Superman was imagined in 1933 by Jerry Siegel, nineteen, penciled by his pal Joe Shuster, same age, and published in their fanzine, Science Fiction . The two kids realy though they had found the idea of the century. They expected to see their work published as comic strip in a big daily paper. They soon had to meet reality. They tried with all american papers and everywhere they where sent back by a kick in the bottom. A guy who leaped over buildings and lifted cars? Who would be intersted in such nonsenses? Who? Nobody but Sheldon Mayer.

The future creator of Sugar and Spike, didn't succeed in making his bosses of EC comics accept the character, but he could give it to one of their competitors, Harry Donenfeld, who was looking in emergency for anything in order to fill up the new title of the National Periodical (company which would latter be known as DC), Action Comics, whose number 1 would came in october... 1938. Yes. Five years hd passed.

And this kind of publishing was no more than a makeshift, comic books, then, were despisted, they made no money. First comic books were gived away with packs of washing. Nobody could expect that this was on the brink to change because Superman would make one and half million copies of Action Comics sold each month.



When Superman burst onto the scene sixty years ago there had never been a character quite like him, and he remains unique today. The innumerable imitators who followed in his wake have acknowledged his primacy by taking on the title of super hero, but Superman did more than start the trend that came to define the American comic book.

His influence spread throughout all known media as he became a star of animated cartoons, radio, recordings, books, motion pictures, and television, while his image appeared on products ranging from puzzles to peanut butter. He is perhaps the first fictional character to have been so successfully promoted as a universal icon, yet he also continues to remain a publishing phenomenon whose adventures appear in no less than five monthly comics magazines.

This triumphant mixture of marketing and imagination, familiar all around the world and re-created for generation after generation, began humbly with an infant art form in search of a subject, and two teenagers with an improbable idea.
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, both born in 1914, first met around 1931 when they were students at Glenville High School in Cleveland. Shuster, a native of Toronto, had recently moved into the neighborhood, and Siegel sought him out after hearing that the new arrival was an artist. Joe and I were tremendous science fiction fans, recalled Siegel. Their friendship was forged out of a shared enthusiasm for the first magazines to publish the genre regularly, including Amazing Stories and Weird Tales. They were also interested in films, particularly those that showcased the swashbuckling exploits of silent screen star Douglas Fairbanks. In addition, they were fascinated by the newspaper comic strips of the day.

At the time that we became interested in the comics field, Siegel said, the two outstanding adventure strips were Buck Rogers and Tarzan. Drawn by Dick Calkins and Harold Foster, respectively, these two features had introduced new elements of fantasy into the field when they first appeared in 1929. Comic books were still almost unheard of, so Shuster clipped and saved the colorful Sunday pages drawn by his favorite artists.
Conventional wisdom held that such interest in the more lurid aspects of the day's pop culture did not bode well for two poor boys living in the depths of a disastrous economic depression, but the pair clung to the hope that such escapism might also provide them with an actual avenue of escape from the gray realities of daily life. When no money could be found to heat the Shuster apartment, Joe had to wear gloves while drawing. Jerry's after-school job as a delivery boy brought in four dollars a week to help keep his family afloat.


Most of the boys' energy was directed toward work on their school paper. Joe drew humorous cartoon features for the Glenville Torch, and most of Jerry's prose had a similarly comedic slant. Among his contributions was a series of short stories, illustrated by Joe, about Goober the Mighty. This character was a parody of Tarzan, and the mockery indicated a certain amount of ambivalence about the idea of aggressive, muscular heroes. In a fit of superhuman energy, Siegel wrote of Goober, he snapped a twig between two great hands. Still, these tales from 1931 represent the first time the team toyed with the idea of a powerful protagonist. When they returned to the theme again, the superman they created would be a villain.


Outside their worlds of fantasy, Siegel and Shuster were classic nerds: bespectacled, unathletic, shy around girls. It's hardly surprising, then, that many of their dreams centered around omnipotence. While Shuster applied himself to lifting weights, Siegel began envisioning a man of limitless might. Given his unarticulated agenda of creating a modern myth that would both embody adolescent angst and offer a palliative for its pains, it's hardly surprising that it took Siegel several years to come up with the final version of Superman.

Superman latest reviews

• 
  Comic Reviews: Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Vol. 1 trade paperback (DC C...
  2 Feb 2012 at 3:02pm
  [Guest reviewer Zach King blogs about movies as The Cinema King]
  
  While I'm taking you on a foray into the Marvel Universe with my Hulk reviews, I thought I'd also seek the comfort of the heroes I know and love so well. I turn now to an unofficial series of sorts -- "The Greatest Stories Ever Told," twelve trades profiling seven heroes, two teams, and one villain. These "Greatest Stories Trades," distinguished by gorgeous Alex Ross covers, seek to deliver the most iconic and quintessential tales of these characters -- or at least their pre-New 52 incarnations.
  
  Up first, the one who started it all, Big Blue himself -- Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1. (Supes and his chum Batman each get two volumes.) As a somewhat arbitrary starting point, this volume has some great stories overall, including John Byrne's 1986 relaunch and Joe Kelly's "What's So Funny . . .?" Where the volume falters, however, is by the inclusion of stories that don't revolve around Superman, instead focusing on other characters or imaginary tales. So while the stories in here are good, not all of them are the greatest Superman stories by virtue of not being Superman stories at all.
  
  The sum of the parts being more than the whole in this case, let's take a look at what's inside this volume.
  
  "The Origin of Superman and His Powers" (Superman #1, June 1939): Perhaps an unconventional choice, perhaps not. While this isn't Superman's first appearance, it's the first at-length exposition of his backstory and abilities by creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. While both "firsts" have been reprinted many times over, the purist in me can't help but hope they'd saved this for Volume 2 and reprinted the Action comicbooks #1 account. This is, nevertheless, good stuff, if only for that iconic shot of a smug Superbaby lifting a chest of drawers.
  
