Michael Bartley Peters (born October 9, 1943), better known as Mike Peters , is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm .
69-414: (Redirected from Mike Peters ) Michael or Mike Peters may refer to: Mike Peters (cartoonist) (born 1943), American cartoonist Michael Peters (choreographer) (1948–1994), American choreographer Michael Peters (education academic) (born 1948), professor of education Mike Peters (musician) (born 1959), Welsh singer, musician and songwriter with
138-408: A Sigma Chi member and graduated in 1965. He drew cartoons for the college paper, Student Life , from 1962 to 1965. Peters recalled, "I knew when I was five years old that I wanted to be a cartoonist. As I grew older, I thought it was the only thing I could do." He met his wife, Marian, while attending Washington University , and they moved to Chicago, where he worked for a year on the art staff of
207-415: A Superman costume so that he could make an entrance to a meeting through the window in the manner of actor George Reeves entering Perry White 's office on The Adventures of Superman . When his animated editorial cartoons Peters Postscripts began on NBC Nightly News in 1981, it was the first time animated editorial cartoons appeared regularly on a prime-time network news program. Peters also hosted
276-614: A Tony -nominated musical play produced on Broadway. It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman featured music by Charles Strouse , lyrics by Lee Adams and book by David Newman and Robert Benton . Actor Bob Holiday performed as Clark Kent/Superman and actress Patricia Marand performed as Lois Lane. DC Comics trademarked the Superman chest logo in August 1938. Jack Liebowitz established Superman, Inc. in October 1939 to develop
345-612: A "Krypto-Raygun", which was a gun-shaped device that could project images on a wall. The majority of Superman merchandise is targeted at children, but since the 1970s, adults have been increasingly targeted because the comic book readership has gotten older. During World War II , Superman was used to support the war effort. Action Comics and Superman carried messages urging readers to buy war bonds and participate in scrap drives . Other superheroes became patriots who went to fight: Batman , Wonder Woman and Captain America . In
414-494: A billionaire industrialist rather than a mad scientist, and making Supergirl an artificial shapeshifting organism because DC wanted Superman to be the sole surviving Kryptonian . Carlin was promoted to Executive Editor for the DC Universe books in 1996, a position he held until 2002. K.C. Carlson took his place as editor of the Superman comics. In the earlier decades of Superman comics, artists were expected to conform to
483-469: A certain "house style". Joe Shuster defined the aesthetic style of Superman in the 1940s. After Shuster left National, Wayne Boring succeeded him as the principal artist on Superman comic books. He redrew Superman taller and more detailed. Around 1955, Curt Swan in turn succeeded Boring. The 1980s saw a boom in the diversity of comic book art and now there is no single "house style" in Superman comics. The first adaptation of Superman beyond comic books
552-656: A contract at Liebowitz's request in which they gave away the copyright for Superman to Detective Comics, Inc. This was normal practice in the business, and Siegel and Shuster had given away the copyrights to their previous works as well. The duo's revised version of Superman appeared in the first issue of Action Comics , which was published on April 18, 1938. The issue was a huge success thanks to Superman's feature. Siegel and Shuster read pulp science-fiction and adventure magazines , and many stories featured characters with fantastical abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and superhuman strength. One character in particular
621-469: A contract dated March 1, 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave away the copyright to Superman to their employer, DC Comics (then known as Detective Comics, Inc.) prior to Superman's first publication in April. Contrary to popular perception, the $ 130 that DC Comics paid them was for their first Superman story, not the copyright to the character — that, they gave away for free. This was normal practice in
690-505: A deal with the heirs of both Siegel and Shuster to help them get the rights to Superman in exchange for signing the rights over to his production company, Pacific Pictures. Both groups accepted. The Siegel heirs called off their deal with DC Comics and in 2004 sued DC for the rights to Superman and Superboy. In 2008, the judge ruled in favor of the Siegels. DC Comics appealed the decision, and the appeals court ruled in favor of DC, arguing that
759-581: A fan of strongmen such as Siegmund Breitbart and Joseph Greenstein . He collected fitness magazines and manuals and used their photographs as visual references for his art. The visual design of Superman came from multiple influences. The tight-fitting suit and shorts were inspired by the costumes of wrestlers, boxers, and strongmen . In early concept art, Shuster gave Superman laced sandals like those of strongmen and classical heroes, but these were eventually changed to red boots. The costumes of Douglas Fairbanks were also an influence. The emblem on his chest
