In 1938, it all started with this: the first comic book panel of the first story of the first superhero: Superman. Its caption reads:
"As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist placed his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward Earth!"
Later, the planet would be called Krypton and the scientist would be named Jor-El. The illustration depicts a cityscape on the dying planet, skyscrapers toppling. The bullet-shaped spacecraft rockets from a rooftop into the sky. The baby inside will later be known as Superman, aka Clark Kent.
Our hero’s story begins with the end of a world—with an apocalypse. And Superman’s typical adventures will revolve around him saving his adopted world from suffering that fate. In story after story, Superman redeems the tragedy of his origin, making him, as Grant Morrison put it, “a sci-fi redeemer.”