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Shotgun Reviews presents:
What
Superman Means to Me
by: David Siegel
I'm 8
years old. The towel is tightly wrapped behind my back. Nothing
can stop me now. I'm about to takeoff with a hearty up, up,
and away! I leap into the air, and as I land on the cocktail
table, it collapses, and I plummet to the concrete below.
Thirteen stitches later, I have a cast on my chin, and I realize
something very obvious: I'm not Superman.
Thirty-two
years later and one thing hasn't changed. Superman is still
my hero.
For those
of you who have either been off-planet, or living under a
rock for the last 61 years, Superman was the brainchild of
two kids from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel (no relation) and Joe
Shuster. Inspired by the Hebrew legend of the Golem, a vengeful
being that sought revenge for the downtrodden, these two guys
dreamed up their own creature. Only this creature was an alien
from the doomed planet Krypton. As the planet approached its
demise, a scientist placed his only son in an experimental
rocketship and sent him across the vast gulf of space to the
earth.
Although
the Superman mythos has been slightly adjusted and expanded
upon over the years, the essence of it has remained untouched.
What it has become remains that which its creators could have
never foreseen: the beginning of a comic book multiverse populated
by thousands of superheroes, villains, and those just caught
in the middle. If not for Superman, who knows if the medium
would have developed like it did, or even if it would have
continued past the 1930s?
Without
a doubt, Superman is an American legend. His image has crossed
over into virtually every medium: comics, radio, movies, TV,
newspapers, magazines, and games. That stylized "S" on his
chest is recognized all over the globe.
I have
been reading Superman comics for the last 25 years. Never
missed an issue. When new comics come out on Wednesdays, I
eagerly rush to the comic shop after work and grab my books.
No matter how many comics I buy each week, I always read Superman
first. Come to my home and you'll see Superman plates, books,
statues, and posters. (My mother tells my wife it's nice of
her to let me display so much Superman stuff.)
On occasion
people have asked me why I enjoy the character so much. To
me, Superman is more than a colorful, well-known comic book
superhero. He is a role model, someone to look up to and "consult"
when contemplating moral dilemmas: WWSD (What would Superman
do)? I don't believe that there has ever been another fictional
character created that literally defines values like honor,
truth, integrity, decency, bravery, compassion, and morality.
Sometimes I'm ridiculed for clinging to so-called old-fashioned
family values. But that's okay with me. I find the alternative
very frightening.
In today's
comics, you have to look long and hard to find heroes with
such values. In fact, I have found that over the years comics
have been getting darker, meaner, and more violent. Unfortunately,
it's art imitating life. Luckily, Superman has not succumbed
to this.
Superman
is a symbol of what's right. I'm proud to uphold the values
that a certain Kansas farm family by the name of Kent instilled
upon their adopted son Clark. It was this upbringing that
gave the world a Superman.
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