On April 18, 1938, Action Comics #1 hit newsstands. This comic was unique at the time because it
was a last-minute creation by the editors of National Allied Publications
(which we know today as DC Comics) to capitalize on the success of their other
comic books. It was to be an “anthology”
book, containing shorter stories rather than the entire book focusing on one
character. Several unpublished comic
strips were stumbled upon and the creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were
asked to repurpose them into a cohesive story.
That 13-page story was the debut of Superman.
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| Action Comics #1 (June 1938) |
Today, 80 years to the day later, Action Comics #1000 was
released.
Many herald Superman as the first superhero. While that is more opinion as opposed to a
verifiable fact, one thing is certain: the comic book industry (and potentially
the entertainment industry as a whole) would not be what it is today without
the impact he has made.
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| Action Comics #1000 variant cover by Jock |
Superman, at his best, is just that. A super-man.
Someone to whom we can all look up and be inspired. Superman’s father maybe said it best:
“You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.”
Superman’s ideals are meant to be a guiding light for human
kind. He may be “faster than a speeding
bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single
bound,” but what set Superman apart from his fellow caped characters are his
commitment to compassion and to truth and to justice. Batman once said:
“It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then... he shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him.”
Superman is the epitome of the “good guy”. He was raised with values and morals and in
many ways he represents a time and a class of person that we don’t see in the
world anymore. When speaking of comic
book characters, the concept of “power” is clear: you can lift large masses,
punch harder than normal, or endure lots of damage. But when we think of the real world, power is
less physical. We tend to think of
powerful people in the real world as those with wealth or those in elected
office. It’s unfortunate that so many
elected officials appear to be Lex Luthor more than they do Superman.
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| Remarkably familiar |
With the recent developments in the political climate in my
state and looming elections in June and November, I’d like to share another
Superman quote:
“There is a right and a wrong in the universe and that distinction is not hard to make.”
I know that I’m “the Batman guy” and, when I think of
Superman, I tend to think of my best friend.
I’ve written about it at length here.
Batman is dark and brooding. Superman
is bright and inspirational. Batman is
generally unlikeable (me for sure).
Superman is everyone’s best friend.
So, even though I identify more with Batman, Superman is special and
important to me in vastly different ways.
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| Super Friends |
As we head into the next year, I’m super (pun intended)
excited about the things in store for The Man of Steel including a brand new
series written by the critically acclaimed Brian Michael Bendis.
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| Superman #1 out this July |
We all need to hear some inspiring words at times, so I’ll
leave you with these:
“It's never as bad as it seems. You're much stronger than
you think you are. Trust me.”
-Josh
