He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932 , while they were still in high school . He first appeared in Action Comics issue # 1 in 1938 . Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland , Ohio , and sold to Detective Comics , Inc. ( later DC Comics ) in 1938 , the character first appeared in Action Comics # 1 ( June 1938 ) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials , television programs , films , newspaper strips , and video games .