1950's Superman had it right.

[riqster]

[IMG][/IMG]

[Orrex]

1. Well, sometimes

[Enthusiast]

4. I like Turok Son of Stone.

[Orrex]

7. I thought he was Son of Thunder?

I can't keep my Turoks straight.

It's tricky Turok a rhyme, Turok a rhyme that's right on time
It's Tricky

[lovemydog]

8. For those about Turok

we salute you!

[F4lconF16]

21. I'm dying.

[Bobbie Jo]

31. lol

[ismnotwasm]

36. Awesome

[Revanchist]

33. Better than 70's Superman (maybe)

Do a google image search for Lois Lane I am curious black

Can find that one plus many more on the Superman is a dick website http://www.superdickery.com/

[randome]

2. The 1940s Adventures of Superman radio show was full of stuff like this.

It was often presented in a heavy-handed way but still an important development in our culture during and post-WWII that we seem to have forgotten.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[brooklynite]

3. You DO realize that this didn't include the "godless"

[Enthusiast]

6. Well that was over the line.

[riqster]

12. Didn't include everybody.

Doesn't make it a bad thing.

[Revanchist]

14. I've wondered how religion survives in a comic book universe

With the existence of actual gods, aliens, and immortal beings. Then again they also have demons and angels so perhaps the Abrahamic "God" is real in these universes. Not sure about Jesus though, I haven't kept up with comics for over 20 years now.

[Hekate]

27. Civic religion was deliberately inclusive, for the times: "God" and "Creator" were referred to...

...on occasion, but not "Jesus" or "Mary." Yes, the god was the Abrahamic god, which in the US at the time meant Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. The details were considered to be something people elaborated on inside their churches and synagogues, not in the public square.

Using the terms "God" and "Creator" was assumed to be inclusive of all who believed in deities (Hindus, Buddhists, et al.) and was thought to be courteous.

[Revanchist]

29. If that's the case...

could there be atheists or agnostics in a comic book universe? You could still chose whether or not to actively worship the deity of your choosing, but could you still claim that you don't believe in the existence of God? Or is like the Supernatural Universe where the truth is not common knowledge so atheism would still be common place?

I've been watching the series Constantine on Hulu plus and he's working for God with an angel advisor (of sorts) fighting the rising darkness but while he knows God exists, he sort of despises Him, since God won't take an active role in preventing suffering and evil. In the real world where magic doesn't exist I would see him questioning the existence of God, if not stating that God doesn't exist but since he's in the DC universe, he has no doubt in the existence, but he's no worshiper.

[ismnotwasm]

37. Hellblazer is my favorite comic

God doesn't play an active roll, but various demons, as well as satan, do. It digs a bit into whether satan was the original fallen or not (he wasn't, and there's a short comic series called "Lucifer" about the one who was)

No, Constantine is no fan of God, but for the first decade of the comic, he's an anti hero who wants to save humanity from demonic forces. In other words, he's not relying on God to do anything, and frequently questions why HE even tries.

[DinahMoeHum]

18. Methinks they assume atheism is also a religion. . .

. . .so your comment is indeed nit-picky.

[jwirr]

20. Only if they were the communist godless.

[Enthusiast]

5. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[rpannier]

10. He also supported people paying taxes

[spooky3]

11. Why is his cape blowing in the wind but no one

Else's clothes or hair is affected?

[riqster]

13. Kryptonite farts?

[mucifer]

15. In 1946 Stetson Kennedy wrote a 16 part episode of Superman

on the radio that bashed the kkk and actually did some real damage to the organization. Not to mention every few minutes on the show kids were told the klansmen are cowards.:

[KeepItReal]

22. As recalled on "Drunk History"

[mrmpa]

25. Superman and labor unions.......

sometime after WWII, there were radio episodes where Superman fought for union members and WWII veterans against management. Heard them on satellite radio station 82 within the past few months.

[Phil1934]

16. He was an illegal alien

who illegally entered the US

[riqster]

17. So was Howard the Duck.

[FailureToCommunicate]

19. +1 (Yes, but he was Caucasian, somehow)

[TheKentuckian]

40. Dim and dying red star might lead to paleness?

The somehow would probably be being humanoid at all.

