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Superman: The Complete History Review
He’s the first, and greatest superhero ever, the man who not only was faster than a speeding bullet, but more importantly the man who was able to survive the golden age fallout of superhero comics and continue to thrive almost 70 years later. Les Daniels’ magnificent book traces the history of Superman from his humble beginnings, to the major marketing franchise it is today. It’s the story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, a couple of young men from Cleveland who putting the ideas for this new and fantastic character down on paper as early as 1933, and then struggled for years to get the feature sold. We see a rare cover, the only page surviving from 1933, after Joe Shuster burned the rest of the pages in frustration. The spotlight reviewer contends that Daniels does not give credit to Siegel and Shuster and even takes stabs at the pair. Nothing could be further from the truth. The book details the pairs drive to get the character sold, and their diligence is well documented by Daniels. It’s a tribute to their persistence that Superman is around today. Had they thrown in the towel after their many rejections Superman would never have seen the light of day. I think that pays them high tribute. There’s no doubt that DC comics made millions…no billions off Superman and that Siegel and Shuster did not benefit much from this. Unfortunately, the pair, so desperate to get the idea in print, signed away their rights to the character. It may have been cheap on DCs part, no doubt, but creators simply did not own their characters back then.
Daniels goes onto to show how Superman was a smashing success right out of the gate and would go onto conquer virtually every form of media of the day including newspaper strips, animated shorts, movie serials, feature films, radio, TV, and incredible merchandising. Daniels traces Superman’s adventures from the enemy-smashing efforts of WWII, to the ridiculous, often silly stories of the 1950’s, to Superman’s death and eventual resurrection in the 1990’s. Daniels traces all those others who were key in making Superman the American Icon he has become, particularly the late Julius Schwartz who basically created the Silver Age of comics and guided superman for years and artists the late Wayne boring the primary superman artist after Shuster and through the mid-1950’s, and the late Curt Swan who took over in the mid-1950’s and was the primary artist on Superman for the next thirty years.
But the book isn’t all about the comic books. We’ll see Superman in the great Fleischer cartoons of the 1940’s, his early film appearances by Kirk Alyn, and then on TV with George Reeves…Heck there was even a Superman musical in the 1960’s. Superman would be re-vitalized in the 1970’s when Christopher Reeves played the Man of Steel in four big-screen films before the character would return to TV in the romantic Lois and Clark, and the new look at Clark Kent as a young man in the smash hit “Smallville”. Daniels covers it all including the wonderful animated series on WB, and the controversies surrounding Superman’s “death” and resurrection and eventual marriage to Lois Lane. Daniels leaves no stone unturned, even providing great photos of vintage and current Superman toys and other collectibles.
Siegel and Shuster are given their proper due for the creation of Superman, but it was an entire host of talented writers, artists, actors, animators, and directors that have turned the character into the legend that he has become. This is a terrific book for any fan of the character. Well-written and researched.
Superman: The Complete History Overview
Relive the adventures of Krypton’s favorite son inside and outside the comic book world in Superman: The Complete History. This book is filled with enough archival comic book art, photographs, and in-depth history to satisfy the most demanding fan — and is now priced to appeal to the most casual reader.
Superman: The Complete History Specifications
While comic books trace their origins to the late 19th century, Superman, who debuted in 1938’s Action Comics #1, is virtually synonymous with the medium. Yet, as Superman, the Complete History shows, the Man of Steel has also made a lasting impact in comic strips, film, toys, TV, radio, and even on Broadway. In this beautifully composed volume, Les Daniels collects rare and never-before-seen early artwork by Superman’s teenage creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (including a two-page doodle from 1936 featuring early Superman costume designs), and he chronicles the evolution of the character from an orphan alien comics hero to a complex multimedia icon. Entire pages are devoted to photographs of the various costumes worn by TV and film incarnations, of numerous action figures and related toys, and of movie poster and stills. Several comics stories are also reproduced in their entirety.
Almost as impressive as the stunning art design is Daniels’s narrative: covering the 60 years from 1938 to 1998, he collects interviews with several writer-artist teams that detail the changes in the Man of Steel and his relationships with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, and Perry White. Daniels’s examination of the “Death of Superman” story arc, in particular, is a fascinating study of Superman’s commercial and archetypal appeal. The final pages preview Superman tales by Barry Windsor-Smith and Alex Ross (whose beautiful painted graphic novel Kingdom Come turned many heads), and the hardback cover holds a special surprise underneath its paper wrap. –Patrick O’Kelley
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