Superman: A Mythical American

Folklore

The Journal of Popular Culture, 2015

People from all over America-from all over the world-who went to the city to live the lives they wanted, to be the people they wanted to be. That's the idea America was founded on. But it's not just for people born here. It's for everyone. And it's for people like me.. ." (Superman 711). "'Truth, justice, and the American way'-it's not enough anymore. The world's too small. Too connected" (Action Comics 900). "About as American as it Gets" I N 1978, SUPERMAN, STARRING CHRISTOPHER REEVE, BECAME A BLOCKBUSTER FILM, thrusting Superman onto the world stage with a force previously unachieved. For decades, a uniquely American character, complete with a "melting pot" immigration story, Superman always represented what was "super" about what many Americans considered the nation's superior cultural approach to basic human justice. Always a reflection of the times, Superman over the last seventy-five years has shifted both in persona and mission, evolving with each generation to match the domestic mood. However, the hero's increasingly global platform has complicated his story even as America's role as the lone, and perhaps declining, superpower and interconnected world events alter both the image of the nation and its superhero. Although Superman remains a symbol of American exceptionalism, his international image challenges his mission at home and exposes his gravitation toward more global pursuits. The end of the Cold War, for example, was previewed by the plot of Superman IV, which found Superman saving Russians and seeking to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Another such evolutionary leap followed the tragedy on September 11, 2001, resulting in a Superman who in Action Comics 900 is willing to engage a complex conversation about not just the paradigm of his adopted homeland, but a more sophisticated understanding of the negotiation of cultures that are increasingly borderless. Similarly, while 2013's Man of Steel finds the Superman character reassuring his audience that he is "about American as it gets," his actions to spare the Earth from alien conquest find their inspiration in far more than his sense of justice bred in the American Heartland upbringing. They also spring from his recently recovered Kryptonian heritage. For Superman, being American is not enough, and only his articulation of identity in both cultures provides him with the tools to rescue the planet.

UF Journal of Undergraduate Research

This essay explores American conceptions of otherness and national identity via comparative case studies of Superman in Action Comics #1 (1938, June 1) and twentieth century cartoons and comic strips that featured immigrant characters. While it is generally acknowledged amongst Superman scholars that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, were avid comic strip fans, formal parallels between Superman and his cartoon precedents have escaped study. Recognizing Siegel’s and Shuster’s childhood love of immigrant comics strips enables scholars to see the connection between Superman and this earlier tradition of immigrant cartoons and comic strips. Such comparisons highlight the nationalistic struggles that occupied American politics and society during the early twentieth century and impacted the creations of Superman in 1933 (apocryphal) and 1938 (canonical). Interwar Superman (1933 and 1938-40) paradoxically presented himself as a paragon of Americana and as a foreign im...

2010

Draft prepared by Dr. Jennifer A. Harris for publishing from SMC 305H1S: Christianity and Popular Culture (2010) Missing References from Draft: Kozlovic, Anton Karl. “The Unholy Biblical Subtexts and Other Religious Elements Built into Superman: The Movie (1978) and Superman II (1981).” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 7, no. 1 (April 2003) http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol7No1/unholy.htm Action Comics #1, by Joe Shuster (artist), and Jerry Siegel (writer), Dated June 1938, Published by DC Comics Action Comics #849, by Fabian Nicieza (writer), Allan Goldman (penciller), and Ron Randall (inker), Dated July 07, Published by DC Comics Death of Superman, Writers: Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern. Pencillers: Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Dan Jurgens. Inkers: Brett Breeding, Rick Burchett, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier. Colorists: Gene D'Angelo, Glenn Whitmore. Letterers: John Costanza, Albert DeGuzman, Bill Oakley, Willie Schubert. Cover and Compilation Copyright 1993, Published by DC Comics Death of Superman was originally published in single magazine form as: Superman the Man of Steel 17, 18, 19, Superman 73, 74, 75, Adventures of Superman 496, 497, Action Comics 683, 684 and Justice League of America 69 (Copyright 1992, 1993, Published by DC Comics) Superman: The Return of Superman, Writers: Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Gerard Jones. Pencillers: Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Dan Jurgens, M.D. Bright. Inkers: Brett Breeding, Doug Hazelwood, Denis Janke, Denis Rodier, Romeo Tanghal. Colorists: Glenn Whitmore, Anthony Tollin. Letterers: John Costanza, Albert DeGuzman, Bill Oakley. Cover and Compilation copyright 1993, Published by DC Comics Superman: The Return of Superman was originally published in single magazine form as: Action Comics 687-691, Superman: The Man of Steel 22-26, Superman 78-82, Adventures of Superman 500-505 and Green Lantern 46. (Copyright 1993, Published by DC Comics) "Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster."

Arts, 10(3), 62 (Special issue Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists, edited by Daniel M. Unger), 2021

In 1933, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Ohio, fashioned an ideal personality called Superman and a narrative of his marvelous deeds. Little did they suspect that several years after conceptualizing the figure and their many vain attempts to sell the story to various comic book publishers, their creation would give rise to the iconic genre of comic book superheroes. There is no doubt that the Superman character and the accompanying narrative led to Siegel and Shuster, the writer and artist, respectively, becoming famous. However, was it only the appealing character and compelling narrative that accounted for the story's enormous popularity, which turned its creators into such a celebrated pair, or did the visual design play a major part in that phenomenal success? Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in the comic book medium in several disciplines, including history, philosophy, and literature. However, little has been written about its visual aspect, and comic book art has not yet been accorded much recognition among art historians. Since the integration of storyline and art is what allow the comic book medium to be unique and interesting, I contend that there should be a focus on the art as well as on the narrative of works in comic books. In the present study, I explore the significance of the visual image in the prototype of the Superman figure that Siegel and Schuster sold to DC Comics and its first appearance in the series American Comic Books. I argue that although the popularity of Superman's first appearance was due to the conceptual ideals that the character embodied, the visual design of the ideal man was also an essential factor in its success. Accordingly, through a discussion of the first published Superman storyline, I emphasize the artistic-visual value of the figure of this protagonist in particular and the comic book medium in general.

Belphégor, 2018

Wanner for giving me the courage to pursue my ideas in the early stages of my academic career. And lastly, thank you to Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and all the thousands of others who have helped to shape Superman over the years. You gave the world a shared dream of heroics and an idea of what it may truly means to be human.

2021

This study aims to demonstrate and document that the phenomenon of Superman, as a fictional character, is an amalgamation of the extra human attributes of the heroes and gods that are read and seen in ancient narratives. Specifically, it identifies the qualities of Superman as a superhero, determines the parallelism that exists between these qualities of Superman and those of mythological and biblical personae, and establishes the similarity between the scenes, situations, and events found in its mythos and those that are found in archetypal narratives to vividly delineate his image as the world’s superhero. A content analysis of the text was primarily conducted to draw the structural elements of its narrative. Since this study also assumes that literary texts may be viewed outside of their aesthetic merits, an archetypal analysis is subsequently implemented. Meanwhile, the theoretical foundation of this study is predicated on the theory of Archetypes which assumes that literary tex...

2007