100 Things Superman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
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100 Things Superman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
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| ISBN-13: | 9781633194953 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2016 |
| Series: | 100 Things...Fans Should Know Series |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 320 |
| File size: | 39 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
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100 Things Superman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
By Joseph McCabe
Triumph Books LLC
Copyright © 2016 Joseph McCabeAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63319-495-3
CHAPTER 1
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Superman had two fathers, Jerome Siegel (born October 17, 1914, in Cleveland) and Joseph Shuster (born July 10, 1914, in Toronto). The two met in 1931 at Cleveland's Glenville High School, after the latter's struggling family had moved to the northern Ohio city. Siegel, a passionate devotee of pulp magazines and an amateur science fiction writer, and Shuster, a nearsighted bodybuilding enthusiast, shared a love of movies and newspaper comic strips. That love inspired them to create their own hero for the funny pages. From the start, however, fate worked against them.
In 1932, Siegel's father suffered a heart attack and died as a result of a robbery that occurred at the family store. The teenager published a short story called "The Reign of the Superman," about a megalomaniacal telepathic villain, in the third issue of his fan magazine Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization (published in 1933 under the pseudonym Herbert S. Fine, with illustrations by Shuster). Shortly thereafter, he spent a sleepless night brainstorming ideas and ran to his friend's home the following morning, where the two created a comic story called "The Superman" and sent it to Consolidated Book Publishing. But Consolidated had already stopped publishing comics. Joe, heartbroken, destroyed all but the cover of their story, while Jerry re-envisioned it as a newspaper strip. Despite their persistent efforts to sell it, no one was interested.
Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson finally gave the boys their big break when he purchased several of their comic book stories for his National Allied Publications in 1935. Siegel and Shuster's career in comics had begun. But in 1936, Wheeler-Nicholson partnered with his distributors Harry Donenfeld (a former pulp magazine producer) and Donenfeld's business manager Jack Liebowitz. The two proceeded to wrestle control of National from the Major. Max Gaines of the McClure Syndicate — via National's associate editor Vin Sullivan — brought Superman to Donenfeld's attention. Encouraged by Sullivan, Donenfeld agreed to publish the story, and Shuster reformatted the strip's art into 13 comic book pages for publication in June 1938's Action Comics #1. Siegel and Shuster were paid $10 for each page and signed a contract granting National all rights to the character. The superhero comic book was born.
Superman proved to be a massive hit, and a flood of imitators followed. The character won his own comic book with June 1939's Superman #1 (also by Siegel and Shuster), as well as, at long last, a newspaper strip on January 16, 1939. Shuster opened an art studio in Cleveland to keep up with the demand for more Superman, while Siegel married his 18-year-old neighbor — and fellow Glenville High School grad — Bella. The two had a son named Michael in 1944. Shuster, meanwhile, bought his family, with whom he still lived, a new home.
Jerry created other comic characters during this time, including the Spectre (introduced in February 1940's More Fun Comics #52). But although the two creators were making a decent living, they'd lost a great deal of merchandise money, while National was netting millions from the character they'd invented. In 1943, Siegel was drafted, and the company began taking control of Superman's production from Shuster, who was always the more acquiescent of the two men. By the time Siegel returned, the company had, without notification, introduced Superboy — an idea he and Shuster had pitched in 1938. In 1947, a lawsuit was filed for $5 million, as well as the rights to Superman and payment for Superboy. But in 1948 the New York Supreme Court upheld the original Superman agreement, though it agreed that compensation was owed for Superboy. Siegel and Shuster agreed to a settlement of $94,000, and National kept the rights to the Boy of Steel. Immediately afterward, the two were fired and lost their creator credits in National's comic books.
One bright spot occurred after Siegel's wife filed for divorce. Though she held on to most of his savings and kept custody of their son, Siegel was then free to marry Joanne Carter; as Jolan Kovacs, she had modeled for Shuster when he was designing Lois Lane. The couple remained married for the rest of Jerry's life. Jerry went on to edit, albeit briefly, Ziff-Davis' line of comics. Shuster too found some additional comics work, as well as a job drawing S&M illustrations for a series of under-the-counter magazines published in the 1950s called "Nights of Horror" (reprinted in author Craig Yoe's 2009 book Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-creator Joe Shuster, published by Harry N. Abrams). But Shuster's vision soon deteriorated to the point of blindness.
When Ziff-Davis folded, Joanne Siegel told National of the bad press the company would receive should Superman's creator die penniless. The company took Siegel back, and he penned a series of memorable Silver Age Superman stories, though for considerably less money than he'd been paid when he left, and with no printed credit. He again tried to win back ownership of Superman, but National fired him once again. In 1968, Jerry and Joanne Siegel moved to Los Angeles, and he took a job as a file clerk for an annual salary of $7,000. In 1975, with a Superman feature film in the planning stages, National implied it would offer Siegel and Shuster some form of financial compensation. But when the company dragged its feet, Siegel issued a press release condemning their actions, which put him and Shuster in the public eye once more. Warner Brothers, which now owned DC (the official name for National as of 1977), agreed to a $20,000-a-year pension and medical insurance, as well as the restoration of their byline as Superman creators. "About as much as a well-paid secretary," says comic book artist Neal Adams, who'd championed their cause.
