The Reign of the Superman

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The Reign of the Superman is a short story written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster . It appeared in January 1933 and was the first mention of the name Superman , which the two later used for their superhero.

action

The Mad Scientist Professor Ernest Smalley, a chemist, picks up the showman Bill Dunn in front of a soup kitchen and recruits him for an experiment. In exchange for a hot meal and new clothes, Bill accepts. Ernest's potion gives telepathic powers to the homeless but also poisons his mind. So he now seeks to rule the world and uses his powers for evil. He kills its creator, but then finds that the powers only last for a short time. He tries to restore the potion, but fails. As his strength slowly wanes, he realizes that he now has to go back to his old life.

publication

Two high school buddies, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, began posting various short stories to established science fiction magazines during the Great Depression . But they are rejected. So they started to publish a fanzine themselves . Shusters Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization has five issues.

The short story was written in 1932. The first appearance of a character named Superman, however, had little to do with the superhero, who later appeared in Action Comics # 1 . Rather, Siegel was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's Also Spoke Zarathustra , or the motif of the superman , in connection with the Frankenstein myth. "Superman" is also one of the translations of the philosophical concept. In English-language literature, the name was already used by George Bernard Shaw in 1903 for his play Mensch und Übermensch (English Man and Superman ). Also, let Edgar Rice Burroughs Jane Porter in his Tarzan -Büchern the hero of the jungle to address that. Tarzan in particular was later named by Jerry Siegel as an influence on Superman.

In January 1933 the third issue of the magazine finally appeared with The Reign of the Superman , Siegel using the pseudonym Herbert S. Fine . Joe Shuster illustrated the story. The appearance of the Superman's here is based on the style of Superman's later arch-rival Lex Luthor than on the later comic figure Superman.

Further use

A digital version of the story has been included in the University of Florida Digital Collections . The original edition is now a sought-after collector's item, auctioned off for $ 47,800 in 2006.

expenditure

  • Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization # 3. Published by Jerry Siegel. Cleveland, Ohio January 1993.
  • Nemo, the Classic Comics Library # 2 (August 1983)
  • archive.org

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Les Daniels: Superman: The Complete History; The Life and Times of the Man of Steel . Titan, London 1998, ISBN 1-85286-988-7 , pp. 13 (English).
  2. ↑ Golden Apple Comics Online: Tales from the Comics Crypt. June 9, 2008, accessed November 24, 2018 .
  3. ^ Peter Sanderson: Comics in Context # 133: Swinging Down Broadway. In: IGN. May 16, 2006. Retrieved November 24, 2018 (American English).
  4. ^ Identity Crisis: The Many Faces of the Man of Steel - Articles. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
  5. ^ Superman History. December 24, 2007, accessed November 24, 2018 .
  6. ^ Science fiction. In: University of Florida Digital Collections. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Rare Mimeographed 1933 Booklet Sells for $ 47,800! In: Comicdom Online. April 9, 2008, accessed November 24, 2018 .