Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane, #93, July 1969, cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams
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Miracle Monday, 1981, a novel by Elliot S! Maggin
“Shortly before four in the afternoon on the third Monday in the month of May, the people of the city of Metropolis learned the meaning of joy - the first thing many of them saw was the red-and-blue figure of Superman drawing a line across their sky, and he became the symbol of their joy. It felt like a miracle.
“Happy Miracle Monday, Superman. It’s the first Miracle Monday. It’s a holiday. People will celebrate today for hundreds, maybe thousand of years…”“
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“War Against Crime”
Superman Daily Newspaper Strip - January 30, 1939 to February 18, 1939
Why a newspaper reporter? It’s a question which Superman writers have had to address time and again - the matter of why Superman would want (or even need) a secret identity is a matter for deeper discussion, but why specifically a newspaper reporter?Obviously, the field of newspaper journalism has been suffering over the last few decades, with new media and new avenues of information making the daily paper less and less relevant - Even Superman’s writers have had to find new outlets for Clark Kent to report the news, from television to cable to the blogosphere.
In the 1930s, however, the newspaper industry was still vital - almost every great American writer up to that point had put in their time as newspapermen and high-circulation local newspapers moved industry and politics in major American cities. In short the public perception of a reporter (particularly a “crusading reporter”) was still one of risk, daring and romance. It was a tough guy’s job, Clark Kent’s feeble meekness notwithstanding.
Typically, Clark Kent chooses to become a reporter in order to keep on top of the latest, breaking news - better to slip away as Superman and save the day! For the vast majority of his existence he gets the job by merely barging into the Daily Planet offices, promising a scoop (almost always on his own alter ego) and finding himself hired without any prior credentials or experience. Later scenarios - including the 1978 motion picture and many of the later television series - take pains to give Clark Kent a little journalistic experience in his youth, and more recent iterations have chosen to focus on Clark Kent as a writer and a book lover, drawn to the written word and social causes typically celebrated in print.
In this, the second story arc of the daily newspaper strip, Superman comes to the very logical decision to adopt a dual identity in journalism after having failed to save the lives of several bank employees locked in a vault - he rescues most in time, but the others suffocated in the nearly airless chamber. Deciding that keeping on top of breaking news would prevent future tragedies and make him more effective as a champion of the helpless, he resolves there and then to embark on a newspaper career …
The Chronological Superman—a look at each and every individual appearance of Superman in any media, in chronological order—is a wonderful idea and I’m looking forward to watching it grow. You should follow.
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Action Comics vol.1 #1 - Cover date June 1938
Superman debuts in Action Comics #1, cover-dated June 1938 (Although the book actually hit the stands on April 18, earlier that year. Newsstand publications typically post-dated the periodical date as displayed on the cover, to insure a greater lifespan upon the racks).
Originally conceived of – and shopped around to numerous publishers and syndicates, including National Allied Publications – as a serialized comic strip, creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster physically cut and re-pasted the original art to fit the format of the comic page.
The result was a slightly abbreviated version of Siegel and Shuster’s original Superman story, later reprinted in full in 1939’s Superman #1.
Joining the story with Superman already in action and proceeding at a breakneck pace, it’s no surprise that this debut was an immediate smash hit. In short order, Superman smashes his way into the governor’s mansion, saves a wrongly-convicted from execution with only seconds to spare, violently puts an abusive husband in his place, up-ends a car, exposes government corruption and saves the sultry, sardonic Lois Lane from a murderous gangster – all in a story to be continued…
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(Source: nevver)
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All-Star Comics #64, jan-Feb 1977 - Wally Wood cover
The ’70s revival of All-Star was one of the first DC comics I read and read and read. You can imagine how I felt when CoIE erased Earth-2 out of the continuity… I enjoyed getting a kind of fresh start on most Earth-1 series I never felt much of a connection with, but something special had been lost.
(Source: rainydayrecesstoo)
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Lunes naciente. Nuestros héroes inician la jornada con su característico y probado dinamismo.
(los pinta Neil Googe)
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Books Chris Samnee’d kill to draw: Superman’s wife, Lois Lane