Shuster eventually joined the Siegels in Los Angeles. He died there on July 30, 1992, at the age of 78. Jerry Siegel died on January 28, 1996, at 81. Though the compensation they received for their creation was far below even the stingiest miser's definition of fair, the two lived long enough to see Superman become the most popular fictional character in Western culture; the character who gave his very name to the word superhero.
CHAPTER 2The Genesis of Superman
Superman's name was first used by Friedrich Nietzsche in his 1883 book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which it was referred to as Übermensch, an ideal the German philosopher believed mankind should ultimately strive for. It's doubtful that writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster — both the sons of Jewish immigrants — embraced a concept frequently referenced by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in creating Superman. But the Man of Steel wasn't born in a vacuum.
Siegel and Shuster's Jewish background came into play with Superman's origin, that of an immigrant orphan destined to save his adoptive people, reminiscent of the Bible story of Moses (though other mythological figures like Samson and Hercules, both known for their extraordinary strength, also came into play). Additionally, the two men were tremendous fans of pulp magazine heroes like Doc Savage, the "Man of Bronze." Created by Street & Smith publisher Henry W. Ralston, editor John L. Nanovic, and writer Lester Dent, the character's first appearance was in March 1933's Doc Savage Magazine #1. In this issue's story, Doc was said to have an arctic retreat called the Fortress of Solitude. Another pulp hero, Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter, gained super strength and the ability to leap tremendous distances when he was transported from Earth to his adoptive home, the planet Mars.
Superman's creators were also huge movie fans, particularly of Douglas Fairbanks, the swashbuckling silent film star, who frequently stood with hands placed firmly on hips, laughing in the face of danger. While Fairbanks' influenced the Man of Steel's design, Superman's secret identity, Clark Kent, was based on bespectacled silent film comedian Harold Lloyd. Clark's first name was derived from film legend Clark Gable, and his last from B-movie idol Kent Taylor. His city, Metropolis, took its name from the titular locale in director Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction classic Metropolis.
Siegel and Shuster were also devotees of newspaper comic strips. Shuster's drawing style in the 1930s owed a great deal to strip artist Roy Crane, best known for his Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune. Superman's cape was most likely inspired by that of master draftsman Alex Raymond's '30s hero par excellence Flash Gordon. Shuster has said that the cape helped convey a feeling of motion when the Man of Steel burst into action. And Siegel, like most of America, admired the super-strong sailing man of the strips, E.C. Segar's Popeye.
But the biggest influence on Superman may have been reality itself. Siegel and Shuster were children of the Great Depression, and Siegel's own father died of a heart attack in the wake of a robbery at his store. It's no wonder then that Superman's early years were spent in the service of social reform, fighting for underdogs against war profiteers, abusive husbands, and corrupt politicians. On radio, he would even take on the Ku Klux Klan. Even after decades of fighting supervillains, this reformist Superman would return, most notably in the 1998 graphic novel Superman: Peace on Earth and the 2003 limited series Superman: Birthright.
CHAPTER 3Superman's Suit
As befitting a character of unwavering virtue, the Man of Steel's suit has, compared with those of most superheroes, changed very little since it was designed by Superman co-creator Joe Shuster.
Shuster modeled the outfit after the boots, briefs, and tights of circus strongmen. A cape was added to give it a sense of motion, and his shirt sported an emblem, originally an "S" contained within an oversized police badge, to give Superman an immediately recognizable sense of authority. As seen on the cover of June 1938's Action Comics #1, the super suit featured a blue shirt and tights, red briefs, belt, and boots, and a yellow emblem with a red "S." Inside the issue, however, Superman wore blue boots (reminiscent of Roman gladiator sandals), a yellow belt, and a yellow "S" inside his emblem. By June 1939's Superman #1, he had red boots, and his emblem consisted of a red "S" inside a triangular yellow shield. In the years that followed, the shield widened and curved, while its background color changed to black (a look used when the Man of Steel made his first screen appearance in the 1941 Fleischer Studios animated short Superman), and then back to yellow.
By the mid-1940s the suit's colors stabilized (though its shade of blue, and the size of its briefs, continued to vary), and the shape of its shield settled into that which is best known today — a large diamond with a slim red border. By the '50s, a yellow "S" inside a yellow shield was added to the center of Superman's outer cape.
Superman's "S" shield usually resided atop his chest but in the 1986 limited series Man of Steel, writer-penciller John Byrne enlarged it so it occupied half of his torso, a detail continued by most comic artists since. Following the 1992 "Death of Superman" storyline, the Last Son of Krypton returned in a capeless black bodysuit with silver "S" shield, wrist bands, and boots, as well as a Samson-like mane of hair. Fortunately, neither this look, nor the electric-blue-and-white design of 1997's "Superman Blue" energy being, lasted long. Nor did the "S" shield belt buckle of 2006's Superman Returns, also employed for a time in the comics.
