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The first Superman
character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster was not a hero, but
a villain. Their short story "The Reign of the Superman"
concerned a bald-headed villain bent on dominating the world. The
story did not sell, forcing the two to reposition their character on
the right side of the law. In 1935, their Superman story was again
rejected by newspaper syndicates wanting to avoid lawsuits, who
recognized the character as being a slightly altered Hugo Danner, the
lead character from Philip Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator. An upstart
publishing company, DC Comics printed another of their creations, Dr.
Occult, who made his first appearance in New Fun Comics #6, October
1935. DC decided to take a chance with Superman, figuring if any
lawsuits were filed, they would just drop the feature.
The story of
Superman's origin parallels those of other cultural heroes and
religious figures such as Jesus, Moses, Gilgamesh, Samson, or
Krishna, who were spirited away as infants from places where they
were in danger. However, facts of his origin, as well as
relationships and abilities, have changed significantly over time.
Editors and writers used the process of "retroactive
continuity", or "retcon", to adjust to changes in
popular culture, eliminate restrictive segments of the mythos, and
permit contemporary storylines. These changes are intended to retain
the core elements that make Superman an iconic character.
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Golden Age version |
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As shown in the
original Golden Age comics — including Action Comics #1 (1938),
Superman (Vol. 1) #1 (1939), and Superman (Vol. 1) #61 (1949), as
well as in later stories such as Secret Origins (Vol. 2) #1 (1986)
— noted scientist Jor-L discovers his planet of Krypton is about
to explode yet is unable to convince his fellow Kryptonians to save
themselves. However, he manages to construct a spaceship to save his
infant son, Kal-L. The ship launches just as the planet explodes,
with Kal-L landing on Earth in a farm country town (later known as
Smallville) around the time of World War I. The Kents (at this time
named "John" and "Mary"), passing motorists who
witness the landing, take the infant to an orphanage and soon return
to adopt the child, naming him "Clark". In his 1942 novel
George Lowther changes the names "Jor-L", "Kal-L",
and "Lora" (Superman's birth mother) to the more modern
"Jor-El", "Kal-El", and "Lara".
Clark grows up on
the Kent family farm, slowly discovering that he possesses various
superpowers but unaware of his Kryptonian origins. After the deaths
of his parents, Clark decides to use his powers for the benefit of
humanity, constructing a stylized costume and moving to the nearby
city of Metropolis. Clark begins work as a reporter at the newspaper
The Daily Star and soon makes his debut as the world's first
superhero, Superman.
By the time the
United States had entered World War II, Superman had inspired a boom
in the comic book industry and had engendered the new genre of the
"superheroes" (although, controversey still exists over
whether Superman can be considered the first superhero) which by then
had included Batman, The Sub Mariner, Captain Marvel, Robin, The
Flash The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Captain America.
 By
this time, the character had also leaped from the comics into other
media. In 1939, Superman's adventures were seen in newspaper strips,
although they were often reprints of what was already appearing in
the comics. Also, The Adventures of Superman radio program was
broadcast to the nation with millions of listeners. A series of
lavishing budgeted
animated cartoons produced by Max Fleischer hit theatres and continue
to astound viewers today. And while Captain Marvel beat him to live
action cinema in The Adventures of Captain Marvel (in a serial
originally intended for Superman), Superman also became a live action
hit in the 1948 self-titled serial and its sequel Atom Man Vs
Superman. The serials starred Kirk Alyn (October 8, 1910 - March 14,
1999) who is best known for being the first actor to play Superman on screen.
 Some
critics argue that his portrayal of the Man of Steel was superior to
that of George Reeves, because (in the tradition of radio's Superman,
Bud Collyer) he played Clark Kent and Superman very differently,
adding to the disguise. Reeves' characterizations of the dual roles
were much more alike, while Christopher Reeve's portrayal was more
around maturity and a sense of inner conflict. However, Alyn lacked
the "Greek god" look that Reeves possessed and which worked
so well for him in the TV series. Many fans were upset that they
never really got to see Alyn fly in the serials; as he jumped up, he
turned into an animated character by way of rotoscoping and flew off.
(Arguably, the same thing was done in Superman Returns, except that
modern animation is somewhat more convincing.) Alyn shared a very
short cameo with his serial co-star, Noel Neill, as the parents of
the young Lois Lane in the 1978 feature film, Superman: The Movie.
After the war
though, many of Superman's contemporaries found themselves slowly
being forgotten after the boom became a bust. Throughout the late
forties and the duration of the fifties, Superman was by far the most
popular character in comics , by the mid-fifties, there were few
characters to challenge him. Only Batman, Wonder Woman and a few
other Golden-Agers remained.
During this time,
Superman's powers became more and more grandiose. They would expand
to include heat vision (heat rays emitting from his eyes), the
ability to breathe in space, and the power to travel through time.
Superman's adversaries also grew more fantastic and mighty, but more
and more issues of the comics involved "imaginary stories"
which could result in any number of scenarios (either as a cause or
an effect) and did not effect the continuity of future issues.
It was also
established shortly after World War II that Superman had began his
career years earlier in the town of Smallville, under the name of
Superboy. Stories about Superboy tended to be illustrated in an
idylic fashion and has been compared to the Saturday Evening Post.
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Silver Age version |
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During the 1940s
and 1950s, the Superman mythos gradually added familiar elements, and
they became firmly established by the late 1950s. This includes a
greater emphasis on the science fiction elements of Superman's world,
including his Kryptonian origins, as well as an updated version of
his origin story.
