Superman Newspaper Strip

[comicstar100]

What are your thoughts on the Superman Newspaper dailies? Are they worth checking out? Are they their own stories or are some reprints?

[kingaliencracker]

I believe they were all original stories. In fact, there were some original creations from the strips that made their way into the comic books and mainstream adaptations. They also had some classic artwork by Joe Shuster, Wayne Boring, and Curt Swan.

From a historical standpoint they're worth glancing at for sure.

[Matt Rat]

The strips were the first to marry off Lois and Clark if I remember right, which lasted a few years before it was retconned to be a dream. Marvel pulled a similar trick with the Spider-Man strip by briefly making Peter single but then retconning it as a dream and restoring his own marriage.

[Jim Kelly]

In terms of the early Superman, the newspaper strip was where they made their best effort. Newspaper syndication was where it was at--a far bigger deal than comic books--which is why Siegel and Shuster held back their greatest creation for a deal with a syndicate--only later giving in and selling Superman to the comic books. So when they got the chance to play in the big show, Siegel wrote some of his best stories for the strip and the best artists from the Shuster studio were given that assignment (the less experienced artists were put on the comic books). If you want to see the early Superman playing his 'A' game, you have to read the strip.

Later, Wayne Boring emerged as THE Superman artist and the newspaper strip was his gig. Alvin Schwartz would do some of his best work writing for the strip. Curt Swan would later ghost for Boring.

Often stories would appear in the strip first and then get a comic book treatment after. But that had shifted by the 1960s, when stories from the comic books were then adapted for the strip.

[bat39]

The strip is also where the complete origin-story was told for the first time. The comics only had the one-page summary in Action Comics # 1 that became two pages for Superman # 1. But between the publication of those two it was the strip that really expanded on the whole story - introducing Jor-El and Lara as actual characters, Jor-El's doomsday prediction that went unheeded, how Superman created the mild-mannered Clark Kent persona and got his job at the Daily Star etc. The one major element that got added on later in Superman # 1 was Ma and Pa Kent.

This is the reason why ''The Origin of Superman'' published in Superman # 53 (if I remember correctly) was such a big deal...it was the first time the full origin story was published in the comic-books proper! If you were a fan back then who'd read every Superman comic over the last 10 years, chances are you probably wouldn't have even known basic stuff like Superman being from the planet Krypton. Which is kinda crazy to think about in an era where probably half of humanity knows that!

[Adekis]

I would say the "1939-1942" collection of Dailies is absolutely stellar and totally recommended reading for any fan of Superman history! I honestly think it's the A-game, featuring easier to read material than the relatively younger monthly book medium, and sometimes with more depth, compared to the monthlies as well! I don't think there's any better place than the "1939-1942" collection, for comics of the Early Golden Age Superman, the Champion of the Oppressed!

However, ironically (Tragically? Infuriatingly? Hypocritically?) the "1942-1944" collection is er... well putting it bluntly, it has a few stories which are straight up racist tools of oppression against Japanese-Americans. These stories attempt to justify the US government's horrid internment camps, both indirectly through the use of saboteur villains, and more directly via a story just straight up designed to propagandize the camps themselves as a good thing. Allegedly the editor was really gung-ho for the whole anti-Japanese racist sentiment sweeping the country at the time, and despite objecting letters, he could only be bothered to have the writers put in one panel at the end of the story reminding readers that no Japanese-American had ever been convicted of sabotage. Not entirely sure what the writer-artist-editor dynamic was at the time, compared to a few years earlier, or when it changed from just Jerry and Joe writing the strip...

To the best of my knowledge, that handful of stories is the only one to be so egregious. Beyond '39-'42 and '42-'44, I also have a collection from the early 50s which I find pretty great overall! And I keep meaning to get the '45-'47 collection, and more. But I felt I should warn you, juuuust in case that particular topic would just bother you more than entertain you.

[Jim Kelly]

However, ironically (Tragically? Infuriatingly? Hypocritically?) the "1942-1944" collection is er... well putting it bluntly, it has a few stories which are straight up racist tools of oppression against Japanese-Americans.

This is true. Actually, in 1974, I began subscribing to the MENOMONEE FALLS GAZETTE, which was reprinting the early 1940s Superman strips at the time including this continuity. So I already was aware of how racist Superman had been. And I've never had any illusions about those times. There was a great delay in getting these strips collected for understandable reasons (the same for Captain Marvel's Monster Society of Evil et al)--but I think it's better to expose the ugly side of history to the clear light of day, rather than expurgating it and leaving the impression that everything was sunshine and lollipops.

[superduperman]

My personal recommendation is the Sunday strips. I like the stories better.

[DABellWrites]

Like many have stated, way better than the comic books. I'll also state, a lot of Jerry Siegel stories are still relevant to this day. Sure they were over the top, but he was battling slumlords, corrupt politicians, bankers, etc.
Sucks Clark was neutered though.

[bat39]

I would say the "1939-1942" collection of Dailies is absolutely stellar and totally recommended reading for any fan of Superman history! I honestly think it's the A-game, featuring easier to read material than the relatively younger monthly book medium, and sometimes with more depth, compared to the monthlies as well! I don't think there's any better place than the "1939-1942" collection, for comics of the Early Golden Age Superman, the Champion of the Oppressed!

However, ironically (Tragically? Infuriatingly? Hypocritically?) the "1942-1944" collection is er... well putting it bluntly, it has a few stories which are straight up racist tools of oppression against Japanese-Americans. These stories attempt to justify the US government's horrid internment camps, both indirectly through the use of saboteur villains, and more directly via a story just straight up designed to propagandize the camps themselves as a good thing. Allegedly the editor was really gung-ho for the whole anti-Japanese racist sentiment sweeping the country at the time, and despite objecting letters, he could only be bothered to have the writers put in one panel at the end of the story reminding readers that no Japanese-American had ever been convicted of sabotage. Not entirely sure what the writer-artist-editor dynamic was at the time, compared to a few years earlier, or when it changed from just Jerry and Joe writing the strip...

To the best of my knowledge, that handful of stories is the only one to be so egregious. Beyond '39-'42 and '42-'44, I also have a collection from the early 50s which I find pretty great overall! And I keep meaning to get the '45-'47 collection, and more. But I felt I should warn you, juuuust in case that particular topic would just bother you more than entertain you.

Bear in mind that back then the United States was at war with Japan.

If a Superman comic (or any superhero comic) today portrayed the Russians as villains (despite the US not technically being at war with Russia right now) there are plenty of people who would be cheering!