Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and published April 18, 1938). Superman has been adapted to a number of other media, which includes radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games.

Superman was born on the fictional planet Krypton with the birth name of Kal-El. As a baby, his parents sent him to Earth in a small spaceship shortly before Krypton was destroyed in a natural cataclysm. His ship landed in the American countryside near the fictional town of Smallville. He was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who named him Clark Kent. Clark began developing various superhuman abilities, such as incredible strength and impervious skin. His adoptive parents advised him to use his powers for the benefit of humanity, and he decided to fight crime as a vigilante. To protect his personal life, he changes into a colorful costume and uses the alias "Superman" when fighting crime. Clark resides in the fictional American city of Metropolis, where he works as a journalist for the Daily Planet. Superman's supporting characters include his love interest and fellow journalist Lois Lane, Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen, and editor-in-chief Perry White, and his enemies include Brainiac, General Zod, Darkseid, and his archenemy Lex Luthor.

• 1905: final appearance of The Upside Downs by Gustave Verbeek in the New York Herald
• 1924: birth of Stan Kay, American comic writer best known for work on children's comic books and newspaper strips
• 1957: birth of Bob Petrecca, American comic book inker
• 1962: first appearance of Iznogoud, French caliphate comics series by René Goscinny and Jean Tabary
• 1964: birth of Norman Felchle, American conceptual and comic book artist
• 1964: birth of Kevin Tinsley, American comic book colorist
• 1982: death of Wally Bishop, American cartoonist who drew his syndicated Muggs and Skeeter comic strip
• 1986: death of Alfred Bestall, British comic strip author best known for continuing Rupert the Bear
• 1992: death of Walter Clinton, American artist and animator, known for assisting on newspaper comics

• ... that Iván Arias's eccentric but successful 2021 La Paz mayoral campaign involved an action figure, comics, and chocolate kisses named and styled in his likeness?
• ... that otomechikku, a subgenre of Japanese girls' comics focusing on stories about ordinary teenaged protagonists, has been compared to monogatari and the genre of Bildungsroman?
• ... that Piecemeal, who appeared in The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga, was considered one of the strangest characters to appear in a Marvel video game?
• ... that the 1992 comic book storyline "Man and Wolf", in which Captain America is transformed into a werewolf, has been described as "one of the most bizarre moments of the core Marvel Universe"?
• ... that although Blizzard's franchise Overwatch is centered around video games, its lore is mainly told through animated shorts, comics, and novels?
• ... that John Romita Sr. has been credited with introducing romance comic themes to Spider-Man comic books?
• ... that Kamome Shirahama, in addition to writing and illustrating her best-selling Witch Hat Atelier manga series, has created variant covers for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and the Star Wars franchise?
• ... that Hikaru Natsumi contributed to adult comic magazines while still in high school?

A play with panels in Winsor McCay's Little Sammy Sneeze strip.

A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or comic book. A panel consists of a single drawing depicting a frozen moment. Newspaper daily strips typically consist of either four panels (Doonesbury, For Better or For Worse) or three panels (Garfield, Dilbert), all of the same size. The horizontal newspaper strip can also employ only a single panel, as sometimes seen in Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur.

• ...that Joye Hummel (pictured) wrote 70 of the early Wonder Woman comics but she was not included in official histories?

• ...that the abuses suffered by Ben Affleck and Shia LaBeouf in the webcomic Theater Hopper stemmed from the artist's dislike of the actors?

• ... that Darktown Comics, a series of racist caricatures, was a perennial bestseller for Currier and Ives and by 1884 represented a third of the company's production?