From the Inception of Comics to the Champion of the Oppressed

June 15, 2021

Pulp magazines are directly responsible for the content of American superhero comics. Pulp magazines, named for the cheap pulp paper, contained collections of stories relating to the mystery, noir and science fiction genres (Wright.2001:3). Primary examples would be The Shadow (Gibson.1931-1949) by Walter B. Gibson and John Carter of Mars (Burroughs.1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Celebrated authors, including Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie published in these pulp magazines. Unlike later comics, pulps were considered a legitimate form of literature, with many young adults and teenagers reading them and gaining inspiration for future works. The Shadow became inspiration for the character of Batman (Weldon.2016) as well as John Carter of Mars inspiring elements of the Superman mythos (Weldon.2013).

The figures above depict the cover of All-Story Magazine, and the first page of John Carter’s debut. From this, we see the beginning of the comic book and the comic strip format. The image on the upper half of the right page sets the tone for the story, appearing similarly to a comic strip with the same size and format. Using Cohn’s terminology, this appears as a ‘whole row’.

The success of pulp magazines proved to newspaper publishers that short stories, some accompanied by illustrations, were a viable avenue for an audience, but above all, an avenue for profit. This led to syndicated comic strips being produced for newspapers. The idea was that a newspaper company would buy the rights to a series of strips at a price and run them in their newspapers at a profit by printing them in syndication. The longer a strip was I syndication, the more money it would make. The creation of the American comic book industry has roots in this decision. Early comic strips printed in newspapers lines up with McLuhan’s discussion of comics needing to be looked at after print (McLuhan.1964:178). In the book Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture (Wright.2001), Bradford Wright discusses the origin of the medium, and documents the transition from newspaper printed comic strips, to a format in line with 21^st century comic books.

Looking at newspaper comic strips, the above image shows the first Peanuts strip from October of 1950 (Schulz.1950). Despite its publication in 1950, the format stays the same. A long ‘strip’ containing panels, set out similarly to Cohn’s description of a ‘whole row’. We can see similarities between the Peanuts strip and the illustrated image at the top right of the All-Story Magazine page. A complete ‘whole row’ in the case of the John Carter illustration, and a ‘whole row’ made up of four equal panels in the case of the Peanuts strip.

In 1933, Harry Wildenberg and Maxwell Gains, employees at Eastern Color, realised that the standard seven-by-nine-inch printing plates used to print the Sunday comic strip pages, could also be used to print two reduced comic pages side by side on a magazine sized page. This would then be folded in half and bound together as a book full of comic strips. Gains and Wildenberg proposed to Eastern Color that they test out their theory by printing 10,000 copies of Funnies on Parade. A magazine made up of many comic strips the company owned. These were sold to Proctor and Gamble to use as promotional material. The theory was successful, leading to Eastern Color trying a larger print run. This time reprinting Mutt and Jeff and Palooka syndicated comic strips, and selling them to youth orientated companies, including Kinney Shoes and Canada Dry (Wright.2001:3).

Wright discusses how the comic book owes its content to the pulp magazines, such as how The Shadow and John Carter were partial inspirations for the characters of Batman and Superman. This implies that the American comic book is an amalgamation of the content from pulp magazines and the presentation of newspaper comic strips. Eastern Color’s target audience for this initial print was children, setting the tone for how comics would be perceived. Notably, Eastern Color used comic strips they already owned and were in syndication, the initial comic books contained no new material.

During the Great Depression (1929 – 1939), Newspapers played a key role in informing the public and swaying public opinion. Due to their prominence, having a comic strip published in a major newspaper meant that a large portion of the population would see your work. This made newspaper comic strips a desired carer for artists wanting to make money. For Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, becoming newspaper comic strip creators was their only goal (Tyre.2012:23).

Both Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were born in 1914, and to Jewish parents with Joe Shuster being born to Polish Jewish immigrants (Dooley & Engle.1987:19-20). Both boys would have been aware of the Anti-Semitic overtones present with America. By the 1930s, 60% of the voting American public had low regard for the Jewish, ‘labelling them “greedy”, “dishonest”, and “pushy”’ (Jaher.2009:230). Michael Siegel, the father of Jerry Siegel, was attacked in his store in 1932 which led to his death, an event that shook Jerry Siegel, and can be considered an attack fuelled by Anti-Semitism and the desperation of the Depression (Ricca.2013:6-9). With the death of Siegel’s father, and the poverty Shuster’s family experienced, creating a comic strip that could make money was the goal.

