The History of Superman

Podcast Transcript

In 1938, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster released what would become one of the most well-known fictional characters of the 20th century.

Their creation was a hit and soon spread to its own line of comic books, TV shows, movies, cartoons, and merchandise.

Yet, as popular as the character was, it has been constantly reinvented and even resurrected over the years.

Learn more about Superman, his origin, and his evolution on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The invention of the modern superhero was largely a product of the 20th century.

Putting aside ancient legends such as Hercules and other gods and demi-gods, what we know as the superhero archetype began with cheap popular fiction in the early 20th century.

“The Scarlet Pimpernel” is a novel by Baroness Orczy, first published in 1905, featuring Sir Percy Blakeney, a daring English aristocrat who leads a double life to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. Known for his cunning disguises and daring escapades, the character of the Scarlet Pimpernel is considered one of the earliest precursors to the modern superhero.

Pulp magazines in the early 1900s featured characters with extraordinary abilities or adventurous, crime-fighting personas. Characters like Zorro, The Shadow, and Doc Savage displayed elements that would influence superhero narratives.

Newspaper comic strips introduced costumed characters and adventurers. Characters such as Flash Gordon and The Phantom featured early elements of superhero motifs, such as distinctive costumes and codes of conduct.

What all of these early characters had in common is that they were dramatic, exceptionally skilled heroic figures, but they were just regular human beings.

They were heroes but not superheroes.

It was in this environment that the team of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster began.

The two met in 1932 while attending Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Siegel aspired to be a writer, and Shuster wanted to become an illustrator. They developed a friendship around their love of pulp fiction from the era.

One of their first joint projects was a 1933 short story that was titled “The Reign of the Superman” for their self-produced science fiction fanzine, Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization.

Unlike the heroic character they would later create, this story features a villainous lead character named Bill Dunn, a bald, down-and-out man who gains telepathic powers after consuming an experimental drug given to him by a mad scientist named Professor Smalley.

Using his newfound abilities for personal gain and power, Dunn becomes a tyrant, which Siegel and Shuster used to explore themes of corruption and absolute power. This early version of a character named “Superman” showcases the duo’s initial exploration into the concept of superhuman abilities, which would evolve dramatically by the time they introduced the iconic superhero in 1938.

The two had a brief falling out, during which Siegel came up with a story about great scientist from the future who sends his three year old son back to the year 1935.

The time machine found a couple named Sam and Molly Kent. The child has superpowers, including super strength. They adopted him, named him Clark, and taught him to use his powers for good.

After the two reconciled, they continued to work on the story.

Instead of a time traveler, they made him an alien from the planet Krypton. They made him a journalist, created a love interest for him, a fellow journalist named Lois Lane, who didn’t know Clark’s real identity and set him in the fictional city of Metropolis.

Shuster later said that Metropolis was actually based on the city of Toronto.

Shuster began doing illustrations for this character including creating a costume with an S on the front, along with tights and a cape.

In June 1935, the two were hired by National Allied Publications, a producer of comic books. Despite working for a comic book publisher, the two kept their idea to themselves and tried to get it syndicated to newspapers.

The publication they worked for eventually merged and was called Detective Comics. Detective Comics eventually changed their name to DC Comics.

The two had a deal for a Superman comic strip to syndicate in newspapers, but the deal fell through.

At this point, the two were getting desperate when they were told that Detective Comics was going to be publishing an anthology series called Action Comics.

Desperate to get something, they sold their idea to Detective Comics for $130, including all the rights to the character.

The story idea went over so well that it was on the cover of Action Comics #1, which was released in June 1938.

It was the world’s introduction to Superman.

Action Comics #1 sold for 10 cents; however, if you own one today, it is worth substantially more. In 2014, a copy of Action Comics #1 was sold at auction for $3,207,852.

It is estimated that there are no more than 50 to 100 copies of Action Comics #1 in the world today.

While Superman of the 1930s is clearly the character we know today, there were some major differences between the original Superman and what he would later become.

When he first appeared in “Action Comics” #1, Superman’s abilities were relatively limited compared to his later portrayals. He was incredibly strong, could leap great distances, up to an eighth of a mile, and was impervious to anything “less than a bursting shell.” He was also fast enough to outrun a train.

Superman was a hit with readers.

While Action Comics was originally an anthology with multiple stories, it soon became dedicated to nothing but Superman.

In 1939, Superman became part of a syndicated comic strip for newspapers and was also part of a new comic book called Superman.

The launch of Superman wasn’t just about Superman. Superman was the first real modern superhero. All subsequent superheroes were based on Superman in part or sometimes were nothing but blatant ripoffs.

