Superman | |
---|---|
Real Name |
Bill Dunn |
First Appearance |
Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #3 (January 1933) |
Created by |
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster |
Origin[]
Professor Ernest Smalley was a mad scientist who specialized in chemistry. Needing test subjects for his experiments, the professor randomly chooses a homeless man named Bill Dunn from a Depression-era bread line telling him that in exchange for participating in the experiment Dunn would receive a new suit and a hot meal.
The experiment, a potion, granted Dunn telepathic powers. However, the man became power mad and decided to take over the world. Unfortunately for Dunn, the potion's effects are temporary and since he killed Smalley, the secret formula could not be duplicated. Dunn's powers begin to fade and he realized he will be returning to the bread line once more.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #3
Notes[]
- Bill Dunn was inspired by Hugo Danner by Philip Gordon Wylie.
- In 1934, after refusing editors, the two authors decided to recreate the Superman character who launched the Golden Age of Comic Books.