  "What If Superman Ended the War?" (Look Magazine, February 1940): Long one of my favorite Superman stories, Superman drags Hitler and Stalin before the League of Nations to be tried for crimes against humanity. A brilliantly simple premise and a wonderful artifact from a simpler time, with Superman at his Golden Age do-gooder best. Even if it's not "in continuity," I'm glad it's reprinted here.
  
  "Three Superman from Krypton!" (Superman #65, July/August 1950): This is a perfectly serviceable Silver Age story, but I'm not convinced it's one of the "greatest." Superman fights three mad Kryptonian scientists who have found their way to Earth with conquest on their minds -- in a way, this is an archetypal Superman story, but the focus here is less on Superman and more on Krypton and the mad scientists. But Al Plastino's artwork is as good as it had ever been, dynamic and confident.
  
  "The Last Days of Superman" (Superman #156, October 1962): Superman is dying, exposed to rare Kryptonian "Virus X!" Michael Uslan's introduction compares this story to "The Death of Superman" (Superman #149, November 1961, most recently reprinted in DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories). There are striking similarities, including the apparent demise of Superman, the mournings of his friends, and the precursors to All-Star Superman, but "Last Days" is a better choice, both because it's not imaginary and because we see Superman do more than just fall for a standard Luthor scheme (ah, the old "reform feint"). And the wrap-up is gimmicky, but delightfully Silver Age. If nothing else, it's worth it for the simplistic way that the story's maudlin pathos gets resolved.
  
  "The Showdown between Luthor and Superman" (Superman #164, October 1963): I'm not sure this counts as a "greatest Superman story" because the focus here is on Lex Luthor as he challenges a powerless Superman to a duel on the planet which will come to be known as Lexor. This is very much a story about what makes Lex Luthor tick, with Superman playing a merely reactionary part. The plot by Edmond Hamilton is great, and we can't complain about Curt Swan's pencils, but this might have been a better fit in the Superman vs. Lex Luthor trade (where it also appears, along with the final Lexor story). [see Paul Levitz's post-Crisis take on this story in Superman/Batman: Worship. -- ed]
  
  "Must There Be a Superman?" (Superman #247, January 1972): Now this is the kind of story for which these "Greatest Stories" trades were made. This legendary Elliot Maggin story finds the Guardians of the Universe leading Superman to question whether his presence is helping or hindering Earth in the long run. While the Guardians' motivation is unclear (are they just indulging in a bit of superdickery?), Superman's reaction is spot-on, equal parts doubtful and distraught while never losing sight of his mission. One complaint, though -- the narrative voice is surprisingly condescending: "You sounded good back there Superman -- but did you really believe all that big talk? . . ."
  
  "The Exile at the Edge of Eternity" (Superman #400, October 1984): This Jim Steranko piece is a real head-scratcher for many reasons. Superman never appears in the story, which is a dense and allegorical apocalyptic parable about the future of Superman's legacy, both ideologically and genetically. Additionally, it's more prose with illustration than comic books proper, which may rile some readers. This may be the weakest piece in the book, simply because it goes off in its own direction despite what should be a clear thematic focus in this volume. Steranko may be a legend, but this one's a stinker.
  
  "The Man of Steel" (Man of Steel #1, June 1986): If you haven't read this story, your rocketship may not have landed yet. (But seriously, what's wrong with you?) The first chapter of John Byrne's 1986 reboot gives us a sterile Krypton, a loving Ma and Pa (rest in peace, New 52 Kents), and instant It Girl Lois Lane. Despite Superman's origin being retold several times since, Byrne's was always the gold standard, and it's appropriate that it's reprinted here because it hasn't lost its edge (and so far, it's edging out Grant Morrison's soft reboot in the new Action comicbooks). Truly one of the greatest. Nuff said.
  
  "Return to Krypton" (Superman #18, June 1988): Another headscratcher. Combining the best of the "How is this greatest?" stories, this tale is both imaginary and mostly Superman-less. A trip to the ruins of Krypton, courtesy of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, finds Superman hallucinating about an Earth overtaken by Kryptonians. While I'm a big fan of Mike Mignola, if only for creating much less working extensively on Hellboy, this story (also by Byrne) ends up fairly disappointing by the time we reach the end.
  
  "What's So Funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way?" (Action comicbooks #775, March 2001): Fortunately the volume finishes strong with Joe Kelly's instant classic reexamining the place of Superman in a world which prefers speedy and violent justice. It's an obvious indictment of The Authority and other ruthless superpowered types, but more importantly it's a story about why Superman hasn't changed in seventy years -- and why we desperately need him not to. Ironically, the story redefines Superman by pointing out that he's never needed redefinition; Superman is the best and purest force for good, no matter what. While the shift in art between Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo can be a bit distracting (I would have preferred Mahnke solo on this one), the story is so compelling that it merits the "Greatest" label perhaps more than any other story in here. Fantastic note on which to close.
  
  Overall, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1 is a good read and a must-have for Superman fans, provided they don't mind a few detours that the title of the volume might not suggest. There are enough gems in here, though, to merit picking up.
  
  In the next review in this series, we journey from Metropolis to Gotham City for Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1. Stay tuned!

  ---

  This post was syndicated from Collected Editions, the chronicles of a "wait-for-trade-er" -- the new breed of comic book book fans who forgo monthly "floppies" for trade paperbacks and collected editions -- reviews, commentaries, low price alerts, news, and the occasional scoop. Visit collectededitions.blogspot.com.

  

  
  

  
  

[CaRP] XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 60 - This appears to be an HTML webpage, not a feed.