Superman which although he was not the first Superhero to turn up in comic books, he was the start of a virtual avalanche of superheroes, enhanced by all manner of cinematic magic and special effects to demonstrate that we could finally believe a man could really fly.
Superman, which began as a comic, appearing in Action Comics, can be traced back to the 1930s, its multi-media future foreshadowed in the minds of its writer Jerry Siegel and its artist, Joe Shuster.
Amazingly, Jo Shuster described their process of working like this: “Jerry picked up the technique of visualizing the story as a movie scenario; and whenever he gave me a script, I would see it as a screenplay. That was the technique that Jerry used, and I just picked it up.”
Another thing he said was this: “In this drawing we just let our imagination run wild. We visualized Superman toys, games, and a radio show – that was before TV – and Superman movies. We even visualized Superman billboards. And it’s all come true.”
Now there were some media franchises around at this time. “ A Mickey Mouse,” which was founded in 1929 with a Mickey Mouse children’s book and the next year began merchandising dolls- exploding to everything including comic books and film. At one point, the famous ventriloquist, Edgar Bergan’s character, know strangely for his radio show (you can’t see a ventriloquist not moving their lips on radio) was the second largest product franchise of its type next to Mickey. These type of companies were pioneers in big media franchises- but they are nothing compared to the Superhero franchise, which began with Superman. A recent visit to Disney Springs in Orlando revealed the immensity of the product line which is so gigantic because of the amazing Superhero growth on the Big Screen and followed with original TV series and replays of the film on the smaller, but highly robust screens. There you can see realistic and well-sculpted models of superheroes, their costumes, their weapons, their DVD’s, related trinkets, posters – and the list goes on.
But why did this amazing media trend begin? Certainly, in the public mind, the famous detectives, cowboys, sci fi space adventurers, have really faded to obscurity in the wake of the tremendous amount of attention focused on these mythic heroes.
To me, everything began with Superman. I wasn’t born when Superman’s great long-running show was first produced in 1939 running1171 episodes until 1950. When I heard it, I guess around five, it was a sublime form of entertainment for a very young boy.’
Now there were some media franchises around at this time. “ A Mickey Mouse,” which was founded in 1929 with a Mickey Mouse children’s book and the next year began merchandising dolls- exploding to everything including comic books and film. At one point, the famous ventriloquist, Edgar Bergan’s character, know strangely for his radio show (you can’t see a ventriloquist not moving their lips on radio) was the second largest product franchise of its type next to Mickey. These type of companies were pioneers in big media franchises- but, as I indicated, they were nothing compared to the Superhero franchise, which began with Superman. A recent visit to Disney Springs in Orlando revealed the immensity of the product line which is so gigantic because of the amazing Superhero growth on the Big Screen and followed with original TV series and replays of the film on the smaller, but highly robust screens. There you can see realistic and well-sculpted models of superheroes, their costumes, their weapons, their DVD’s, related trinkets, posters – and the list goes on.
My first infatuation with Superman was consolidated because of George Reeves, who starred in the first TV series. I believe he was the second Superman to star in films.
Of course, the most majestic Superman would have to be Christopher Reeve, whose incredible acting as Clark Kent and his alter ego- surely put Superman into a different category.
Now adays, when one thinks of the early Superman, we probably think, as we can remember back that far to George Reeves, who played Superman on TV, or the incredibly talented, Christopher Reeve. Both these men, in real life, had great challenges after their initial successes. Christopher had a paralyzing fall from a horse (and, who though still paralyzed, became a champion in creating and funding research and help for those with similar injuries. As for George Reeve, he died a mysterious death, many blaming it on suicide. The original film Superman, however, had a less important problem. His name was Kirk Alyn and his problem was that he was originally typecast as Superman and he couldn’t get hired- that until the popularity of comic book conventions, brought him back into the limelight. He said in the early 70s,, “Playing Superman ruined my acting career and I’ve been bitter for many years about the whole thing. But now,” he said in 1972, “it’s finally starting to pay off.’
KIRK ALYN- THE FIRST ACTOR TO PLAY SUPERMAN IN FILM
These men’s stories do indicate the clash between a legendary superhero and the fate of the ordinary man who plays them. Yes, this true- but isn’t there something about the superhero that men and women somehow link to their wish to be such a person could really become true. And some of them, apparently, do just that…
In our next episode, we will take a look at people who have some particularly special powers.
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