IMAGE: CNS photo/DC Comics
By Mark Judge
NEW YORK (CNS) — Look! Up in the sky! It’s Superman! And he’s
80!
The year 2018 marks eight decades since the first appearance of Superman in
Action Comics No. 1. It also sees the arrival of issue 1,000 of the “Action”
series. DC Comics is celebrating these milestones with a special expanded
edition of Action Comics as well as a book, “80 Years of Superman: The Deluxe Edition.”
Action Comics No.
1,000 costs $7.99, while the book is priced at $30. Both are suitable for
readers of all ages.
Action Comics No. 1,000 is a
series of short comics stories by popular DC writers such as Scott Snyder, Geoff Johns, Tom King and Peter
J. Tomasi. The art is provided by Olivier Coipel, Rafael Albuquerque, Clay Mann, Patrick Gleason and superstar Jim
Lee, among others.
The stories in both volumes
celebrate Superman and his commitment to fighting evil, telling the truth and
being a good friend and husband (he and Lois Lane were married in 1996). Not
for nothing is he called “the big blue boy scout,” although
in the modern world of dodgy politicians and celebrities, Superman seems deeply
countercultural.
His basic history is well known:
Superman was created in 1933 by writer Jerry Siegel (1914-1996) and artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992).
The two had become friends while attending high school together in Cleveland.
Jerry
Siegel’s daughter, Laura Siegel Larson, penned the forward to “80 Years of
Superman.” She notes that her father and Shuster sold the character to DC Comics
for a mere $130 — a fact that eventually led some of Superman’s fans to charge
the publisher with taking advantage of the young duo. In 1976, DC gave Siegel
and Shuster a pension and a “created by” credit for all time.
Based on his non-Earthly
origin and propensity both for saving people and urging them to repent and
think of others, Superman has often been considered a Christ figure. One of the
best stories in Action No. 1,000 reflects this similarity.
It’s the 1930s, and Superman stops a crook in his car, then hangs
him from a telephone pole before letting him go. Visiting the man later,
Superman offers not only judgment, but mercy.
“You’ve
had your fair share of knocks,” Superman says. “And you can keep knocking the
world back like you’ve done. Or you can make a decision today. Be that person
who wasn’t there for you for someone else.” Touchingly, the man does just that.
“80 Years of Superman: The Deluxe Edition” offers short essays
about the Man of Tomorrow by writers and journalists as well as reprints of
classic stories. Editor Paul Levitz includes tales ranging from 1938’s Action Comics No. 1 and the first appearance of
Supergirl (No. 252) to Clark Kent revealing to Lois that he is also
Superman (No. 662). In No. 309, Superman gets to meet President John Kennedy.
“80
Years” also features a never-published story, “Too Many Heroes,” written by fan favorite Marv Wolfman.
Journalist Larry
Tye observes that, over the years, “Superman has evolved more than the fruit fly.” In the 1930s, the
Man of Steel was a crime fighter. In the ’40s, he was a patriot combating Nazi
aggression. In the ’50s, he took on communist spies. And at the end of the Cold
War, he tried to eliminate nuclear stockpiles.
Today, Superman might be
focusing on his day job as a journalist. That’s been hinted at by Brian Michael Bendis, the star comic book
writer who decamped from Marvel this year to take over the Superman franchise
at DC.
Along
the same lines, in “80 Years of Superman,” David Hajdu, author of the comic
book history “The Ten-Cent Plague,” smartly considers how Superman and his
alter ego, Daily Planet reporter Kent, complement each other.
“In his role as a godly endowed hero among humans, Superman has
always been much more concerned with the dispensing of justice than the
revealing of truth,” Hajdu writes. “He hunts and catches villains, crooks and
evildoers of all kinds — earthy, alien, extra-dimensional or inexplicable —
and enforces a resolutely held super code of right and wrong.”
However, Clark Kent’s mission as a reporter is “to
serve the truth.” Superman’s creators “made clear that they saw both sides of
their cleverly dualistic character as companionably heroic,” Hajdu notes.
Moreover, “Clark’s work as a journalist often drove the narratives.”
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Judge reviews comic
books and video games for Catholic News Service.
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