[Moonwalk]

23. 1930' Superman was even better...he beat up bankers and wife beaters...

He was, in effect, a socialist.

[zentrum]

26. Fascinating

Was this the comic book or are there any radio shows with these themes?

[Moonwalk]

34. This was in the first year or so of the comic book. It was 1933...

...when Superman was created, there in the midst of the depression; he didn't find a publisher till 1938, and the sentiments of his poor creators, formed over those five years trying to sell him, were clear in those early issues. Of course, they'd invent a hero to save the poor and vulnerable from all kinds of abusers—the same ones that they'd seen abusing their own family and friends, including robbers and bankers (one in the same, in most cases).

Clark Kent, after all, was a man of the people. As well as journalist exposing injustices and corruption.

But then WWII arrived and Superman—all Superheroes invented in the few years after Superman appeared—were needed to fight Nazis and the Hirohito. This was when the radio show came to the fore. So I'd be doubtful that the radio shows had much of those early socialist themes in them. Though I could be wrong about that. They did put on shows right out of the comic book and comic strip. And I haven't listened to many such nor do I know much about them.

[zentrum]

35. Great info. Thanks.

What I love is that in the 30's, in popular culture, a super macho hero could have socialist leanings. Not like the Schwarzenegger's of today.

[Moonwalk]

39. Well, I guess on the other side of the coin is Batman who came out a year after Superman and...

...as been equally popular ever since. He is the epitome of the trickle down myth. A billionaire who not only shares his wealth and makes the city better with money, but uses it to personally fight crime. In between enjoying all the toys, mansion, sexy women and butler money can buy

Batman fans (and don't get me wrong, I like him fine), will say that he's "more real" than Superman because Superman is invulnerable, etc. But if you think about it, Superman is more "real" to their experience than Batman. As Clark Kent, he had ordinary parents who worked hard and raised him well--average home, no servants, family meals in the kitchen, chores to do. He lived in an ordinary town, went to a public school, was picked on, had a crush on the popular girl who didn't notice him. In his current job he gets yelled at by the boss, is overworked and underpaid, and is usually ignored and disrespected by co-workers.

...until, of course, he takes the glasses off and becomes Superman. Even as Superman he shows his every-man roots by fighting 1% Lex Luthor.

He might not have to to be afraid of a bullet killing him, but then, logically, neither does Batman who is a popular fictional character and will never be really killed off. Realism in a superhero, I think, is in who they are when not fighting crime, and what criminals they choose to fight and how. Not in whether they can be physically harmed.

End of Rant

[zentrum]

41. Really nice points.

It's really interesting—the archetype of Clark Kent combined with this heroism. And how Batman has none of that—he's an "icon" in or out of cape.

Thanx.

[Moonwalk]

42. Batman is seen as heroic because he is willing to risk death and injury to stop criminals....

Like a cop. And like a cop he gets to scare them, beat them up, and "avenge" the victims. So that makes him very appealing to readers who feel the world has beaten them up. Superman, interestingly, started out that way. He was not nice and he was scary to the bullies. But he became more of a fireman battling the bigger forces that match his powers. His aim was usually to rescue trapped people or stop a disaster...then go after the criminal behind it.

Given his powers, especially his invulnerability to harm, his heroism becomes less about what he's risking and more about being moral even though it would be very easy for him to be very immoral. It's in maintaining his humanity when he's not human and doesn't have to act human. This is a more difficult heroism for readers (and writers!) to identify with because it involves flying protectively over everyone, but never looking down on them. The man with a lot of power brutally avenging victims by beating up or killing off bad guys is a far easier meme.

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Likely has something to do with his creators.

[Tom Ripley]

38. ^^^THIS^^^

[spanone]

24. k&r...

[B Calm]

30. That punches holes right through the republican message, don't it?

[bklyncowgirl]

32. Truth, Justice and the American Way!

I watched the old Superman show religiously as a kid. It also had Lois Lane as an independent, hard-driving, professional woman. Quite progressive for its time.