Superman/Publication history
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The character of Superman has spanned several decades and become a defining character of the superhero genre.
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[edit] Invention
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.
[edit] Early years
The revised Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, June 1938. Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the company for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material. The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1941 that the pair was being paid $75,000 each per year, still a fraction of DC's Superman profits. In 1946, when Siegel and Shuster sued for more money, DC fired them, prompting a legal battle that ended in 1948, when they accepted $200,000 and signed away any further claim to Superman or any character created from him. DC soon took Siegel's and Shuster's names off the byline. Following the huge financial success of Superman: The Movie in 1978 and news reports of their pauper-like existences, Warner Communications gave Siegel and Shuster lifetime pensions of $35,000 per year and health care benefits. In addition, any media production which includes the Superman character must include the credit, "Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster".
Throughout the first decade of Superman's existence, DC sued several competing comic book publishers for introducing superheroes with similar powers. Among these companies were Fox Feature Syndicate for its character Wonderman, and Fawcett Comics for its character Master Man. In 1941, DC filed a lawsuit against Fawcett over the top-selling character of the time whom DC perceived as a Superman clone, Captain Marvel. During the National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications case, Fawcett fought the lawsuit, and continued publishing Captain Marvel, who surpassed Superman and the other superheroes in sales in the mid-1940s. By 1953, the case had been in litigation for twelve years, and in court for five. The case was decided in DC's favor. Fawcett paid DC a fine and ceased publication of all Captain Marvel-related comics. DC would acquire the rights to Captain Marvel in the 1970s.
[edit] Golden Age
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, Namor 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. And while Captain Marvel beat him to live action cinema in The Adventures of Captain Marvel (in a serial originally intended for Superman), a series of lavishing budgeted animated cartoons produced by Max Fleischer hit theatres and continue to astound viewers today.
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.
Superman also became a hit in live action. The 1948 self-titled serial and its sequel Atom Man vs. Superman with Kirk Alyn as Clark Kent/Superman were both box-office smashes--the former being the biggest of all time--and his television show Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, was an integral part of the so-called "Golden Age of Television."
[edit] The Silver Age
Comic historians disagree on when exactly the "Silver age of comic books" began, but most would place it at either 1955 (with the introduction of the Martian Manhunter or the introduction of Barry Allen, the second Flash. The latter introduced what would become a new trend for DC: new versions of old heroes. This Flash had the same powers as his predecessor, but a different costume, identity, origin, etc. Other Silver Age successors of Golden Age heroes would surface in time. This Flash also introduced the concept of Earth-2, which is a parallel dimension in which all of the old heroes lived. In time, there would be a Superman on Earth-2 to explain some of his inconsistencies (see Kal-L).
Under the editorship of Mort Weisinger, the 1950s and early 1960s oversaw a major expansion of the character's mythos with such memorable foes as Brainiac and Bizarro appearing, as well as the arrival of his cousin Kara--also known as Supergirl--and the formation of the Justice League of America.
Despite this, 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.
Meanwhile, in the comics, by the mid sixties, Superman was facing more competition for consumer appeal than ever before. Batman had come out of the shadows, so to speak, and become a marketing bonanza, thanks in part to his own television series, which had much higher production values than The Adventures of Superman. Also, a rival company called Marvel Comics had unleashed a myriad of new characters including The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man whose more sophisticated characterization encouraged more compelling storytelling. Superman remained popular and viable, but he was no longer alone.
[edit] The Bronze Age
Despite a changing market, Superman's stories remained similar to those which defined the Silver Age for quite a while. However, by the seventies, it became apperant that even the Man of Steel needed some polishing.
Superman entered the Bronze Age in 1970 under famed artist Jack Kirby. Kirby chose to revamp the spin-off Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, using it as a platform for his Fourth-World concept. Among the creations first appearing therein was Darkseid, an alien warlord powerful enough to pose a great threat to Superman himself.
In the same year, editor Mort Weisinger left and was replaced by Julius Schwartz, while up-and-coming talents such as Neal Adams, Denny O'Neil, Elliot S! Maggin and Ross Andru added new dimensions to the character in both writing and artwork, it was the evolution of veteran Superman artist Curt Swan which provided a transition from the fantasies of yesteryear to the more modern illustration style. This was marked by a major storyline that attempted to ease the writing challenges with the powerful character by significantly lowering his power level and eliminating most kryptonite on Earth. However, the reader appeal of Weisinger's influence proved too strong and the changes were soon reversed with the associated storytelling difficulties as well.
