It all began with Superman
The Golden Age of Comics!
From the 1930s until the late 1940s
Superman Trivia Quiz
Actually - people have always believed in Superheroes!
Gladiator
Philip Wylie's Gladiator is often cited as the inspiration behind Superman.
The story follows the life of Hugo Danner, the 20th Century's first super human. Danner is bullet proof and "mightier than machine." Nothing short of a "bursting artillery shell" can harm him. He is, indeed, a super man. But, as the reader discovers, these talents do not make him a "super hero."
The parallels are obvious:
Both Hugo Danner and Clark Kent grow up in rural small-town America, possessing powers far beyond the common mortal
both are imbued, from an early age, with a profound sense of fairness and justice
and they hide their respective secrets from the world at large.
Their powers are the same: great strength, skin so tough that it can withstand just about anything short of an explosive artillery shell, and the ability to jump so high and so far that it almost gives the impression of flight. And both, despite their superhuman status, espouse a political philosophy that celebrates the common human being over capitalist elites
Where did Superman come from?
What about the costume and logo?
When people think of Superman, they basically think of the following seven standards in regards to the way he looks and what he wears:
Black hair, spit curl (strand or lock of hair curling onto forehead)
Blue tights (full body)
Red cape (attached at the collar/neckline of blue tights)
Red "S" shield (on chest)
Red briefs (worn over the blue tights)
Yellow belt
Red boots
His creators designed a costume with a big S on his chest, and a cape. They made him as colorful and as distinctive as possible. The design was based in part on the costumes worn by characters in outer space settings published in pulp magazines, as well as comic strips such as Flash Gordon. They also partly used the traditional circus strong-man outfit.
The pants-over-tights outfit was soon established as the basis for many future superhero outfits.
Superman came along during the time of the Great Depression, World War II looming over the horizon and a nation under the influence of Al Capone!
America had need for good to triumph over evil and Superman was a conscious response to the ersatz supermen threatening the world from Germany and the frightening mobsters on the home front who’d been produced by Prohibition.
He was a product of his times!
Did you know that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first created a bald telepathic villain bent on dominating the entire world.
He appeared in the short story "The Reign of the Super-Man" from Science Fiction #3, a science fiction fanzine
that Siegel published in 1933.
Siegel re-wrote the character in 1933 as a hero, bearing little or no resemblance to his villainous namesake, and began a six-year quest to find a publisher.
Superman's personality was rough and aggressive. The character was seen stepping in to stop wife beaters, profiteers,
a lynch mob and gangsters, with rather rough edges. the Superman featured in the comics of the 1930s
is unconcerned about the harm his strength may cause, tossing villainous characters in such a manner that fatalities
would presumably occur, although these were seldom shown explicitly on the page. This came to an end late in 1940,
when new editor Whitney Ellsworth instituted a code of conduct for his characters to follow, banning Superman from ever killing.
Here is one of the first cartoons based on Superman.
This early Superman gives you the origin of The Man of Steel, plus an adventure with a Mad Scientist!
TWINKIES
Fun facts about twinkies
How Twinkies are made
The story follows the life of Hugo Danner, the 20th Century's first super human. Danner is bullet proof and "mightier than machine." Nothing short of a "bursting artillery shell" can harm him. He is, indeed, a super man. But, as the reader discovers, these talents do not make him a "super hero."
The parallels are obvious:
Both Hugo Danner and Clark Kent grow up in rural small-town America, possessing powers far beyond the common mortal
both are imbued, from an early age, with a profound sense of fairness and justice
and they hide their respective secrets from the world at large.
Their powers are the same: great strength, skin so tough that it can withstand just about anything short of an explosive artillery shell, and the ability to jump so high and so far that it almost gives the impression of flight. And both, despite their superhuman status, espouse a political philosophy that celebrates the common human being over capitalist elites
Blue tights (full body)
Red cape (attached at the collar/neckline of blue tights)
Red "S" shield (on chest)
Red briefs (worn over the blue tights)
Yellow belt
Red boots
Siegel re-wrote the character in 1933 as a hero, bearing little or no resemblance to his villainous namesake, and began a six-year quest to find a publisher.
Superman's personality was rough and aggressive. The character was seen stepping in to stop wife beaters, profiteers, a lynch mob and gangsters, with rather rough edges. the Superman featured in the comics of the 1930s is unconcerned about the harm his strength may cause, tossing villainous characters in such a manner that fatalities would presumably occur, although these were seldom shown explicitly on the page. This came to an end late in 1940, when new editor Whitney Ellsworth instituted a code of conduct for his characters to follow, banning Superman from ever killing.
Fun facts about twinkies
How Twinkies are made