The Science of Superman: Superman on the Screen and in the Comics

Superman Returns is sure to be one of 2006 summer’s hottest movie releases. To fully appreciate the latest Superman film, it is important to look at the history of Superman, the comic strip, the movies, and the men of steel who have donned the red cape and tights. 

Jermone Siegel and Joseph Shusler first invented Superman in 1934. The character originally lived on a parallel earth. He was still trying to save the world from evil, corruption, and destruction. In the 1940’s MC Gaines bought the feature for DC comics. 

The early strips told of how Jor-L and Lora, young Superman’s biological parents, were frightened by the destruction on their planet Krypton. Scared for the life of their young son, WaLa, they placed him on an experimental rocket headed to Earth. Once on Earth he was adopted by the Kent family and became Kent Clark. Then his adventures with bad guys, bad girls, and Lois Lane began in the city of Metropolis at the Daily Star. 

Actors such as Dean Cain and Jimmy Olsen, in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman have starred as the hero. Each one was entertaining and brought his own personality to the role; however, American audiences did not truly fall deeply and madly in love with Superman at the movies until the late Christopher Reeves portrayed the man in tights. 

Reeves, a New York native and virtually unknown actor in 1978, beat out such stellar entertainers as Warren Beatty, James Caan, Kris Kristofferson, Nick Nolte, Robert Redford, Jon Voight, and California’s own Arnold Schwarzenegger to nab the lead role in Superman and Superman II. 

The two films were shot back to back. Because of director Richard Donner’s cast call most people think of Reeves when they think of Superman battling Lex Luthor and saving the world from doom and destruction.