WHAT do Batman, Superman and Spider-Man all have in common?

Yes, they are all superheroes with extraordinary powers who, with a generous smattering of ka-pows, booms and zaps, defeat the villains and save the world from doom.

But they have something else that binds them that is rarely explored and is often forgotten in the drama of their death-defying adventures.

All three were left orphans as children.

Batman’s parents were killed in a street robbery.

Superman was sent to Earth by his parents to save him while they perished on their alien planet. He landed on the farmland of Jonathan and Martha Kent and they decided to adopt him.

Spider-Man’s parents died in a plane crash and Black Panther’s mother died soon after childbirth and his father was killed – his character is even known as “the Orphan King”.

Indeed, when you start to look at the back story of these characters, many of whom began life in the comics of yesteryear, it is remarkable that this life-altering moment has remained something of a footnote.

The Foundling Museum’s Superheroes, Orphans & Origins: 125 Years in Comics, is the first major exhibition to explore this connection and looks at the representation of foundlings, orphans, adoptees, and foster children in comics, graphic novels and sequential art from around the globe.

Laura Chase, curator of the exhibition, said: “It started with an idea which was: just why are there so many care-experienced characters in comics?

“It’s a concept that I’m just baffled hasn’t been explored before.”

There is work from nine countries and included are characters from early newspaper comic strips, Japanese Manga and contemporary graphic novels.

Historical newspapers, vintage comics, original artwork and contemporary digital work are displayed and there are examples of international comics, rarely exhibited in the UK.

Three new artistic commissions that examine care identity and experience have been specially created for the exhibition by comic artists Asia Alfasi, Bex Glendining and Woodrow Phoenix.

Lemn Sissay. Photo: Ben McKee

Phoenix’s Up in Flames, is a striking meditation on the moment the superhero child realises they are entirely alone.

Superman, Tarzan, Little Orphan Annie, Magnus Robot Fighter, Barefoot Gen, Batman, Astro Boy and Black Panther all have the same open-mouthed scream at this moment of realisation. As Phoenix says: “Up in Flames is a look at all those inciting incidents, distilled into one long disaster poem.”

There is also work from artists who have experience of care themselves. Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom was born in Korea but adopted and raised in Sweden. And Carlos Gimenez grew up in the care homes of the Franco dictatorship. His comic series Paracuellos about his experience have inspired sociologists and historians to research and write about these institutions.

According to the director of the Foundling Museum, Caro Howell, the inspiration for the exhibition came from a mural commissioned in 2014 by the museum by the award-winning poet and playwright Lemn Sissay, who grew up in care.

He created the site-specific text piece, Superman was a Foundling, a poem printed on the walls of the museum’s study studio which includes fictional stars of popular and classic culture who are fostered, adopted or orphaned.

As you read all the names from the likes of David Copperfield to Han Solo, it becomes immediately apparent just what a powerful role orphaned, fostered and adopted children have had in our culture.

Howell says of Sissay’s 2014 work: “From the moment it was unveiled, it has inspired our visitors and sparked conversations. And this exhibition, I think, is the latest rumination on its powerful message, which is: if the looked-after child has such an important place in so many cultures, why are they so overlooked in real life? Lemn’s mission is to give the looked-after child a voice that is poetic and resonant and inclusive.

“His great creative power reminds us of our great social responsibility to notice these children, to care and to try and effect positive change. And I hope this exhibition is one small part of this process.”

The museum already works with the care-experienced community, including paid employment and training for new tour guides and workshop leaders.

Sissay says of the exhibition: “I’ve seen it all in the making, but actually being in the space is a different thing altogether. I feel like I’m amongst friends from all over the world who I haven’t met yet. And I’m just going to spend more time with them and get to know them.”

• Superheroes, Orphans & Origins: 125 Years in Comics runs at the Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ until August 28, 2022. For more information visit foundlingmuseum.org.uk