Superman (Russel Keaton)

"Great Heavens, Molly! Look There's A Child Inside!"

- Sam Kent This is an early incarnation of Superman, but he is very similar to the modern version of today. Despite Shuster being a co-creator of Superman, Russel Keaton helps envision this protoype with Jerry Siegel.

The Character
Though he is very similar to the modern Superman, Keaton's is actually the first Superman possessing the ability to fly and he comes from our future. When his parents send the toddler in a time-machine to save him from the destruction of our planet, they send the machine to 1935. Passing motorists run into the capsule, finding a baby inside, the Kent's turn the child over to an orphanage, where he displays great powers beyond mortal men and wreaks havoc. Deciding to adopt the boy, the Kent's name him Clark Kent.

Development
After the failure of the heroic strongman version of Superman, As Jerry Siegel would later explain, in 1934 Joe Shuster had become discouraged with the Superman newspaper strip and decided to let it go. His departure prompted Siegel to look for a replacement, so he sent an inquiry to Keaton. Based on the surviving artwork, it would appear that Keaton did indeed prepare a set of sample daily strips for the syndicate to review. Had Siegel and Keaton succeeded in selling the strip, the history of comics would no doubt have been far different. At the very least Russell Keaton, not Joe Shuster, would most likely be remembered today as Superman’s co-creator. The material also provides a decidedly different take on Superman’s origin. In this version, the infant Superman arrives here from the future via a time machine, sent to 1935 by “the last man on earth.” The couple that discovers him: Sam and Molly Kent. The story then takes a series of fascinating turns in regard to Superman’s childhood, which is the subject of the first extended storyline. Most poignant: in a nod to Siegel’s own immigrant parents, the boy speaks a language that Sam and Molly don’t understand, leading them to speculate that he came from “a foreign country.” The secret of his origin appears to lie in a cryptic “Mystery Note” found in the time capsule, but–as is all too common in immigrant families–when Clark Kent grows up he can no longer read the words.

Trivia

 * This is the first time the Kent's are used in a Superman story, their names are instead Sam and Molly Kent.
 * Though most of the story is lost, it most likely had Superman's love interest Lois Lane in some way.
 * Seeing the surviving artwork, it is likely that Superman didn't have his iconic costume, rather had futuristic clothing.