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!
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.
There is so much story here that I’ll try and just hit on some things that stood out 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.
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 I assume this is because they were originally made for newspaper strips, but then repurposed into comic book form.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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There is a Bruce and Dick cameo way before the first Batman Superman team-up and I loved it.
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).
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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.
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 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
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!
Absolute Superman Shield Logo
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
