Superman #1 Ornament

An ornament based on the cover for Superman #1 with Superman flying over the city surrounded in an oval

The holidays are long in our rear view mirror, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t make note of one of my favorite new ornaments.

the box of the Superman #1 ornament from Hallmark

This ornament, since it is merchandise and not a reprint, is based on what I call the licensed version.

The Folio Society has a reproduction coming with their new Superman Hardcover. This looks pretty accurate to the original, closer to the masterpiece and famous first editions than anything in the current millenium. While it looks fantastic I’m not sure I’m going to drop $100 for some reprints I already have. In some cases many times over. But then again, it looks really nice…

February 4, 2025

Best Years to be a Superman fan

summer of superman cover by Lee Weeks

With DC’s announcement of the Summer of Superman, I got to thinking. What was the best year to be a Superman fan? An argument can be made for several years as being the biggest for the Man of Tomorrow. Here are some of my personal favorites.

1938-1941

During this time, there were major expansions of Superman every year. Makes sense since everything was so new and there were so many places to go. In this period, you have the first appearance in Action Comics”, the first solo comic in Superman” #1, the radio show, and the Fleischer shorts. It must’ve been exciting to be a fan at this time.

1952

The television debut of the Adventures of Superman”. While this was a huge moment for the character, the show wasn’t as big then as it would become in reruns later. This might have been the first year where people realized this Superman thing had staying power. It had been more than ten years, and he was bigger than ever.

1958

Twenty years after his debut, we have the beginning of the Silver Age. This was a huge year for new ideas in the comics. Bizarro, the Arctic Fortress of Solitude, Kandor, Brainiac, Supergirl, Metallo. An incredibly inventive time period. Because this was a very comic book-focused year, it’s big for me, but it may not have been as impactful for a wider audience. These concepts would hit other media, but not for years.

1966

This might be a sleeper year/time period. 1966 is probably better known for the Batman television series, but Superman wasn’t snoozing.

a page from the Adventures of Superman collecting showing the 1964 Superman model kit

The era really starts with the 1964 release of the Aurora Superman model kit; this unleashed a wave of merchandising!

In late 1965, Jules Feiffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes” was released. It was really the first book on comic history and is an awesome insight into the early years of the industry.

1966 had the Broadway debut of the musical It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman”. It didn’t last long, and the television revival of the 70s is notably terrible.

The Filmation Saturday morning cartoon debuted this year. I love this show, and as I’ve written before I watched the VHS of it in the 80s regularly. Saturday morning cartoons were new, and Superman was there for it!

The second Macy’s Thanksgiving parade Superman balloon, along with licensed Superman ads for Continental Insurance, Newsweek magazine, and other major brands, kept Superman in the mainstream consciousness for possibly the first time since the golden age.

a page from the Adventures of Superman collecting showing various Superman merchandise including the Broadway musical recording

These shots from 1988’s The Adventures of Superman Collecting” show the wide variety of collectibles available to Superman fans at the time. So many of the vintage Superman collectibles I see come up for sale are from this period.

a page from the Adventures of Superman collecting showing various Superman merchandise including Superman bread

Those color Adventures of Superman” episodes filmed back in the 50s but broadcast in black and white? Well, they finally paid off around this time with the first color broadcasts of the show. I think this is when the show really took off with fans. The baby boomer generation became transfixed with George.

The era comes to a close in 1967 with the purchase of National Periodicals (DC Comics) by Steve Ross, who later bought Warner Bros. and formed Warner Communications in 1971.

1970-1971

This is another year that is very comics-focused. The general audience may not have been clued in to what was happening, but these ideas eventually made their way into other media.

Kirby comes back to DC and injects the universe with a huge number of new ideas. Many of them become integral parts of the Superman lore, especially in the 90s triangle era. I’ll be writing more about this later this year.

Denny O’Neil starts the Kryptonite Nevermore” storyline with the classic Neal Adams cover. Trying to update Superman for the 70s. Now he’s a television reporter for WGBS!

1978

Superman: The Movie”! Possibly the biggest year for Superman to the everyday public. Sure, there were a few years of Super Friends” cartoons leading up to this, but those were for kids. Superman: The Movie” was a hit for everyone. It cannot be overstated how big this movie was at the time. There was, of course, a mass merchandising push to capitalize on it. Books records, toys, the lunchbox. Superman in live action will forever be judged against this version. We are even reusing the music this year!

1983

Of course, I would consider my birth year an important one. Despite 1983’s Superman III” underperforming commercially and critically, the comics were reaching new creative heights. This year had the introduction of the robotic Brainiac design and Luthor’s Lexor suit. The comics also debuted the wordmark that I love so much.

Outside of comics and film, there was the end of the Super Friends” show, and the beloved Super Powers toy line was about to launch.

1988

Superman’s 50th was a big one. The cover of Time Magazine, a radio drama in the UK, new merchandising, the aforementioned Adventures of Superman Collecting” book. In the comics, the Post-Crisis era was in full swing. John Byrne was remaking the Man of Steel for the 80s and beyond. This was still pre-Batman 89, so not everything at DC revolved around the Caped Crusader.

1993

1993 is a great contender for best year. The debut of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” on a major television network brought in fans that had never read comic books and probably only knew Superman from the movies.

The Death of Superman” was the biggest comics event ever and is frequently noted as the story that brought in many fans of my age range. It was on the news! It was the height of the Triangle Era of comics, and all the groundwork they laid over the years was a huge part of making this book as good as it was.

This was possibly the biggest influx of new people into Superman fandom since 1978.

1998

Another underrated year. For his 60th birthday, they wrapped up the electric Superman storylines. The Superman Forever” special was published with a very cool Alex Ross lenticular cover. The Dominus storyline allowed each of the monthly books to pay tribute to different eras of the character. The Man of Steel” issues from here are particular standouts with Bogdanove doing an awesome Shuster-inspired champion of the oppressed.

We were also dead in the middle of the Superman: the Animated Series.” Spinning out of the Batman show and eventually turning into Justice League” in 2001, this version is still beloved by fans today.

2001

While the animated Justice League” show was carrying the cartoon torch into the new decade, it was Smallville’s” debut that brought Superman to another generation: millennial teenagers! Running for ten years gives this show a massive part in the Superman legacy. I still watch two episodes of this show a week (for Always Hold On To Smallville and Talkville naturally).

On the comics side of things, we had just come off the Brainiac 13 Y2K storyline. The big crossover this year was Our Worlds at War, which weirdly mirrored real-world events. I don’t think creatively this reached the heights of some previous events, but it is well regarded by fans.

We got the Christopher Reeve Superman movies on DVD for the first time, but not the theatrical version of the first movie. We were instead given a Special Edition/Director’s Cut with some new scenes and sound effects. I like this version, but out of the 3 cuts, it is probably the one I revisit the least.

two Wizard magazine covers highlighting Superman Returns

2006

This is a year many modern Superman fans will remember. DC went all out on Superman for Superman Returns”“. There was the usual merchandising (every kind of toy you can imagine) and tie-in comics, but I think most fans will remember the DVDs. Being at the height of the DVD era, we got more home releases than my shelves at the time could handle. We started the year with”Lois and Clark” and Adventures of Superman” and ended it with an Ultimate Collectors tin.

A DOUBLE DOSE OF SUPERPOWERED ACTION. Lois and Clark and ADVENTURES of SUPERMAN season two. NEW DOCUMENTARIES AND OTHER POWERFUL DVD EXTRAS IN EACH SET! BUY THEM ON DVD JANUARY 17 DEBUT SEASONS ALSO AVAILABLE. GET $5 BACK BY MAIL when you purchase any 2 seasons of Adventures of Superman or Lois and Clark on DVD! thanks to Superman in Advertising & Media on Facebook for the scan.

In between, we got releases of Super Friends”“, the 90s Animated Series, and”Smallville” season five, to name a few. In one day, we got a direct-to-DVD movie Superman: Brainiac Attacks”, Adventures of Superman” seasons three and four, Justice League” season two, Lois & Clark” season three, and Superboy” season one! The Superboy show got a DVD release!

two page spread advertisement for the Superman Ultimate Collectors tin and other box sets. Headline reads: Bring Home This Holiday’s Biggest Hero.SUPERMAN THE ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION. 14 DISCS, 7 MOVIES WITH OVER 20 HOURS OF BONUS MATERIALS PLUS THE SMASH HIT SUPERMAN RETURNS. FLIES IN ON DVD NOVEMBER 28 COMING SOON: LOOK FOR SUPERMAN RETURNS, SUPERMAN THE MOVIE, AND SUPERMAN II: THE DONNER CUT ON HD-DVD and blu-ray.