In the version
that became extant by the early 1960s (and memorably summarized at
the start of each episode of the 1950s Adventures of Superman
television series, Superman is born on Krypton as Kal-El, the son of
Jor-El, a scientist and leader, and Lara. When Kal-El is two or three
years old, Jor-El learns that Krypton is doomed to explode. He brings
this warning to the Science Council, Krypton's rulers. The Science
Council refuse to warn their fellow Kryptonians and forbid Jor-El to
do so. Jor-El immediately begins work on a rocket that will allow the
whole family to escape the coming disaster; however, events move too
quickly, and only a small model is completed by the time of the final
quakes. Lara stays by her husband's side rather than accompany Kal-El
to Earth so that his ship will have a better chance of surviving the
trip. Knowing that Earth's lower gravity and yellow sun will give the
boy extraordinary powers, Jor-El launches Kal-El's rocketship toward
Earth moments before Krypton explodes.
Kal-El's ship
lands in a field near the town of Smallville and is discovered by
Jonathan and Martha Kent. They name him Clark after Martha's maiden
name. After formally adopting him, the Kents raise him. Clark and the
Kents discover his amazing powers, and, realizing the good he could
do with his powers, the Kents train their adopted son to use his
powers wisely. At the age of eight, Clark adopts the superhero
identity "Superboy" and fights crime, both in the present
and in the far future as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
After his graduation from high school and the death of the Kents,
Clark moves to Metropolis to attend Metropolis University. During his
junior year, Clark changes his superhero name to Superman. After
graduating with a degree in journalism, Clark is hired by The Daily Planet
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 The
Adventures of Superman was the first attempt to bring the character
of Superman to television. The series, which was syndicated rather
than being tied to a network, began filming in 1951, and was first
aired on September 19, 1952. The final first-run episode was
broadcast on April 28, 1958. George Reeves starred as Superman with
Phyllis Coates as the original Lois Lane. In 1953 Noel Neill replaced
Coates. Jack Larson played Jimmy Olsen and John Hamilton was Perry
White. Robert Shayne played the semi-regular character Inspector
Henderson of the Metropolis Police Department.
The show was
syndicated. A total of 104 half-hour episodes were filmed for
television with the  first
two seasons (26 episodes each) in black and white. The show was one
of the first weekly television shows to switch to full color. For the
first two seasons George Reeves' Superman costume was actually
colored brown (for red) and grey (for blue) so that it would show
better on black-and-white TV. When the series went to color a red and
blue costume was made to match the look of the comic books. There
were 13 color episodes filmed for each of the show's final four
seasons. As reported in the 2005 DVD, the red and blue colors in
Superman's costume were difficult to distinguish when viewed in black-and-white,
and the designers made subtle coloration changes to try to overcome
this problem.
The budget for the
series was relatively low; the series' actors were paid $200 per
episode. TV historians state that the cast had to make repeated
requests to the show's producers before they were given a $50 raise.
The low budgets of the show were also reflected in the special
effects used to simulate Superman's super powers and superhuman
feats. Nearly every episode of the show had Clark Kent change into
Superman, and run across a room to jump out the window (using a
springboard, which was occasionally audible and/or visible). There
would then be repeated stock footage of Superman flying through the
sky. Although the use of the same flying footage over and over was
obvious even to children watching the show, the footage was effective
and well-done for its time, especially the shots used for episodes 27
through 52. Another notable feature of the programs, especially
during the final 52 episodes, was that the characters always wore the
same outfits thus allowing filming of multiple episodes at the same
time. These apparent limitations were overshadowed by the sincerity
and strong personalities of the players.
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 The
1960s would be a gloomy decade for Superman. Foreshadowing this, in
1959, George Reeves, the actor who had embodied the Man of Steel in
The Adventures of Superman allegedly took his own life. Two Superman
related pilots, The Adventures of Superpup (1958) and The Adventures
of Superboy (1961), failed. In 1966, a lavish Broadway play entitled
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman premiered with an actor
named Bob Holiday in the title role. Despite its success, plans for a
new TV series with Holiday never materialized. 1966 did see the
arrival of a somewhat-successful animated series entitled The New
Adventures of Superman. |
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The Adventures of
Superpup, a 1958 pilot which never aired on TV, was meant to  capitalize
on the success of The Adventures of Superman, which was cancelled
following the death of George Reeves. Superpup featured the first
television portrayal of the Superman characters as non-humans.
Television producer Whitney Ellsworth created a pilot that placed the
Superman mythos into a fictional universe populated by dogs instead
of human beings. The live-action actors were placed in dog-suits to
portray the canine versions of the characters of Superman. The pilot
was filmed on the same set as The Adventures of Superman, and the
characters were portrayed by people of short stature. Superpup's
secret identity was reporter "Bark Bent" who as a mild
mannered reporter, wrote for the Daily Bugle under it's editor
"Perry Bite." The character of Lois Lane was replaced by
the investigative reporter "Pamela Poodle". Whitney
Ellsworth later produced The Adventures of Superboy television pilot.
The Superboy
pilot, which also never aired on TV, featured the first non-comic
book portrayels ever of Superboy and Lana Lang. It is thus a
foreunner of later series Superboy, which lasted 4 seaons and
Smallville. The pilot starred Johnny Rockwell as Superboy / Clark
Kent and Bunny Henning as Lana Lang.
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