Another taste of a future book (Patreon)

Since I mentioned the book on a previous post, I thought I would give you a small taste of it. It contains interviews with several Superman creators. Please enjoy. 

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HOW DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER SUPERMAN?

“You needn’t be afraid of me. I won’t harm you.”

On April 18, 1938, the first true superhero comic was published. Action Comics #1 had an initial print run of over 200,000 copies, but would soon sell out at newsstands everywhere. National Allied Publications, the predecessor of DC Comics, knew that it had a hit on its hands. Sales of subsequent issues of Action Comics would be over 200,00 copies. 

Many of the other characters included in that first issue have been forgotten by the passage of time. Rarely do you hear a comic fan proclaim the merits of Chuck Dawson, Pep’ Morgan or Scoop Scanion the Five Star Reporter. But all of these characters found their way into the pages of Action Comics #1. Publisher Jack Leibowitz would later go on to say that selecting Superman for issue one was a pure accident based on the pressure of a fast approaching deadline. 

By fate, Superman was able to leap into the world. Changing it forever. Like it says in Action Comics #1, “Superman is destined to reshape the destiny of the world!” For many readers, you never forget the first time you read an adventure of Superman. 

ART BALTAZAR (writer & artist, Superman Family Adventures)

I probably first saw him with George Reeves, when my dad would watch the TV show. Then, I remember him with SuperFriends, and I also had the Mego action figures, the vintage toys from the 70s. 

So, I was a big fan of Batman and Robin, but Superman never hit me until Superman the Movie. Once that movie came out, that's all I wanted to do and be. I wanted to be Superman. I wore the cape, ran outside. 

If you want to find my origin story, that's where it comes from. Based from eight years old to 12 years old, we had all these awesome movies came out. Superman with Christopher Reeve, was everything, it was the world, especially when he fought General Zod. The introduction to Superman is perfect with those movies because that's still who he is now, you know? Everyone tries to go back to those movies all the time, even the Fortress of Solitude and all that stuff. Once Christopher Reeve showed up, that was it. That changed the way I thought for the rest of my life. 

SCOTT BEATTY (writer, The Superman Handbook)

Does Superman Krazy Foam count? I think I had the mass cultural awareness of Superman from very early in life, but the Superfriends was likely my first experience. Superman: The Movie in 1978, however, was the crystallizing moment. I was "all in" after seeing that film. I came home and made a cape out of a bath towel, humming the John Williams score as I jumped from couch to chair and then cr acked my skull on the living room radiator. Superman cost me five stitches, and the ER doctor wouldn't even give me sutures in a the shape of a spit-curl.

JON BOGDANOVE (writer & artist, Superman: The Man of Steel)

I first encountered Superman the same way most new fans today encounter DC heroes--via the TV shows. For me, it was George Reeves' forbearing, avuncular, kind Superman that first defined the character for me.  I think George was a primary male role model for a lot of men of my generation. He helped me figure out what it means to be a good father, a good husband, a good man.