In a move that would surely haunt Warner Bros., they released Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut” on DVD (and the new-at-the-time formats of HD-DVD and Blu-ray). What would Superman II” have been like if Richard Donner had never been fired? Probably not like this, but it was awesome to see a Superman II” that better matched the tone of the first movie. Even if it wasn’t ever really finished. That same day, we got DVDs of the theatrical serials, the theatrical version of the first movie, and Superman Returns”“, the latter two also in the Ultimate Collectors Tin.

On television, 2006 would see the latter half of Smallville” season five and the start of season six. The biggest moment being the 100th episode: Reckoning”. This was a major turning point in the show, and while we thought it would push us towards the conclusion, it ended up being the halfway point. We also had the short-lived Legion of Super Heroes” cartoon (which is excellent).

The comics were doing big things this year too. The year started with John Byrne on Action Comics” for the first time since his reboot in the 80s. It didn’t last long though because Infinite Crisis” was on its way. Infinite Crisis” was a major storyline throughout the DC Universe, and Superman was the main character. When it ended, we jumped ahead One Year Later to set up the new Superman status quo (“Up, Up, and Away” by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek with artists Renato Guedes and Pete Woods). This new status quo would end the Adventures of Superman” and Superman Vol. 2” titles that started after Crisis on Infinite Earths”“, leaving us with just”Action Comics” and Superman vol.1” picking back up the Adventures numbering. These are still the two books we have today (although Superman” has restarted numbering a few times since then). A new Superman title, Superman Confidential,” started with a run by Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale. Maybe the biggest Superman book of the 2000s, “All-Star Superman,” published issues 2-5. Superman/Batman” was still going strong under writer Mark Verheiden and several artists. There was the Justice” 12-issue maxiseries by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithwaite. Novelist Brad Meltzer was the big name on the Justice League” comic. The Superman Chronicles” trade paperback series started purporting to be republishing every Superman story in chronological order. It made it through ten volumes.

Superman Returns did well in theaters (I saw it five times), but apparently didn’t light Warner’s bottom line on fire. The film franchise would go dark for a bit after this.

2013

After we didn’t get our Superman Returns sequel, we had some quieter Superman years. The The New 52 came and went. Smallville ended. But in 2013, there was a light. After the success of the Dark Knight Trilogy, David Goyer would reboot the Superman film franchise with 300/Dawn of the Dead director Zach Snyder. Man of Steel would debut that summer and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the character. They even dedicated a Man of Steel Day. Sometimes people call this Superman Day—it’s not!

Probably my favorite thing we got that year was the 75th anniversary animated short. They repurposed it for the 80th anniversary with the new 80th logo. Almost as if nothing happened in the intervening five years.

On the comic book front, there was a new high-profile series, Superman Unlimited, by Scott Snyder and Jim Lee, launched. In hindsight, the best part of that book was the variant covers. The Grant Morrison new 52 Action Comics ended, and the rest of the books weren’t at creative peaks at this time.

2025

On deck for this year of course we have the new movie Superman”. There are rumors of a blu-ray release of Adventures of Superman”. We’ve had some toy leaks that if true are exciting. Plus the Superman toys that have been already released or announced officially. I mentioned at the top the Summer of Superman publishing initiative. The books are all in great places with cool stuff on the horizon.

Could this year rival 2006? I think it’s already on track to beat out 2013. Might we get some of the lost Superman media? Fixes to the 4K releases from a few years ago like the rumored new scan of the original? Superman is possibly the one thing to look forward to in 2025.

January 27, 2025

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

January 20, 2025

My Adventures with Superman—The Ones Who Fell To Earth Finale

The final issue of the My Adventures with Superman comic shipped back in November and I never wrote about it. After reviewing all of [season one for Multiversity Comics}(http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tag/my-adventures-with-superman/) I thought it would be a fun exercise to write about every appearance of this version of the character. I was doing pretty well until my hiatus. It is now time to correct that oversight.

Superman holding the golden orb that was Amazo wishing it a merry Christmas. Ma and Pa Kent are to either side of him.

The story of Amazo and Bloodsport comes to its action packed conclusion. Rather than teeing up season two of the show, the book ended up telling a strong story in between the first two seasons. None of the specific plot points or characters in the book ended up showing up in Season Two, but we do get a note to stay tuned for Season Three. I’ll be that nerd and point out a small discrepancy between this issue and the Season Two. In this issue Jimmy’s Flamebird check clears and it shows his net worth as 1.5 million dollars. But he starts More Things in Heaven and Earth” with $5.5 million.

So does that mean this miniseries wasn’t worth reading? Absolutely not. I truly enjoyed the story, I love this iteration of the characters, and I loved the art. It’s a comic so great art is a key factor for me and I think Pablo Collar killed it. Collar did it differently than the old Superman Adventures comic of old. It’s clearly the MAWS cast, universe, and character designs; but it’s not beholden to being exactly on model. Collar’s style is all ove rthis book and it benefits from that.

The book also ends up being a great Christmas story, shows inspiration from stories like the Iron Giant, and gives us quintessential Superman moments. He literally says I can save everyone!” which is exactly the kind of thing I love to see Superman say. And like previous MAWS finales Superman doesn’t do it alone. Lois and Jimmy are crucial.

I’m really glad we got this book and I hope they are working on a second series before Season Three drops. Maybe later this year? It is the year of Superman they say. Thank you Josie Campbell, Pablo Collar, Nick Filardi, Lucas Gattoni and the rest of the team!

January 13, 2025 · MAWS

Superwoman Wordmark

It’s logo time again! Last month DC published the Superwoman Special that fills in how Lois Lane got her Super Powers in the latest issues of Superman. I’m enjoying the storyline so far even if I feel like Lois doesn’t need Super Powers to be super. What I really want to talk about is the wordmark they’ve gone with.

Rather than use an old logo they drew a new one. I am fascinated by the choices they made on this. The first thing that stands out to me is that it is not based on the 2023 Superman wordmark. It’s much closer in style to the 1983 version that I love so much. It seems once again that the designers at DC aren’t enamored with this new logo and choose not to use it whenever possible. I’m looking forward to the day when we get our DC Bullet next to the 1983 wordmark on a cover again.

A comparison image of the Superman wordmark from volume 5 issue 28 with the Superwoman special wordmark.

I’ve pared it here with the last use of the 83 version on a cover with colors that match (volume 5 issue 28). Notably they squished the logo so it doesn’t cover Lois and Clark’s faces in the art. I’m not sure if it’s because of it being squished, but the letters don’t line up particularly well. Look closely at the top left of the U and see how it doesn’t align with the depth of the letter. You can see the same issues on the inside of the E and the top of the W. There isn’t that same issue with the U in Superman and the Superman version doesn’t have the color inside the E.

A close up of the Superwoman special wordmark. Circles have been drawn around portions of the U, E, and W.

The letter shapes themselves are squished a bit too which you can see in the P and R when comparing to the Superman version. The word is also longer (obviously) so that compresses the end even more. Less cover space for a longer word! Interestingly, all the textless variant covers leave plenty of room for the full logo on top, it’s just this main cover with the text that doesn’t!

I wonder why they didn’t use or base it on the previous Superwoman wordmark. I loved that version. It was clearly inspired by Superman, but had its own identity and was very modern. Maybe they wanted to keep that version for the Lana Lang iteration of the character.

A comparison image of the Superwoman wordmark from issue 17 with the Superwoman special wordmark.

Either way, it’s fun to dig in to a new Superman related wordmark 88-years after his debut.

January 6, 2025 · Design

Standards Manual DC Comics Style Guide

close up on the cover of the DC Style Guide. DC Bullet on the left with various DC characters flying away towards the right.

Back in June I posted my excitement over the upcoming reprint of the DC Comics Style Guide. Well it is here!

various printings of the material from the DC style guide including an original, the variant covers, the DC end of Eras hardcover, and the new printing

Over the last couple years DC has picked up on the demand to see this in print. In my previous post I mentioned they included some of it in the DC Through The 80s: The End of Eras hardcover. Only a few of the pages there are in color and all of them are printed at less than half the size. At the time I assumed this was going to be the best we’d ever get! It was probably the deciding factor in me purchasing the book—although the Twilight of the Gods pitch is cool to have.

