For many Americans, it is almost impossible to not remember a time when superheroes like Superman graced American ideology and morality. Today we see a new hero on the big screen almost every month, almost daily on our televisions and every time we step into a bookstore. But the modern superheroes that we all know and love are less than 100 years old. In the book Superman: The Unauthorized Biography by Glen Weldon, the author illustrates a concise timeline detailing the progression of this iconic superhero. While Weldon goes all the way through 2013, we will be focusing on roughly the first half of Superman’s life. During these early years we see connections between the world of Superman and our own, specifically in the origins, the villains, and the artwork. …show more content…
His creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met in high school in 1931, in Cleveland. America had just entered the Great Depression and a new genre called science fiction had just started, where the inspiration of Superman was hugely drawn from. Siegel and Shuster dreamed of selling Superman to newspapers but Superman’s science fiction origins were far from mainstream and not like any other comic out at the time. Weldon describes comics at the time to be “… gag strips full of high slapstick, broad character, and groan-inducing puns” (Weldon, 12). The Great Depression affected the production of comics; leaning in favor for comical bits to distract readers from their current troubles instead of focusing on heroic adventures. Because of this, Siegel and Schuster opted to place Superman on a comedic platform in order to get a spot on the