezing breath at things to freeze them as well as “moving” large bodies of water to extinguish fires.
Superman’s nemesis (all superheroes have one) is Lex Luthor, who tries various and always unsuccessful means of defeating Superman. Unfortunately for Superman, Lex discovers the one and only weakness he has. It is green Kryptonite, which is a radioactive mineral from when his home planet exploded. To this end, Lex always seems able to find a supply of this mineral (how?) and therefore tries to use it against Superman. When he is in contact with the Kryptonite Superman looses all his powers and is basically as weak as a normal person. Fortunately for Superman, there is usually someone on hand to help in the situation and they remove/move/hide whatever the mineral and Superman wins the day again.
Superman is one of the best known and longest running superheroes, and so as a result of that we have a wide stock of outfits for the person with a longing to BE superman.
