Superman through the ages
By Robert K. Elder
KRT Campus
Page Design by KRT Campus
Modified by Erin LaMourie/FEATURES EDITOR

Superheroes may not get old, but they do change. Even Superman.
Every generation reinvents Superman to fit its own sensibilities, as evidenced by the WB’s incarnation of the character in “Smallville.” Set in present-day Kansas, the hit show centers on a teen-age Clark Kent, whose powers are just beginning to surface.

1939

The awkward, boyish Clark (played by the hunky and brooding Tom Welling) doesn’t wear a costume, and episodes tackle modern issues such as environmental pollution and eating disorders — all over a soundtrack of today’s pop hits.

“One of the things that enables a myth like this to live on is that periodically, the people telling the myth dress it for the times,” said Paul Levitz, publisher of DC Comics.

Below, we look at significant milestones in this American icon’s life story.

’30s and ’40s

June 1938
Superman debuts in Action Comics No. 1, with the 13-page story of his origin. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the original Man of Steel did not fly, but “could leap tall buildings in a single bound.” Although he was more powerful than a locomotive, “nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin” — implying that he could be hurt.

Summer 1939
Superman No. 1: Superman gets his own comic book, as well as a newspaper strip in 1939. His present-day reputation as a cosmic Boy Scout isn’t quite in place yet.

1939

“He’s perfectly content to let villains plummet to their death without stepping in to save them,” said Mark Waid, author of the seminal “Kingdom Come” comic-book series of 1996. After World War II, Superman’s respect for all life becomes more pronounced and he adopts the creed of using non-lethal force to protect humanity.

1940
On Feb. 12, 1940, “The Adventures of Superman” debuts on the radio. Sharing a close relationship with the comic books, the radio show invents Kryptonite and introduces new characters such as kid photographer Jimmy Olsen, who soon gets his own comic book.

’50s and ’60s

1951

TV Superman George Reeves with Lucille Ball

Following successful Superman film serials starring Kirk Alyn in 1948, George Reeves steps into the tights for the full-length feature “Superman vs. the Mole Men” in 1951. The movie rakes in money and serves as an unofficial pilot for “The Adventures of Superman,” which runs on television from 1952 to 1957. Reeves also stars as Superman in several movies, and even appears in costume on “I Love Lucy.”

1957
In the late ’50s, veteran DC Comics editor Mort Weisinger handed down “a mandate among writers to add a new element to the mythology every six months or so,” Waid said.

Throughout the ’60s, Superman acquires numerous superpals, among them Supergirl, Krypto the Super-dog, Streaky the Super-cat and Comet the Super-horse. Aliens and mad scientists show up in the comics, reflecting the nation’s love affair with science fiction.

May 1963
Superman No. 161 features a story called “The Last Days of Ma and Pa Kent” in which the Kents die of a space virus just before Clark goes to college. But as anyone in the industry will tell you, nobody dies forever in comics.

November 1963
In Action Comics No. 309, President John F. Kennedy “steps in to masquerade as Clark Kent, to cover Superman’s secret identity,” Waid said. Superman says, “If you can’t trust the president of the United States, who can you trust?”

“That issue was printed days before the assassination and was distributed that week to the horror of DC Comics, who then couldn’t do anything about it,” Waid said.

1966
Director Harold Prince brings the musical comedy “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman!” to Broadway, with songs by “Bye Bye Birdie” scribes Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. It’s Broadway Kryptonite.

’70s and ’80s

1971
DC editor Julius Schwartz takes over the Superman comics and gives the superhero his first major revamp. Clark Kent quits the Daily Planet and becomes a newscaster.

“Throughout the late ’40s and early ’50s, Clark had become sort of a Casper Milquetoast character in the comics. ... He was allowed to lighten up a little bit. Act a little more normal and not be such a caricature,” said veteran “Superman” writer Roger Stern.

Kryptonite is also done away with, and Superman’s powers are scaled back because, in the words of writer Dennis O’Neil, it’s hard to write stories about a guy who can destroy galaxies “by listening too hard.”

1978

Christopher Reeve in the hit 1978 movie

Based on a script by “Godfather” scribe Mario Puzo, director Richard Donner brings “Superman: The Movie” to the silver screen, starring Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando and newcomer Christopher Reeve. It’s a smash hit, and three sequels follow.

1985
DC Comics attempts to streamline its character gallery, killing off hundreds of superheroes from alternate worlds. Supergirl is among the casualties.

1986
Writer/artist John Byrne and company revitalize the Superman mythology from the ground up with the “Man of Steel” comics, fundamentally changing the way the character is portrayed. From this point on, Clark Kent is the character and Superman is the disguise. “The ‘man’ is more important than the ‘super,’” Byrne said.

Byrne brings Ma and Pa Kent back in his 1986 revision and subsequent creators keep the Kents alive.

’90s

December 1992
Villain Doomsday pummels Superman into super-pulp as he tries to save Metropolis. Superman dies in the ensuing battle. Issues of “The Death of Superman” fly off the stands, but “no one stays dead in comics for very long,” Byrne said.

Dean Cain of “Lois and Clark”

1993
After a year of impostor Supermen, “a combination of Kryptonian technology and Earthly spiritual beliefs” brings Superman back to life, said DC Comics editor Mike Carlin.

1993-1997
Debuting the week the caped crusader comes back from the grave, “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” stars Dean Cain as Superman opposite Teri Hatcher’s feisty Lois Lane.

December 1996
After a long engagement, Superman gets married to Lois Lane — the first major change in continuity since 1986.

“His relationship with Lois is as important as an alien invasion, and he’s constantly being pulled in two directions,” writer Loeb said.

1998
On Superman’s 60th birthday, he becomes the first superhero to be honored with his own U.S. postage stamp.

2001

Tom Welling of “Smallville.”

The TV show “Smallville” makes its debut late in the year. Executive producer Al Goph remembers his hesitation about taking on Superman: “There’s a part of you that goes, ‘It’s the Holy Grail of superheroes. Are we even gonna touch this?’ Then we went back and read the history of Superman,” Goph said. “I think the comforting thing for us was that he has changed over the decades. We’re respectful without being slavish to the canon.”

Current Superman comics
Like Tony Soprano, today’s Superman sees a superhero shrink. He’s also changed the yellow in his costume to black, his way of remembering the lives lost in a recent interplanetary war. Oh, and villain Lex Luthor is now president of the United States.

Body type

When Superman first appeared, he was built like strongmen of the era, adopting a Jack LaLanne-body type until the 1960s, said DC Comics editor Mike Carlin.

But ever since the rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carlin said, society has a different body ideal. Today’s Superman is a more bulky, pumped-up character.

“I do think that he’s become more chiseled, and more hyperbolically representative of what a human looks like,” Carlin said.

The super suit

“In the old days his suit was made from the blankets he came to Earth in, so it was also indestructible,” Carlin said. “What we say now is his body emits a protective aura that keeps him invulnerable. This is why he has to wear a skintight suit.” But even Superman is vulnerable to magic and supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves.

Flying

“It was really an invention of the radio, and even then they weren’t very specific. Superman would go, ‘Up, up and away!’ and there’d be a roar of wind,” said Superman writer Mark Waid. “It took awhile before they decided he was actually flying.”

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002