Seigel's New Superman example essay topic

The Birth of an American Super Hero Heroes have been an important part of American history. They gave adults and especially young children something to strive for and believe in. Some heroes are real and some are imaginary. Real heroes can be presidents, soldiers, or even a parent. The imaginary hero's can be from books, comic books, or movies. One of the most popular hero's of our time is an imaginary hero created for the pages of comic books.

The creation of this hero we all know as Superman took hard work, creativity, determination, and plenty of luck. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were the two Jewish-American teenage boys who created Superman. Jerry Siegel was the writer and Joe Shuster was the artist. Siegel and Shuster met at the age of sixteen while working on their high school newspaper. They made a number of attempts creating the Superman character. The first attempt utilized a bald middle aged man with advanced mental abilities.

The next attempt was closer to the Superman we now know. He was younger and had hair but was not an alien with super powers. 'The ultimate version of Superman was born one night in 1934, when Siegel found new ideas coming so fast that he couldn't sleep'; (Daniels 21). Seigel and Shuster collaborated on these ideas and created comic strips created for the Sunday comics. Seigel's new Superman came from a planet called Krypton. 'This was the first benevolent alien created'; (Daniels 21).

He wore tights for a futuristic appearance and the cape was added to give the effect of motion. Superman was middle aged to give the appearance of responsibility and experience. Superman's dual identity was also created that night in 1934. Clark Kent was the bespectacled alter ego of Superman. Clark Kent was the mild mannered reporter that no one suspected had super powers. Superman was also known by another name.

The name was given to him by his Kryptonian parents. That name was Kal-El. Seigel and Shuster were very creative in their name choices. 'The Kryptonian name Kal-El has meaning in Hebrew.

El as an affix translates to mean 'of God,' and the morpheme Kal translates to mean either 'with swiftness' or 'everything'. Kal-El translates to mean either 'with the swiftness of God' or 'all that God is' (Nachbar 342). The Kent of Clark Kent also has significance in Hebrew. 'Kent is a form of the Hebrew kana which means 'I have found a son'; (Nachbar 342). The translation fits in the story of Superman because Jonathan and Martha Kent found little Kal-El and his spaceship and adopted him as their own son. Siegel and Shuster had a wonderful story about a benevolent alien sent to Earth to save his life and ours.

The problem was no one wanted to buy their story. 'Seigel and Shuster offered their strip everywhere for four years, but newspaper publishers were unanimous in their lack of interest'; (Daniels 21). Luck fell upon Seigel and Shuster and DC Comic the day DC's Jack Liebowitz called McClure Syndicates searching for material to put in a new publication called Action Comics. 'Editor for McClure, M. C Gaines sent Seigel and Shuster's strips to DC's editor Vin Sullivan.

Sullivan bought the strips nobody wanted just because it looked different'; (Daniels 22). In June 1938, Superman appeared in and on the cover of Action Comics #1. 'A survey revealed that Superman, not the other characters made Action Comics so popular, so the summer of 1939 saw the debut of the publication of Superman #1. Superman had turned comic books into big business'; (Daniels 23). A collector friend of mine, Gregg Darrow, told me that a mint condition copy of Action Comics #1 sold for $137,500 about five years ago.

The stories about Superman in both publications mirrored the troubles of the times. Superman challenged wife beaters, fought lynch mobs and even more radically for the times fought corruption in the government. 'Superman is the ultimate immigrant protecting the foster community in which he lives'; (Nachbar 334). Being an immigrant and an orphan, Superman endeared himself to the American people. The American people identify with Superman because we are all immigrants in some way.

Superman is one of us, yet he is better then us. He is better not just because of his superpowers, but because of the standards he up holds that we so easily forget. Superman traveled a long way to reach the popularity he has attained today. Through the years his look has changed as well as his powers. At first he was older and vulnerable and then he got younger, bigger, more muscular and his only vulnerability was to Kryptonite. As Superman grew as a character, his popularity also grew.

There are now toys, movies, novels, cartoons, and television series utilizing Superman's name. Superman's popularity is now world wide. He celebrated his fiftieth birthday on the cover of Time Magazine. In fact, a novel by Roger Stern recognizes that, 'On November 18, 1992, the news of Superman's death stunned the world'; (Stern 1). The world mourned the death of their hero, and it wasn't just the comic book fans. Newspapers picked up on the story and printed stories about this tragic comic book event.

Superman has since been resurrected and went through more changes in powers and costume style. 'Superman not only inspired a host of imitators, he virtually defined the new medium of comic books, and through his popularity and influence, guaranteed it's survival'; (Daniels 20).

Bibliography

Daniels, Les. DC Comics: Sixty Years of the Worlds Favorite Comic Book Heroes. Boston: Bulfinch, 1995.
Nachbar, Jack, and Kevin La use, eds. Popular Culture: An Introductory Text. Bowling Green State University Press, 1992.
n. p. Stern, Roger. The Death and Life of Superman. New York: Bantam, 1993.