Recently, in an e-mail exchange with Michael Melious (of Silver Age Comics in Astoria, New York), he suggested as a blog subject: “Why does Hollywood go out of their way to fuck up years of comic book character history in their movies...What do you think?”
I thought about that a bit, but felt there might be more than the side of aggravated fans watching years of printed continuity get flushed as fast as some screenwriter can pop out the pages. Plus with the recently released Wolverine movie it seemed a timely (or Timely?) subject.
So, I decided to look at examples as related to certain specific comics (or comics characters) and see what happened. This will be an occasional series, as I have time to do research and try to answer questions that come up along the way. I also realized that in many cases, other media have been involved—books, radio, tv for example—so I’d have to look at as much of the whole picture as I could without devoting my life to the subject.
I’d also have to limit myself to characters I was at least reasonably familiar with, since I have neither the time nor inclination to look up characters I’m not really interested in to begin with. I'm also not including graphics because this post is going to be really long as it is.
Superman
He was the first. The first superhero as we know them today. The first character to have an entire comic book devoted to his adventures alone, and so many more “firsts” it’s only reasonable he was named Superman.
In 1938, Superman was quite different in appearance, style, personality and powers than he is today. He was stocky, and his uniform design changed often, sometimes from panel to panel. He was a social crusader, often going after people who were beating up on “the average Joe”. Remember, there weren’t any super villains yet.
His powers were also much less than now. I quote from Action Comics #1, which stated that “when maturity was reached, he discovered he could easily leap 1/8th of a mile, hurdle a twenty-story building…raise tremendous weights…run faster than an express train…and that nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!”
Ok, lets take these statements one at a time and give this some perspective. This is important because over time, his abilities changed tremendously. I was able to get better information for 1939 than 1938, so I’m using those numbers, figuring they should be reasonably close.
1/8th of a mile = 660 feet = 220 yards. This means in 1938, he could take a single leap and cover a distance greater than twice the length of a football field.
In 1939, a twenty-story building rose to a height of approximately 355 feet, based on approximate measurements of 20-story buildings built before 1939. That equals 118.333 yards. So he could jump straight UP higher than the length of one football field.
In depicting his ability to “raise tremendous weights” they show him lifting up a steel construction girder, while the cover shows him lifting a 4-door sedan. Basically, an I beam of that approximate size, using the current rough specifications of 10 inch depth (the height when the beam is measured between the flat ends, or flanges) and a weight of approximately 22 pounds per linear foot. Assuming Superman is six feet tall, he’s hefting a twelve foot long beam (with one hand) that weighs approximately 264 pounds.
As far as lifting the 4 door sedan, I looked it up and found that a 1939 Dodge D11 Luxury Liner DeLuxe 4 door trunkback sedan weighed 3,035 pounds. A 1939 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe 4-door sedan weighed in at 2,875 pounds. Finally, a 1939 Ford 91 Model A Four Door Convertible sedan weighed 2,935 pounds. Since I don’t know what—if anything—Siegel and Shuster based the car on, I’ve averaged the weights of all three, ending up with 2,948.33 pounds. That is equal to 1.4715 short tons.
That means that on the cover of Action #1, Superman is able to lift over one and a half tons with both hands and run around with it.
As to how fast he is, he is shown to “easily overtake” the speeding sedan on foot. The top speeds for those cars was somewhere between 85-95 miles an hour, depending on the model.
And what was the top speed of an “express train”? The top speed of the Pioneer Zephyr Diesel train going from Denver to Chicago on May 26, 1934 was 112.4 mph, with an average speed of 77 mph. One of the fastest steam trains of the day was the LNER Class A4 No. 4468 Mallard in the UK that reached a sped of 125.88 mph for a half mile on July 3, 1938 before overheating. Averaging the two top speeds gives us a very rough average top speed of 119.14 mph.
So Superman, in 1938, was able to run over 120 mph, at least for short distances. In comparison, a man running a “four minute mile”, among the fastest of all humans, is just over 15 miles an hour. A cheetah can do over 30 mph.
Now, in the same issue, Superman’s origin only says that his rocket ship landed on earth and “a passing motorist, discovering the sleeping babe within, turned the child over to an orphanage.”
