Words of Wisdom from SharLeigh

THE LEGACY LIVES ON

Do you think you are well versed on Superman? Two “Blockbuster” movies are appearing on the big screen this summer. One is a sequel of the 1970s Superman movies and the other is “Hollywoodland” which is about the actor George Reeves, who played the part of Superman in the early days of television. He supposedly killed himself, but this new movie puts another slant (murder) on the story. Let’s test our memory and see how much we really do know about this super hero. Where was Superman created? If you thought planet Krypton – wrong! He was created in Cleveland! That’s right, Cleveland, Ohio. Who created him? If your answer was DC Comics – wrong again! In the dark days of the Great Depression (1933), most of the nation was out of work, with no money and in bread lines. Can you think of a better time for a super hero to appear? It was a fantasy of a teenage boy named Jerry Siegel. His friend Joe Shuster was a young artist. Do the math; history and the story of the legend were born! Why the name Superman? When a young mind faces such dark times, they always wish a hero would step in and “fix” all the wrongs. Who better than a “Man of Steel” that could leap tall buildings in a single-bound and laugh at bullets! What did Superman stand for? This is an easy one – “Truth, Justice and the American Way!” How popular was the idea of this Superman? Siegel and Shuster were brought up during the “radio days” and Pulp Magazine. Both featured bigger than life heroes such as Dick Tracy, Doc Savage and The Shadow. Comic books had not come on the scene yet. The boys wrote and illustrated the first story titled, “The Reign of Superman.” Ironically, Superman was an evil mastermind, but it did not sell. Finally, Superman was turned into a hero and it was not until five years later that Superman was published in Action Comics (Volume One: June 1938). Did Siegel and Shuster become millionaires? Not exactly; they sold their rights to Superman for the tremendous sums of $130 each! I suppose at the time, it probably seemed like a lot of money. Oh well, I hope they spent it all wisely.