On the planet Krypton, Jor-El of the Kryptonian high council discovers the planet will soon be destroyed when its red supergiant sun goes supernova. Despite his insistence, he fails to convince the other council members. To save his infant son, Superman, Jor-El launches him in a spaceship to Earth, a planet with a suitable atmosphere where his dense molecular structure will give him superhuman strength and other powers. Shortly after the launch, Krypton's sun explodes, destroying the planet.
Before the destruction of Krypton (comics), the criminals General Zod, Ursa (comics) and Non (comics) are sentenced to banishment into the Phantom Zone. Years later, the Phantom Zone is shattered near Earth by the shockwave of a space-borne hydrogen bomb. The three criminals are freed and find themselves with superpowers granted by the yellow light of Earth's sun.
Before Krypton exploded and Jor-El put his baby son, Kal-El, in a rocket ship to Earth, the benevolent ruler was forced to banish three irredeemable criminals to another dimension called The Phantom Zone. The trio's leader, General Zod, vowed revenge. Later, of course, Kal-El grew up to become Superman, Earth's mighty champion. A battle with the criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor, ends with Superman hurling a nuclear warhead into space where it explodes, but not harmlessly. Instead, it frees the Kryptonian threesome from their other-dimensional prison. They soon discover they have almost unlimited power (the same powers, in fact, as Superman), which they use to take over the Earth.
Gus Gorman, a chronically-unemployed ne'er-do-well, discovers he has a talent for computer programming, and is hired at the Metropolis (comics)-based conglomerate (company) Webscoe. Gus embezzles from his employer through salami slicing, bringing him to the attention of Chief executive officer Ross Webster. Webster is intrigued by Gus's potential to help him rule the world financially. Joined by sister Vera and "psychic nutritionist" Lorelei Ambrosia, Ross blackmails Gus into helping him.
The Man of Steel crusades for nuclear disarmament and meets Lex Luthor's latest creation, Nuclear Man.
Superman returns to Earth after spending five years in space examining his homeworld Krypton. But he finds things have changed while he was gone, and he must once again prove himself important to the world.