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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Alice Irizarry.
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And I’m Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Voice 1
The boy was born on a dying planet. To protect him, his father sent him in a small ship across the stars. Landing on a small farm in Kansas, the boy is raised by two childless farmers. As he grows, he discovers that he is different from others. He is stronger, faster, and can fly through the air. Others might use these powers for their own advantage. But Clark Kent was raised to do good. When evil comes, he puts on a red and blue suit. He becomes Superman, the protector of the world.
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Most of us know this story. It is possibly one of the most famous comic book stories. But the story of Superman’s creation, who made him and why, is less well known. On today’s Spotlight, we examine the true story of Superman.
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The story of Superman was first published by Jerome “Jerry” Siegel and Joseph “Joe” Shuster in 1938. As the children of people who had traveled to America for a better life, Siegel and Schuster grew up during the Great Depression. This time of economic hardship caused extreme poverty. But it also led to the creation of comic books.
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These books full of pictures often tell the stories of heroes fighting evil criminals. They cost very little to produce and were easier for people to read than traditional books. During the suffering of the Great Depression, these stories of good and evil gave people something to enjoy.
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Siegel and Schuster also loved comic books. They bonded over their shared love of these stories in school. Schuster was the artist of the two. He had been drawing since he was four years old, influenced by artists like Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. Siegel was more of a storyteller. He began writing by copying the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan.
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But Siegel and Schuster were also drawn together by other factors. They were both young and Jewish. Both were bad at sports, thin, and bookish. Both were interested in the idea of a hero with an alter ego, a way of hiding to fit into normal life. In the August 1983 issue of NEMO: The Classic Comics Library, Siegel explained:
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“As a high school student, I liked several beautiful girls who either did not know I existed or did not care if I existed. As a matter of fact, some of them looked like they hoped I did not exist. I had the thought: What if I was amazing? What if I had something special going for me? What if I could jump over buildings or throw cars or something like that? Then maybe they would notice me.”
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This idea of a hidden hero brought Siegel and Shuster together. As high schoolers, they were already working on comics together. By 1932, the two had already published their own comics. By 1935, a magazine called New Fun gave them writing jobs. As growing artists, the two experimented with early versions of Superman, like Doctor Occult and Slam Bradley. Superman first appeared in Action Comics in 1938. The publisher later became known as DC Comics, a name that came from another comic series called Detective Comics.
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Superman was an immediate success when his first story went public. The first Superman book sold over two hundred thousand copies. But Siegel and Schuster did not see much of its success. For their work on Superman, DC paid them $130. They also signed their rights to the character away to the company. They would only get money when they worked on more Superman comics. But DC could publish Superman without them if it wished.
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Because of Superman’s popularity, DC continued to work with Siegel and Shuster. But after a legal argument over a character named Superboy, DC fired both. It gave Shuster a job again in 1959. But by that point Superman was a changed hero. He could shoot light from his eyes and fly through space on his own. He was no longer just a strong man protecting a single city. He had become the protector of the whole world.
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By the 1970s, Superman was a media force. Most people thought superheroes were for children. But Superman was different. In 1978, the Warner Brothers film studio released the first of many films based on the character. It was one of the first successful superhero films ever made. Today, Superman is one of the most recognizable characters in the world.
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For many, Superman has become a symbol of the United States of America. But others have argued that Superman’s story is also the story of Jewish people in the United States. After all, Superman’s first name was not Clark Kent. It was Kal-El, a name that means “voice of God” in Hebrew. Like many Jewish people coming to America in the1930s, Superman changed his name to seem more American. He hid his powers, his true self, from people in the same way many Jews did. Miriam Mora is a historian at the University of Michigan. She compares Superman to Moses, one of the founders of the Jewish faith. She said:
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“Moses’ life is saved when his mother floats him down the Nile River in a quickly built boat. Kal-El, too, is sent away to safety on a quickly built ship. Both boys are raised by strangers in a strange land. Both would become heroes to their people.”
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Like all characters, Superman came from a particular time and place. Who Superman became was influenced by his creators. But it is also true that Superman has become more than Siegel and Schuster could have imagined. At first, Superman was just another character to fill pages in Detective Comics. His creators did not even know where he came from. They added much of his story later, as Superman grew popular.
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Today, through the work of many creators, Superman has become a symbol for good in the world. Though he may no longer be the most popular character, people still turn to him in times of crisis. In difficult times, Superman is a clear force for good. He does what he believes is right, without compromising who he is. The world does not always permit this kind of easy choice. It’s not always easy to know what is right and what is wrong. But Superman shows us that good, above all, is still possible.
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Books are influenced by the people who create them, even if that influence is not obvious. What other stories can you think of where religion has influenced fiction? Do you read comic books? Who is your favorite superhero? Why? You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
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The writer of this program was Dan Christmann. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this episode and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced, and produced by real people for real people, no matter where in the world they live. This episode is called, “The Story of Superman.”
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight episode. Goodbye.
Questions:
Do you read comic books? Who is your favorite superhero?
