Superman in the Comics, 1938-1985 (Spring 2018)

The cover for Action Comics #44 Vol. One shows the importance that Superman had in people's lives. The cover shows him fighting the Nazis, which was a common theme in his comics during the times of the second world war. Superman was seen as a beacon of hope for children and people who couldn't fight for themselves during such horrible times. With a man like Superman being on your side it was bound to help people feel better and give them the hope that everything would turn out alright in the end just like it always did for the man of steel. 

- Jana Dean, Carl Kenneth Stang, Michelle Renae Bellman, Devin Alan Beardsley

I chose this page from the Action Comics collection book because it shows Superman's heroism. It shows that he is not just strong, he is also clever by how he decides to bring the animals out of the zoo to save them by using a boat. I also thought it was unique how the image of him carrying the boat of animals reminds me of Noah's Ark, and the symbolism behind it- making Superman a savior of sorts.

- Jana Dean

The cover art for Action Comics issue 18 volume one represents an important milestone for Superman’s publication history. The cover itself seems insignificant to Superman. He is not featured prominently on the cover art, instead he is only shown in a small circular image in the top left corner of the cover. This image seems more like a promotional sticker, it shows Superman breaking out of a chain binding and has his name above the image. While it may seem insignificant it actually is representative of two early publication habits concerning Action Comics and Superman. First the reason why Superman is not featured prominently on the cover of this issue or many of the issues before it is because Action Comics was not just about Superman’s adventures. Action Comics featured many different types of adventures, some featuring superheroes, while others focused on more conventional heroes (Duncan, Smith & Levitz, 2015, pg 17). This cover is an example of the latter, because the story featured on the cover has nothing to do with the Superman story in the issue. The small image of Superman as well as the cover art is also emblematic of the ideas of the publish of the time period. Harry Donenfeld, one of the original owners of Action Comics, thought that the cover art featuring Superman in issue one of Action Comics was strange, and that Superman was not what people, specifically children, wanted to read (Duncan, Smith & Levitz, 2015, pg 16-17). Until the publishing of issue 12 of Action Comics there was no guarantee that Superman would appear on the cover (Duncan, Smith & Levitz, 2015, pg 17). From issue 12 on Superman was always somewhere on the cover, whether that be as the cover art for the issue or in the promotional image seen in this artifact (Duncan, Smith & Levitz, 2015, pg 17). This was due in part to Donenfeld conducting a survey and finding that people were not asking for Action Comics they wanted to buy Action Comics because they had Superman (Duncan, Smith & Levitz, 2015, pg 17). Superman was so popular even such a short time after his debut that people were not buying Action Comics for the stories of conventual adventurers. They wanted to read about the Man of Steel, the Superman.

References

Duncan, R., Smith, M., & Levitz, P. (2015). The power of comics (2nd ed.). London [u.a.]: Bloomsbury Academic.

- Carl Kenneth Stang

The image to the right depicts the crime-fighting part of Superman and his embodiment of American ideals and its pride in always being morally right. Here Superman is beating up everyday criminals and takes on the title "War on Crime", which in itself shows what America believed was important when he first became popular.

- Michelle Renae Bellman

My image is from Superboy #22 1952. It's an image of Superboy saving his best friend Lana. The Superboy adventures show us a young Clark Kent growing into his powers and how he overcame obstacles, and mischief.  He is just like any other young boy, getting himself into trouble. We also get to see his relationship with Lana grow into an intimate one. In the story Lana is essentially Lois Lane's counterpart.  These adventures helped grow and establish the character into someone everyone can understand. Giving us one of the best character origin stories ever made.

- Devin Alan Beardsley

I picked the book Superman the Dailies: 1935-1942.  I picked this book because it shows the early history of Superman and where he came from.  I feel like his character hasn’t really changed throughout the course of his existence so I thought this book would be the best way to show people.  When I first seen the book it was just as I remembered when I was a kid.  He was wearing the blue suit with the red cape, with his sharp jaw line and dangling black swirled hair.  Also, in this book it talks about powerful events that Superman has been a part of and specific events that make him who he is today.  I specifically picked the cover art of this book. I picked this cover art, because it shows the iconic Superman running superfast and the way the artwork is down reminded me of old Superman.