A much better attempt was the artist spotlight variant cover series. Seven of DC’s A-List heroes got a variant cover with the Style Guide turnaround art. It was marketed as a spotlight on García-López as an artist rather than a reprinting of the Style Guide, but it’s both! There was also an SDCC exclusive Justice League variant. The reprint makes it very clear it features the legendary art of José Luis García-López”

seven variant covers showcasing Green Arrow, Green Lantern, The Flash, Shazam Captain Marvel, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman alongside a folder of the original style guide

To finally have the whole thing in hand is amazing. The original version I have is little more than a small folder. I’ve never been able to acquire a full binder. The care and detail they’ve put into this edition makes that sting much less. Scanned and reproduced from an original copy it feels more authentic than a reprint. A straight reprint probably wouldn’t have the three-hole-punches on each page! That plus an introduction by Paul Levitz and an interview with García-López and Mary Moebus Yedlin make this book a no brainer for me.

comparision of different printings of the DC style guide using the Wonder Woman page as the example

I tried to show the differences between various printings using the Wonder Woman page as the example. On the top left is the aforementioned End of Eras hardcover. One of the few pages they printed in color. Below that is the Wonder Woman #11 variant cover. These two versions have the lightest blue with the glossy cover being the brightest of the bunch. The End of Eras version seems very muted in comparison to originals. On the right we have my original page above the Standards Manual version. The original is a tad glossier, but I think the new version is fantastic. The paper feels very premium and of course I’m not going to be losing any pages from this.

Now the Facebook post isn’t obsolete. The style guide was updated over the years with new pages and the post has pages that aren’t included in this reprint. Plus there are some color versions that aren’t included either. I’d love to see Standards Manual do a supplement a few years down the line (like DC did) that includes some of these other pages.

Thanks to Standards Manual for putting in the work and for DC/Warners for allowing it to happen.

December 30, 2024 · Design

LexCorp

Elliot S! Maggin has been writing Superman for more than 50 years. In addition to a remarkable run on Superman comics, he has also written several Superman-related novels. The most well-known were published concurrently with the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films: Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday. Often mistaken as film tie-ins, these are original novels and truly compelling Superman stories. I named the blog after one, so of course, I’m a fan!

I was ecstatic when I heard that Maggin was writing a third Superman novel titled LexCorp”. Like the recent reprints of the other two novels, this would be a self-published print-on-demand novel. No affiliation with DC Comics this time around. Ultimately, that works for Maggin as he has the freedom to do what he wants. I’d guess this is part of the reason Superman never appears in the book (Lex doesn’t like speaking his name), but we’ve got plenty of clever references. Without mentioning them by name, we also get Metallo, the Fortress of Solitude, and even Professor Pepperwinkle (pretty much).

I don’t want to spoil what the book is about, but it’s clear pretty early on what Maggin is doing with the story, and I loved it. It has clever anti-billionaire and environmentalist themes that we’d maybe never associate with the villain”. Then again, this is Lex’s book; he’s not the villain here; he is the hero!

Spine of a novel. The spine is black, and the title in red says “LexCorp”

If I had any complaints, it would be the printing quality of the cover. Not quite as high quality as I’d like. But we don’t judge books by their covers here. The actual novel itself is awesome, and the cover quality doesn’t stand out when on the shelf next to its peers.

Bookshelf with several Superman-related books, including Miracle Monday, Last Son of Krypton, and LexCorp

If you enjoyed Maggin’s other novels and are wondering what Lex is up to these days, this book is highly recommended. If Warner Books were smart, they would slap a picture of Nicholas Hoult on this thing and sell it next year as a tie-in to the movie.

Interested in hearing more from Maggin? This recent interview about the book was excellent:

December 23, 2024

ReAction

I know reactions are big on the modern internet, but I imagine Superman fans are inundated with them right now. Maybe you want to stay spoiler free? I’m trying dear reader, but the temptation is strong. The only thing I’ll note is that Superman” is said more times in this short teaser than in the entirety of Man of Steel.

Teasers are part of the well-oiled movie marketing machine. Loving a teaser may or may not lead to loving a movie. With that in mind, let’s listen to the music.

Yeah, of course I loved it.

December 19, 2024

The Definitive History

Last week Ed Gross’s newest project Superman: the Definitive History arrived. This book can best be described as a tome. It’s very different than Ed’s last book Voices from Krypton—which I also loved.

Brown cardboard box on a desk. The box has the Superman symbol in black on the front

The first thing I’ll note is the striking packaging. Inside the shipping box the book had it’s own Superman cardboard box. I’m trying to think of how I can repurpose this box for something in my collection. Dear reader, if you have any ideas please let me know.

Brown cardboard box open on a desk. The contents are a large blue book titled Superman: the Definitive History. There is a big red and yellow Superman shield in the middle.

The book is contained in a thick blue die-cut slipcase. They’ve got silver foil inlaid into the slipcase along with a metal medalion in the spine. They spared no expense in the presentation. It’s far and away the nicest hardcover I have in my collection. I expected it to be more like an Absolute Edition hardcover or the 80 years of Action Comics hardcover they put out, but this is a step above. Definitive is a good descriptor.

Large blue book titled Superman: the Definitive History. There is a big red and yellow Superman shield in the middle. The book is standing next to a Bizarro Action Figure from the Super Powers line in the blue and yellow packaging. The action figure serves as scale to see how large the book is.

Next to a Super Powers toy you can see how big this is! Taller than any of my Absolute Edition hardcover collections and thicker than Voices from Krypton! It’s taller than all the spaces in my bookshelves!

Throughout we are treated to a lavishly illustrated history of our favorite Action Ace. It touches on comics, television, movies, animation, music, and everything in between. Each of the sections is further enhanced by these pasted in replicas of historical ephemera. For example early on in the book there is a recreation of a pitch letter for Superman that Jerry Siegel put together. It’s not just printed on the page, but recreated as if someone slipped the original in the book there for you. There are further examples of this with things like animation cells, vellum transparencies, and cartoon storyboards. You can spend hours just looking at these inserts. They are by far my favorite part of this book and will bring me joy for years to come. I kept calling my partner into my office to show them off!

This book is highly recommended for everyone that loves Superman. It takes the work Ed did last year and brings it to a new level. His work on the unofficial guide already eared him a place of honor among Superman fans and made him the perfect guy for this book. Ed’s made some great podcast appearances on the usual shows, but this new video has a focus on this book. Check it out and check out Superman: the Definitive History. Someone in the Man of Steel collectors group asked if they should open it. Yes!

December 16, 2024

It Went By So Fast

Poster for season four of Superman & Lois. It shows Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Jordan Kent, and Jonathan Kent’s faces; Superman flying towards Doomsday in space; Lois and Clark kissing; and the skyline of Metropolis with the Lex Corp tower. The Superman & Lois logo is at the bottom. The poster is being held up by a magnet with Superman holding a birthday cake with flaming candles. The magnet says Superman’s Fiftieth Birthday.

Too fast, if we are being honest.

I want to write about this show from my normal perspective. Comparing this ending to how other Superman shows ended. Comparing the number of episodes. Comparing it to other final Superman stories. Write about literal Superman stories versus metaphorical ones. But as I sit here, starting this the morning after watching the final episode, I’m so filled with emotion.

I’ve stepped away from writing for the last several weeks. I had been on a streak since May. Things have come up that have made me unable to focus on writing. Life imitates art in a way. Seeing Lois at the end of her life, succumbing to cancer, felt so real. I was transported to that place: losing a loved one. That personal connection to my life right now brought me back to writing here.

I’m still reeling from their last moments. Laying in bed at home, in peace, surrounded by family. Perfect scenes with awesome performances all around. In five short minutes, with no costume, they capture everything that was great about the show and all the joy of life.

Of course, I’m emotionally connected to this story. I’m immersed in Superman-related media every day. He can feel as real to me as a family member. This finale may have hit me harder than someone that only watches this show or knows the movies. It was more than just an ending to this iteration of the characters. It truly felt like being there for the death of a family member.

Maybe this is why the first couple of episodes of the season didn’t initially grab me. The sci-fi melodrama around Superman’s heart felt like it took away from the fact that a family member had died. There was also no doubt they would bring him back a few episodes in. Even with the redirect of the AI Clark, we knew he was coming back. Little did I know how they would use that heart.

