Superman, the iconic American comic strip superhero was created for DC Comics by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, first appearing in Action Comics, no. 1 (June 1938).   For their part, Siegel and Shuster received $130 from DC Comics for the exclusive rights to Superman. 

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Superman's origins are one of the best known stories in comic book history.  On the doomed planet Krypton, scientists Jor-El and Lara place their infant son Kal-El into a rocket bound for Earth. He is found by Martha and Jonathan Kent, a kindly couple from the mid-American town of Smallville. They name the boy Clark and raise him as their own. As a child, Clark exhibits a collection of superhuman powers - invulnerability, incredible strength, the ability to leap incredible distances, and super speed - that would later become the hallmarks of his alter ego, Superman, the “Man of Steel.”

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Upon reaching adulthood, the mild-mannered Clark Kent moves from Smallville to urban Metropolis, where he works as a reporter for the Daily Planet. There he develops a romantic interest in fellow reporter Lois Lane, who unaware of his dual identity, resists his advances.

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The success of Action Comics no. 1 spurred the creation of a new superhero industry, with a host of comic book publishers sprouting virtually overnight. 

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Though the modern version of superheros had been presaged earlier in other genres (though not necessarily with super powers), Superman was the first to capture the imagination of a wider audience. 

 

Leading the way to his creation were previous influences such as  "Spring Heeled Jack" (1878) from Penny Dreadfuls; Hugo Hercules (1902) in newspaper comics; The Scarlet Pimpernel (1903), from the namesake play; magazine serials such as Tarzan the Ape Man (1912) and Zorro (1919); radio characters such as The Shadow (1930), The Lone Ranger (1933), and The Green Hornet and Kato (1936); and the pulp fiction characters Conan the Barbarian (1932) and Doc Savage (1933). 

 

However, many consider Mandrake the Magician (1934), as Superman's rival for the first real true superhero status.

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Although Superman tends to fight for truth, justice, and the American way in the States, Superman's pal, cub reporter Jimmy Olsen (and the Newsboy Legion) has traveled to Scotland on occasion.  Jimmy and the Newsboys battled the Loch Ness Monster (#144, A Big Thing in a Deep Scottish Lake) in 1971 and then faced off with Scottish villain Brigadoom! (#145, Brigadoom! Paradise Prison) in 1972!

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For a deep history of Superman's origins as a comic book hero and within his own universe, click DC Comic's Sideshow Collectibles Premium Format Figure of Superman.