Action Comics #1, published on April 18th, 1938, featured the first ever appearance of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s iconic superhero, Superman. 

The character already boasted invincibility, had a hopeless crush on Lois Lane, and an inexplicable penchant for wearing bright red underpants on the outside of his costume. But, as yet, he could not fly, did not live in Kansas, and did not work at the Daily Planet.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Siegel and Shuster came to sell the rights to their creation for a paltry $130; reveal the Jewish subtexts of Krypton and Batman; and consider whether Superman’s liberal politics prevented DC from fully embracing the character they’d unleashed… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Action Comics #1: Superman’ (DC, 1938): https://archive.org/details/superman-1938-issue-1/mode/2up

• ‘Superman at 80: The Jewish origins of the Man of Steel and the 'curse' that haunts the actors who play him’ (The Independent, 2018): https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/superman-jewish-origins-film-adaptations-curse-jerry-siegel-christopher-reeve-henry-cavill-a8344461.html

• ‘Superman’ (Columbia, 1948): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7soDPQUxpOk

#30s #Publishing #Jewish #Comics

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

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