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Old 05-14-26 | 03:23 PM
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Question about Superman...

When did Superman first learn his real name, Kal-el, in the comics?
I did a Google search and got the following but I was hoping for confirmation from an actual person. Thanks.
1949 - Superman #61

Superman learns about his Kryptonian origins firsthand as he travels back in time and observes Krypton’s final days. As a time-traveling phantom, Kal-El is unable to interact with the world around him, but he’s able to observe it. He learns his birthname, who his parents were and where he came from. Previously, these facts had been known to the readers but not to Superman himself.
Which raises a second question: how did readers learn it?
Old 05-14-26 | 03:33 PM
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Re: Question about Superman...

https://www.supermanhomepage.com/sup...and-first-use/

This says it was Superman 113, though Kal-l was used in the comic strip before that.

Action Comics number 1 shows how Superman is sent to Earth in a space ship (hence readers knew) so I guess Superman himself didn't know this until later.

Unfortunately DC Universe Infinite only has Superman 43, then it skips to 76 then 122 so I can't check the individual issues online.

Last edited by fujishig; 05-14-26 at 03:53 PM.
Old 05-14-26 | 09:49 PM
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Re: Question about Superman...

Action Comics #1 (1938) simply tells us Superman was sent to earth in a space ship.
Superman #1 (1939) tells us the name of the planet - Krypton
The Superman newspaper strip tells us Superman's birth name is Kal-L (no "e") in its second strip in January 1939.
The spelling Kal-el came in a 1942 spinoff novel by George Lowther (he also first spelled Kal-El's dad's name Jor-el and changed his mom's name from Lora to Lara).
The first comic book to feature the name “Kal-El” was Superman #113 in May 1957.

Originally *everyone* on Krypton had "super strength" type powers, later X-Ray vision and others were added, and the lower gravity of Earth boosted Superman's making him even stronger. The "power from the yellow sun" came when Supergirl was asking Superman how they got their powers in December 1959's Action Comics #262, in a back-up story by Otto Binder and Jim Mooney. Superman explained to her that it was part gravity and part the Earth's yellow sun that gave them super powers.
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Old 05-14-26 | 10:43 PM
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Re: Question about Superman...

I have a question for you, Superman:
What's your deal, Superman?!"
Old 05-15-26 | 07:32 AM
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Re: Question about Superman...

Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum
When did Superman first learn his real name, Kal-el, in the comics?
I did a Google search and got the following but I was hoping for confirmation from an actual person. Thanks.


Which raises a second question: how did readers learn it?
I had a quick look at #61. Superman does learn he came from Krypton in the issue. It's also the first appearance of Kryptonite, but the name Kal-el is never mentioned.

Edit: I see Bob already gave us the origin of Kal-el.
Old 05-15-26 | 10:04 AM
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Re: Question about Superman...

Originally Posted by BobO'Link
Action Comics #1 (1938) simply tells us Superman was sent to earth in a space ship.
Superman #1 (1939) tells us the name of the planet - Krypton
The Superman newspaper strip tells us Superman's birth name is Kal-L (no "e") in its second strip in January 1939.
The spelling Kal-el came in a 1942 spinoff novel by George Lowther (he also first spelled Kal-El's dad's name Jor-el and changed his mom's name from Lora to Lara).
The first comic book to feature the name “Kal-El” was Superman #113 in May 1957.

Originally *everyone* on Krypton had "super strength" type powers, later X-Ray vision and others were added, and the lower gravity of Earth boosted Superman's making him even stronger. The "power from the yellow sun" came when Supergirl was asking Superman how they got their powers in December 1959's Action Comics #262, in a back-up story by Otto Binder and Jim Mooney. Superman explained to her that it was part gravity and part the Earth's yellow sun that gave them super powers.
I was just watching the Fleischer cartoons and their initial credits in 1941 mention how Kryptonians were a super-advanced, super-strong race of humans. I know a few Elseworlds have tried backdooring Kryptonians into some forebear of the human race.
Old 05-15-26 | 10:47 AM
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Re: Question about Superman...

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
I was just watching the Fleischer cartoons and their initial credits in 1941 mention how Kryptonians were a super-advanced, super-strong race of humans. I know a few Elseworlds have tried backdooring Kryptonians into some forebear of the human race.
Unless the Kryptonians were xenophobic (which is the reason DC used for why the Daxamites didn't expand into space), there's no reason there wouldn't be a ton of survivors (and descendants) once Krypton exploded though, since they could presumably just fly into space and explore prior to Krypton's demise, especially since there would have been no Kryptonite at the time, anywhere.

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