Alternative versions of Superman establish a new continuity for DC, affecting not only Superman, but all of the DC Comics characters. The versions of Superman from this time period are traditionally divided into three main periods. The first version of Superman began being published by DC Comics in 1938 appearing in "Action Comics" #1. To explain discrepancies in the aging of Superman across several decades, his earliest stories were retroactively portrayed as having taken place on an alternative world called Earth-Two. These stories take place from 1938 until the late 1950s, although the exact dividing line is unclear and some stories happened identically to
The Death of Superman most exciting part for him was exploring what the DC Universe would be like without Superman and had fun writing about other characters' reactions to his death. DC did not intend for Superman's death to be permanent and the teams kept this a secret; they signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from revealing the character would return. Carlin expected fans to know the death would be temporary, and in 2018 revealed he still could not believe many did not. However, the teams delayed all Superman comics for three months to create the illusion that he had really been killed because DC's