Interviews
Superman: The Dailies (1939-1940) Graphic Novel Review
A collection of newspaper strips showcasing Superman's early days.Author: Jason Henderson
In Watchmen, Alan Moore has the character Nite Owl II remark that there seem to be faces and body shapes that were current in the 1930s and 1940s, which people don't have now. Regarding men, he's talking about the kinds of squarish jaws, barrel chests, squinty eyes and eager smiles we see in old photographs and war movies. This shouldn't make much sense. Nutrition and accepted health norms have changed, but our bodies haven't. But I have to agree that it always seems the way Moore describes it. I look at old photographs of GIs, of my grandfather about the time he washed out of the Air Corps for improper aerobatics, of women working in factories and newspaper offices, and yes, those faces aren't replicating today. Or if they are, we change them. You look at pop culture of the era and you realize that these Americans of the Depression were different creatures in many ways.
Superman: The Dailies 1939-1940 is a jewel, a genuine, almost archaeological find that sheds light on this Depression era by showing us its favorite new hero: Superman. This is Superman's first year in a rendition that brought him into every household. This is not a Superman you might instantly recognize. Action Comics #1 has debuted in June of 1938, and the look of the character has settled into a rough estimate of today's costume: red boots, blue tights, blue shirt, red cape, red briefs. Little else has been settled by 1939, least of which is Superman's constantly morphing stylized "S." Creators Siegel and Shuster churned the Superman daily strip out of a small Cleveland office with a stable of artists, while Siegel did all the scripting. It was in these daily cartoon strips - the big time for comic artists in those days - that Superman began to acquire the canon we know.
The newspaper Clark Kent works for (before Siegel decided he was an alien, he knew Superman was a reporter) has not yet been named. It is variously called the Star, the Planet and the Evening News. Lois is there (a reporter constantly getting demoted to the "lovelorn column") but Perry White won't arrive for another year. What was referred to as a "distant planet" in a one-panel origin in Action #1 becomes a long origin story for the strip, and we learn for the first time that Superman's name is Kal-L, son of Jor-L and Lara-L, of the doomed planet Krypton. In a detail I had forgotten, Jor-L intends to build a larger spacecraft and is left with no choice but to put his son in the prototype when the end comes sooner than expected.
There is raw, even thuggish myth at work in Superman: The Dailies 1939-1940. Superman is a late 1930s man's man, not big and burly as he would be later, but tall and muscular like an Olympian. His face, whether in his Superman guise or hidden behind Clark Kent's specs, has the chiseled bones and crevices of a matinee idol like Cary Grant. His hair is perfect, and you have to imagine the oil he must put into it to get it to curl and fall forward just so. And he squints, always.
And those powers! The end of the origin story informs us that Superman "could easily leap one eighth of a mile... hurdle a twenty story building...run faster than an express train... and that nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!" It's a cliché by now that we pare back Superman's powers about every ten years, but I don't think we've ever gone that far back. This is a Superman who can just barely beat a train and is knocked out cold by explosions. In one exciting story, he leaps onto a rising airplane and has to hold on, at one point almost losing his footing. Of course, this doesn't last: by 1940, he digs a trench several miles long in minutes to divert a flood, which is more like the big guy we know today.
This Superman is a character at home in the world of The Shadow, a man who wades through the Depression-era mud and muck of big cities like Cleveland so women with little pillbox hats and boys with lollipops can rest easier. He is polite but brutal, casually sending gangsters to their deaths, although never actually killing them with his bare hands. In the guise of mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, he sexually harasses Lois Lane with bullish if mild-mannered regularity ("Say, Lois, why don't you let me take you to some gay place and you can forget all about this?") a ploy that eventually pays off with an ill-fated date or two. He spends weeks doing nothing but helping an over-the-hill prizefighter regain his title. That's our boy!