The heart of it all

This is a Superman story full of heart. At its core, Superman & Lois is about love, family, and friendships. Clark told us so at the end. Yes, it’s a superhero show with lots of action, but that lives alongside the heart. Tal-Rho was Clark’s brother, Bizarro’s relationship with his family mirrored Clark’s, Lois’s cancer and her friendship with Peia. For them to take the heart of the themes so literally was a surprise, but ultimately a triumph. How does Superman die the first time if, like Bizarro/Doomsday, he’ll always heal? Remove his heart. How does he return? He gets the heart of a family member in a moment of sacrifice, ultimately allowing Superman to slowly become human and die for real. Sam didn’t give his life so the world could have a hero. He gave his life so his daughter could have her husband and his grandchildren their father.

But why kill him? I mean beyond the fact that the Triangle Era and Death of Superman was an artistic and commercial high point for the character in the comics and the creative team are obviously huge fans of those books. They chose to give Superman an ending to truly connect him to the audience. There can never be a complaint of Superman being unrelatable. We just watched him go through one of the most universal human experiences.

Stories that need to be told

In early June 2023, Tyler Hoechlin made an appearance at the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. At that point, there were still two episodes left to air in season three. Tyler knew the season was going to end on this big cliffhanger note of Superman fighting Doomsday on the moon, but no one knew if we would get another season. With the changes in ownership for The CW, the changes in direction for the DC Universe on screen, and the wider streaming and entertainment industry changes, everything was up in the air. He told the audience he was hoping that they’d get to come back and finish the story. The showrunners may have had a seven-year plan, but it looked like it was going to end right then and there. It went by so fast.

In November, we got the confirmation the show was coming back for a shortened final season. Ten episodes compared to 15 in the first two seasons and 13 in season three. A far cry from 22-episode Smallville or Lois and Clark seasons. Soon afterwards, we learned only the core four family members plus Cudlitz as Luthor were going to be regular cast members with hopes they’d be able to get the rest of the cast to return in limited roles. There was a moment where Dylan Walsh said he would not return at all to play Sam Lane. Add in a new Jimmy Olsen, Tom Cavanagh in an undisclosed role (later revealed to be Glorious Godfrey), and Yvonne Chapman as Amanda McCoy. How were they going to finish this story and balance all these elements? A new season needs new ideas and story beats to move it forward; it couldn’t just be ten episodes of denouement. But it worked. McCoy was critical in Lex’s story. Jimmy’s inclusion was important to show what Clark had missed out on in his life and what was at stake revealing his identity. The rest of the cast came back enough to complete their stories. At times they were missed and we felt the absence of the cast, but they did an excellent job with what they had to work with.

#SUPERFAM

When The CW decided to spin Superman & Lois off from the Arrowverse shows, Bitsie Tulloch took to social media to engage with the fans. She got good at that from her previous show: Grimm. They came up with the hashtag Superfam for the show. Because she recognized the community of fans can be a family just like the show was about family. I’m not sure if any actor playing this part has ever shown the care and respect for it the way Bitsie has. Early on, she asked what colors Lois should wear, and of course, the answer is purple. Turns out Bitsie doesn’t like purple, but she recognized it was important for the character and brought it to the costume team. Every time I saw her in purple, I thought of the care she brought to the role.

That shot of Natasha, John Henry, Jordan, and Jonathan all flying with Superman in comic-inspired costumes is going to be tough for any Superman adaptation to top. We were lucky to have such an awesome cast. I know some parts of the fandom were less interested in the Cushings or Beppo, but I loved them. The extended cast made the world feel real, and these relationships were an important part of the themes and the story being told.

Literal vs metaphorical

I find Superman stories work best when he’s not tackling literal real-world problems. Of course, a real Superman could feed the homeless or destroy every nuclear weapon (and Nuclear Man). I’m not looking for a right-wing strongman who is the only one that can solve our problems. Superman’s challenges are metaphorical. Larger-than-life allegories.

For me, Superman has the same problems we do, but on a Paul Bunyan scale. If Superman walks the dog, he walks it around the asteroid belt because it can fly in space. When Superman’s relatives visit, they come from the 31st century and bring some hellish monster conqueror from the future. But it’s still a story about your relatives visiting.

-Grant Morrison

This show walked that fine line. Last season when he faced off against the very real Bruno Mannheim, Superman was made to question the good he had done for the world. As Superman transitioned from superhero to mortal man, his method for helping the world changed. The For All Seasons charity they created, working with Mannheim to better their community, was perfect. It was a continuation of the kind of service he learned from his parents.

Follow the S

Writer Ed Gross in his many podcast appearances talks about how he follows the S”. Meaning he isn’t tied to one adaptation; he loves them all. Each iteration brings something to the table. Sure, there are parts of the fandom that only love George Reeves. Folks that only love the silver-age comics. The Triangle Era fans. The Snyder Cut contingent. Like Ed, I follow the S.

But the question still always comes up, which is your favorite? What I often come back to is: my favorite is the one I’m watching right now. When I’m watching Superman: The Movie, there can be no doubt it’s my favorite. But then I put on Lois & Clark, and seeing the chemistry they have together, then of course that’s the best adaptation. But then I put on Smallville’s Abandoned,” and I see Teri Hatcher return and Helen Slater as Lara, and how great Tom and Erica are together, and over ten years that’s got to be the best, right? Or I go back to Around the World with Superman” from 1954, and then yeah, of course, George’s paternal Superman has got to be the best. Or I watch Tyler in the Fleischer costume, and well, of course, this is the best. And that’s not even mentioning animated adaptations!

But is Bitsie Tulloch truly the best Lois Lane we’ve ever had? In four seasons, it feels like she has embodied the best parts of every Lois. I think an argument can be made for her, and right now I’d agree with it.

Superman fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.

Superman shows have, infamously, not gotten good endings. From the tragic end of The Adventures of Superman to the cliffhanger of Lois & Clark to the CGI Superman in Smallville, fans haven’t been satisfied. But how do you give a real ending to a character that is supposed to go on forever?

That hasn’t stopped the comics from trying: Twilight of the Superheroes. Infinite Crisis. Final Days of Superman. Death of Superman (the first one). I thought the show might do a version of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Clark retiring and winking into the camera in anonymity with the possibility of his son taking over. Clark even took the name Jordan Elliot! I wasn’t far off, but they took it a step further than I would have expected.

There are many stories where he carries on forever: The JSA Kingdom Come sequel. All-Star Superman. Tom King’s Of Tomorrow. John Byrne’s Generations. DC One Million. Future State. After killing him and bringing him back, the show could have gone this direction instead. But instead, it brought Superman to Earth.

Personally, I love the idea of him going on forever, since it mirrors reality in a way. As long as superhero comics exist, we’ll get new issues of Superman. But one of the truly great things about this character is his ability to be so many different things. With every generation, there is a new interpretation. I’m totally okay with some of those interpretations ending with him living out a mortal life on the farm. I may think him giving up his powers to live on the farm, as Crisis on Infinite Earths showed Tom Welling’s Clark, is a bit out of character. But him losing his abilities after a lifetime of service and then continuing to serve his community until his untimely passing felt right. Especially for a Clark that was so connected to his hometown he returned there after his mother’s death.

By the numbers

The Salkind-produced Superboy show ran for 100 episodes split between two Clarks. John Haymes Newton got the first season of 26 episodes, and Gerard Christopher got the other three seasons of 74 episodes. At the end, Superboy hinted at his Superman future, but the last episodes don’t give a satisfying conclusion. Lois & Clark was, by all accounts, robbed of its fifth season and ends on the 88th episode with an unexplained baby cliffhanger. George Reeves got 104 episodes over six seasons with the expectation of more before his tragic death. All That Glitters” might be an interesting episode because George directed it, and recurring character Professor Pepperwinkle is there, but it’s no true send-off. Smallville got a conclusion at the end of its legendary ten-season, 218-episode run, but it was the conclusion of the beginning of Superman’s story. Not his end. Welling doesn’t even wear the suit! They did get the whole last season to bring things together despite reaching for more than they could pull off. His aforementioned return in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover is close to the Whatever Happened” ending I thought we might get here.

Tyler Hoechlin got 53 episodes of Superman & Lois across four seasons. While that’s the same number of seasons as Lois & Clark and Superboy, production differences mean far fewer episodes. Although the Superboy—and Adventures of Superman—episodes were about half the length. Plus, 12 guest appearances of a slightly different universe’s Superman in the Arrowverse shows starting with The Adventures of Supergirl” in 2016, bringing us to a total of 65 episodes. I don’t think this iteration will return, but this show will now live on forever as part of the Superman mythos. Maybe we’ll see this cast again in different roles in the future.

