Comic related trivia and news....

Posts in category Superman

Superman – Part Five

Oct25
2011 Written by catc1731

Evolution of Superman’s Abilities

We’re all familiar with the abilities traditionally ascribed to the Man of Steel:

“faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings at a single bound”

The phrase was coined in the 1940s, not by Shuster and Siegel but by a writer called Jay Morton and listeners to the radio series were the first to experience it.  It would be interesting to ask those writers how they would compare Superman now – faster than a laser? more powerful than a Jumbo Jet?  You get the picture; Superman’s abilities were compared to contemporary things.

Superman

Superman

Superman’s original abilities as conceived by Shuster & Siegel, were amazing strength, speed, almost invulnerability and an enormous jump.  He could not, however, fly.  It was the Fleischer Brothers animation studios which pushed for the ability to fly as they found the constant leaping from building to building tough to animate, specifically it took too many sequences to get Superman from place to place.

Krypton

At this early stage Superman’s abilities were derived from his Kryptonian heritage – namely that Kyrpton was a much older civilisation and the inhabitants were more evolved.  Later iterations of the background story pin Superman’s powers on the fact that gravity is weaker on Earth than on Krypton, providing him abilities based on those differences.  Superman’s vulnerability to Kryptonite was also introduced in the 1940s.

During what has become known as the Silver Age of comics from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, Superman gradually became the recipient of many other abilities, many involving his eyes such as super hot rays, x-ray vision and microscopic vision (a sort of zoom ability).  Other powers included super-hearing and super breath.

Superman in space

Superman in space

All these extra abilities certainly added to the fascinating Superman story but the writers were backing themselves into a corner. It became harder and harder to present Superman with challenges that would actually test him.  What could possibly defeat someone with so many unbeatable abilities?  Story lines became more and more fantastical with Superman zooming around the universe solving interplanetary problems, a long way from the vigilante saving office girls from muggers and thwarting the Klu Klux Klan.

John Byrne

To their credit, DC Comics recognised this and in the mid-1980s began to look at ways to

John Byrne's Superman

John Byrne's Superman

curtail some of his abilities once more, to enable writers to expand the story lines back to a more terrestrial level.  As mentioned in the previous article, John Byrne was the main driver behind this move, tidying up some of the strands of recent history, rewriting some of the main characters (Lex Luthor) but more importantly reigning in some of Superman’s powers.  Events in one or two story lines proved him to be vulnerable and he could only travel intergalactically as long as he could hold his breath.

These changes were a welcome step back for the franchise but inevitably it didn’t last long.  Superman can now zoom through space unhindered once more and even fly into the sun without coming to harm.

 

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Superman – Part Four

Oct17
2011 Written by catc1731

As with any long running superhero story, it becomes inevitable that extra details are written in to the character of the protagonist.  Krypton became the major story line of the 1960s and the familiar backstory of the destruction of the home planet evolved. Superman’s name is reveled as Kal-El and he is sent from Krypton as a small child in the last days of Krypton.  Landing near the rural town of Smallville, he is found and adopted by the Kent family.  His adopted family soon discover his powers, which are derived from the Sun, and teach him to use them wisely.  Following his schooling and graduation, Clark Kent heads to the city of Metropolis to wrk as a reporter for the Daily Planet.

This relatively simplistic story line of crime fighting in the big city continued until the

Jack Kirby's Jimmy Olsen

Jack Kirby's Jimmy Olsen

1970s when Jack Kirby was brought in to add some creativity to the character.  Kirby added the development of Jimmy Olden, Superman’s co-worker and created a spin-off comic based on the character.  This was also the era of the multiverse, a narrative device used to introduce other versions of Superman and to provide other options for story telling.

By the mid-1980s, John Byrne’s Man of Steel had re-written the history once more by bringing together the various multiverse Universes, eliminating many of them through a story involving the evil Anti-Monitor.  Man of Steel was immensely successful and tweaked Superman’s powers somewhat.  His previously limitless powers appeared to be paired, meaning that his speed and strength were limited although did not lose any specific abilities.

Byrne’s stories added a less fantastical feel to the character, which was probably

John Byrne's Man of Steel

John Byrne's Man of Steel

appropriate for the era.  Lex Luthor, previously an old-style evil villain, became a billionaire philanthropist (while remaining evil), adding a vague uneasiness to the ability of readers to label him as such.  Byrne notably also dispensed with Superboy, the character which had been developed when Kal-El was first adopted in Smallville.

Part Five follows……

 

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Superman – Part Three

Oct10
2011 Written by catc1731

In the early days of Superman, the crime fighter’s enemies were not the

Early Supergirl

Early Supergirl

archetypal villains that battled other contemporary comic book characters.  Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel were developing the character in the Great Depression and this formed the background to Supeman’s battles.  The writers were also regarded as left-leaning and plots would often feature slum landlords, corrupt politicians and even the Klu Klux Klan. Their moderate Jewish upbringings were also believed to have some influence on Supermen.

