Superman
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Action Comics #1
Superman stories aren't a fantasy about how good it would be to have power. They're a fantasy about what it would be like if someone with power was good.
β Ian MacIntyre, 2024[1]
Superman is a fictional superhero, and a whole franchise of comics, films, and TV shows.
The first stories, their characters, and their imagery were originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. In 1938, they sold their original 13-page Superman story, along with the exclusive rights to the character, to DC for $130 β $10 per page.[2]
If you can look past the character's preposterous supernatural abilities, at his core, Superman's just a relentlessly nice person. He doesn't care about his career, realpolitik, glory, fame, or money. He only cares about helping as many people as possible, face-to-face, when they each need it most.
He's effectively a larger-than-life emergency responder, who's notably not prejudiced β the kind of person who would have, for example, actually saved Tyra Hunter's life.
He could certainly be viewed within the lens of US propaganda, especially if anyone considers him in any way representative of people who wield power in the real world. I think it would be more accurate to view him as an ideal, for the target audience of children to aspire to.
The world needs more characters as genuinely wholesome as this, and more importantly, more real people like this too. Not the supernatural part. Just doing the right thing.
Notable books
Some Superman limited series are generally well regarded, and available as trade paperbacks. They make a good starting point (and quite possibly ending point, too) for someone casually looking into the franchise.
I especially recommend Superman: Birthright.
| Released | Name |
|---|---|
| 1998 | Superman for All Seasons |
| 2003 | Red Son |
| 2003-2004 | Birthright |
| 2004 | Secret Identity |
| 2006-2008 | All-Star Superman |
| 2021 | Red and Blue |
References
- Ian MacIntyre Bluesky, 2024
- "On March 1, 1938, prior to the printing of the first issue of Action Comics, Detective Comics wrote to Siegel, enclosing a check in the sum of $130, representing the per-page rate for the thirteen-page Superman comic book release and enclosing with it a written agreement for Siegel and Shuster's signatures. The agreement assigned to Detective Comics 'all [the] good will attached... and exclusive right[s]' to Superman 'to have and hold forever.' (Decl. Michael Bergman, Ex. F). Siegel and Shuster executed and returned the written assignment to Detective Comics." "Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson vs. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.; Time Warner Inc.; and DC Comics" Stephen G. Larson, Central District of California: United States District Court, Mar 2008
DC: Batman | DC Compact Comics | Superman
