Comic Books - The Superman Saga
In this article we're going to briefly comment on one of the
longest running comics in history, Superman.
With the not so recent popularity of the hit TV series
"Smallville" having celebrated its 100th episode with the
killing off of Jonathan Kent, one can't help but think about the
entire Superman legacy, not just in comics but on TV and movies
as well.
Superman started off as a comic hero. The character was created
by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933. Jerry Siegel was born
in Cleveland, Ohio in 1914 and was a big fan of science fiction.
Shuster, who was born in 1914 in Toronto, Canada, moved to
Cleveland where he met Siegel in school. The two became friends
almost immediately and with similar interests, created the first
Superman comic. Siegel was the writer with Shuster taking care
of the artwork.
When they first submitted their idea for Superman there were no
takers. Simply, nobody was interested in the idea. It wasn't
until the two of them got a job working for DC Comics that they
finally got the publisher to take a chance on the Superman
character.
It is interesting to note that the Superboy character, on which
Smallville is based, actually came later in 1945. Here we got to
see how Clark Kent grew up into a man and ultimately lost his
father, the last big event in his life before he moved to
Metropolis and took on the role of Superman.
Because of failing eyesight, Shuster only drew the character of
Superman through 1947. At that time he and Siegel left DC Comics
to work on another comic book, Funnyman, which never really took
off. But it didn't matter. Shuster's name was forever etched in
comic book history. He eventually died of heart failure in 1992.
Siegel's story is an even sadder one. After leaving DC Comics in
1947, he was later told he could come back in the mid 1950's
under the condition that he denied being one of the creators of
Superman. He agreed and came back to work at DC where he
produced more Superman comics from 1959 to 1965. However, most
of his original stories of the time period which included the
Lex Luther story and the Death of Superman remain uncredited to
him.
Over the years the powers that be at DC Comics have seen fit to
redefine Superman's powers and origin a number of times. There
were periods of time where long time followers of the saga could
no longer follow what was going on. The comic has become muddled
and confusing with contradictions galore.
Gradually it became accepted by the public, reluctantly, that
each decade of Superman was a different telling of the story
with different origins and outcomes. This was an attempt to keep
the character fresh and up to date with current technology. This
is strongly evidenced by the Smallville series which is
obviously taking place in modern times with all the current pop
references in place. The comic book has also followed this
course.
No doubt Superman will continue to evolve as the years go by.
But as long as the character himself retains his basic concept
of fighting for truth, justice and the American way, more likely
than not, Superman will never die. Well, at least if he does he
won't stay dead.