Classic Superboy Made Them All!

[manwhohaseverything]

Speaking of which,is there anything on the what the pitch was or siegel's general idea of superboy.

The Superboy story in that 101st issue of MORE FUN did not have the traditional Siegel & Shuster byline, but the Grand Comics Database has credited it to Siegel and Shuster. However, Screenrant has said that Don Cameron fleshed out the script.

[Jim Kelly]

Speaking of which,is there anything on the what the pitch was or siegel's general idea of superboy.

Screenrant also said that Siegel's pitch in 1938 was for a Superboy newspaper strip.

Given the character's popularity, only six months after Superman's debut in November 1938, Jerry Siegel started to pitch a newspaper strip based on Superman as a boy to further capitalize on the Superman craze, which was rejected. Siegal again tried to pitch Superboy by presenting a full comic book script of his first adventure in December 1940, but DC again effectively declined.

They were relying on the book SUPER BOYS (2013), by Brad Ricca, for some of their research. However, the Screenrant article often misspelled "Siegel" as "Siegal"--so I didn't know if I should put stock in their work, since they couldn't even get a simple thing like that right.

And other sources said Jerry's 1938 pitch was for a comic book feature.

Still, given that Siegel and Shuster had always wanted their own newspaper strip (which is why they didn't originally sell Superman to National Allied for their comic books) and given that a Superman strip had yet to see the light of day in 1938, it's an attractive proposition that Jerry wanted their newspaper strip to focus on the young Boy of Steel's adventures.

Siegel might have considered that the better option, since newspapers appealed to the whole family and strips featuring kids as the stars were very popular. This also would have played to one of Joe Shuster's strengths, as he had a humourous way of drawing kids.

I remember reading somewhere (but I can't remember where) that Jerry's original vision was for Superboy to be a little trouble-maker--an agent of chaos à la Little Rascals, Dennis the Menace, Bugs Bunny, I guess. More like Mr. Mxyztplk or the eventual stories of Superbaby.

The proposition that instead of a Superman newspaper strip (or in addition to one), there could have been a Superboy strip suggests a very different scenario. What if readers loved the Kid from Krypton more? Superboy might have become the default version of the action hero.

Given that the story in MORE FUN COMICS 101 is only five pages long and most of that is a retelling of the origin story, I would guess that Jerry's original 1940 script was partly based on the origin in the first issue of SUPERMAN (1939) and in the newspaper strip's 1939 origin story. So the parts of the script that would most likely be Siegel's are those that resemble the 1939 version of events. If Don Cameron added to the script, it might have been in the names Jor-El and Lara rather than Jor-L and Lora, or in how the story quickly wraps up.

Five pages is a pretty short story, even in those days, so Jerry probably had written a much longer script which Don Cameron chopped down to fit the available page count. The reason for this short length was because they had pulled the scheduled Dover and Clover story from the issue to make room for Superboy and five pages was all they could spare. Note that Dover and Clover's names still appeared on the cover while Superboy's didn't--proving this was very last minute and a bit cloak and dagger.

[manwhohaseverything]

Thanks for the reply..One of these days i am gonna write me a manga or webtoon with these puzzle pieces.if not superman then with superman-esque character.Chances of it being utter nonsense is very high.But,if it happens it would be very fullfilling..Siegel being more interested in newspaper strip is very much what i would expect.Those early superman stories are basically fast paced,easily digestible things..etc.Myself used to check newspaper only for the phantom,dennis, Garfield..etc

[DABellWrites]

Screenrant also said that Siegel's pitch in 1938 was for a Superboy newspaper strip.



They were relying on the book SUPER BOYS (2013), by Brad Ricca, for some of their research. However, the Screenrant article often misspelled "Siegel" as "Siegal"--so I didn't know if I should put stock in their work, since they couldn't even get a simple thing like that right.

And other sources said Jerry's 1938 pitch was for a comic book feature.

Still, given that Siegel and Shuster had always wanted their own newspaper strip (which is why they didn't originally sell Superman to National Allied for their comic books) and given that a Superman strip had yet to see the light of day in 1938, it's an attractive proposition that Jerry wanted their newspaper strip to focus on the young Boy of Steel's adventures.

Siegel might have considered that the better option, since newspapers appealed to the whole family and strips featuring kids as the stars were very popular. This also would have played to one of Joe Shuster's strengths, as he had a humourous way of drawing kids.

I remember reading somewhere (but I can't remember where) that Jerry's original vision was for Superboy to be a little trouble-maker--an agent of chaos à la Little Rascals, Dennis the Menace, Bugs Bunny, I guess. More like Mr. Mxyztplk or the eventual stories of Superbaby.

The proposition that instead of a Superman newspaper strip (or in addition to one), there could have been a Superboy strip suggests a very different scenario. What if readers loved the Kid from Krypton more? Superboy might have become the default version of the action hero.

Given that the story in MORE FUN COMICS 101 is only five pages long and most of that is a retelling of the origin story, I would guess that Jerry's original 1940 script was partly based on the origin in the first issue of SUPERMAN (1939) and in the newspaper strip's 1939 origin story. So the parts of the script that would most likely be Siegel's are those that resemble the 1939 version of events. If Don Cameron added to the script, it might have been in the names Jor-El and Lara rather than Jor-L and Lora, or in how the story quickly wraps up.

Five pages is a pretty short story, even in those days, so Jerry probably had written a much longer script which Don Cameron chopped down to fit the available page count. The reason for this short length was because they had pulled the scheduled Dover and Clover story from the issue to make room for Superboy and five pages was all they could spare. Note that Dover and Clover's names still appeared on the cover while Superboy's didn't--proving this was very last minute and a bit cloak and dagger.

Interesting stuff. I was thinking about reading that book learning more about Supes creation. While I still believe Superman doesn't need Superboy in the mainline, it's fascinating learning how many ideas Siegel had for his beloved creation. I often think of his notes... ideas he has that was never given to National/DC. Judging from the K-metal story, I strongly believe Siegel wanted to do more sci-fi oriented stories than he was doing. He teased it so much. Sadly, the powers that be didn't want to change the Man of Steel. We also didn't get to see how much Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had matured as creators. Maybe, if maybe, Siegel and Shuster focused on the newspaper strip only, who know what stories we could've gotten.

Sigh.

[Jim Kelly]

Character limits prevent me from adding more to some previous posts, so any extra info I dig up will be here--

Fellow Super-Heroes:

Supergirl from Borgonia addendum

A version of Borgonia appeared in "King for a Day," season 3, episode 13, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, (air date October 15th, 1955). When Clark and Jimmy fly to Borgonia, young Olsen is mistaken for Prince Gregory, next in line for the throne. An alternate telling of this story appeared in SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN 4 (March-April 1955)--3rd story, "King for a Day" by Binder, Swan and Burnley--however, in the comic book, the kingdom is called Doraynia.

The Legion of Super-Heroes addendum

The Legion have appeared on the small screen, including,
in animation:
• an episode of the 1996 series, SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES;
• episodes of the 2004 series, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED;
• the 2006 series LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (two seasons);
• the 2021 season of YOUNG JUSTICE: PHANTOMS;
and in live action:
• fourth season episodes of the 2001 series, SMALLVILLE;
• episodes of the 2015 series, SUPERGIRL.