| With the advent of the new Superman movie, Sterling Publishing has reissued some of the earliest Superman works in two volumes, Superman: The Dailies, 1939-1942 and Superman: The Sunday Pages, 1939-1942.
These hardcover collections are a treat for comic book fans, as they allow the reader to experience the birth of a modern pop icon. In his introduction, James Vance argues that the newspaper strips helped to create the Superman legend as much as the monthly DC Action Comics did, but with greater immediacy. Certainly, within the first six storylines, each of which spans several weeks, we witness a fuller explanation of the destruction of Krypton, see Superman leaping tall buildings in a single bound, travelling faster than a speeding bullet, outracing locomotives, bending steel with his bare hands and saving children and Lois Lane from fates worse than death.
One of the surprising features of the strips is how different the original Superman is from later incarnations – wittier, darker, more confident. In the 1980s, America was interested in exploring the anti-hero, the outsider, and the dark margins of society. The America of the 1930s (when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the character) was traumatized by the Depression, when government inaction created a loss of faith in traditional leaders. Hence, Superman’s Boy Scout reputation. When faced with a problem, such as a corrupt headmaster at an orphanage, Superman acted swiftly and decisively, unlike official responses to the economy.
The Superman comic strips of this era also reflect a surprisingly local concern. With very few exceptions, Superman is tackling local problems, gangsters and corrupt politicians. It is not until we enter the Atomic Age and the globe-spanning Cold War that we start to see super-villains and an internationally active Superman. Similarly, the inner turmoil and existential angst experienced by Clark Kent on Smallville is more reflective of our own self-obsessed times. The fact that the action barely leaves Smallville and Metropolis likewise speaks volumes about America’s desire to retreat from international responsibilities.
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