In: Justice League, Superfamily
In: Justice League, Superfamily
Superman, born Kal-El on the distant and advanced planet Krypton, was sent to Earth as a baby moments before his home world’s destruction. Raised as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas, he grew into the world’s greatest superhero, embodying hope and justice.
Krypton was among the most developed planets in the galaxy, providing its citizens with a luxurious life that led to societal stagnation. Over time, its people became ignorant and resistant to change. Under the leadership of Dru-Zod, the last president, the planet's core societal values centered on Commodism.
Jor-El, a brilliant scientist, reluctantly agreed with his wife’s wish to have a child, despite his fears for the future. Following Kal-El’s birth, Jor-El detected dangerous cracks forming near the planet’s core, possibly worsened by climate change and water scarcity. The government dismissed his warnings, forcing Jor-El to take drastic measures: he placed his infant son, Kal-El, in an escape pod bound for Earth.
Krypton imploded minutes after that.
Kal-El’s pod landed in Smallville, Kansas, where he was adopted by the Kent family and given the name Clark Kent. Raised with strong moral values, Clark grew into a compassionate and responsible young man while secretly developing his Kryptonian abilities.
On his 15th birthday, the Kents showed Clark the spaceship he was found in for the first time. It was a small Kryptonian escape pod, old and impossible to understand, given the alien language on the object. The Kents explained his origin and the reason for his extraordinary abilities, which were appearing one by one, but couldn't be predicted.
This teenage phase was difficult for Clark. He had to learn to control his powers and often had to refuse to help in situations where he could've been useful. This consumed and upset him, but not as much as the feeling of keeping this secret from everyone and feeling different from his classmates, since no one could understand him.
When he turned 16, he woke up in the middle of the night to noises coming from the basement. Specifically, an old closet built by his father, a natural carpenter, was emanating a powerful energy. Upon opening it, Clark found three completely bizarre and eccentric, yet clearly heroic, teenagers. They introduced themselves as the Legion of Super-Heroes. He was completely enchanted by their space suits and the fantastic nature of the young people, who didn't seem to be older than him. However, they stated that the matter was serious and that he needed to go with them.
Upon entering his closet, Clark was transported to a utopian and futuristic world described as the 30th century.
They introduced themselves as Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad, three Legionnaires who had found a temporal trail that led them to the Kent farm. They needed Clark because he was the key to a very important mission: a surprise party!
A close friend of the Legionnaires, Brainiac-5, would be celebrating 15 "cycles" that night, and they would have the presence of his favorite hero, Superman, as a surprise.
Clark had already been lost for a few paragraphs; after all, he was just a country boy who had difficulties even with literacy. Trying to understand his relationship with Superman seemed even more confusing. The Legionnaires then took a step back to explain more calmly as they walked toward the central square, where Clark came across a huge and imposing golden statue in his honor.
Superman was the greatest hero the cosmos had ever seen, the dawn of a heroic age, and the man who guided the future toward peace. He is who Clark would still become, and that frightened him even more. However, being alongside the Legionnaires felt safe. Those super-powered kids and that utopian world were exactly where he wanted to be. Superman built the world he would have liked to have grown up in.
First, the group of Legionnaires broke into the Superman museum. They only needed to bribe Michael Jon Carter, the janitor of the place, to steal the hero's first suit, which he used as a teenager.
The party was a success: Legionnaires from all over the galaxy came to meet the young Superman. Some even thought he was an impostor because he was so chubby and clumsy. However, Brainiac-5 knew he was the real Superman. Besides being enthusiastic, he seemed very grateful for the hero's presence, which was strange for Clark since, like the rest of the teenagers, he probably had never met the hero personally.
At the end of the night, he was ready to go home, being sent back to the same time from which he was taken. However, at a certain point, he asked if he could stay.
Saturn Girl replied that it was obvious that he couldn't, Lightning Lad added that it would be fun, and Cosmic Boy looked at Brainiac-5, waiting for a response. The boy said no, but that wouldn't stop him from coming back.
It was then that a deal was sealed: whenever Clark wanted to join the Legion, he just needed to access the Zeta Tube in his closet.