In this story, Clark Kent is already established as a reporter for the Daily Star newspaper, and Superman only recently appeared in public for the first time, and Kent, coincidentally, is given the task of covering reports of the mysterious “Superman”, though the notion of such a person is treated as some kind of fantastic hoax.
Lois Lane is introduced as another reporter, whom Clark has been trying to get to go out with him. She finally agrees, but a crude mobster ruins their date—and cements Clark’s reputation as a “spineless unbearable coward” as Lois calls him. After Superman saves her from the mobster, even her own editor doubts her report of what happened, which makes her treat Clark “colder than ever”.
By the time Superman #1 came out, a year later in the summer of 1939, things had already begun to change for Superman and Clark Kent. His origin now mentioned his adoptive parents, the Kents, described as an elderly couple when they found him “abandoned” in his just-landed ship. Soon afterward, they return to the orphanage where they’d taken him, and adopted the baby boy. They advised him to conceal his “great strength”, yet somehow use it to “assist humanity”. The identity of Superman, this story told us, was the creation of the adult Clark Kent after the death of his parents from natural causes.
At this point, the fact that Superman wasn’t from Earth was not known to anyone, even Superman himself, though he must surely have suspected it when he never encountered another person who could do what he did.
His abilities, strength speed and “toughness”—not exactly invulnerable, but still not worried by bullets or knives or the like—were all as they were a year previously, though he now can also swim across the sea faster than a steamship can cross the same distance.
By Superman #12, he’s moving at super-speed “faster than the eye can follow”.
Now, we come to the first new medium for Superman, radio. The show started in New York on February 12, 1940 on WOR, but by 1942, it was broadcast on Mutual until 1949, usually as a 15 minute show, expanded to 30 minutes in 1949. Later that year the show moved to ABC radio where it was broadcast until it’s conclusion in March of 1951.
This was where the first of the many changes to Superman took place.
First, and most obvious, was the introduction, “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s SUPERMAN!”
"Yes, it's Superman--strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman--defender of law and order, champion of equal rights, valiant, courageous fighter against the forces of hate and prejudice, who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way."
The radio show was also where we first learned of Kryptonite, and were introduced to characters Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Inspector Bill Henderson.
But that almost wasn’t so.
In an unpublished story by Jerry Siegel titled “The K-Metal from Krypton”, we learn of the mysterious metal later named Kryptonite which weakens Superman—but, in this story, grants earth people superpowers. There’s a litany of “firsts” in this story. Superman learns his true heritage as an alien, and can “sky-jump” instead of merely leaping. Superman, deprived of his powers for the first time, experiences his first encounter with severe pain. We meet Perry White for the first time, and Lois Lane learns Clark’s secret, ending up as “Superman’s partner”.
So why was it written and drawn and then not published?
In 1941, when this story was written and drawn by Siegel and Shuster, historian Will Murray contends that changes in Jerry Siegel’s personal life—including marriage—since the publication of the first Superman story, had him wanting to let the characters grow and develop in a more realistic fashion. This would have been in keeping with such comic strips as “Gasoline Alley”, where the characters aged in approximately real time.
Murray opines that the story was shelved for editorial reasons, going instead with the “love triangle” between Superman, Lois and Clark that permeated the book for decades to follow before the original (Earth-2) Superman had revealed his identity and married Lois, with his modern-day counterpart following suit in the 1990’s. But this also was the beginning of the end of Siegel and Shuster having any real say in what happened to the character they created, a schism that would culminate a few years later when the publisher summarily removed their credits as creators from the books.
Incidentally, the restored comic can be viewed online at http://superman.nu/k-metal/splash.php
So, while many of the now-famous elements of the Superman mythos were publicly described for the first time on the radio show, such as Perry White, and Superman’s self-knowledge of his true planetary origin (with Kryptonite debuting in 1943), the comics didn’t acknowledge the existence of Kryptonite until 1949, despite laying the groundwork in 1940.
The sole exception seems to be Jimmy Olsen.