The most radical change made to Superman's costume in recent years has been the super suit designed by DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee for the company's "New 52" reboot of the character in 2011. Lee removed Superman's briefs altogether, gave him a red belt, and added an unnecessary matrix of piping to his costume, as well as — the most controversial of choices — a high military collar.
CHAPTER 4Superman's Powers
Superman has demonstrated a stunningly diverse array of powers since he first appeared, from super ventriloquism (established in January-February 1950's Superman #62) to Superman II's amnesia-inducing super kiss (introduced in November 1963's Action Comics #306). Many of these powers are simply extensions of normal human abilities, such as super intelligence, super hearing, and telescopic vision. Their levels have increased and decreased over time (the most significant reduction came with the 1986 limited series reboot Man of Steel). All of Superman's powers can be inhibited by the presence of a red sun, magic, or kryptonite. Nevertheless, here are seven of the most essential.
Flight
In June 1938's Action Comics #1 (written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster), Superman could only "leap one eighth of a mile." But the filmmakers at Fleischer Studios found leaping awkward to animate, so his power of flight was established in their Superman animated shorts of the 1940s.
Invulnerability
Again in Action Comics #1, it was stated that "nothing less than a bursting shell" could penetrate Superman's skin. In January-February 1946's Superman #38, he survived an atomic bomb explosion.
Super Strength
Like his invulnerability, Superman's strength increased exponentially. Initially able to lift "tremendous weights" (Action #1 shows him hoisting a steel girder over his head with one hand), he could, by 1951 — as Les Daniels points out in DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes — "toss a skyscraper into space, and a few years later he was pushing planets."
Super Speed
Superman's ability to "run faster than an express train" in Action Comics #1 gave way to running "faster than a speeding bullet" in The Adventures of Superman radio show of the 1940s. Eventually he surpassed Mach 1 and the speed of light.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from 100 Things Superman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Joseph McCabe. Copyright © 2016 Joseph McCabe. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Mark Waid,Introduction,
1. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster,
2. The Genesis of Superman,
3. Superman's Suit,
4. Superman's Powers,
5. Clark Kent,
6. Lois Lane,
7. Lex Luthor,
8. Jor-El and Lara,
9. Jonathan and Martha Kent,
10. Be a Hero,
11. Krypton,
12. The Superman Logo,
13. Kryptonite,
14. Celebrate Superman Day,
15. "The Adventures of Superman" Radio Show,
16. The "Daily Planet",
17. The Fleischer Studios "Superman" Cartoons,
18. Superboy,
19. The Fortress of Solitude,
20. Lana Lang,
21. The "Superman" Film Serials,
22. The "Adventures of Superman" TV Series,
23. "Superman: The Movie",
24. John Williams' "Superman March",
25. Christopher Reeve,
26. Support the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation,
27. Visit the "Daily Planet",
28. Supergirl,
29. Brainiac,
30. Bizarro,
31. George Reeves,
32. Mister Mxyzptlk,
33. "Superman II",
34. Perry White,
35. Superman and Batman: The World's Finest Duo,
36. Darkseid,
37. Visit Superman's Home,
38. The "Superman" Newspaper Strip,
39. Metallo,
40. The Phantom Zone,
41. General Zod,
42. Wayne Boring,
43. "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman",
44. The Death of Superman,
45. The Five Greatest Superman Spoofs,
46. The First Superman Novel,
47. Krypto the Superdog,
48. Al Plastino,
49. "Superman: The Animated Series",
50. The Legion of Super-Heroes,
51. "Smallville",
52. The Bottle City of Kandor,
53. Lori Lemaris,
54. Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen,
55. Titano the Super-Ape,
56. Nightwing and Flamebird,
57. The Parasite,
58. Curt Swan,
59. "It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's Superman",
60. "Superman Returns",
61. Filmation's "The New Adventures of Superman",
62. The Superman-Flash Races,
63. Superman and Wonder Woman,
64. "Kryptonite Nevermore",
65. Tour the Super Museum,
66. "Man of Steel",
67. Superman vs. Captain Marvel,
68. "Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man",
69. "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali",
70. The "Supergirl" TV Series,
71. Power Girl,
72. "Superman III",
73. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace",
74. The Top Five Superman Action Figures,
75. The "Supergirl" Movie,
76. Visit Superman's Birthplace,
77. "For the Man Who Has Everything",
78. "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?",
79. Superman: The Parade Balloon,
80. The Death of Supergirl,
81. John Byrne,
82. The Ruby-Spears "Superman",
83. The "Superboy" TV Series,
84. Steel,
85. "Superman: The Wedding Album",
86. The Top Seven Songs about Superman,
87. "Kingdom Come",
88. "Superman For All Seasons",
89. "Superman: Peace on Earth",
90. "Superman: Birthright",
91. "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited",
92. Superman: Secret Identity,
93. "All-Star Superman",
94. "It's Superman!",
95. The Five Greatest Superman Pastiches,
96. Tour Geppi's Entertainment Museum,
97. "Superman Lives",
98. "The Living Legends of Superman!",
99. Fly with Superman,
100. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice",
Acknowledgements,
Bibliography,