Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 25 The Birth of Superman

superman.

Superman.

As the first superhero in the history of American comics, it is undoubtedly a milestone.

At the same time, it is also the cornerstone of a series of "superheroes" born from comics. The name Superman builds the basic concept of a superhero: a person who is far better than ordinary people and has Super (super) abilities.

The role of Superman conforms to all the imaginations of Colin's condensed imprint.

……

"Can the Courier publish comics?"

After making a decision, Colin immediately asked Old John.

"The comic strips are generally only published in the daily newspapers."

Faced with the questioning, Old John didn't have much surprise on his face. In fact, he was vaguely prepared when he saw Colin asking "Dick Tracy" to Little John just now.

"However, the "Messenger" has received contributions from some cartoonists during this period, asking if the newspaper office is willing to serialize their cartoon works in the newspaper. If you are willing, I can contact these cartoonists and send them to the newspaper office... "

So far, John Sr. had thought that Colin was only planning to serialize comics in the "Courier".

"Submissions, no, we don't need submissions."

Shaking his head, Colin rejected Old John's proposal.

"Don't submit, then..."

Hearing this, Old John looked up with some doubts.

Under the puzzled eyes of the two people in the newspaper office, Ke Lin said slowly and confidently: "The comics serialized in the "Courier" are created by myself."

Fortunately, I learned to draw before time travel, otherwise, I might not be able to speak out.

While speaking, a thought flashed through Colin's mind at the same time.

……

"...So, this is the protagonist of the manga you created, Boss, Supe...well, Super..."

At the Messenger Newspaper, Old John looked at the figure that Colin drew on the manuscript paper, wearing a figure that looked weird like a circus leotard and cloak, and said hesitantly.

"Superman."

Turning the pen in his hand, he completely outlined the image of Superman on the draft paper, Colin added.

"Okay, Superman."

Pushing the brass presbyopic glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose, Old John looked at his 'Superman', looked up at Colin in front of him, and continued to ask: "So, what is the main storyline of the comic? It's also like Does Dick Tracy tell the story of a private eye solving a crime?"

Detective comics were the mainstream of serialized comics in this period, and many newspapers published this type of comics.

It's just that Old John secretly glanced at the 'Superman' on the draft paper, no matter how he looked at him, he didn't look like a private detective.

"Do not."

Shaking his head, putting away the pen in his hand, Colin pointed to the 'Superman' on the draft paper, and threw out the setting of the comics: "Superman was born on Krypton, and his real name was Kal-El. When he was a baby, Put alone in the spaceship by his parents, when he left, the planet where he was born had a big explosion..."

"...After arriving on the earth, Superman, who was still a baby, landed on the scene. He was discovered and adopted by the farm owner and his wife, and changed his name to Clark Kent. After growing up, Superman came to the metropolitan newspaper "Messenger Daily" and became a reporter. ..."

"So, the comic is about Superman working as a news reporter for the Daily Courier!"

Unlike his father, Old John, Little John, who usually likes to read comics, more easily accepted Colin's background setting of Superman, especially after hearing that Superman became a reporter like himself, he couldn't help but speak Said.

"The reporter is just what Superman is on the surface."

Not dissatisfied by Little John's interruption, Colin looked at Little John who was a little excited, and reminded with a smile: "Don't forget, Superman is an alien from Krypton, although in appearance he There is no difference from us, but in fact he has a very different ability and identity?"

"Identity, what is that?"

Successfully attracted by Colin's words, Little John couldn't help asking.

"Super hero."

Seeing this, Colin didn't overwhelm his appetite, and immediately exposed Superman's 'secret identity'.

"Super hero?!"

Although, before this, Little John had never heard of this name.

But for some reason, he felt that the title 'superhero' seemed to have a strange appeal.

Compared with Little John's fascination, Old John who was beside him seemed much calmer.Perhaps because of the age difference, the attraction of superheroes to him has been greatly weakened.

"I admit that your setting of the comic character of Superman, whether it is an alien, a journalist or a superhero, is very attractive and surprisingly complete. However, there are still many mainstream comics serialized in major newspapers. It is mainly humorous and funny 'four-panel comics' or detective action comics..." Here, Old John deliberately avoided another major type of comics.

"Even horror comics have become less popular with readers in recent years, and it's still a question mark whether the theme of 'Superman', which is completely based on sci-fi aliens, will be accepted by readers."

What Old John put forward was not that he deliberately made things difficult.

But some real problems.

The birth of the original Superman comics also experienced several twists and turns.

At that time, the creator of the comics visited many newspapers with the manuscript of Superman, but all of them were rejected. Obviously, the newspapers at that time had the same views as Old John, and they all had hesitation about the subject of comics such as Superman.

It's just that it's different from the impoverished Superman author at the time.

Right now, Ke Lin is not only the creator of comics, but also the boss of the newspaper.

Therefore, even if Old John expressed his worries about the sci-fi-themed comics of Superman, he was the one who made the final decision.

After carefully listening to the suggestions of the newspaper workers.

Colin still made a decisive decision to serialize Superman comics next week.

However, under Old John's argument, he still made a little concession.It’s just that I didn’t just ignore it and use all the pages of the "Courier" to serialize Superman comics. Instead, I used the method of testing the water temperature to serialize the content of three episodes through the newspaper on the back of the "Courier" to see if the comics on this theme could be published. Can catch the reader's attention.

For the rest of the page, the 'kind' greetings from President Hoover are still typed.

As the sales volume of the "Courier" increased in the past few weeks, the song that Colin handed to the newsboys gradually spread, and even many people who had never bought a newspaper began to hum spontaneously.

It is said that even Hoover knew what the ballad was about.

I just don't know what kind of expression he had on his face when he was listening to this nursery rhyme in the White House.

(End of this chapter)