Although a nameless copyboy resembling Jimmy appeared in Action Comics #6, the first time a character named Jimmy Olsen appeared was on the radio show, in April of 1940. Jimmy made his comics debut in Action Comics #13 the following year, and eventually led to a comic all his own, “Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen”, which ran from 1954-1974 before being folded into the “Superman Family” title.
The next iteration of Superman would be the movie serials and the famous Fleischer cartoons.
The Superman cartoons were a series of seventeen Technicolor cartoons made from 1941-1943. The Fleischer Studios made the first nine, and the series became known by this name, even though the studio itself was dissolved and renamed Famous Studios in 1942, which made the remaining eight cartoons.
These cartoons were lavish productions, with great care given to all aspects of the production. The first set of cartoons were more science fiction oriented, but by the following year, with the United States fighting in WWII, the stories took on a more propagandist bent.
The only major addition not from the comic was taking familiar taglines from the radio show, “Faster than a speeding bullet…”, though near the end of the series they made slight changes that never stuck with the character or the fans. Bud Collyer continued providing the voices of Superman and Clark Kent as he had on the radio series previously.
In 1948, the first Superman movie serial was released, fifteen chapters of action with Noel Neill as Lois Lane, and an uncredited Kirk Alyn as Superman/Clark Kent. This led to advertisements claiming that no actor they found could play Superman so they got Superman himself to appear.
The budget was so tight that they used the same cheaply produced animation footage of Superman in flight in nearly every episode. This wasn’t so noticeable if you saw one episode a week, but if you watch several in a row, it really sticks out.
But, apart from that, no new ground was broken; either here, or in the only sequel, Atom Man vs. Superman, in 1950. Both serials suffered from poor production values.
The next, and one of the most well-known appearances was the television series “The Adventures of Superman” with George Reeves as the Man of Steel. The series premiered in 1952 and ran until 1958. The first 52 episodes were shot in black and white, and the remainder in color, though audiences would only see a monochromatic broadcast until reruns in 1965.
Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane in the first season before Noel Neill returned in season two, remaining the rest of the series. Jack Larson portrayed Jimmy Olsen and John Hamilton was Perry White.
In early episodes Superman, much as in the earliest issues of the comic, is presented as a sort of urban legend, with many people not recognizing him. The series, compared to the Comics Code Authority that had been created to tame the comics stories, was sometimes quite violent and Superman’s foes often died. Superman himself was somewhat more ruthless, an attitude more associated with what we now call the Earth-2 Superman.
The second season bought a change in writers, and a less noir approach to the series, adding more SF elements and somewhat more character driven stories, like the classic “Panic in the Sky” episode.
By the third season, they were filming in color and following the more whimsical tone of the Superman comics of the mid-1950’s. Jimmy and Lois, formerly resourceful reporters, spent a lot of time being rescued by Superman. The following season was equally campy in tone by comparison to earlier efforts.
The final season, featuring episodes directed by Reeves himself, were more serious in tone, and while there were more SF elements, the tone was a bit less humorous.
The tv series is where Superman first displayed a wide variety of abilities previously unseen in the comics. He could “separate his molecules” to walk through walls, similar to the ability later ascribed to the Flash; he could become invisible, and split in two. He also utilized powers the comics had established by this time: super speed, hearing, super breath, and by this time he was well and truly flying.
The various incarnations of the “Super Friends” cartoons had little impact on the comics, beyond the occasional adaptation for kids to read, though eventually Wendy and Marvin did make their way into the DC Universe.
Throughout the rest of the 1950’s through the Sixties and most of the Seventies the only new Superman stories were in the comics. Various novels written through the years mostly stayed true to the basic concept, as it was known by that time.
But in 1978, we believed a man could fly.
Superman: the Movie, with it’s relatively unknown Christopher Reeve playing the lead, and Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando being the “name” stars, was brought to the screen by director Richard Donner. With all the hoopla surrounding everything else, he realized, coming as it did after the blockbuster Star Wars the previous year, that Superman had better be able to look like he was really flying.
The characterizations were actually becoming slightly dated, as by this time, Clark Kent in the comics was no longer quite the nebbish he’d been previously. He was still timid, and perhaps working a bit too had to be the anti-Superman, and this was the portrayal we saw in the movie.
