Superman
'"Superman'" is the name of a comic man, which was created in the 1930s by the American Jews Jerome "Jerry" Siegel and Joseph "Joe" Shuster. The figure is considered generally as the first "superhero" of the comic history and counts to the group of fictive characters with the worldwide highest recognition value. The term "superman" or "supra-man" derives from the English translation of Friedrich Nietzsche's "Übermensch", particularly in Also sprach Zarathustra (1883–85),although it had been employed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and others. This superior man (Latin: homo superior) would not be a product of long evolution; rather, he would emerge when any man with superior potential completely masters himself and strikes off conventional Christian “herd morality” to create his own values, which are completely rooted in life on this earth.
Contents
History
In New York the man who become most famous of the "superheroes" was discovered in the 1930s by the American audience. On the cover of the first issue superman presses a car with bare hands. Among all comics artists at that time, the pair Joe Simon and Jack Curly took quite a special place. They sat in the same studio and began a cooperation which continued for 20 years. They created numerous superheroes, like the "Sandman" or in March, 1941 the extremely famous "Captain America". "Captain America" was more than just a "superhero". It became a symbol of a whole nation. There existed before this date comic heroes, however, these were policemen, detectives, pirates and cowboys. Superman was the first "superhero" whose forces went out the mortal men as one said in the introduction of the first television play.
The history of "superman" shows parallels of his Jewish creators. "Superman" is an unlawful immigrant, is a stranger in a foreign country. He comes from a planet where everybody is superintelligent. He changes his name first he comes to the earth. He lived first in the country and then moved in the town – this is the classical history of Jewish immigrants. Soon after Superman appeared other "superheroes". They spread explosively on the American market. Comics was at that time the only offer for children.
Comic hero "Superman" was created in 1938 by two Jewish men, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, "Batman" in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger who were also Jewish. In 1940, the Jewish artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby invented "Captain America" who was not only a customary hero, but a political figure that fought against National Socialism .
The majority of the caricaturists were children of Jewish immigrant families from Europe, who were born in the USA. Also in America Jews were not readily accepted. Also in America was known that Jews refused to do some kinds of jobs. The comic-book publishing companies were prevailing in Jewish hand, soJewish artists had in this area easier than in other occupations.[1]
The superman-animated film
The success of superman caused a whole series of other "superheroes": 1939 "Batman", 1940 "Flash" (Red flash) and "Green Lantern", in 1941 "Wonder Woman". The competition publishing company of "Timely", (later "Marvel") created the superheroes "Captain America", the „human torch“ (In English: "Human Torch") and "Namor" (In English: "Namor the Submarine"). During the Second World War it there were a total of 160 different great hero's titles of more than two dozen publishing companies, with a whole edition of 300 million booklets and an annual turnover of 30 millions US dollar.
The comic booklet No.1 from 1938, was sold for ten cents. In 2010 an issue of the first superman's comic was sold for the record price of one million dollars. One supposes that there exist only about 100 copies of this issue. The present top price for a superman's first edition lay with 317,000 US dollar (about 234,000 euro). [2]
Specific feature
While the other fictive "superheroes" were more or less normal people and lead a middle-class life, superman is an extraterrestrial with supernatural forces in reality. Only with superman the normal identity is the wrong and fictitious one. Clark Kent shows how superman sees the people. He thinks, people are person weak, anxious and impotent. (That is, how Jews see us). One can consider Clark Kent as a parody. This thesis represents the film figure Elijah Price in "Unbreakable' (2000). [3]
Films in colour
- 1978: Superman
- 1980: Superman II – Only against everybody
- 1983: Superman III – The steel flash
- 1987: Superman IV – The world in the abyss
- 2006: Superman Returns [4]
TV series
- 1941: Superman (Fleischer studios)
- 1948: (The Adventures of) superman
- 1950: Atom One versus superman
- 1952: Superman – rescuer in the need (Adventures of superman)
- 1966-1970: A job for superman / superbell-boy (The new adventures of superman)
- 1988: Superbell-boy
- 1988: Superman (sign trick series in 1988)
- 1993−1997: Superman – The adventures of Lois & Clark
- 1996−2000: Superman
- Seit in 2001: Smallville (superman, the early years)
External links
References
- ↑ Israel today, 21st of August, 2008: "The role of Jewish artists in comics"
- ↑ Germany radio culture, 23rd of February, 2010: "One million dollars for superman's first edition"
- ↑ IMDB to "Unbreakable" (2000)
- ↑ explanations: "Superman Returns" goes back to the events from "superman II – Only against everybody".