Superman launched the entire superhero genre, which today has become a multibillion-dollar business.

As early as 1940, the first adaptations of Superman began to appear outside of print. The Adventures of Superman was a radio program that began in 1940 and ran through 1951 and had 2,088 episodes.

In 1941, animated cartoons were produced that ran before movies.

In 1948, a series of live-action movies were produced starring Kirk Alyn as Superman.

In 1951, the first full-length feature, called Superman and the Mole Men, was released, starring George Reeves as Superman.

From 1952 to 1958, The Adventures of Superman television show aired, and George Reeves was starring in the title role.

All the while, Superman was finding audiences outside comic books, and the Superman mythos was evolving in the comic books.

The era from 1938 to 1956 is known as the Golden Age of comic books. In fact, the golden age is said to have begun with the publication of Action Comics #1.

As the stories progressed, Superman gained new powers. His ability to leap evolved into the power of flight, and his strength and invulnerability increased significantly.

During the Silver Age of comics, which lasted from 1956 to 1970, Superman’s powers increased even more.

Superman wasn’t just as fast as a locomotive. He now could travel at the speed of light.

Superman had the ability to time travel.

In one of the early issues of the Superman comic, he was given the ability to change his appearance like a shapeshifter.

He was given superior mental abilities, including the ability to learn any language instantly and a super genius IQ, which allowed him to invent new materials and technologies.

His eyes had X-ray vision, allowing him to see through anything other than lead, and he was eventually given heat vision, which basically allowed him to shoot lasers out of his eyes.

He was given super senses, including hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

He was given the power of super ventriloquism, the ability to throw his voice extreme distances.

His breath was super cold breath that could freeze things or put out fires.

He wasn’t just invulnerable anymore, able to stop bullets, he could now fly through the core of a sun and come out unscathed.

In addition to his powers, there were eventually weaknesses given to Superman.

The best known of which is kryptonite.

The origins of Kryptonite are traced to an unpublished story by Jerry Siegal, “The K-Metal from Krypton,” written in 1940.

In this original story, K-metal didn’t just take powers away from Superman and everyone from Krypton, but it also gave superpowers to Earthlings.

Kryptonite was formally introduced into the comics in 1949. According to the editor, it was introduced because Superman’s invulnerability had become boring.

In the 1970s, Superman’s powers were pulled back precisely because he had gotten too powerful.

One of the biggest events in the history of DC began in 1985 with the Crisis of Infinite Earth’s story line. This was their way of getting rid of all the alternative dimensions in the DC Universe which were used to explain way inconsistent plot points.

In the aftermath, Superman was once again given downgraded powers to make him more relatable.

The early 90s saw perhaps the greatest storylines in the history of Superman, and one that garnered mainstream media attention, the death of Superman.

The story features an unstoppable alien monster known as Doomsday, who emerges from a deep underground containment and goes on a destructive rampage across America, heading straight for Metropolis. Superman confronts the creature in a colossal battle that causes widespread devastation.

Despite his immense powers, Superman is gradually worn down by Doomsday’s attacks. The story reaches its climax in a dramatic showdown where both Superman and Doomsday strike each other with fatal blows, leading to Superman’s tragic death in the arms of Lois Lane.

I, of course, can’t talk about Superman without talking about the Superman movies.

The early Superman films starring George Reeves and Kirk Alyn were low-budget affairs.

However, just as Action Comic #1 launched the era of superheroes, the 1978 film Superman, directed by Richard Donner, was the first big-budget superhero film.

This was followed up by the even better Superman II in 1980, the truly awful Superman III in 1983, and shockingly even worse Superman IV in 1987.

In 2006, Bryan Singer directed Superman Returns, which is considered a sequel to the original Superman quadrilogy, starting Brendan Routh as Superman.

A new DC Universe series of films featuring Superman was relaunched in 2013 with The Man of Steel, directed by Zach Snyder and starring Henry Cavil. This was followed by Batman vs. Superman in 2016 and The Justice League in 2017.

There is currently a plan to reboot the original Superman franchise in 2025, starring David Corenswet.

There have also been many Superman-related TV shows over the years.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which ran from 1993 to 1997. Smallville, which ran from 2001 to 2011. Superman & Lois ran from 2021 to the time of this recording.

The Superman mythos shows no signs of stopping. Superman has, in all its related titles, sold more comic books than any other super hero.

There are more movies in the works, and there will probably be more TV shows.

Every few decades, as the plot lines in the comics become more convoluted, they will probably reset the Superman story again and again.

Despite all of the comic books, movies, and TV shows, the Superman story all goes back to two high school friends from Cleveland, Ohio.