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#1732773069913828-430: A favorite being Winsor McCay 's fantastical Little Nemo . Shuster remarked on the artists who played an important part in the development of his own style: " Alex Raymond and Burne Hogarth were my idols – also Milt Caniff , Hal Foster , and Roy Crane ." Shuster taught himself to draw by tracing over the art in the strips and magazines they collected. As a boy, Shuster was interested in fitness culture and
897-493: A living Krypton. Schwartz retired from DC Comics in 1986 and was succeeded by Mike Carlin as an editor on Superman comics. His retirement coincided with DC Comics' decision to reboot the DC Universe with the companywide-crossover storyline " Crisis on Infinite Earths ". In The Man of Steel writer John Byrne rewrote the Superman mythos, again reducing Superman's powers, which writers had slowly re-strengthened, and revised many supporting characters, such as making Lex Luthor
966-503: A media sensation over The Death of Superman in that issue. Sales declined from that point on. In March 2018, Action Comics sold just 51,534 copies, although such low figures are normal for superhero comic books in general (for comparison, Amazing Spider-Man #797 sold only 128,189 copies). The comic books have become a niche aspect of the Superman franchise due to low readership, though they remain influential as creative engines for
1035-618: A model called "direct distribution". This made comic books less accessible to children. Beginning in January 1939, a Superman daily comic strip appeared in newspapers, syndicated through the McClure Syndicate . A color Sunday version was added that November. Jerry Siegel wrote most of the strips until he was conscripted into the United States Army in 1943. The Sunday strips had a narrative continuity separate from
1104-420: A newspaper syndicate, but they too were rejected, and he abandoned the project. Siegel and Shuster reconciled and resumed developing Superman together. The character became an alien from the planet Krypton. Shuster designed the now-familiar costume: tights with an "S" on the chest, over-shorts, and a cape. They made Clark Kent a journalist who pretends to be timid, and conceived his colleague Lois Lane , who
1173-657: A nomination for their Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 2000. He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame . Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster , and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and published April 18, 1938). Superman has been adapted to several other media including radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games. Superman
1242-492: A proto-comic book titled Detective Dan: Secret Operative 48 . It contained all-original stories as opposed to reprints of newspaper strips, which was a novelty at the time. Siegel and Shuster put together a comic book in a similar format called The Superman . A delegation from Consolidated visited Cleveland that summer on a business trip and Siegel and Shuster took the opportunity to present their work in person. Although Consolidated expressed interest, they later pulled out of
1311-533: A public campaign for better compensation and treatment of comic creators. Warner Brothers agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a yearly stipend, full medical benefits, and credit their names in all future Superman productions in exchange for never contesting ownership of Superman. Siegel and Shuster upheld this bargain. Shuster died in 1992. DC Comics offered Shuster's heirs a stipend in exchange for never challenging ownership of Superman, which they accepted for some years. Siegel died in 1996. His heirs attempted to take
1380-576: A television anchor, and he retired overused plot elements such as kryptonite and robot doppelgangers. Schwartz also scaled Superman's powers down to a level closer to Siegel's original. These changes would eventually be reversed by later writers. Schwartz allowed stories with serious drama such as " For the Man Who Has Everything " ( Superman Annual #11), in which the villain Mongul torments Superman with an illusion of happy family life on
1449-557: A time-machine to the modern era, whereupon he immediately begins using his superpowers to fight crime. O'Mealia produced a few strips and showed them to his newspaper syndicate, but they were rejected. O'Mealia did not send to Siegel any copies of his strips, and they have been lost. In June 1934, Siegel found another partner, an artist in Chicago named Russell Keaton. Keaton drew the Buck Rogers and Skyroads comic strips. In
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#17327730699131518-574: A vigilante. To protect his personal life, he changes into a colorful costume and uses the alias "Superman" when fighting crime. Clark resides in the fictional American city of Metropolis , where he works as a journalist for the Daily Planet . Superman's supporting characters include his love interest and fellow journalist Lois Lane , Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen , and editor-in-chief Perry White , and his enemies include Brainiac , General Zod , and archenemy Lex Luthor . Superman
1587-433: A writer and Shuster aspired to become an illustrator. Siegel wrote amateur science fiction stories, which he self-published as a magazine called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization . His friend Shuster often provided illustrations for his work. In January 1933, Siegel published a short story in his magazine titled " The Reign of the Superman ". The titular character is a homeless man named Bill Dunn who
