Superman No. 173: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Superman #173 comic book. The book's cover, illustrated by Curt Swan, shows Superman changing from his alter-ego Clark Kent while friend Jimmy Olson and villains Lex Luthor and Braniac look on. The issue features the stories The Untouchable Clark Kent , Tales of Green Kryptonite No.1 and The Triumph of Luthor and Braniac!

With his debut in Action Comics #1, Superman became an instant sensation with audiences inspired by the "Man of Tomorrow's" virtue and heroics at time when the Nation was slowly emerging from the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression and moving closer to World War.

Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Superman was sent to Earth as a child, where our world's yellow sun granted him extraordinary powers such as flight, super-strength, near-invulnerability, as well as other extraordinary abilities including heat and X-Ray vision. As an adult living in the city of Metropolis, the alien, born Kal-El, protects his identity by assuming the persona of Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered" journalist.

Fighting for "Truth and Justice," Superman birthed a cultural fascination with superheroes, and has become one of the most recognizable and influential fictional characters in history. In addition to comic books, the character has been explored in all forms of media, including radio, television, and film, and has been used to promote a variety of successful consumer products, educational initiatives and public service campaigns.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1964-11
• publisher: National Periodical Publications, Inc.
• maker: National Periodical Publications, Inc.
• maker: Action Comics
• Object Name: Book, Comic
• Object Name: comic book
• Measurements: overall: 10 in x 6 1/2 in; 25.4 cm x 16.51 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York City
• Subject: Superman
• Subject: Comics
• ID Number: 1988.3095.04
• catalog number: 1988.3095.04
• nonaccession number: 1988.3095
• catalog number: .04
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.