“Superman Returns” opened this week and America has fallen in love with Superman all over again. Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel created the character “Superman” in 1932. DC Comics (then known as Detective Comics, Inc.) bought the rights to Superman in 1938. Before the first Superman comic book appeared (Action Comics #1) in June 1938, there were no super heroes in comics. Superman started it all, opening the door for Barman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and many more comic book characters.
If you don’t know Superman’s history, here is a brief synopsis: He was born on Krypton and sent to Earth by his dad right before the planet exploded. A couple found him and adopted him. He grew up as Clark Kent, but as he grew older, he realized he had super powers. He keeps his Superman identity hidden most of the time, working as a reporter at “The Daily Planet” newspaper. But, whenever the bad guys threaten the good people of Metropolis, Clark dives into a phone booth and returns as Superman and saves the day.
Clark Kent/Superman
In the 50’s, the baby boomers got to see Superman on television each week and from it came the great Superman quotes: “Faster than a speeding bullet!” “More powerful than a locomotive!” “Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” and the he’s fighting for “Truth, justice, and the American Way.”
Even though he hasn’t been on the big screen in almost 20 years, Superman is still very much a part of our pop culture. If you think that isn’t the case, consider this:
- There is a town named Metropolis in Illinois that promotes itself as “Superman’s Home Town.”
- The following bands have sang songs about Superman: REM (“Superman”), the Cliques (“Superman”), the Crash Test Dummies (“Superman’s Song”), Donovan (“Sunshine Superman”), the Spin Doctors (“Pocket Full of Kryptonite”), and Surjan Stevens (“The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts”).
- Superman made it to Broadway in 1966’s “It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane…It’s Superman!
- A search in the Internet Movie Database shows 58 different movies and television shows with the Superman character. This includes movies and shows from Argentina, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela, and the United States.
Of course, the mere fact that as I was typing this blog, the word “kryptonite,” the fictional element which has detrimental effects on Superman, was in the Word dictionary, should be proof enough of Superman and his impact on our society.
Is Superman your favorite super hero? If not, who is your favorite?