1656-521: A writer in 1959. In 1965, Siegel and Shuster attempted to regain rights to Superman using the renewal option in the Copyright Act of 1909 , but the court ruled Siegel and Shuster had transferred the renewal rights to DC Comics in 1938. Siegel and Shuster appealed, but the appeals court upheld this decision. DC Comics fired Siegel once again, when he filed this second lawsuit. In 1975, Siegel and several other comic book writers and artists launched
1725-478: Is Superman , which began in June 1939. Action Comics and Superman have been published without interruption (ignoring changes to the title and numbering scheme). Several other shorter-lived Superman periodicals have been published over the years. Superman is part of the DC Universe , which is a shared setting of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside
1794-595: Is attracted to the bold and mighty Superman but does not realize that he and Kent are the same person. In June 1935 Siegel and Shuster finally found work with National Allied Publications, a comic magazine publishing company in New York owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson . Wheeler-Nicholson published two of their strips in New Fun Comics #6 (1935): "Henri Duval" and " Doctor Occult ". Siegel and Shuster also showed him Superman and asked him to market Superman to
1863-685: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Mike Peters (cartoonist) He was born in St. Louis, Missouri , where his mother, Charlotte Peters , was a local television personality with one of the earliest TV talk shows, interviewing film stars and politicians as early as 1949. Accompanying his mother to the studio, he would meet such celebrities as Bob Hope and Martin and Lewis . The show influenced Peters' own life: Growing up in St. Louis, Peters attended Christian Brothers College High School and Washington University , where he studied fine art, became
1932-480: Is published in 500 newspapers, and according to King Features, it has a daily readership of 100 million. Peters' editorial cartoons and his comic strip are both distributed through King Features' DailyINK email service. Mike and Marian Peters have three daughters and six grandchildren. Beginning February 24, 2012, his strips and editorial cartoons were exhibited by the Key West Art and Historical Society at
2001-677: Is the archetypal superhero: he wears an outlandish costume, uses a codename , is unfailingly good and honest, and fights evil with the aid of extraordinary abilities. Although there are earlier characters who arguably fit this definition, Superman popularized the superhero genre and established its conventions. He was the best-selling superhero in American comic books up until the 1980s. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met in 1932 while attending Glenville High School in Cleveland and bonded over their admiration of fiction. Siegel aspired to become
2070-555: Is tricked by an evil scientist into consuming an experimental drug. The drug gives Dunn the powers of mind-reading, mind-control, and clairvoyance. He uses these powers maliciously for profit and amusement, but then the drug wears off, leaving him a powerless vagrant again. Shuster provided illustrations, depicting Dunn as a bald man. Siegel and Shuster shifted to making comic strips , with a focus on adventure and comedy. They wanted to become syndicated newspaper strip authors, so they showed their ideas to various newspaper editors. However,
2139-476: Is unclear whether Siegel and Shuster were influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche 's concept of the Übermensch ; they never acknowledged as much. Since 1938, Superman stories have been regularly published in periodical comic books published by DC Comics . The first and oldest of these is Action Comics , which began in April 1938. Action Comics was initially an anthology magazine, but it eventually became dedicated to Superman stories. The second oldest periodical
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2208-812: The Chicago Daily News . Drafted into the army, he spent two years of service as an artist for the Seventh Psychological Operations Group in Okinawa . On his return from his army service, his mentor Bill Mauldin helped him get a job as editorial cartoonist for the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio . As a joke, he once stood on the building ledge outside the Daily News building for 30 minutes wearing
2277-478: The 14-part interview series The World of Cartooning with Mike Peters for PBS. In 1998, Peters created a show segment for Fox Kids called Night of the Living Fred, it appeared on Fox Kids’s Horror-comedy show, Toonsylvania . In regard to politics, Peters's editorial stances are generally left of center . In 1984, he launched Mother Goose and Grimm , distributed by King Features Syndicate . The strip
2346-607: The Alarm Michael Peters (media executive) (born 1971), Euronews executive and Africanews founder Michael Scott Peters (born 1994), American official of the United Nations Mike Peters, drummer with Cancer Bats Michael Peters (designer) , British designer Michael Peters (psychologist) , Canadian psychologist Mike Peters, a character in the 1996 film Swingers , portrayed by Jon Favreau [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