Name: Clark Kent / Kal-El
Aliases: Superman, Superboy, Man of Steel, Man of Tomorrow, Champion of the Opressed, The Last Son of Krypton
Affiliation: Justice League, Superfamily
Pets: Krypto
Relatives: Martha Kent (Mother) Jonathan Kent (Fatger) Jor-El (Deceased Father) Lara-El (Deceased Mother) Lois Lane (Wife) Kara Zor-El (Cousin) Conner Kent (Clone)
Allies: Newsboy Legion, Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen, John Henry Irons, Natasha Irons, Legion of Super-Heroes
Origin: Kryptonian
Living Status: Alive
Marital Status: Married
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Reporter and Superhero
Base of Operations: Metropolis, Smallville, Fortress of Sollitude
Being among so many superheroes and seeing his potential future deeply inspired him. From that night on, he would wear his makeshift uniform and soar through the skies of Smallville as the mighty Superboy.
Meanwhile, in the 30th century, his friends helped him enlist in the Legion of Super-Heroes under the false identity of Mon-El, a Daxamite who was a descendant of the original Superman. Working alongside the Legion meant having complete freedom to explore his powers and use his abilities on the battlefield.
Clark managed to act secretly as Superboy until he turned 18, when he dared to explore Metropolis, attracting the attention of the local media. This quickly reached the knowledge of Martha and Jonathan, who discovered their son's secret heroic life. Martha and Jon were disappointed not to have known about his heroic life and claimed they would have supported him from the beginning, in the right way.
Clark apologized and took the opportunity to talk about the internship he had secured at the Daily Star in Metropolis. They were impressed with his resume, especially after he shared his years of work as a writer for the Smallville school newspaper. However, this would require him to live in Metropolis.
His parents were reluctant but eventually agreed, on the condition that he would visit them frequently. The Legionnaires, otherwise, did not react well to the news, as the president of the United Planets, R.J. Brande, had become stricter in selecting members for the Legion of Super-Heroes and requested a second confirmation of Mon-El's unofficial documents.
Brainiac-5 could have bypassed the documentation, but under the surveillance of the United Planets, they would quickly discover that Clark did not live in the 30th century and would prohibit the use of the Zeta Tube illegally implemented in his closet.
As a last resort, they asked Clark to stay and live alongside them, leading the Legion. That was his place. Clark had never doubted it, but he couldn't allow that future to be forgotten or spare an entire world from the presence of a hero like Superman.
He said goodbye to the friends with whom he had fought for so many years and grown up with. Clark would no longer be able to see them, but he would never forget them.
On his last day in Smallville, Martha gave him a new Superman uniform, made from the alien clothes he was covered in during his journey to Earth.
In the center, the symbol from his ship, an "S," was almost as if it had been written in the stars that this was a Superman.
Opening his childhood ship for the last time, Clark felt a little queasy, as the walls had been covered by a small greenish crystallization. Jon said the metal must have been oxidizing over time.
Inside the ship, Clark found a type of panel still on under the lining. When he accessed it, the ship took flight as if it were being turned on for the first time, and Superman made a point of following it.
It was a long journey, and at the end of it, the ship buried itself in the ground of the ice desert they were now in, which began to vibrate. From the bottom of the glacier, it opened up into colossal crystalline cylinders, forming a complex monument that seemed to beg to be explored.
Even before he touched the huge lead door, it recognize him, and decided to open. In the same second, a red blast hit him, and amid licks of affection, a robust dog, almost the size of Clark, was revealed, extremely curious to see him again.
All of this was new; having so many answers he thought he would never get was a dream.
Shy and fragile, the automatons crept out of their hiding places among the crystals. With a few words from Clark, they were able to synthesize his language to introduce themselves. There were 12 robots, sent in a space probe to take care of the fortress's maintenance and the baby's development, who they believed had never landed. The dog was Krypto, a name in honor of his deceased home planet. He was sent in an escape ship as a test to see if the baby's ship would reach Earth according to its trajectory, but it seems that Krypton's explosion impacted the ship's launch and its route.
The Twelve Robots then organized themselves into a circle, and together they began to transmit the message they had been so eager to play for so long.
"We love you, my son. We know, however, that we will not be blessed with the gift of coexistence, for our future rests in you. Krypton is a glorious and beautiful planet, and you will honor its memory. They failed in save their world from failing, but we cannot fail to save ours. Because of this, we have found a smaller and distant planet where our world can now grow and flourish. If we ever dreamed of the future, it was because we awoke with you in our arms, our beloved Kal-El. Never feel abandoned, helpless, or indecisive, for you exist because you are the memory of everything that ever was. You live because our hope will never cease. You love because we will never stop loving you.
Be good. Be strong. Be yourself."
His parents' names were Jor-El and Lara, his planet was Krypton, and his name was Kal-El. For the first time, Superman was sure of who he was.