Re-Constructing the Man of Steel: Superman 1938–1941, Jewish American History, and the Invention of the Jewish–Comics Connection PDF
Preview Re-Constructing the Man of Steel: Superman 1938–1941, Jewish American History, and the Invention of the Jewish–Comics Connection
re-constructing the man of steel Superman 1938–1941, Jewish American History, and the Invention of the Jewish–Comics Connection MARTIN LUND Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture Series Editors Aaron David Lewis Arlington , Massachusetts, USA Eric Michael Mazur Virginia Wesleyan College Norfolk , Virginia, USA Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture (CRPC) invites renewed engagement between religious studies and media studies, anthropol- ogy, literary studies, art history, musicology, philosophy, and all man- ner of high-level systems that under gird the everyday and commercial. Specifi cally, as a series, CRPC looks to upset the traditional approach to such topics by delivering top-grade scholarly material in smaller, more focused, and more digestible chunks, aiming to be the wide-access niche for scholars to further pursue specifi c avenues of their study that might not be supported elsewhere. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15420 Martin Lund Re-Constructing the Man of Steel Superman 1938–1941, Jewish American History, and the Invention of the Jewish–Comics Connection Martin Lund CUNY Graduate Center Brooklyn, New York, USA Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture ISBN 978-3-319-42959-5 ISBN 978-3-319-42960-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42960-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016958028 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Przemyslaw Koch / Alamy Stock Photo. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland A CKNOWLEDGMENTS Too many people have helped in the process that led up to this book, in ways big and small, for me to be able to name you all. This does not mean that I do not appreciate you or what you have done for me. There is one name that towers above all others in my career, one per- son without whom this project could not have been pulled off: Jonas Otterbeck, supervisor, mentor, friend, and much more. Without him, I would be neither where I am nor who I am today. Thank you for every- thing you have done for me. Traveling alongside us on the road to a fi nished dissertation were two others, without whom also I would not be writing this. Johan Åberg, who fi rst introduced me to the world of Jewish studies, and Hanne Trautner- Kromann, who helped me get started and who stayed behind to make sure I could do this. Thank you both, for opening up the world for me. I also extend my sincerest thanks to Beth S. Wenger, for a stimulating conversation, and to Pierre Wiktorin, Karin Zetterholm, and Mike Prince, for making me a doctor of philosophy. Thanks also to David Heith-Stade, Linnéa Gradén, Anthony Fiscella, David Gudmundsson, Ervik Cejvan, and Matz Hammarström, my fellow exiles in that inaccessible wing of our alma mater. Thanks to Anna Minara Ciardi for everything . Thanks to Ola Wikander for the long walk-and- talks. Thanks to Bosse for all the procrastination disguised as long con- versations. Thanks to the Andreases—Johansson and Gabrielsson—and to Acke, Johan Cato, Simon Stjernholm, Erik Alvstad, and Paul Linjamaa, for their input, support, and friendship in various situations. Thanks also to my doctoral “triplets” Erica and Eva, for helping me keep it together v vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS that last summer. Finally, thanks to the many others who, in one way or another, made my time at Centre for Theology and Religious Studies as nice as it was. Thanks to Chris, Janni, Johan Kullenbok, Hanna Gunnarsson, Niklas and Ida, Ollebär, and the rest of you who helped make my time in Lund so memorable. Thanks to Fredrik Strömberg, Mike Prince (again!), Svenn- Arve, Mikko, A. David Lewis, Julian Chambliss, Ian Gordon, Caitlin McGurk, Julia Round, Steven Bergson and the countless other comics scholars who have made my career in the fi eld rewarding on a personal plane, as well as on an intellectual one. Thanks to Nancy, Ian (again!), Rob Snyder, Suzanne Wasserman, Steph and Josh, and all the rest of you who have showed me New York life. Thanks to Huma for going along on the never-ending mac’n’cheese quest. And thanks to Liz for being Liz— nobody could fi nd a better cousin to be adopted by in their early thirties. Thanks to Jake, who, while we have only gotten to hang out sporadi- cally since we left Kullen, has remained a constant and palpable presence in my life through the music he introduced me to, and through the music he makes. Thanks to Alex, for being a friend and an enabler. And thanks, with no end, to Martin and Emil, who have always been there, and who I know always will be. I also thank my family, from the bottom of my heart: mom, Johan, Joakim, and Kent. I love you all. And last, but by no measure least, thanks to Jordan, for complimenting my taste in books and for making every day better than the one before. C ONTENTS 1 Introduction: Who Is Superman? 1 2 Introducing the Jewish–Comics Connection 1 9 3 The Jewish–Comics Connection Reconsidered 43 4 And So Begins a Startling Adventure 6 9 5 Superman, Champion of the Oppressed 8 3 6 Patriot Number One 9 9 7 The Hearts and Minds of Supermen 1 25 8 Superman and the Displacement of Race 1 41 vii viii CONTENTS 9 Of Men and Superman 157 10 Forgotten and Remembered Supermen 175 Bibliography 189 Index 207 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Who Is Superman? Superman is today probably one of the world’s most instantly and widely recognizable pop culture icons. 1 Created at the height of the Great Depression by writer J erome “Jerry” Siegel and artist J oseph “Joe” Shuster, two young Jewish men living in C leveland , Ohio, Superman was a near-instant success. He fi rst appeared in A ction Comics #1, cover dated June 1938, but was on the stands already in April. 2 Each issue of A ction , which contained one Superman story apiece, soon sold over 900,000 copies a month. His own title, Superman , soon sold somewhere between 1,250,000 and 1,300,000 on a bimonthly publication sched- ule, while most other comic books at the time sold somewhere between 200,000–400,000 copies. 3 Superman has since starred in hundreds, if not thousands of comic books, as well as numerous adaptations into other media. He has featured in radio serials, feature fi lms, live action and ani- mated television series, and even a musical, while his likeness has graced almost every kind of commodity imaginable. Further, he inspired a slew of imitators almost as soon as he appeared. This fl urry of superhero pub- lication is now commonly recognized as the beginning of the “Golden Age” of US superhero comics, an era that lasted roughly between 1938 and 1954, and the impact of which still reverberates around the globe. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 1 M. Lund, Re-Constructing the Man of Steel, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42960-1_1
The list of books you might like
