Is Superman Day a public holiday?

No. It is an unofficial corporate and pop-culture observance, not a public holiday, so it is a normal working day with offices, banks, and schools open.

Who created Superman Day?

DC Entertainment declared the first June 12 promotion in 2013, timed to the Man of Steel film and Superman's 75th-anniversary year. DC and Warner Bros. Discovery still run the annual campaign today.

Is this the same as the 1940 World's Fair Superman Day?

No. The 1940 New York World's Fair held a one-off "Superman Day" on July 3, 1940, featuring the first live costumed Superman. It is a separate event from DC's modern observance.

Could Superman always fly?

No. In his earliest appearances Superman could only leap incredible distances. The power to fly developed later, partly as DC's hero competed with the flying Captain Marvel.

Superman Day

Next celebratedSaturday, June 12, 2027

Superman Day is a pop-culture observance honoring Superman, the comic-book superhero, and his place in American culture.

See how to celebrate

Countdown to the day

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Last updated March 19, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEJune 12

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYPop Culture

SUBCATEGORYComics

ORIGIN

Corporate Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY

DC Entertainment

FIRST OBSERVED

2013

“DC set June 12, 2013 as "Man of Steel Day," two days before the film opened; the name later softened to Superman Day.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A film tie-in that outlived the movie.

DC Entertainment declared June 12, 2013 a promotional "Man of Steel Day" at US comic shops and bookstores, two days ahead of the June 14 wide release of Warner Bros.' Man of Steel film and during Superman's 75th-anniversary year. The date stuck and the promotion came to be called Superman Day.

View Official Announcementvia DC (dc.com)

INTRO

Two teenagers, a $130 check, and the world's first superhero

In 1938, two teenagers from Cleveland sold a character to a comics publisher for $130. The character was Superman. The teenagers were Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and that one signature handed away the rights to the most recognizable superhero in the world. Superman Day is the festive side of that story, but the deal underneath it is the part most fans never hear.

What followed was not a quiet payday. Siegel and Shuster spent decades in court, and only after public pressure did Warner restore their credit and grant them a pension in time for the 1978 film. So the holiday sits on a real tension: a celebration of a hero whose creators had to fight for their names back.

A quick note on the date, because it has moved. This page is built to June 12, the date DC first used in 2013. DC has since shifted its own modern promotion to April 18, the day Action Comics #1 actually went on sale. Both dates are in use, and the FAQ sorts them out.

ORIGINS

Superman Day history

INTRODUCTION

Superman did not begin as a holiday. He began as a pitch from two high-school friends who could not get anyone to buy it.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met at Cleveland's Glenville High School in 1931. Siegel wrote, Shuster drew, and together they spent years shopping a strange idea: a strongman from another world who hid behind glasses and a desk job. Publishers passed on it again and again.

CHAPTER 01

A character sold for $130

The break came in 1938. National Comics, later DC, agreed to run the strip in a new title called Action Comics #1, cover-dated June 1938. To do it, Siegel and Shuster signed over all rights to Superman for $130, the standard ten-dollars-a-page rate for the thirteen-page story. Neither man was yet 25. The comic launched the superhero industry almost overnight, and the two creators owned none of it.

CHAPTER 02

Decades in court

The $130 became a wound that did not close. A 1947 court ruling held that the payment had been wages for thirteen pages of work, not a price for the copyright, and Siegel and Shuster fought DC over the character for years. By the 1970s, both men were largely cut out of the fortune their creation had built.

CHAPTER 03

The credit restored

The turn came as Warner Bros. prepared a big-budget Superman film. Siegel publicly condemned the lack of credit, and artists Neal Adams and Jerry Robinson took up the cause. In 1975, Warner agreed to a roughly $20,000-a-year lifetime pension, medical benefits, and the restoration of the "created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster" credit on Superman productions. When Richard Donner's Superman opened in 1978, their names were on it.

CHAPTER 04

The day itself

The holiday is much younger than the fight behind it. In May 2013, DC Entertainment declared June 12 "Man of Steel Day" at comic shops and bookstores nationwide, two days before the Man of Steel film reached wide release. Participating stores handed out a free All Star Superman special edition. The June 12 date stuck, and the promotion came to be called Superman Day.

CHAPTER 05

A date on the move

The name was never the only thing that shifted. In 2025, DC moved its annual Superman Day to April 18, the actual on-sale anniversary of Action Comics #1, tying it to James Gunn's 2025 Superman film and a "Summer of Superman" campaign. The record's canonical date stays June 12, where the modern observance started.

