Overleg gebruiker:Kurzon/Superman

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The development of Superman began in 1933, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were 17 years old and classmates in high school in Cleveland, Ohio. Siegel was an aspiring fiction writer and Shuster was an aspiring illustrator. Both dreamed of becoming published authors.1 Siegel self-published a fanzine called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization, which he patterned after pulp science fiction magazines. In January 1933, Siegel wrote a short story titled The Reign of the Superman, which he published in the third issue of his fanzine. The titular character is a vagrant named Bill Dunn who gains vast psychic powers from an experimental drug and uses them maliciously for profit and amusement, only to lose them and become a vagrant again, ashamed that he will be remembered only as a villain. The story was illustrated by Shuster, who depicted Dunn as a leering bald man.2

Siegel's fanzine did not sell well, so Siegel and Shuster shifted to making comic strips, with dreams of being published in a newspaper (comics magazines of the sort that Superman eventually appeared in did not exist in 1933). Syndicated newspaper strips offered more lucrative and stable work than pulp magazines. The art standards were also lower, making them more accessible to the inexperienced Shuster.3 Siegel observed that comic strips with villainous protagonists such as Fu Manchu struggled to find an audience, but strips with heroic leads such as Tarzan tended to thrive. So Siegel reinvented Superman as a hero.4 Apart from the name, this second prototype of Superman was completely different from the villainous Bill Dunn. He had no fantastic abilities and wore no fancy costume. He was just a muscular man who wore a T-shirt and trousers.56 In later years, Siegel and Shuster compared him to Slam Bradley, a character they created in 1936.

In May 1933, Siegel and Shuster read a comic book titled Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48, published by Humor Publishing.789 Unlike most comic books of the time, this book contained all-original stories rather than reprints of newspaper strips. It also was to be the first issue of a serial (the second issue never materialized).5 Humor Publishing thus presented an alternative to the newspaper syndicates, which so far showed no interest in Siegel and Shuster's work. Siegel and Shuster created a comic book in the same format as Detective Dan to present to Humor Publishing as a demonstration of their talents. It was titled The Superman and featured Siegel's new crime-fighting Superman. They presented the book to Humor Publishing's staff when the latter visited Cleveland on a business trip.10 Although Humor Publishing showed interest, it pulled out of the comics business before any book deal could be made.11

Siegel and Shuster were rejected by every other publisher they solicited. Siegel believed this was because he and Shuster were young and unknown, so he decided to replace Shuster with a more established artist.12 When Siegel told Shuster what he was doing, Shuster reacted by burning their rejected Superman comic book, sparing only the cover.1314

Siegel solicited multiple artists1215 and in 1934 he got a response from Russell Keaton,15 who worked on the Buck Rogers comic strip. Siegel sent Keaton a script in which the Superman character further evolves: In the distant future, when Earth is on the verge of exploding due to "giant cataclysms", the last surviving man sends his child back in time to the year 1935. He is adopted by Sam and Molly Kent, who name him Clark. The boy exhibits superhuman strength and impenetrable skin, and the Kents teach Clark to use his powers for good.1617 Keaton drew nine sample strips based on Siegel's script. However, the newspaper syndicates rejected their work and Keaton abandoned the project.18

Siegel and Shuster reconciled and resumed developing Superman together. The character became an alien from the planet Krypton with the now-familiar costume: tights with an "S" on the chest, over-shorts, and a cape.192021 Clark Kent became a journalist who pretends to be timid, and he now had a colleague named Lois Lane, who is attracted to the bold and mighty Superman but does not realize he and Kent are the same person.22

Siegel and Shuster entered the comics field professionally in 1935, when they were hired by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the owner of the comic book publishing firm National Allied Publications, for whom they produced detective and adventure stories such as Doctor Occult and Slam Bradley. They still lived in Cleveland at this time, and submitted their work by mail. Wheeler-Nicholson liked Superman and wanted to publish him, but was stalled by financial difficulties.23 Wheeler-Nicholson went bankrupt in late 1937 and sold his share of the business to his partners, Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz. Donenfeld and Liebowitz offered to published Superman in an upcoming magazine to be titled Action Comics, but they demanded that Siegel and Shuster sell them the rights to Superman.24 By this time, Siegel and Shuster had given up on Superman ever being a great success, and with this offer they could at least see their character finally published.25 In March 1938, Siegel and Shuster sold their copyright to Superman for $130, which today is the equivalent of $2 200.2627

Traductie

De ontwikkeling van Superman begon in 1933.