2415-746: The Custom House in Key West, Florida . “This exhibit is a self-portrait of the artist,” said Claudia Pennington, the Society's executive director. “It looks into the genius of Mike Peters through his early work to the present day.” In 1981, Peters won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning . He has received recognition for Mother Goose and Grimm with the National Cartoonists Society 's 1991 Reuben Award and
2484-598: The North American market). For comparison, in the same year, Spider-Man merchandise made $ 1.075 billion and Star Wars merchandise made $ 1.923 billion globally. The earliest paraphernalia appeared in 1939: a button proclaiming membership in the Supermen of America club. The first toy was a wooden doll in 1939 made by the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. Superman #5 (May 1940) carried an advertisement for
2553-578: The October 2001 letter was binding. In 2003, the Shuster heirs served a termination notice for Shuster's grant of his half of the copyright to Superman. DC Comics sued the Shuster heirs in 2010, and the court ruled in DC's favor on the grounds that the 1992 agreement with the Shuster heirs barred them from terminating the grant. Under current US copyright law, Superman is due to enter the public domain on January 1, 2034. However, this will only apply (at first) to
2622-502: The boy and name him Clark, and teach him that he must use his fantastic natural gifts for the benefit of humanity. In November, Siegel sent Keaton an extension of his script: an adventure where Superman foils a conspiracy to kidnap a star football player. The extended script mentions that Clark puts on a special "uniform" when assuming the identity of Superman, but it is not described. Keaton produced two weeks' worth of strips based on Siegel's script. In November, Keaton showed his strips to
2691-590: The character as he is depicted in Action Comics #1 , which was published in 1938. Versions of him with later developments, such as his power of "heat vision", may persist under copyright until the works they were introduced in enter the public domain. Lois Lane, who also debuted in Action Comics #1, is expected to enter public domain in 2034, but supporting characters introduced in later publications, such as Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl , will pass into
2760-575: The character. After Siegel's discharge from the Army, he and Shuster sued DC Comics in 1947 for the rights to Superman and Superboy . The judge ruled that Superman belonged to DC Comics, but that Superboy was a separate entity that belonged to Siegel. Siegel and Shuster settled out-of-court with DC Comics, which paid the pair $ 94,013.16 (equivalent to $ 1,192,222 in 2023) in exchange for the full rights to both Superman and Superboy. DC Comics then fired Siegel and Shuster. DC Comics rehired Jerry Siegel as
2829-738: The characters of Douglas Fairbanks , who starred in adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro and Robin Hood . The name of Superman's home city, Metropolis, was taken from the 1927 film of the same name . Popeye cartoons were also an influence. Clark Kent's harmless facade and dual identity were inspired by the protagonists of such movies as Don Diego de la Vega in The Mark of Zorro and Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel . Siegel thought this would make for interesting dramatic contrast and good humor. Another inspiration
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2898-488: The comic magazine industry and they had done the same with their previous published works ( Slam Bradley , Doctor Occult , etc.), but Superman became far more popular and valuable than they anticipated and they much regretted giving him away. DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster, and they were paid well because they were popular with the readers. Between 1938 and 1947, DC Comics paid them together at least $ 401,194.85 (equivalent to $ 7,310,000 in 2023). Siegel wrote most of
2967-450: The comics business without ever offering a book deal because the sales of Detective Dan were disappointing. Siegel believed publishers kept rejecting them because he and Shuster were young and unknown, so he looked for an established artist to replace Shuster. When Siegel told Shuster what he was doing, Shuster reacted by burning their rejected Superman comic, sparing only the cover. They continued collaborating on other projects, but for
3036-618: The daily strips, possibly because Siegel had to delegate the Sunday strips to ghostwriters . By 1941, the newspaper strips had an estimated readership of 20 million. Joe Shuster drew the early strips, then passed the job to Wayne Boring . From 1949 to 1956, the newspaper strips were drawn by Win Mortimer . The strip ended in May 1966, but was revived from 1977 to 1983 to coincide with a series of movies released by Warner Bros. Initially, Siegel
3105-431: The erratic pay, Siegel and Shuster kept working for Wheeler-Nicholson because he was the only publisher who was buying their work, and over the years they produced other adventure strips for his magazines. Wheeler-Nicholson's financial difficulties continued to mount. In 1936, he formed a joint corporation with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz called Detective Comics, Inc. in order to release his third magazine, which
3174-482: The franchise beyond the comic books. Superman, Inc. merged with DC Comics in October 1946. After DC Comics merged with Warner Communications in 1967, licensing for Superman was handled by the Licensing Corporation of America. The Licensing Letter (an American market research firm) estimated that Superman licensed merchandise made $ 634 million in sales globally in 2018 (43.3% of this revenue came from