Also Superman's Earth-2 counterpart married the Lois Lane of his world, and new rivals such as Terra-Man and Parasite appeared. In 1978 Superman: The Movie was released. The film featured groundbreaking special effects and stars such as Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman, but it was the performance of newcomer Christopher Reeve under the direction of Richard Donner that made the film come alive in the eyes of many critics.
The film engendered a series of sequels throughout the eighties. Meanwhile, the comics continued to sell, yet by 1986 DC Comics decided that Superman and all of their properties needed a vast overhaul.
[edit] The Modern Age
In a 12-issue limited series entitled Crisis on Infinite Earths all of the DC heroes battled an evil being called the Anti-Monitor, resulting in the destruction of most of DC's alternate dimensions. Following this series, the backstories of all of DC's characters were altered and updated. Even Superman got an overhaul in 1986's John Byrne's Man of Steel. This 1986 reboot brought substantial changes to the character and met huge success at the time, being one of the top-selling books.
In Byrne's version, Superman came from the planet Krypton which was reimagined as a cold, sterile world in deep contrast to the wonderworld of the past 48 years. Once Kal-El's rocketship (containing genetic materials and a birthing-matrix which resulted in him being "born" on Earth) reached Earth he was adopted by Martha and Jonathan Kent. Instead of bringing him to an orphanage only to adopt him later, the Kents pretended that he was their own son. In the new version, Clark's powers developed gradually and he never assumed the identity of Superboy, and unlike most pre-existing versions, Ma and Pa Kent survived throughout Clark's adult years and remain important supporting characters in the comics to this day.
Also, Superman's powers were scaled down, removing several of his more fantastic abilities in an attempt to make the stories more exciting. Superman's strength and speed were still immense, but there was a feeling of limits to them. In Metropolis, he faced a revised rogues gallery, including a new version of Lex Luthor who was recreated as an evil billionaire.
Some fans debated whether the more drastic changes were necessary, and some of the more traditional historical elements Byrne removed from the backstory were later restored. Byrne himself quit the books after a few years because he felt DC was not supporting the changes he made. But Byrne's changes became the template for Superman's origin and characterization for almost two decades. Most notably, his alterations to Lex Luthor, altering him from a scientifically oriented villain to a businessman.
Ironically, since one of the most notable revisions was the eilimination of the Superboy personna from Superman's life, a new live action television version of Superboy hit the small screen in 1988. Despite its following, the series has not been seen in North America and most of Europe since 1992, when it was canceled due to copyright reasons, although a DVD release of the first season is currently pending release. The show was ended to make way for another live action television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman which--if nothing else--re-established Superman as a romantic character and not only an action hero.
In 1992, The Death of Superman storyline hit the stands. In it, the hero apparently died at the hands of supervillain Doomsday. Afterward, four characters arrived claiming to be Superman, a clone of his, or a replacement for him. Audiences were kept guessing in one of the longest and most highly-anticipated arcs in comicbook history. The real hero returned; however, the story's aftermath lead to fellow superhero Green Lantern losing his mind and becoming a villain called Parallax. This led to the 1994 limited series Zero Hour which was a sequel-of-sorts to Crisis on Infinite Earths. For a few years after his return from the grave, Superman sported shoulder-length hair, and thus Clark Kent wore a ponytail.
In 1996, Superman (or rather, Clark Kent) finally married Lois Lane, and while they have had their ups and downs as a couple are happilly married. That same year, Superman returned to animation in the animated series Superman which was produced by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini of Batman: The Animated Series fame. The series combined elements of both the Pre-and-Post-Crisis versions of the character and featured an all-star cast including Tim Daly as Superman, Dana Delany as Lois Lane, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor.
Amidst much controversey, DC Comics brought forth massive alterations to Superman's appearance and powers, turning him into a being of pure energy. About half a year later, the energy was split into two: Superman Red and Superman Blue. In the story Superman Forever, Superman's traditional costume and powers returned.
[edit] Superman Today
In 2003, DC Comics released a 12-issue limited series entitled Superman: Birthright, written by Mark Waid and penciled by Lenil Francis Yu; this series was a retcon of Superman's post-Crisis origin, replacing Byrne's version, but yet using many elements from that version; it also reintroduced various pre-Crisis elements discarded in Byrne's revamp, along with elements that subtly tie into the Smallville television show.
All Star Superman, launched in 2005, is an ongoing series under DC's All Star imprint, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. DC claims that this series will "strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements". However, the version presented is clearly almost wholly based on the Pre-Crisis Silver Age version of the character, and Morrison has stated this, claiming it to be the Superman that still exists despite being retconned twenty years earlier. The All Star imprint attempts to retell some of the history of DC's iconic characters, but outside of the strict DC universe continuity.
In 2006, the famous hero returned to the big screen in Superman Returns.
