The creation of Superman.

Superman's early creation was not what we would necessarily think about when it comes to the ‘Man of Steel’. We almost had a very different outcome. In 1933 Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster came up with a story for a fanzine called “Reign of the Superman” not to be confused with Reign of the Supermen (1993). This short story follows Bill Dunn, a bald poor man wearing rags and waiting in a bread line, hoping for a warm meal. He’s approached by a chemist known as Ernest Smalley who asks him if he’d like to earn himself a new suit and a meal. In exchange he needed to  participate in one of Smalley's experiments. Having nothing to lose, Dunn agrees and leaves with the mad chemist. Dunn is granted telepathic abilities and soon succumbs to madness, drunk on power he turns to tyranny and the need to rule the world. Dunn quickly dubbed himself The Superman. Wanting the power for himself Professor Smalley fought with The Superman and was eventually defeated. Not long after, Dunn lost most of his power. As you can see, this really isn’t what we think about when we hear the name Superman. The Duo had tried to sell the story to Tip Top Comics but the publishers weren’t all that impressed. “Reign of the Superman” was too unrealistic and overimaginative. Siegel and Shuster needed to create something sensational and different if they wanted to make a successful comic strip. So Siegel modified and changed Superman's powers, like Dunn, he was given them unwillingly by a scientist. Instead of psychic powers he became super strong and bullet proof, with a knack for crime fighting. Once Siegel was confident with what he’d changed. The new concept was taken to Consolidated Book Publishers who unfortunately pulled out of the comic business. Siegel had reached out to various artists in 1933 and 1934 but both times the ideas and story were rejected or just didn’t work. So the duo came together and continued developing The Superman. The character was now an alien from the planet Krypton. Shuster created the iconic “S” Symbol along with his cape and trunks. His alter ego was called Clark Kent, a mild mannered journalist alongside his colleague Lois Lane. This was just the start of the Icon we know today. In 1935 Siegel and Shuster had finally found work with National Allied Publications, a comic magazine company owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. They asked Malcolm if he’d market Superman to the newspapers on their behalf. A few months later Malcolm told Siegel and Shuster that he’d publish Superman in one of his own magazines. The partners quickly declined, knowing Malcolm wasn’t a reliable business owner. He hadn’t even paid them for their work on New Fun Comics #6. In 1937 Siegel visited Jack Liebowitz who asked him to produce comics for an upcoming comic anthology magazine called Action Comics. Yes, THE action comics. Siegel proposed some stories that weren’t Superman because at the time Siegel and Shuster were negotiating with McClure Newspaper Syndicate for Superman. In 1938 Siegel was informed by Max Gaines, an employee who worked for McClure that their Superman idea had been sadly rejected. But Gaines asked to forward the Superman strips to Liebowitz for his Action Comics magazine and Siegel agreed. They were asked to develop 13 pages for Action Comics and being tired of rejections they agreed to the offer. Superman was finally going to be published. On April 18th 1938 Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 and the world of comic strips and magazines were changed forever!

The Golden age of Superman.

Heroes during this time weren’t exactly fighting inter-galactic super villains or jumping through portals to another dimension. Heroes like Superman fought common criminals, thugs, no good crooks and the occasional mad scientist. These stories from the perspective of a modern lens can seem simple in comparison to the comics we read today. But at the time these stories were revolutionary. Superman was an all around hero to the American people. Someone to stick up for the little guy. But all of that changed. In 1939 Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, thus WWll had begun. Superman's comics shifted to fit the times, he eventually turned into a wartime hero. He was no longer fighting mad scientists but instead aiming his punches at Axis, fascists and immoral social and political problems. In 1940 Look Magazine released a strip created by Siegel and Shuster. It was titled “How Superman would end the war”, it openly called out Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin as villains. In the strip Superman grabs Hitler by his neck and threatens him with a “non-Aryan sock to the jaw.” The characters political stance throughout the war was very strong and didn’t back down with its message. He was a beacon at the time fighting for Truth, Justice and the Jewish American way. 

The Silver age of Superman.

The Silver age followed soon after WWll. By the late 50s things started changing in the comic industry with a massive tonal shift in themes and stories. Under the editorship of Mort Weisinger Superman's mythos expanded greatly by bringing in iconic characters like Braniac, Bizarro and his Kryptonian cousin Kara Zor-El. The stories that were written during this time were nothing short of being wild, strange and even campy. If you're curious about how wacky and campy comics were in the Silver age, check out Action Comics #296 invasion of the super-ants! It’s a funny story about Superman, using red kryptonite to turn his head into an ant so that he can communicate with a species of giant ants from another planet. The silver age also brought with it a very powerful Superman, able to go head to head with Gods, take out a solar system with just a sneeze and even juggle planets if he wished. Superman knew no bounds and could do quite literally anything he set his mind to. But even with his incredible feats and entertaining stories the comic scene was turning out to be more competitive as other characters and heroes were written with a mature, sophisticated tone, encouraging more compelling storytelling from writers. But still Superman continued to sell well and maintain his popularity with consumers.

The Bronze age of Superman

The Bronze age redefined the foes and issues Superman would face in the modern world. Instead of turning his head into an ant's head by using red kryptonite, projecting tiny clones of himself or being used for world war propaganda. He was fighting for a better tomorrow. He fought for diversity, domestic abuse victims and other social injustices that were prevalent at the time. Comic book characters as a whole had changed, offering a darker and more mature perspective in the story. While comics were trying to be more inclusive to women's rights and BIPOC diversity not everyone was happy about that. And it didn’t magically fix the issues at hand. But Superman continued to remind people that everyone mattered even if writers weren’t on their side, politically. Superman couldn’t always come in swinging and fix every problem with just his fists. His powers were scaled down to fit a more modern archetype, A hero with weaknesses. No more juggling planets for him! and he was more vulnerable than before. The cast of villains and supporting characters grew and so did Superman's popularity during the 70s and it kept booming through the late 80s. Becoming one of the best selling comics at the time. You could find Superman comics not just at newsstands in mass market prints but at comic shops! Actual comic shops. The shift in distribution allowed many small-print publishers to enter the market, changing the medium from being dominated by a few large publishers to a more diverse and eclectic range of books. The Bronze age truly shifted the context and perspectives of the stories we read today.