December 9, 2024

Superman & Lois The Final Season

I love this show. It has consistently done a great job taking from the best of Superman adaptations that have come before and making something new. Bitsie and Tyler are such a great Lois and Clark. I truly think it’s ending too soon. At 53 episodes it is shorter than the four seasons of Superboy which got 100 episodes! I know television is very different now and I never expected a ten year 200+ Smallville-style run. Last year when it was up in the air on if we’d even get a final season Tyler was the Superman Celebration. He told the audience that he was growing his beard until he heard if they were renewed. He called it his pickup beard”.

Tyler Hoechlin and a woman from the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce. She is handing Tyler a certificate for being Superman

With the introduction of Doomsday last year it was clear we’d be doing a Death of Superman. Clearly this era of Superman was hugely influential on the creators of the show. We have Steel, got a Superboy with a leather jacket, and there was even the Eradicator (although not the same) in season one. Ten episodes gives them the opportunity to do it way better than either animated adaptation and definitely better than the DCEU.

With all that said the focus on Superman’s heart in the first two episodes was weird. It felt like it delayed them dealing with his death. Maybe it is too much of a sci-fi plot point and took away from the emotion. Lana’s realization that Superman was dead felt so removed from his actual death that it didn’t land for me.

I’m already surprised they’ve kept Clark gone as long as they have. Smallville never went 3 episodes with a powerless Clark so I figured that would be the max here too. I am pumped for where this season could go and I trust this creative team to stick the landing.

October 14, 2024

My Adventures with Superman Issue 5

cover of My Adventures with Superman issue 5. Cover shows Amazo and Superman’s faces each split down the middle combining them. Text reads DECK THE HALLS WITH KILLER ROBOTS!

Just have time for a quick recap this week. This issue was heavy on the action and it really let series artist Pablo Collar shine. It both feels like it’s in the universe of the cartoon, but also lets their own style be shown. Different than some of the Superman Adventures books that stuck very close to the model of the show.

I think with two seasons and this comic being so focused on Kryptonian tech I hope season three can stretch out into new things. More Luthor perhaps? I also hope that we get another comic because I’ve really enjoyed these!

Final note: it feels so good to see that DC Bullet in the corner box. I hope this heralds a new age of DC!

Next week I’ll delve into the return of Superman & Lois for it’s final season!

October 9, 2024 · MAWS

Superman and the Right-Wing

Superman, hands on hips in a circle that reads Truth, Justice, The American Way

Back in 2012, the news reported on Republican Paul Ryan’s love for the music of Rage Against the Machine. It seemed completely upside down for this right wing politician to love an unapologetic left-wing band. But what I learned is the medium is the message”“. In this case, the medium of aggressive hard rock is all Ryan needed to enjoy the music. That was the message for him. The band’s left-wing lyrics just went over his head. The medium is the message.

This phrase had some new relevance to me over the summer at the yearly Superman Celebration. Among the vendors set up along Market Street was a Trump 2024 booth. This was my first visit to Metropolis in an election year (I started visiting in 2018 and 2020 was 2020). How could anyone think that Trump upholds the Superman values being celebrated that weekend? Then there was a comment (on the cesspool that is Facebook) on a post by Superman writer Elliot S! Maggin. He posted support for Kamala Harris, and a Superman fan that I know and have interacted with was critical of it.

Kieron Gillen is one of my favorite comic writers. Although he hasn’t written Superman or for DC he has written a lot of Marvel superhero books along with several creator owned titles. In an essay accompanying the latest issue of his creator owned series The Power Fantasy, Kieron talks about the appeal of superheroes to fascists. Quoting liberally:

One classic critique of superhero comics is to dismiss them as simple power fantasies, and say they’re at least borderline fascist in their Might Makes Right tendency. That normally prompts defences describing all the other many things they can do - the living metaphors, the moral play, the soap opera, the poetry, and a whole lot more. They’re good defences.

But as I looked at chat around the big-two comics, I wondered whether we were just deluded.

There is so much conversation around power levels. Issues are picked over for more feats” (characters showing their abilities at ever greater levels). The demands to make more characters Omegas” (X-Men terminology for the apex mutants whose power can’t be transcended). I was especially unnerved when I saw people say the most powerful characters should be the leaders. There’s a word for that.

What better example of this than Superman? The strongest of all superheroes. The medium is the message. It’s not difficult to find pictures of Trump as Superman. He’s posted them himself. In the right-wing narrative, he is the strong man, and only his strength can save America.

I’d like to make an aside to talk about my Superman knowledge. I am a Superman expert. I would put my knowledge of Superman up against anyone’s, including Mark Waid. One of my favorite things to do at the aforementioned Superman Celebration is to participate in Superman Jeopardy and I’m frequently a champion. When the Krypton television show debuted there was a tie in trivia contest and I was the winner the first night and in the top five on the third night. My Superman knowledge is, quite literally, award winning. There can be no argument saying that I do not know what I’m talking about.

Certificate from the Fan of Steel live trivia challenge. It reads Congratulations Superman, Superfan you’ve earned this prize for proving that your superman trivia powers are super amazing

Screenshot that reads; Matthew V You win! We kneel before you. You have defeated every Superman superfan and reign supreme as tonight’s Fan of Steel. Claim your $1,000 prize

Gatekeeping is a large part of toxic fandom. I don’t want to gatekeep Superman from anyone. I think Superman is for everyone. Telling someone that they don’t really understand a character or saying that’s not the real Superman” is not what I’m trying to do here. People are always going to bring their interpretations and ideas to fictional characters. This character has very clear and important political ideologies that informed his creation and ongoing narrative. To miss those is to miss the main intent and meaning of the character. It’s like being a right-wing politician and liking Rage Against the Machine.

Superman was created in the mid 1930s, during The Great Depression. At the time Roosevelt’s New Deal was a leftist, progressive series of programs and financial reforms designed to get the country out of the Depression. Superman was born from these leftist ideas.

Created by two young Jewish men, sons of immigrants. It’s an immigrant story. Sharply opposed to the rhetoric on immigration right now. Just look at the untrue, anti-immigrant bile being spewed out about Ohio—the very place of Superman’s creation.

Superman laughed at the right-wing strong man” leaders at the time as the clowns they truly are. Dangerous clowns, but clowns nonetheless. Similar to how the American right today are mocked as weird. These modern clowns who love those same kinds of strong men” like Orbán. Hitler and Mussolini were frequently ridiculed in the pages of Superman comics. Not just because we were at war, but because of the horrible hateful ideologies they represented

Superman was described as Champion of the Oppressed. When I wrote about the First Five Years I noted that Siegel looked at parts of society he felt were corrupt and imagined a way to fix those problems. Notably the problems he saw were business men, the car industry, crooked lobbyists, slum lords, guns. He took action to protect the weak. He didn’t use his abilities for personal gain, he used them for the betterment of society. He stopped unfair executions, wife beaters, and lobbyists all in his first appearance!

These are leftist ideals. Protecting the weak. Working together for the benefit of society. They aren’t individualistic pull yourself up by your bootstraps ideals that the right claims to espouse. He’s a journalist! His day job is something the right has taken to call the enemy of the people.”

Frank Wilhoit (another Ohio native) writes Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. There is nothing more or else to it, and there never has been, in any place or time.” This can be seen in everything the right does. Whether it’s trans people, immigrants, any religious or ethnic minority, even women there is always an out-group. Superman stands against that. There is no out-group for Superman. He protects all. People for him are not to be stepped over, but lifted up. Even the villains are protected and given the chance.

famous image of Superman telling children to “remember boys and girls, your school-like our country-is made up of americans of many different races, religions and national origins.”

Through the 50s up through the 80s Superman with his good looks and great power was often seen as the ultimate in conformity. The man” that kept you down. He was the tool of the state. The medium was the message. But a reading of the text shows that he was not that. He did not believe that might makes right. He used what he had for the betterment of all, not himself or a certain group. Truth, Justice, and the American Way was an important part of Superman at the time. But what is the American Way?