Christopher Reeve delivered the perfect performance as both Superman and Clark Kent. He not only made us believe he could fly, he showed us how Superman could successfully disguise himself as Clark.
The movie, and it’s sequel, Superman II, showed Superman and other Kryptonians using powers they never had in the comics, such as telekinesis and some weird bit with Superman’s “S” emblem that I never understood. These odd powers never made the jump to the comics, although the general portrayal of the Phantom Zone villains was an obvious influence on the 1986 reboot of the comics following the “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.
The less said about the subsequent sequels and the recent “Superman Returns”, the better. Suffice it to say they had no influence on the comics, save as an example of what not to do.
In 1988, there was a Superboy tv series, notable for the fact that by this time, the retconned DC comics continuity held that there was no Superboy. This series departed significantly from previous canon of the character, creating a “Shuster University”. The teenaged Lex Luthor seems content to commit minor crimes and humiliate or embarrass Superboy, until the season finale basically told the story of Superboy rescuing Lex from a lab fire that renders him bald, and from then on, becomes determined to destroy the boy of steel.
The remaining seasons had Clark, Lana Lang, and other characters working for a bureau of extra-normal matters, and the stories took on a much darker tone, possibly in response to the release of the first Tim Burton Batman movie. The series ended in a blaze of legal hoohah, with Warner placing a lien on the Salkind’s production in order to facilitate the new “Lois and Clark” series. Given the time of it’s release amid the recently reconstituted DCU, there was no effect on the mythos, save for an adaptation of the tv series itself, which explicitly was non-canonical.
“Lois and Clark: the New Adventures of Superman” was the next series on tap, running from 1993-1997, and focused largely on the relation between the title characters, rather than a lot of super derring-do.
One aspect that was added was a middle name for Clark—Jerome—which writers Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicenza used in Trinity #44 this year.
The character of Clark followed the post-Crisis conception of the comic character as written by John Byrne, with Clark being a more three dimensional character and people generally assuming that Superman had no need of a “secret identity”, thus allowing Clark to be a proper investigative reporter and a better counterpart to the hard going Lois Lane.
This also started a cycle of “who will marry first” with writers form the comic and the tv series simultaneously deciding to let Clark marry Lois at long last. A series of delays on the part of both companies put off both weddings for over a year, before both events happened in 1996-97.
From 1996-2000 we were treated to “Superman: the Animated Series”, which incorporated events across the Superman mythos, but largely echoing the style of the Fleischer cartoons. The storylines emphasized the Jack Kirby creations of Darkseid and the Fourth World, which were responsible for their resurgence in the DCU, culminating in the recent “Final Crisis”.
In 2001, the tv series “Smallville” premiered, with a completely different take on the teenaged Clark Kent and his friends.
One change that appears here is that of Kara Zor-El, originally known as Supergirl. Originally, she came to Earth from Argo City, after the destruction of Krypton, and was tutored by the older Superman in the use of her powers until her existence was revealed to the world. In this series, she was deliberately sent as basically a babysitter for the infant Kal-El, but was stuck in suspended animation, only released when Clark was older. This concurred with the revamp of Kara’s origins in the comic “Superman and Batman” done in 2004, and since accepted as current continuity.
In a break from current continuity, the series killed off Jonathan Kent several years ago, an action only recently echoed in the comics.
Apart from that, most of the characters and story elements are unrelated to anything currently done in the comics. It’s obvious they are familiar with the comics, but have chosen to largely do their own version of the mythos.
So, having looked at these various shows and movies, it seems that while there was definitely a profound effect on the Superman mythos in the early going, as time progresses, the shows and the comics both go their own way. It’s clear that they are markedly different, and someone exposed only to one or the other would undoubtedly be confused by the other. But their impact on each other, at this point in time, is negligible.
The movies and tv series haven’t ruined Superman, they’ve enhanced his mythos and in a number of cases recently, take their cues from the comics, while going a different route in the storytelling.
The bare facts of the Superman mythos are fairly simple: the last survivor of a dead planet comes to earth in a spacecraft built by his Kryptonian father, is raised as one of us, and grows up to become one of our greatest heroes. The various incarnations of movies and television shows may differ in the details great or small, but in the end, he’s still Superman.
Mike