Siegel and Shuster’s first incarnation of Superman came in the form of Reign of the Superman (Siegel & Shuster.1933), a short storyinspired by Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Nietzche.1885) and the concept of the “Ubermensch”. The Superman shown here is a test subject who is given telepathic powers by a mad scientist. With the newfound power, the man becomes intoxicated and seeks to rule the world. At the end of the story, the man discovers the powers are temporary and can not recreate the formula after killing the mad scientist. The man returns to poverty and is forgotten by history (Siegel & Shuster.1933).

Notably, this evil Superman was published in the same year that Adolf Hitler opened the first Jewish/Anti-Nazi Concentration Camps and became dictator of Germany. The Superman seen in Reign mirrors the Ubermensch that Nietzsche spoke of, and Hitler aimed for, but a twisted and corrupted one much like how the rest of the world would see Hitler. A figure that gained great power, sought to take over the world and failed. Siegel and Shuster decided to rethink this initial short story and turn it into a comic strip, now with their Superman reworked into a hero (Ricca.2013:94-95). The inspiration for architecture seen within Reign of the Superman, 1927s Metropolis (Lang.1927)would once again inspire this new Superman, this time by lending its name to Superman’s city. This new hero would have a secret identity that allowed him to blend in with the rest of the world (Ricca.2013:99-101), would dress in clothing reminiscent of a circus strongman to signify his significant strength (Brownie & Graydon.2016:11-15), comes from another world much like John Carter, and would act as a champion for the oppressed during the Depression (Thomas.2015:11). The title ‘Champion of the Oppressed’ would appear on the first page of this new comic strip (Siegel & Shuster.1938:1) signifying how Siegel and Shuster wanted their character to be seen.

Siegel and Shuster pitched the comic strip for Superman to multiple companies, including National publications (now known as DC Comics). In 1935 Major Malcom Wheeler Nicholson, a key figure in comic book history for shaping the company that would become DC Comics (Hajidu.2008:19), expressed interest in Siegel and Shuster’s pitch. The Major, in a letter dated October 4^th, 1935, suggested that the comic strip would work better in the new comic book format and offered to pay for the strip. Siegel and Shuster turned down this offer, stating that they were ‘holding out for a newspaper strip’ (Ricca.2013:145-146), considering it the more profitable avenue due to the built-in audience.

In January of 1938, Siegel and Shuster agreed to let their comic strip be published as a comic book after failing to get an offer for their original comic strip. The comic strips were cut into pieces and pasted as 13 comic book pages (Voloj & Campi.2018:83). We can see for the example pages from Action Comics #1 (Siegel & Shuster.1938:11-12), that the very first example of American superhero comics was not an active attempt to make the most of a new storytelling format, but instead a compromise an adaptation to a new medium. This is most evident by how the panels line up in rows in the same manner as both the John Carter of Mars and Peanuts examples.

Notably, Major Malcom Wheeler-Nicolson’s offer was made in 1935, while Action Comics #1 was not published until 1938. There was time to restructure their work to make full use of the page, but instead decided to continue with the same format across 13 pages. This decision sets the precedent for what would come after in superhero comics. The state of the world had also shifted between 1935 and 1938, Hitler became Fuhrer of Germany, the Reichstag building in Berlin was set on fire. The Nuremburg Laws were passed in Germany limiting the rights of Jewish people, and U.S. President Roosevelt wrote to Hitler asking for peace. While war had not broken out yet, news from Europe was still making it to American citizens, and war seemed inevitable. Siegel and Shuster chose not to re-write their comic strip, instead leaving the issue keeping Superman as the ‘Champion of the Oppressed’.

In Superman’s debut issue, Siegel and Shuster made it clear that Superman was there to help those affected by the Great Depression. In the first story, Superman proves the innocence of a woman who is about to be executed (Siegel & Shuster.1938:3-4), stops a wife beater (Siegel & Shuster.1938:5-6), and saves Lois Lane from kidnappers (Siegel & Shuster.1938:7-10). Two quotes from this first issue cements Superman as a protector. When confronting the wife beater, Superman states ‘You’re not fighting a woman, now!’ (Siegel & Shuster.1938:5). Later when saving Lois Lane, and speaking to her for the first time, he says ‘You needn’t be afraid of me. I won’t harm you’ (Siegel & Shuster.1938:10). These two instances show Superman as an enemy to those that abuse others, and kind-hearted to those that suffer at their hands. A true champion of the oppressed during the Depression.

Extra Notes:

Ubermensch being a German word meaning Superman, Overman, Uberman or Superhuman. A superior human being.

Both DC Comics and Marvel Comics have been known by several names throughout their history, with DC being known by the names, National Comics, National Periodical Publications, Superman-DC, and finally settling on DC Comics in 1977, named for Detective Comics. Marvel had previously been known as Timely Comics while still owned by Martin Goodman, before settling on Marvel Comics in the early 1960s (Howe.2012).