3243-410: The likes of Batman , Wonder Woman , and others. More Superman comic books have been sold in publication history than any other American superhero character. Exact sales figures for the early decades of Superman comic books are hard to find because, like most publishers at the time, DC Comics concealed this data from its competitors and thereby the general public, but given the general market trends at
3312-470: The magazine and daily newspaper stories until he was conscripted into the United States Army in 1943, whereupon the task was passed to ghostwriters. While Siegel was serving in Hawaii, DC Comics published a story featuring a child version of Superman called " Superboy ", which was based on a script Siegel had submitted several years before. Siegel was furious because DC Comics did this without having bought
3381-440: The movies and television shows. Comic book stories can be produced quickly and cheaply, and are thus an ideal medium for experimentation. Whereas comic books in the 1950s were read by children, since the 1990s the average reader has been an adult. A major reason for this shift was DC Comics' decision in the 1970s to sell its comic books to specialty stores instead of traditional magazine retailers (supermarkets, newsstands, etc.) —
3450-562: The newspaper editors were not impressed, and told them that if they wanted to make a successful comic strip, it had to be something more sensational than anything else on the market. This prompted Siegel to revisit Superman as a comic strip character. Siegel modified Superman's powers to make him even more sensational. Like Bill Dunn, the second prototype of Superman is given powers against his will by an unscrupulous scientist, but instead of psychic abilities, he acquires superhuman strength and bullet-proof skin . Additionally, this new Superman
3519-434: The newspapers on their behalf. In October, Wheeler-Nicholson offered to publish Superman in one of his own magazines. Siegel and Shuster refused his offer because Wheeler-Nicholson had demonstrated himself to be an irresponsible businessman. He had been slow to respond to their letters and had not paid them for their work in New Fun Comics #6. They chose to keep marketing Superman to newspaper syndicates themselves. Despite
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#17327730699133588-684: The pool of writers grew, Weisinger demanded a more disciplined approach. Weisinger assigned story ideas, and the logic of Superman's powers, his origin, the locales, and his relationships with his growing cast of supporting characters were carefully planned. Elements such as Bizarro , his cousin Supergirl , the Phantom Zone , the Fortress of Solitude , alternate varieties of kryptonite , robot doppelgangers , and Krypto were introduced during this era. The complicated universe built under Weisinger
3657-661: The rights to Superman using the termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976 . DC Comics negotiated an agreement wherein it would pay the Siegel heirs several million dollars and a yearly stipend of $ 500,000 in exchange for permanently granting DC the rights to Superman. DC Comics also agreed to insert the line "By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family" in all future Superman productions. The Siegels accepted DC's offer in an October 2001 letter. Copyright lawyer and movie producer Marc Toberoff then struck
3726-408: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Peters&oldid=1250860643 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
3795-496: The script that Siegel sent Keaton in June, Superman's origin story further evolved: In the distant future, when Earth is on the verge of exploding due to "giant cataclysms", the last surviving man sends his three-year-old son back in time to the year 1935. The time-machine appears on a road where it is discovered by motorists Sam and Molly Kent. They leave the boy in an orphanage, but the staff struggle to control him because he has superhuman strength and impenetrable skin. The Kents adopt
3864-400: The strips, and they asked Siegel and Shuster to develop the strips into 13 pages for Action Comics . Having grown tired of rejections, Siegel and Shuster accepted the offer. At least now they would see Superman published. Siegel and Shuster submitted their work in late February and were paid US$ 130 (equivalent to $ 2,800 in 2023) for their work ($ 10 per page). In early March they signed
3933-650: The time being Shuster was through with Superman. Siegel wrote to numerous artists. The first response came in July 1933 from Leo O'Mealia, who drew the Fu Manchu strip for the Bell Syndicate . In the script that Siegel sent to O'Mealia, Superman's origin story changes: He is a "scientist-adventurer" from the far future when humanity has naturally evolved "superpowers". Just before the Earth explodes, he escapes in
4002-538: The time, negotiating a deal with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate for Superman. In early January 1938, Siegel had a three-way telephone conversation with Liebowitz and an employee of McClure named Max Gaines . Gaines informed Siegel that McClure had rejected Superman, and asked if he could forward their Superman strips to Liebowitz so that Liebowitz could consider them for Action Comics . Siegel agreed. Liebowitz and his colleagues were impressed by