Siegel and Shuster know their audience and what they want to see, and that's why I love these strips. They show me what the American audience back then thought of itself and its capabilities. It seems we thought we were Boy Scouts, of which Superman is the ultimate. Look how many times Siegel shows Superman swimming, running, sparring, climbing and sweating. This is not Superman as God, but Superman as the ultimate human machine. And how!
The narrator is sure to let us know what's supposed to thrill us, and what a fascist little world it is. "SUPERMAN CATCHES SPY/ VILLAIN GETS ELECTRIC CHAIR!" screams a headline. One foolish thug turns and runs when an officer tells him to stop, "AND DIES!" the narrator helpfully informs us.
The narrator does a lot of helpful informing, in fact, and in a way it becomes a running joke. I love the self-conscious explanation when Clark pretends with Lois to let an irritating mobster woo her. "Clark shakes his fist in quiet rage...in keeping with his assumed attitude of helplessness." You know, in case you don't get the whole Clark Kent/Superman thing. But Kent is never the wimp here he has become at various times in his history. Rather, he's like an attractive, clever rival for Lois attentions, his chief rival being his boxer-like alter ego.
Superman: The Dailies 1939-1940 shows us a Superman not for all seasons, but for the first few seasons. Reading it is like watching an idea take root and only barely begin to grow.
Trade Paperback from Kitchen Sink/DC. Written by Jerry Siegel. Art by various talents. Created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.
Interviews
Introduction
The Superman Homepage has had the pleasure of interviewing various Superman Comic Book creative people about their work.
Question and Answer Interviews:
- Interview with writer Marv Wolfman about Man and Superman: The Deluxe Edition (November 2019)
- Interview with artist Claudio Castellini about Man and Superman: The Deluxe Edition (November 2019)
- Interview with artist Joe Staton about working on Superman properties over the years (November 2019)
- Interview with Christopher Priest about the Superman vs. Deathstroke story in Deathstroke #8 (November 2016)
- Interview with Sterling Gates about the 'Adventures of Supergirl' digital-first comic book series (January 2016)
- Interview with J. Michael Straczynski about Superman: Earth One - Vol. 3 - Writer J. Michael Straczynski talks to us about the third volume in the Superman: Earth One graphic novel series (February 2015)
- Interview with Jim Krueger - Writer Jim Krueger talks to us about his The Dark Lantern story in the Adventures of Superman comic book title (November 2013)
- Smallville: Season 11 Interview with Bryan Q. Miller - Writer Bryan Q. Miller talks to us about his work on the Smallville: Season 11 comic book title (October 2012)
- Supergirl Interview with Mahmud Asrar - Artist Mahmud Asrar talks to us about his work on the monthly Supergirl comic book title (July 2012)
- Superman/Batman Interview with Joshua Hale Fialkov - Joshua Hale Fialkov answers our questions about The Secret 3-part story in Superman/Batman #85-87 (July 2011)
- Supergirl Interview with Sterling Gates - Sterling Gates answers our questions about where Supergirl is headed post War of the Supermen (June 2010)
- Supergirl Interview with Sterling Gates & Jamal Igle - Adam Dechanel chats with the Supergirl comic book team about the Maid of Might (March 2010)
- Behind the Scenes of the Super Friends - Four part indepth look at the Super Friends comic book title with artists J. Bone and Stewart McKenny (February 2010)
- Interview with Landry Q Walker and Eric Jones - The writer and artist discuss Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade (May 2009)
- Interview with Elliot S! Maggin - Legendary Superman writer and novelist discusses his career (January 2009)
- Interview with J. Bone - Artist discusses Super Friends comic book (November 2008)
- Interview with Mark Bagley (September 2008)
- Interview with J. Torres - Writer discusses Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #18 (September 2008)
- Interview with Jake Black (May 2008)
