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The story of Superman has fascinated the world for over seventy years with no sign of slowing down. From the humble beginning from the minds of two best friends in Cleveland, Ohio to the internationally known character of today, Superman has been featured in all forms of media along the way including print, radio and film. No matter what you attribute this success to, there is no doubt that Superman is the most popular and well-known super hero that has ever been created.The character of Superman came out of the minds of two best friends from Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1933. In high school, aspiring artist Joe Shuster and aspiring writer Jerry Siegel began creating various characters and stories while working on their high school newspaper. In 1933 they needed a story for a self-published magazine and the first concept of Superman was created. Initially, Superman was a bald bad guy, not the enigmatic hero we know today. Liking the character but not the storyline, the pair decided to remake him as a good guy.
A third conception of Superman was created before Shuster and Siegel were happy with the results. They created a comic strip with the character in 1934 and began to search for a newspaper to publish it. After getting turned down by paper after paper, one publisher, M.C. Gaines, saw a kernel of promise in the infant comic and recommended it to Harry Donenfeld, then publisher of D.C. Comics. Finding the strips “colorful”, “different” and “full of action”, he talked Shuster and Siegel into changing the strips into comic book format for his new comic book title Action Comics. So in June 1938, Superman was introduced in the first edition of the new series after Shuster and Siegel sold the rights to the character for only $130.
First Story of Superman (1938)
Superman appealed to something in the American public and caught on like wildfire. By 1939, Superman was starring in a second comic, simply called Superman. This second book running concurrent with another was unprecedented in the history of comic books. At the same time, Superman became what Shuster and Siegel wanted originally - a newspaper comic strip.
1940 was a banner year for Superman with the introduction of his arch-enemy, Lex Luthor, in Action Comics #23. The same year Superman became a radio show which became incredibly popular throughout the country. The radio show is where Jimmy Olsen was introduced and kryptonite was explained as detrimental to Superman's powers. These additions became so popular that they eventually crossed over to the print format, as well. 1940 was the first year that Superman was seen in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.In 1941, Fleischer Studios created Superman's first television cartoon and would go on to create 16 more with the character. The first live action Superman film was a serial simply called Superman that began in 1948 and the next film was in 1950 which pitted Atom Man vs. Superman.
The 1950s was a great Superman era with a television show that
ran from 1951 to 1957. While the comic books had continued through this period, the television show did much to keep the Superman legend alive as it introduced the character and stories to a whole new generation. Many elements were introduced in the 50s, most of which did not catch on and survive. The late 50s introduced three enduring concepts to the Superman mythos: The Fortress of Solitude, Bizarro and Supergirl.Superman, although enduring as a character, really didn't see too much in the way of development over most of the next two decades. There was a brief Broadway run of a musical called “It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman” in 1966; this was not a format that caught on. In 1978 there was a one-time comic book entitled “Superman vs. Muhammad Ali”, more a tribute to the popularity of Ali then to Superman.
Then in 1978, Christopher Reeves re-enacted the character in a film version of Superman and the story again took a hold of the publics imagination. Superman was followed by three sequels: Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987). Since that time, there have been a variety of animated and live actions shows starring Superman from Superman: The Animated Series to Smallville, a television show that depicts Superman as a teenager. Most recently, a new film was created title Superman Returns which starred Brandon Routh as Superman in 2006.
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There has been much scholarly work done in interpreting the symbolism inherent in the character and story of Superman through the years. It has been suggested that the duality of his nature (between his super self and the mild mannered Clark Kent persona) is representative of the immigrant background of America. Those who espouse this theory refer also to his roots in the Midwest farm stock of his foster parents and even use the name of his foster mother, Martha, to refer back to Martha Washington.
Other theories have been put forth through the years as far back as the 1960s. Some have claimed that the S on Superman's chest is much more than the first initial of his name. They claim that it is actually a serpent and that Superman is based on the ancient tree of life and serpent symbolism representing sun worship and Lucifer. Others claim that the S is a stylized version of Nazi symbols and represents the Nazi principle of the “super” race that they believed they belonged to. Still others have claimed a messianic symbolism in the super powers of a benevolent super man who watches over the world and protects it from evil.
Perhaps it would be better to go back to what the Superman originators, Shuster and Siegel, explained as the symbolism behind Superman. Siegel had been asked about this at one point in time and responded by saying, “If you're interested in what made Superman what it is, here's one of the keys to what made in universally acceptable. Joe [Shuster] and I had certain inhibitions...which led to wish-fulfillment which we expressed through our interest in science fiction and our comic strip. That's where the dual-identity concept came from.” The geeky kids (represented by Clark Kent) wishing they were all-powerful and brave like Superman - the most basic symbolism of all.
Author
Franck Benedittini
A Staff Writer for FreeMooviesOnline.com, writes about actors, directors, characters and movies. Although he has a vast knowledge in cinema the cinematographic art is not its unique interest. He started to work on web development and web design in 2004 and has already created hundreds of websites.
Website: www.freemooviesonline.com | E-mail:
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