4071-415: The time, sales of Action Comics and Superman probably peaked in the mid-1940s and thereafter steadily declined. Sales data first became public in 1960, and showed that Superman was the best-selling comic book character of the 1960s and 1970s. Sales rose again starting in 1987. Superman #75 (Nov 1992) had over 23 million copies sold, making it the best-selling issue of a comic book of all time, due to
4140-423: Was John Carter of Mars from the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs . John Carter is a human who is transported to Mars, where the lower gravity makes him stronger than the natives and allows him to leap great distances. Another influence was Philip Wylie 's 1930 novel Gladiator , featuring a protagonist named Hugo Danner who had similar powers. Superman's stance and devil-may-care attitude were influenced by
4209-507: Was a crime-fighting hero instead of a villain, because Siegel noted that comic strips with heroic protagonists tended to be more successful. In later years, Siegel once recalled that this Superman wore a "bat-like" cape in some panels, but typically he and Shuster agreed there was no costume yet, and there is none apparent in the surviving artwork. Siegel and Shuster showed this second concept of Superman to Consolidated Book Publishers, based in Chicago. In May 1933, Consolidated had published
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#17327730699134278-491: Was a radio show, The Adventures of Superman , which ran from 1940 to 1951 for 2,088 episodes, most of which were aimed at children. The episodes were initially 15 minutes long, but after 1949 they were lengthened to 30 minutes. Most episodes were done live. Bud Collyer was the voice actor for Superman in most episodes. The show was produced by Robert Maxwell and Allen Ducovny, who were employees of Superman, Inc. and Detective Comics, Inc. respectively. In 1966 Superman had
4347-432: Was allowed to write Superman more or less as he saw fit because nobody had anticipated the success and rapid expansion of the franchise. But soon Siegel and Shuster's work was put under careful oversight for fear of trouble with censors. Siegel was forced to tone down the violence and social crusading that characterized his early stories. Editor Whitney Ellsworth , hired in 1940, dictated that Superman not kill. Sexuality
4416-417: Was banned, and colorfully outlandish villains such as Ultra-Humanite and Toyman were thought to be less nightmarish for young readers. Mort Weisinger was the editor on Superman comics from 1941 to 1970, his tenure briefly interrupted by military service. Siegel and his fellow writers had developed the character with little thought of building a coherent mythology, but as the number of Superman titles and
4485-697: Was beguiling to devoted readers but alienating to casuals. Weisinger favored lighthearted stories over serious drama, and avoided sensitive subjects such as the Vietnam War and the American civil rights movement because he feared his right-wing views would alienate his left-leaning writers and readers. Weisinger also introduced letters columns in 1958 to encourage feedback and build intimacy with readers. Weisinger retired in 1970 and Julius Schwartz took over. By his own admission, Weisinger had grown out of touch with newer readers. Starting with The Sandman Saga , Schwartz updated Superman by making Clark Kent
4554-585: Was born Kal-El , on the fictional planet Krypton . As a baby, his parents Jor-El and Lara sent him to Earth in a small spaceship shortly before Krypton was destroyed in a natural cataclysm. His ship landed in the American countryside near the fictional town of Smallville , Kansas. He was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent , who named him Clark Kent . Clark began developing superhuman abilities , such as incredible strength and impervious skin. His adoptive parents advised him to use his powers to benefit of humanity, and he decided to fight crime as
4623-486: Was inspired by heraldic crests . Many pulp action heroes such as swashbucklers wore capes. Superman's face was based on Johnny Weissmuller with touches derived from the comic-strip character Dick Tracy and from the work of cartoonist Roy Crane. The word "superman" was commonly used in the 1920s and 1930s to describe men of great ability, most often athletes and politicians. It occasionally appeared in pulp fiction stories as well, such as "The Superman of Dr. Jukes". It
4692-450: Was slapstick comedian Harold Lloyd . The archetypal Lloyd character was a mild-mannered man who finds himself abused by bullies but later in the story snaps and fights back furiously. Kent is a journalist because Siegel often imagined himself becoming one after leaving school. The love triangle between Lois Lane , Clark, and Superman was inspired by Siegel's own awkwardness with girls. The pair collected comic strips in their youth, with
4761-574: Was titled Detective Comics . Siegel and Shuster produced stories for Detective Comics too, such as " Slam Bradley ". Wheeler-Nicholson fell into deep debt to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and in early January 1938, Donenfeld and Liebowitz petitioned Wheeler-Nicholson's company into bankruptcy and seized it. In early December 1937, Siegel visited Liebowitz in New York, and Liebowitz asked Siegel to produce some comics for an upcoming comic anthology magazine called Action Comics . Siegel proposed some new stories, but not Superman. Siegel and Shuster were, at
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