5 Superman Projects To Check Out

75 years ago this week, Action Comics #1 hit the newsstands, introducing America and the world to Superman.  Since that day, the Man of Steel has become one of the most recognizable comic character in the world, if not the most.  And with the latest Superman movie set to premiere this summer, it seemed only fitting for me to look back at some of the great Superman projects over the years.

Think of it as a primer.

1. The Adventures of Superman – A classic of television shows.  I remember watching these in syndication as a child, never knowing the dark history that surrounded George Reeves.  The series did not go in for the major villains, but it was still fun watching the Man of Steel break up criminal rings throughout Metropolis.  The series is available on DVD.
2. Superman cartoons – Heading way back to the era of the matinees, Max Fleischer created a number of Superman shorts that ran in theaters.  Unlike the television show, Superman’s foes were more in line with the comics, facing mad scientists and robot monsters.  These shorts are available on DVD and Youtube.com
3. Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero by Larry Tye – This book covers the history of the Man of Steel, from his humble origins in the minds of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to the legal turmoil that has plagued Superman in recent years.  Tye’s book covers everything about the Man of Steel, including the radio shows, the Fleischer cartoons, the television show, and even the movies.  Tye does not pull punches in this book as he reveals the behind the scenes drama that has accompanied the Last Son of Krypton over the years.
4. Superman: The Movie – Directed by Richard Donner and starring a stellar cast, this was the epic tour de force for the Man of Steel, covering his origins right up to his clash with Lex Luthor.
5. The Man of Steel – In 1986, DC Comics had just created a major restructuring of their comics universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths.  In its wake, DC started to relaunch their flagship characters, updating them for the modern times.  Written by John Byrne, The Man of Steel retold Superman’s origin for the 1980s, but did so much more.  Gone were much of what had been created in the Silver Age of comics, making Superman truly the Last Son of Krypton.  Even Superman’s long standing cast of supporting characters were revamped, from a modernizing of Lois Lane, to the transformation of Lex Luthor from criminal mastermind to unscrupulous (and untouchable) businessman.  Much of what Byrne created in this series stood until later writers began to return many of the classic elements of Superman.  But, this mini-series still remains a great read.

Related articles

• Cleveland Declares ‘Superman Day’ To Celebrate The Man Of Steel’s 75th Anniversary (comicsalliance.com)
• Happy birthday, Superman! A look back at 75 powerful years (herocomplex.latimes.com)
• Cleveland mayor declares April 18 ‘Superman Day’ (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
• Superman At 75: Dan Jurgens Reflects On The Man of Steel (comicbookresources.com)
• Superman Turns 75! His Top 5 Screen Appearances (nerdist.com)
• It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a super-septuagenarian! (today.com)
• Happy 75th Birthday Superman And Lois Lane! (splashpage.mtv.com)
• Superman Turns 75! Here’s 7 Things You Didn’t Know About The Man Of Steel (radaronline.com)

Quote of the Day – August 31st, 2012

Jackie Cooper (Photo credit: Alan Light)

Now look. The Post: “It Flies.” The News: “Look, Ma, No Wires.” The Times: “Blue Bomb Buzzes Metropolis.” The Planet. We’re sitting on top of the story of the century here! I want the name of this flying whatchamacallit to go with the Daily Planet like bacon and eggs, franks and beans, death and taxes, politics and corruption.

Perry White (played by Jackie Cooper)

Superman: The Movie

Picks of the Week – August 1, 2012

 

It’s a new month, and a new Wednesday, it’s time for some new comics.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Picks Of The Week – July 4, 2012

It’s the 4th of July.  Hopefully you had a safe and fun holiday.

And if you were like me and had to work, at least it’s new comic day.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Picks of the Week – June 27, 2012

Had one of those days?  Did it start bad and only get worse from there?

At least it’s Wednesday… new comic day.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Book Review – Superman

Superman: A Biography by Larry Tye

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is not just the history of a superhero, but of a media goliath. Superman’s history is followed from his early inception in the early 20th century to the recent brutal legal battles for the copyright of the Man of Steel of the 21st.

Superman: A Biography does not pull any punches. It does not favor the creators of Superman, nor does it favor the publishers. What it does is pull the curtain back on what was going on behind the scenes of the rise of what would become a media empire in his own right.

Chapters chart not only the comic book history, but Superman’s growth into other media, from radio, to serials, to television, and film. Nothing is sugar-coated, but is presented as is. And the author backs up much of his arguments with an extensive set of notes and bibliography.

One of the drawbacks to the book is that the author chooses to forgo the common end note format, choosing to reference part of his text for notation. While it presents a smoother read, it makes tracking references a bit difficult.

View all my reviews

Picks Of The Week – May 23, 2012

We’re coming up on the Memorial Day weekend, and it’s time to pick up some reading material.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Picks of the Week – March 28, 2012

The last week of March rolls in and we have another batch of new comics to check out.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Picks of the Week – September 28th, 2011

It’s the last week of September and the last of DC’s new 52 roll out this week.

Upsides and Downsides – DC Relaunch

Just a few upsides and downsides I see with the upcoming DC relaunch.

Upside

Anthology potential – With the inclusion of DC Universe Presents, All-Star Western, Men of War and My Greatest Adventure, the potential of seeing more of the DC Universe within the themes of the titles is possible.

Downside

High number of “family” books – The Batman family tops out the titles with eleven, and that’s not even counting the October solicitations yet.  While I realize that Batman is quite popular, that’s just too much Batman.

Upside

New characters, new titles – Mister Terrific has not had an ongoing series that I am aware of.  And it had been quite a while since we’ve seen a Captain Atom, Hawk and Dove, Resurrection Man (which I liked the first time around) or Static Shock ongoing.  The expansion of giving characters like this a chance at another title helps to bring in title diversity.

Downside

Number 1s across the board – Every title starts with number 1.  While it is okay for some titles (Justice League, which has been renumbered many times over the years), we lose the history of longer running titles like Action and Detective.  Action Comics itself just celebrated its 900 issue.  Now, all that history (and all the hype over 900) means nothing.

Upside

New divisions – I’m actually pretty keen on the grouping of the titles by theme.  It allows for a bit more cohesion amongst the titles, and makes is easier for people to look for something new.  Like Justice League Dark, then maybe you would like to check out some of the other “dark” titles.  If you like your books a bit edgier, then the “On The Edge” titles may have something for you.

Downside

Lack of continuity – At one time, DC ran number shields on all their Superman books showing the order in which each book falls.  Now, it seems that the titles are a bit more erratic in nature.  Action Comics seems to be covering Superman’s early years, while Superman covers now.  Figuring out where titles fit in is going to be more difficult after the relaunch.

Upside

Cleaning up characters – Power Girl is the example of this.  She was originally created to be an Earth 2 version of Supergirl.  Since Crisis on Infinite Earths, her past has been tweaked again and again to deal with the fact that there was no Earth 2.  Eventually, with the return of Supergirl in Superman/Batman (at least, the return of a Kryptonian Supergirl), Power Girl, though a very likeable character, seems a bit redundant.  Now, according to sources, there will be no post-relaunch Power Girl, though Karen Starr (Power Girl’s alter ego) will remain in the DCU.

Downside

Cleaning up characters – As redundant as Power Girl seems in a universe with Supergirl, she is very popular.  So are the Justice Society of America, who are also gone from the new DCU.  As for Superman’s marriage to Lois Lane, gone, never happened.  They are not even an item in the new DCU.  A lot of fans feel very passionately about these things, and have been quite vocal about it.