Siegel and Shuster’s 1930s character was also more violent than the Superman which followed.  He appeared to have no issue with causing fatalities by flinging villains into the distance and perhaps this relates more to attitudes of the day than any deliberate attempt to make Superman more violent.

Whitney Ellsworth became the editor in the late 1940s and the character became less violent.  Whether it was Ellsworth’s own influences or just a change in attitudes in post-war America, Superman suddenly had a code of conduct; in fact several times in the strip he has promised to hang up his cape if he kills anyone.

By the 1950s Superman had collected a group of arch-enemies, Brainiac and Bizarro amongst them.  he had also acquired some friends and this came in the form of Supergirl and The Justice League of America.  His background was also fleshed out somewhat and it is during these years that we begin to learn of Krypton, Superman’s home planet, and this introduces to the reader that he is, in fact, an alien.

Justice League of America

Justice League of America

Back in the real world, Superman was about to face a marketing challenge from a range of newly introduced superheroes.  Although Batman had been in existence for some time, what would prove to be some of Marvel Comics most popular characters were introduced; these were the beginnings of The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, among others, and the level and quality of storytelling meant that Superman’s writers had to step up their own efforts.

Part Four follows…..

 

Tagged , , , , , ,

Superman – Part Two

Sep30
2011 Written by catc1731

Once Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel were back working together again, they began to tout the concept around to various comic book publishers.  Their preference was to publish in the comic strip format rather than the comic book story format which was popular at the time.

Action Comics 1

Action Comics 1

Max Gaines was an influential figure at the time – one of the innovators of the 1930 comic book industry –  and when approached by Siegel and Schuster he was ambivalent to begin with but eventually decided to include it as the lead story in a new publication from National Allied Publishing – Action Comics. The first issue (right) was published in April 1938, although the cover shows June 1938.

The popularity of the strip encouraged the publishers to devote a series entirely to Superman and despite just reprinting the same material from Action Comics, it actually sold more copies.

By the early 1940s Joe Shuster’s eyesight was beginning to deteriorate.  Coupled with increasing popularity and consequently a greater workload, it became clear that more artists would be needed.  A studio was established by Shuster for the express purpose of drawing Superman comics, although Shuster himself is said to have insisted on providing the art for Superman’s face.  Artists working on the various projects during this period included Wayne Boring, Fred Ray, Jack Burnley and Al Plastino.

Jerry Siegel was also forced to take a back seat shortly afterwards when he was drafted into the war effort in 1943.  Additional editorial members had been in place since as early as 1939 and they now began to dominate the stories.  These writers included established science fiction authors such as Alfred Wade Wellman and Alfred Bester while those who entered the Superman industry during Siegel’s enforced absence included Alvin Schwartz and Don Cameron.

It was clear by the early 1940s that in only a few short years, Superman had become so popular that two men in the prime of their careers (they were in their late 20s) could not cope with the demands of the workload.  Superman had entered a new era.

Part Three follows

 

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Superman – Part One

Sep27
2011 Written by catc1731

We’ve focused in recent articles on some of the more niche comic book characters from recent history such as Halo Jones and Tank Girl.  In this article it’s time to go back to the beginning and Superman, regarded as an America cultural icon.

First created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932 when both artists were working in

Super-Man the baddie

Super-Man the baddie

Cleveland.  The character was sod to DC Comics (Detective Comics Inc.) some years later. Surprisingly the original character of Super-Man was a baddie, featured in Siegel’s fanzine Science Fiction 3. Super-Man the baddie possessed mental abilities rather than physical abilities at this stage.  He was quickly changed to a super hero for subsequent outings.  Many sources report that Clark Kent was based on Harold Lloyd and Superman himself was based on Douglas Fairbanks Sr.  Clark Kent’s name was derived from the contemporary film stars Clark Gable and Kent Taylor.  Superman’s home of Metropolis was influenced by the 1927 Fritz Lang film, Metropolis.

Before the D.C. Comics deal, Siegel and Shuster touted the concept around to one or two publishers but Shuster reacted badly to rejection – twice burning the manuscripts, leaving Siegel to rescue the remains from the fire.

Joe Shuster even felt for some time that Jerry Siegel was not the artist for the project

Siegel and Shuster

Siegel and Shuster

and among Siegel’s pssible replacements, Russell Keaton was the artist who added to the concept.  Keaton was the artist who came up with the concept of Superman being found and raised as an orphan.  The collaboration had no legs however, and Shuster and Siegel soon found themselves back on the project.

As the pair progressed with their work on the character, the concept of Superman’s costume began to emerge.  Influenced by existing comic book characters and the circus strong-man outfit (shorts over tights), a costume was introduced which became the forerunner to many future superhero costumes.  As the costume was finalised, so Superman’s abilities were refined, moving away from Super-Man’s mental talents to more physical abilities.

Part Two follows….

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Sponsors



Comic Blog Elite

Watch Movies

Watch movies online and free TV shows at blinkbox. Choose from blockbusters, indies and everything and in between.