BY THE NUMBERS

Superman Day by the Numbers

1938: Superman's debut in Action Comics #1
$160K: 1938 Siegel-Shuster check, 2012 auction
$6M: Action Comics #1, 2024 Heritage auction
88 yrs: Continuous publication since 1938

TIMELINE

Timeline

Superman debuts for $130

Action Comics #1 introduces Superman, and Siegel and Shuster are paid $130 for all rights to the character.

Credit and pension restored

After public pressure, Warner grants Siegel and Shuster a roughly $20,000-a-year pension, benefits, and their creator credit.

Credit reaches the big screen

Richard Donner's Superman opens with "created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster" in the credits.

DC declares June 12

DC names June 12 "Man of Steel Day," tied to the new film and Superman's 75th-anniversary year; the date becomes Superman Day.

A copy sells for $6 million

A graded Action Comics #1 sells for $6 million via Heritage Auctions, a record comic-book price at the time.

DC moves the day to April 18

DC shifts its annual Superman Day to April 18, the on-sale anniversary of Action Comics #1, tied to a new Superman film.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love Superman Day

PROTOTYPE

He was the first. Everyone in a cape came after.

Superman was the first costumed superhero, and his 1938 debut spawned an entire industry virtually overnight. The day honors the template that every cape and secret identity since has copied.

CREDIT

It carries a landmark creators'-rights story

The fight Siegel and Shuster waged after signing away their character became a touchstone for how comics treat their creators. The restored credit on every Superman production is a direct result of that pressure.

LONGEVITY

It honors a character published without a break

Superman has appeared in print continuously since 1938, an unusually long unbroken run for any fictional character. The day gives readers a fixed point to mark that staying power.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate Superman Day

Read the comic that started it

Track down a reprint of Action Comics #1 from 1938. Reading Superman's first thirteen pages shows how much of the modern superhero was set down in a single issue.

WATCH

Watch the 1978 Superman film

Richard Donner's Superman is the movie that finally put "created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster" on screen. Watching it connects the character to the credit fight that preceded it.

VISIT

Visit a comic shop

DC has long anchored the day to comic stores and bookshops with giveaways and events. Stopping in is the most direct way to take part the way the promotion was designed.

LEARN

Learn the creators' Cleveland story

Look up how Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met at Glenville High School in 1931. The Ohio History Connection tells the local origin of a global character.

WEAR

Wear the S-shield

DC frames the symbol as a sign of hope and invites fans to wear it for the day. Pulling on a Superman shirt is a simple, public way to mark the observance.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know Superman Day?

1 / 8

How much did Siegel and Shuster receive for the rights to Superman in 1938?

Answer

June 12 is the original date, the one DC first used in 2013, and the date this page is built to. DC has since moved its own modern promotion to April 18, the on-sale anniversary of Action Comics #1, so both dates are now in use.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

10sources

3primary records

6independently dated

Primary records

DC (dc.com)2013-05-21

DC Entertainment Declares June 12 "Man of Steel" Day Across the U.S.

DC's 2013 release setting June 12 as a comic-shop promotion tied to the film.

View source

DC (dc.com)2026-04-13

Warner Bros. Discovery Celebrates Superman Day 2026 on April 18, 2026

DC's current Superman Day, now anchored to April 18 with global fan events.

View source

CGC (cgccomics.com)2024

Action Comics #1 Soars to $6 Million, Setting New Record

An Action Comics #1, CGC 8.5, sold for $6 million via Heritage in April 2024.

View source

Additional coverage

Encyclopaedia Britannica2026-05-15

Superman (fictional character)

Reference entry on Superman's creation, the $130 sale, and his early powers.

View source

NBC News2025-11-21

First edition 'Superman' comic found in attic sells for $9 million

Reports the record comic sale and the $160,000 auction of the original 1938 check.

View source

Ohio History Connection

Origin Story: The Creation of Superman

How Siegel and Shuster met at Cleveland's Glenville High School and sold the rights.

View source

Wikipedia

The full creators'-rights saga, from the 1938 contract to the 1975 settlement.

View source

Wikipedia

Action Comics 1

Details on the April 18, 1938 publication that introduced Superman.

View source

Popverse2025

James Gunn's Superman joined by a 'Summer of Superman' in 2025

DC's 2025 move of Superman Day to April 18 within its film campaign.

View source

Bureau International des Expositions

Superman Day: when a comic superhero came to life

The separate July 3, 1940 World's Fair event with the first live costumed Superman.

View source

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