Fandom recently created a Podcast series titled Superman vs. the KKK. The podcast details the fictional character of Superman and how he fought the very real KKK. The podcast explores who decides what the American Way is. Is it the right-wing hate group the KKK, or is it the leftist values from the New Deal Superman? Episode two entitled Your Money for Your Hate” details the ways the KKK grew influence in American society at the time. Ways that sound shockingly similar to how the modern Republican party operates to this day. There can be no debate on this; the KKK is a right-wing organization. It may seem more extreme and further right than mainstream conservatism, but it’s only because they say the quiet parts out loud. At the end Superman had a real effect on the KKK; exposing them as the evil clowns they are.

In the 1970s there was a major fight for Siegel and Shuster to get recognition again and to support them financially for creating Superman. This pro-labor movement is leftist!

In the 1980s DC reimagined Lex Luthor. Who was the perfect villain for that time? Well Donald J. Trump, business man of course. It’s not a mistake that the cover for The Unauthorized Biography of Lex Luthor is modled after Art of the Deal. Unchecked corporate capitalism is the villain. Who was oppressing the people?

I’ll end today on Dean Cain. Cain has notably taken a turn to the right. He may be the perfect example of the medium is the message. He understands the strong man/might makes right of it all, but doesn’t get the message of what the character portrays. If only he watched his own show—Super Mann would be a great episode for him to start with.

October 1, 2024

The Christopher Reeve Story

Saturday was Batman Day and I thought the best way to celebrate was to catch a screening of the highly anticipated documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story at my local cinema.

poster for the movie Super/Man. Close up of Christopher Reeve’s face as Superman

I have to agree with the Rotten Tomatoes score and the consensus of Superman centric social media. This movie was excellent. It was a moving portrayal of an actor that we’ve all come to know as Superman. It wasn’t just Superman and his accident. The movie showcased his friendships, his family, and his whole career. It showed his courageous activism and his failures. I cannot recommend this film enough. Not just for Superman fans or people who love those movies. This is a documentary with something for everyone. I was moved to tears many many times.

I really liked Always Hold onto Smallville’s special episode about it and the preview of it from the Countdown to Superman podcast.

The movie has one more day in US theaters with Fathom Events so there is still a chance to check it out. For Christopher Reeve’s birthday! And of course it will likely be streaming on Max in the near future.

September 24, 2024

Filmation Adventures of Superboy

The Digging for Kryptonite podcast recently did an episode on the 1966 Superboy cartoons by Filmation. I have previously written about how these episodes are lost”; in that they aren’t available for legal viewing anywhere. There was a VHS of some episodes in the 80s, but no DVD release, and no digital or streaming releases. Because of this lack of availability I haven’t watched any of these episodes. I thought that I would listen to the episode anyway since there really aren’t any spoilers to worry about. But once guest Daniel Sanchez started talking about how formative this cartoon was to his fandom I knew I had made a mistake. I immediately turned off the episode to wait until I could watch these cartoons.

Cover to the Adventures of Superboy VHS. It depicts Superboy flying with Krypto the Superdog behind him. The Superboy logo on top with a yellow background. A Super Powers Collection logo at the bottom.

Now I know it seems silly to recommend a podcast episode that I purposefully didn’t listen to, but the pure love that Daniel has for this cartoon is palpable in the first few minutes. I can’t wait to revisit when I’ve had the chance to (somehow) watch this show. Check it out!

Next: Super/Man.

September 16, 2024

My Adventures with Superman issue 4

Last week we got the latest issue of the My Adventures with Superman comic. This was my favorite issue of the series so far. Maybe it’s my love of Christmas!

I’m stealing this screenshot from Comic Box Commentary since it shows one of my favorite moments!

Two panels of the MAWS comic showing Amazo decorating for Christmas with Jonathan and Martha Kent. Panel one has Amazon asking: “I don’t understand tinsel’s function. Will it keep us safe?”. Jonathan replies “It’s decorations. This time of year there’s a lot of holidays.” Amazon asks “Holidays?” Panel two has Martha holding the car from Action Comics #1 and she answers “Little rituals humans do to celebrate the season.”

While our gang prepares for Christmas tensions between Bloodsport and Deathstroke boil over to a fight. We get some heavily anime inspired Bloodsport action here which I loved. As Task Force X and Checkmate brawl, Superman and Amazo enter the fray.

Amazo ends up saving Slade Wilson learning from big blue. Superman and Amazo fighting Bloodsport and Deathstroke ending with the apparent destruction of Amazon? Plus is Amazo Kryptonian? It’s been hinted at. Guess we’ll see next month!

September 9, 2024 · MAWS

The First Five Years 1938-1942

I’ve recently embarked on a project. I have a bookshelf full of Golden Age Superman collections from trades, to omnibuses, to archive editions. But despite owning all these books, I haven’t read them all! I’ve read the 1930s stuff many times. I’ve flipped through the 40s and read some of the highlights, but I’ve never sat down and started from Action #1 to read it all. So I’ve decided to change that starting with the first five years. Year one 1938 through year five 1942. But why stop at just the comic books? We’ve got a novel, newspaper strips, theatrical shorts, and radio serials too!

Superman flying and taking off his Clark Kent disguise

Comic Books

What did I read? Action Comics 1-55, Superman 1-24 (through 1943), World’s Fair 1939, World’s Fair 1940, World’s Best 1, and Worlds Finest 2-15.

These stories have been collected in many different ways over the last several decades. There are the 10 Chronicles trade paperbacks; the Superman, Action Comics, and World’s Finest Archives hardcovers; the Golden Age Omnibus hardcovers; the Golden Age softcover collections; and some are available digitally on the DCU app. I swapped around depending on where I was reading: hardcovers in bed, softcovers around the house, digitally while travelling.

Clark surprised at getting some attention from Lois

There is so much story here that I’ll try and just hit on some things that stood out to me.

Superman speaking into a radio microphone. Text reads FROM THIS MOMENT ON, I DECLARE WAR ON RECKLESS DRIVERS – HENCEFORTH, HOMICIDAL DRIVERS ANSWER TO ME!

Jerry Siegel’s idea is at a very pure form in these early years. A vast majority of the stories feature Superman against some gripe that Siegel has with the then current world. If I had super strength here is how I would fix swindlers, crooked politicians, gambling, people that take advantage of the weak, even cars!” Very much wish fulfillment. Although later on they would take a softer stance on gambling, sadly. Add that to the idea of presenting as a nerdy weakling on the outside, but on the inside being am so much more and you get Superman. It’s interesting how this never slides into the fascist only I have the power to fix society”. Superman doesn’t want to rule, he just wants to even the odds for the normal guy against seemingly insurmountable odds. He’s the example of absolute power not corrupting absolutely. Of using what he has to help others and society and being a champion of democracy.

Superman with an impassioned plea to Perry White about facism

The panels in the very early issues were numbered. I assume this is because they were originally made for newspaper strips, but then repurposed into comic book form. Didn’t want to mix them up when cutting and pasting!

Superman riding a torpedo like Dr. Strangelove

Capital punishment is a major focus in many early stories. Either saving someone from being executed for a crime they didn’t commit or capturing bad guys and being okay with them being put to death. It’s disappointing that they couldn’t square that circle. Capital punishment is abhorrent and these stories do suffer for it.

Superman essentially tortures people to get what he wants. It’s interesting the first time he does it because someone’s life is on the line, but by the end of 1942 I was pretty tired of Superman throwing people into the air to scare them into talking. I’m glad this is a character trait that was dropped from Superman in later interpretations. Leave the scaring crooks to Batman, we don’t need it here.

Superman doing what I would do to guns and crushing them

In the comic books and comic strips there are stories where hypnotism works on Superman briefly. Seemed like mind control was an early Superman weakness and also something they used in the Triangle Era a few times.

Superman says don’t gamble!

Ransom was a very common villain plan. I wouldn’t say that any villain’s motivations are particularly strong in these early stories. Even when Luthor is introduced. The strips have an interesting villain The Blonde Tigress” who is seeking revenge for the murder of her father. A murder Superman is framed for. But most of the others just want money or in Luthor’s case power and some chaos.

Clark Kent writes a story in the Daily Planet about astrology being fake. So true

An all-time favorite of mine is the story where Lois & Clark go to see a movie that has a Superman short before the feature. He is worried that Lois will discover his secret identity if she watches it. It’s silly in the best way and I love the idea.

After a couple years Siegel branches out and we start to see more interesting villains. Luthor being the best among them. Of course there is the original Ultra Humanite, but he doesn’t last long and when he is replaced by Luthor there is a bigger threat. We also get an early Metalo (different spelling), a recurring villain Puzzler, and Funny Face who I think is ripe for a revival.

