The Superman of Earth-One is a superhero and the incarnation of Superman that existed during the Silver Age and Bronze Age publications of DC Comics. He is also known by the following names: Silver Age Superman, Bronze Age Superman, and Pre-Crisis Superman.
History In the mid-1950s, following the decline of superhero comics after World War II and the end of the Golden Age of comics, the editors at DC decided to revive some of their Golden Age superheroes with completely new origins and backstories. Starting with the Flash in Showcase #4 in 1956, new versions of DC's former heroes were gradually introduced as completely separate characters with no connection to previous incarnations. This concept eventually became canonized with the introduction of DC's multiverse in 1960s DC Comics. With the introduction of DC's multiverse, it was retroactively declared that the version of Superman published between 1938 and the early 1950s lived in an alternate dimension called Earth-Two, while comics featuring Superman published since approximately the mid-1950s took place in a universe dubbed Earth-One. This was confirmed by the introduction of the Earth-Two Superman as a distinct character in Justice League of America #73 (August 1969). However, since Superman was one of several DC characters continuously published throughout the 1950s, there is no clear dividing line between the Earth-One and Earth-Two versions of Superman, thus leading to a gray area between the Golden and Silver Ages. This was in part due to how Superman by that time had several comic books with different editors, thus allowing for inconsistencies between titles. This began to change in the late 1950s, when Mort Weisinger was made group editor of all Superman titles and made an attempt to create a cohesive universe around Superman, the "first serious attempt at a constantly developing continuity in comics history". This was in part due to the advent of annuals which often reprinted earlier Superman stories, allowing readers access to older stories and thus obliging Weisinger and his writers to create a consistent history for the character. This history/continuity (and with it the version of Superman that would go on to become the Earth-One Superman) effectively began in 1958 as Weisinger allowed for few stories prior to 1958 to be reprinted or referenced. There were a few exceptions, though, as several stories published before the mid-1950s retroactively took place on Earth-One, such as Superman #78 from September–October 1952, the first appearance of the adult Lana Lang in Superman comics. Also, any Superman stories published before the mid-1950s that featured or mentioned Superboy also took place exclusively on Earth-One, as the Earth-Two Superman, per the earliest Superman comics, never had a Superboy career. The Silver Age/Earth-One Superman's first appearance in comics was, retroactively, in Superman (volume 1) #46 (May 1947), the first time Superboy was referenced in a Superman story. The Earth-One Superman's first appearance (in a flash-forward) in a Superboy story was in Superboy #1 (March–April 1949). This version of Superman remained in publication through 1986. After the 1985–86 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Earth-One Superman was written out of continuity with the 1986 John Byrne miniseries The Man of Steel. However, the Earth-One Superman was given a send-off in the final, noncanonical-to-Earth-One "imaginary" story Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? in Superman #423 (September 1986) and Action Comics #583 (September 1986).
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