- Interview with Cary Bates (June 2008)
- Interview with Jack Briglio - Writer discusses Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #14 (May 2008)
- Interview with Ken Pontac - Writer discusses Justice League Unlimited #44 (May 2008)
- Interview with Karl Kerschl (April 2008)
- Interview with J. Torres - Writer discusses Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #13 (April 2008)
- Interview with J. Torres - Writer discusses Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #11 (February 2008)
- Interview with Fabian Nicieza - Writer on Superman comic books (June 2007)
- Interview with Danny Fingeroth - Writer of the book Superman on the Couch (May 2007)
- Interview with Jesse McCann - Writer on the Krypto The Superdog comic books (December 2006)
- Interview with Matt Haley - Artist on the Superman Returns comic book movie adaptation (November 2006)
- Interview with Ethan Van Sciver - Artist on Superman/Batman (September 2006)
- Interview with Mark Verheiden on taking over the writing duties on Superman/Batman (April 2006)
- Interview with Matt Idelson on taking over as Superman group editor (March 2006)
- Interview with Jeph Loeb on Sam and Superman/Batman #26 (February 2006)
- Interview with Roger Stern (December 2005)
- Interview with Marv Wolfman (November 2005)
- Interview with Gail Simone (May 2005)
- Interview with Greg Rucka (April 2005)
- Interview with Brad Meltzer [Identity Crisis] (January 2005)
- Interview with Glenn Whitmore (November 2004)
- Interview with Jeph Loeb (September 2004)
- Interview with Karl Kerschl (September 2004)
- Interview with Ron Garney (September 2004)
- Interview with Greg Rucka and Matthew Clark (May 2004)
- Interview with Ed McGuinness (March 2004)
- Interview with Brad Meltzer [Identity Crisis] (March 2004)
- Interview with Mark Millar [Superman: Red Son] (March 2003)
- Interview with Min S. Ku (September 2001)
- Interview with Jeph Loeb (May 2001)
- Interview with Joe Casey (April 2001)
- Interview with Mike S. Miller (September 2000)
- Interview with Denis Rodier (August 2000)
- Interview with Grant Morrison (December 1999)
- Interview with Mark Millar [Part 2] (November 1999)
- Interview with Mark Millar [Part 1] (April 1999)
Interviews/Articles:
- Superman vs. Terminator - A Chat with Fight Promoter Alan Grant. (January 2000)
- Superman: The Dailies (1939-1940) Graphic Novel Review.
- The Rebirth of Superman (Part 1) - Superman is reborn... again.
- The Rebirth of Superman (Part 2) - Eddie Barganza on taking the character in a new direction.
- The Rebirth of Superman (Part 3) - Jeph Loeb discusses writing the Man of Steel.
- Lex Luthor For President - Forget Superman. An updated Luthor's new enemies are Gore and Bush.
- Superman: Last Son of Earth - Steve Gerbern Interview - The writer discusses flip-flopping the Man of Steel's origin. (August 2000)
Krypton Club Interviews:
When Lois & Clark started production in 1993, there was an obvious relationship between the comic book people and the Hollywood people.
A trade paperback Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, was published, with Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher on the cover. It included reprints of comic book stories that were the inspiration for Lois & Clark, helping to define the characters. Comic's included are: The Story of the Century (Man of Steel miniseries #2), Tears for Titano (Superman Annual #1), Metropolis - 900 mi (in SUP #9), The Name Game (SUP #11), Lois Lane (in ACT #600), Headhunter (AOS #445), Homeless for the Holidays (AOS #462), The Limits of Power (AOS #466), and Survival (ACT #665).
A number of comic book writers and artists had roles as extras in the episode I'm Looking Through You (Season one, episode 4). Their presence was immortilized in the Sky Trading Card #34.
Craig Byrne, president of the online Lois & Clark fanclub The Krypton Club, carried out a series of interviews with comic book writers. The interviews are reprinted with permission of the Krypton Club.
- Interview with Roger Stern (June 1995)
- Interview with John Byrne (June 1995)
- Interview with Mike Carlin (July 1995)