Mr. Sinister as a Superman villain

The Prankster really shines in these early stories. He’s the first villain Superman encounters that he can’t just shake down. It’s always tough to determine why Loomis is doing the things he does which makes for engaging stories.

There is a Robin Hood story that rang false for me. The Robin Hood character starts stealing from the rich to give to the poor and Superman becomes too much of a tool of the establishment. So much so that Robin Hood turns to a life of crime with other criminals. I think Superman should have sided with this crusader and found a just way to help in his endeavors. Choosing to just make him a villain even with a redemption at the end was cheap.

Superman using his vision powers and being surprised at what he sees

There is a Bruce and Dick cameo way before the first Batman Superman team-up and I loved it.

Superman is going to check in on Spider-Man

The books have more continuity than I expected. When stories are done they are done, but things that happen aren’t forgotten. Superman comes into a large sum of money and then several issues later brings it up and uses it to help. Made it rewarding to be reading the whole batch.

Radio

This is where I come clean and admit I haven’t made it through all five years. There are so many episodes of the radio show it is daunting. I did listen to the Superman on Radio CD box set which included episodes up through April 12, 1940. I then listened to the next storyline on YouTube which gets me through the rest of that April. There are another 380 or so episodes to go to get me through 1942. Notably the CD box set uses the cover of Superman 6 which is often used as the standard” Golden Age Superman. I have a cardboard standee from the Post Office which uses this same Superman. Maybe to conform to modern interpretations they color the outer triangle red, which is not period correct. Similar to the licensed” version of the Superman 1 cover.

When it ran from February 1940 to February 1942 it was a 15-minute serialized syndicated transcribed show. Meaning that the story continued episode to episode, could be picked up by multiple stations across the country rather than being created for a first run network, and was recorded in advance. Initially broadcast three times a week (up until May 1941), then five times a week (from August 1941).

Superman saying that this is a situation that calls for Superman

The radio show is famous for introducing many ideas and concepts that would become core to the Superman mythos. Kryptonite being often cited didn’t come into play until June of 1943. Jimmy was introduced April, 1940 in Donelli’s Protection Racket which was the last story I listened to. Look! Up in the sky!”; Up, up, and away!” all originated here. Up, up and away!” makes perfect sense in this radio context where they need to describe everything they are doing. It may seem cheesy for Superman now to say that when he takes flight, but in a medium like radio it’s perfect. He even says down, down” when landing, but that never seemed to become a catchphrase.

Superman saying Up, up, and away

The iconic introductions were started here on the radio, but they do have DNA in the comics. Every comic story started with a description of Superman and his dynamic abilities. The radio show just codified it.

To me Bud Collyer’s voice is Superman’s voice. There are things I love about every portrayal and incarnation of Superman, but when I read the comics it is Collyer’s voice I hear. There is a reason they kept bringing Collyer back including the aforementioned 1966 cartoon. Much the same as Kevin Conroy as Batman this was perfect casting. There are a few episodes available on streaming music platforms that include Batman and the voice there just isn’t right.

Characters like The Wolf, Keno, and The Yellow Mask in these early episodes would be great if they returned in modern context. But the less said about the racists depiction of the Incas the better. It was hard to listen to and surprising given the show’s later stories about racial tolerance.

The secret identity is handled strangely in these early episodes. For a while he tries to keep Superman completely under wraps. Later he all but reveals himself to other characters and threatens violence to keep them quiet. Because we can’t see what is happening it’s hard to know when he has the costume on unless he specifically tells us.

I loved the way the show was serialized. They bring back elements and keep the story going while also giving satisfying conclusions every few weeks. Reminded me of the triangle era in a way.

Theatrical Shorts

This was the easiest as I’ve watched these animated shorts dozens of times. These 17 shorts are probably more foundational to our current interpretations of Superman than a decade of comics.

These are very closely tied in with radio show. They use a similar format of introductions plus they share some voice cast. But unlike the 1966 Filmation cartoons these shorts used visuals to tell the story rather than dialogue and voiceover. The 1966 cartoons feel like a radio show animated, whereas these are short animated films with the same cast. There really isn’t much dialogue at all; just action! This may be why they connected with me as a child.

Newspaper strips

What did I read? Superman: The Dailies volumes 1-3, Superman: The Sunday Classics, and through the end of 42 in Superman: The Golden Age Dailies 1942-1944. After reading up through these newspaper strips I almost want to recommend them more than the comic books! The stories are similar but the continuity is tighter. The issues can start to get repetitive with some plot lines repeating, but the newspaper never really does that. It’s often a tighter version of a similar story, sometimes with even better art!

For example in both the comic books and comic strips there are stories of Clark disguising himself as a someone to help them out of a bind. But where we see it in the comic books many times even through 1943, the strip only does it the one time. Maybe I’ll see it more as I go through the rest of the Golden Age strips. Another weird moment that comes up in both the books and strips is Superman giving a woman a spanking. Yuck. I can’t speak for 1930s cultural norms, but this isn’t cool.

Both the comic books and the strips featured early imaginary stories”. Like in the strips where Santa Claus is kidnapped by Nazis or a comic book story where Clark dreams his identity is discovered by Lois. There is even a Death of Superman! These were in good fun and even when it was revealed they were imaginary never felt cheap.

Novel

a painting of superman swimming up to the surface of the water carrying an old man

The first thing to say about the 1942 Adventures of Superman novel is that it has absolutely the best art of the golden age. It may be some of my favorite Superman art of all time. The show feels like an episode of the radio show complete with a retelling of Superman’s origins (first time it’s Jor-El and Kal-El). I dug the classic typeface the book was set in and tried to get an approximation for the font of this site! The book is a quick read and if you like the radio show this will be right down your alley.

Misc

A favorite bit from this era is the Super Rabbit Bugs Bunny short from 1943. I love this cartoon and I’ve watched it dozens of times over the years. I think it helped popularize the phone booth change! He does it in the Mechanical Monster Fleischer short, but wasn’t a major part of the iconography early on.

an off-model lois face

In reading the history of the era I learned a lot about the Shuster studio. There was no way one artist was able to draw a monthly story in Action Comics, a full quarterly Superman issue, a story in World’s Finest, a daily newspaper strip, the Sunday strips, and the book illustrations. I read that to try and keep it consistent Shuster drew every face of Superman and Lois. No one could get that squint quite like Joe. I’m not sure how true that is reading these stories. There is the occasional face that is clearly by another artist.

Speaking of Superman’s face, these early stories have the wink at the camera”. It was Superman’s way of sharing something direct with the audience. A little fourth wall break because you are in on the secret of Superman with him. I love this. I feel like it’s been lost in modern times. George Reeves had a great wink. Christopher Reeve ended all his movies with a smile at the camera (Routh got his Reeve style smile at the camera too). Could Gunn bring this back in 2025?

Four panels of Superman with him getting punched in the face with brass knuckles and thebreaking them

While full flight wasn’t really part of the comic stories of the time there were some other weird powers that continued through the silver age like Super-Hypnotism, Super-Ventriloquism, and his ability to change his face. While I’m all for Superman having all the powers these ones just don’t work for me. I am strong believer though that Superman always has enough power to overcome any situation. It’s core to the conceit of the character and it means he can never be too powerful.

Clark Kent hypnotizing Lois

The shield slowly evolves over these years, but never gets to the standard we have now. It’s truly interesting how many stories and years went by before they really nailed it.

Superman under hypnosis. The second panel has a good clear early design of the S shield

While the stories of this era were typically progressive they aren’t without their fare share of racism. The racism in media of the time was blatant and overt. Most of it focused on the Japanese with some horrible caricatures. It is a black mark on a character that I love.

Pearl Harbor December 7th, 1941

You’d be remiss talking about Golden Age Superman without mentioning the attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941. There were many war themed stories before this point mostly focused on fifth columnists and saboteurs but these became a major focus in the early years of the United States’ involvement in World War II. We probably see more fifth columnists than we do mad scientists. I was also never aware of the insulting nickname for Hitler: Schicklegruber. My favorite of the war stories were ones where they made Nazis look pathetic. It works with fascists!

Superman warns the reader against gambling

Superman is a truly multi-media character. It wouldn’t be accurate to call him just a comic book character. Even in these first five years that is evident and that leaves out Reeves and Reeve two of the most beloved adaptations in history. Siegel and Shuster really had something special on their hands all those years ago. Next for me? Listen to some more radio shows!

