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 and Return of Superman (film) again, he had to die. Landis describes the birth of Doomsday and the events that set up his battles with Superman until the deaths of both combatants. DC Comics shipped three million copies of "Superman vol. 2" #75 worldwide, nearly all of which sold out within the first day of release. After the death, DC Comics published the "Reign of the Supermen!" story arc, which introduced four characters claiming to be Superman. One was Hank Henshaw, a cyborg version of Superman who defeated the other three and destroyed Coast City, causing Hal Jordan to lose his sense of reasoning and