September 2, 2024

Absolute Superman Design

Back in 2000, Marvel Comics had a hit with Ultimate Spider-Man”. A reimagining of Spider-Man for the new millennium, unencumbered by decades of continuity. This was shortly followed up with a full range of Ultimate Universe titles. Five years later, DC made a similarly inspired attempt with their All-Star line. Giving us one of the most beloved Superman stories and a Batman story with, let’s say, some mixed reactions. Not quite the Ultimate Universe they were going for. In 2011, DC tried a different approach with The New 52. Rather than a separate universe, they would relaunch all of their main titles. Again, to varying degrees of success. Like the reboot after Crisis, some characters would be more rebooted than others.

Now, in 2024, Marvel has started a new Ultimate Universe with a new Ultimate Spider-Man. A fresh reimagining for the 2020s. Not to be outdone, DC is jumping in with their new Absolute Universe” as part of this year’s All In” initiative. Starting initially with Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. I think the Absolute moniker is a little strange considering it’s what they call oversized hardcover collections already. Would we eventually get an Absolute Absolute Superman? I’m going to hold off on making conclusions about the XTREME and dark direction it looks like they are taking until I can actually read the books. What can I talk about then? The design!

Last week, DC released the covers with the full trade dress, giving us our first look at the Absolute Superman wordmark and a clear official version of the logo.

Absolute Superman Wordmark

The cover to Absolute Superman #1. Features the new Superman looking dark and broody. Text at the top reads Absolute Superman. The DC bullet logo, All In logo, and price $4.99 on the right-hand side.

Right off the bat, this wordmark doesn’t do a ton for me. It fits with the All In logo. It looks futuristic in a Star Trek: The Next Generation way. It has the same fizziness the cape has, which ties it into the character design. It doesn’t use the new S like they did for My Adventures with Superman. It has almost no connection to the history or legacy of the character, which for this kind of reboot I do understand. It has that slight tilt like the standard and All-Star wordmarks have.

It does fit with the recent DC trend of distressed logos. Like how the All-Star Superman title fit in with the then trend of flat boxes of colors with bold sans serifs. Final Crisis is another good example of that. I believe those were all designed by Chip Kidd. DC does not credit any designer in their press release. I’d be willing to bet they are designed by Darran Robinson, but his website is down, and his Instagram makes no note of these new covers.

Finally, it looks a little strange for the cover box and DC logo to be on the right. Love having the DC Bullet back since that is the best logo they’ve ever had, but it belongs on the top left!

The new Absolute Superman shield on a grayish blue background. DC bullet logo at the bottom.

I love this! I’m not certain who is responsible, but they clearly understood the assignment. A red S on a yellow background in a diamond shield. Make it different from the current well-known standard. This does exactly that. The biggest change is the removal of the serifs. This makes it feel modern while also being connected to what’s come in the past. It succeeds in a way I think the 2025 movie shield doesn’t. In going with a Kingdom Come-inspired design, it doesn’t ring immediately as an S. This shield does that right off the bat. It reminds me of the My Adventures with Superman shield. Both are clearly an S, which I think is important. It’s what this shield is!

1982 Style Guide

In other design news this week, to make up for the slight delay in shipping the DC Style Guide, Standards Manual shared some new photos with 13th Dimension. Really excited to get my copy of this. Even the Amazon Washington Post had a story about it today. A little bit of a bummer that the Style Guide covers DC released last month have the 2016 logo rather than the bullet. They got it right with Super Powers variant covers this month.

Next week: The First Five Years.

August 26, 2024 · Design

2025 T-Shirts

At San Diego Comic Con this year, DC announced that they would be selling the first official merchandise tied to the upcoming Superman movie. This included a t-shirt and a pin with the new shield. Immediately after the convention, they put shirts and hats up on the DC Shop only for them to sell out very quickly. They added a separate variant of the shirt to the DC shop soon afterwards.

This gives the DC Shop two different shirts. One called Theatrical Logo” and the other called S-Shield”. Fans online also noted that Hot Topic was also selling a shirt with the new shield they are calling the Superman Crest”. Three Superman shirts that, at first glance, look very similar. Let’s dive in.

I was lucky enough to get the Theatrical Logo” shirt from the DC Shop before it sold out. I also got the Hot Topic Superman Crest” shirt for comparisons. The Superman Super Site posted a picture of their S-Shield” version to their Facebook feed. Now, with some decent information, we can compare.

two Superman 2025 t-shirts

First up, we have the two I have in my possession. We can see several differences quickly. In the photo, I have the Hot Topic Superman Crest” above with the Theatrical Logo” below. The Superman Crest” shirt has the standard shield in place of a garment tag, a normal crew neck opening, and a slightly lighter color. Harder to see is the quality of the material. It is a thicker, rougher cotton than the DC Shop Theatrical Logo” shirt. It also fits a little bit more snug, possibly due to the thicker material having less stretch. The Theatrical Logo” has a larger, rounder neck opening with the new shield as the tag. The blue is slightly darker, and the material is thinner and softer.

closeup on the theatrical shirt closeup on the Hot Topic shirt

Notably, the actual printing of the shield is different. The Theatrical Logo” is more of a marketing-style logo. With more texture and a shine to it. Folks at my local comic shop like the shine. The Superman Crest” Hot Topic shirt is printed more like a standard Superman shirt that many people already have. No extra shine or texture to it. If you are looking for one to go along with a collection of more traditional Superman shirts, the Hot Topic might be the one to go with.

standard DC Shop shirt

The DC Shop S-Shield” shirt, while not in my personal possession, looks very similar to the Hot Topic Superman Crest”. It has a regular Gildan shirt tag, but this could be specific to this larger size. In photos on the site, the shirts have the new shield tag. Notably, this version has copyright and trademark information along the bottom of the shield, which I don’t love. Interestingly, this also can’t be seen on the pictures on the DC shop. These shirts are print-to-order, so the photos wouldn’t be 100% accurate, and that makes me assume the example here is standard. The benefit of this is they have it in many colors if that’s something you are looking for.

wearing the theatrical shirt wearing the Hot Topic shirt

For me, one of the most important things about a Superman shirt is where the S rests on your chest. Because of the smaller neck hole on the Hot Topic Superman Crest” shirt, I much preferred where it sat. The Theatrical Logo” sits a little too low for my tastes. The overall length is comparable between the two.

14 Superman t-shirts of various styles rolled in a drawer

I may have too many Superman shirts, and this isn’t even all of them. Top to bottom in column one is a generic S, Electric, 2025 Hot Topic S-Shield”, 2025 Theatrical Logo”, Superman Returns, Man of Steel, and 78. Column two has a distressed S, another generic S, Curt Swan style, slate George Reeves, color George Reeves, black and white George Reeves cape, and finally Batman v. Superman.

August 19, 2024 · Design · Superman 2025

Issue 3: My Adventures with Superman

cover to my adventures with superman issue 3. Bloodsport has Superman in handcuffs while Lois and Jimmy look in from the ceiling. The text reads Super Arrest!

The latest issue of the MAWS tie-in comic was heavy on action this week. Here are some of my quick thoughts.

We start with Clark in custody after breaking Amazo out last issue. The cover is a bit misleading as Superman is never in cuffs, just our boy Clark. They don’t know Clark is Superman though, so he doesn’t have much trouble slipping out to check on Amazo, Lois, and Jimmy. After he is truly let go, he evades their detection long enough for Lois and Jimmy to try and leave town with Amazo. They are joined by Ma and Pa Kent to ramp up the difficulty on Clark. Their plan is to bring Amazo to Cadmus, which feels like the safest place for him. Ultimately, Waller is expecting them there.

I liked the secret identity fake-out with Bloodsport. It reminded me of when the show did a similar thing with General Lane. It keeps it feeling in the same universe. I definitely like Bloodsport better than Deathstroke. Maybe Deathstroke is just overused, but they make him more menacing and competent.

With Bloodsport calling Amazo a weapon, I was reminded of The Iron Giant.” I fully expect Amazo to tell Bloodsport that he is not a gun and be able to choose his own destiny.

I loved Ma’s I Heart Superman” shirt and really want one.

Killgrave was a good deep-cut reference. After his Superman & Lois appearance, he’s due for a comeback in the comics!

August 12, 2024 · MAWS

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