Superman (Golden Age)

The version of Superman from The Golden Age Of Comic Books was also the very first version of the character. While all versions of Superman use Action Comics # 1 as their first appearance, this one literally did appear there first, and is as close to the original intentions of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, as it is possible to get. In one form or another, this version endured for seven decades, and is the direct inspiration for two of the most iconic screen versions of the character, the Fleischer Cartoons version of him shown in movie theaters in the 1940's, and the venerable George Reeves' version, in the six-season long TV series,

First Appearances
Superman was born Kal-L (His family name had no E in this version) on the planet Krypton, which at least in the very first stories, was located in or near Earth's solar system (Later retconned to as far away as another galaxy, which is the default origin for almost all modern origins). No mention was originally made of the resistance his father, Jor-L, met in seeking to escape Krypton's destruction, and even Kal-L's foster parents were merely alluded to, without given names (They were later known as Eben and Sarah Kent, names taken from an early novel about Superman and then used in the George Reeves TV series as well). In fact, until 1948, Superman himself had no idea of how or why he had powers, thinking himself merely a freak of nature, with no clue that he was not from Earth, since apparently his foster parents died before he started his career. Very little of what we would come to know as basic truths of the character's origins were even in mind when he first appeared. Seeking to use his powers to do good and wanting to be in a position to know where he was most needed, Clark Kent sought a position at the newspaper, The Daily Star, but was at first rebuffed by its editor, George Taylor. (Another later retcon had a young Perry White as a fellow staffer to Kent and Lane, and a rival to replace Taylor when he retired). Determined, Kent made his first public appearance as Superman, stopping a lynch mob from hanging a man condemned for murder. Oddly identifying himself as a reporter, Superman was told by the man he saved that not only had he not done it, but that a girl framed as his accomplice was innocent as well. The victim, a labor leader named Jack Kennedy (a name which would later haunt Superman comics, being the nickname of fallen President John F. Kennedy, who was favored by and connected to organized labor) had in fact been killed by a jealous girlfriend, who Superman forced to confess, just in time to get a reprieve from the Governor for the girl who was about to be executed. In this simpler era, Superman also thrashed an abusive husband, implying that he had corrected this situation entirely. Also reflective of the ideals of the time was Superman bringing two warring foreign leaders together to fight it out themselves, rather than have their troops die. The two men found they really had no conflict, and the war in their fictional countries ended. Superman in these times was a vigilante who sometimes even executed criminals or allowed them to die from their own schemes ; he was actually pursued by the police, for all the good it would have done. This Superman was at first limited in his powers ; It was said that he could leap a quarter of a mile, was very strong in an undefined way, and that nothing "short of a bursting shell" could penetrate his tough skin. The early stories also included a primal part of the legend, Lois Lane, his fellow reporter at the Daily Star. Originally, she was cold, shallow, and even petty, though she came to finally respect Clark Kent's ability to get a story.

While Lex Luthor (called Alexi Luthor in his earliest appearances) did not appear right away, Superman faced a bald scientist (Alexi had red hair) named Ultra, who would evolve over time into a ubiquitous villain called The Ultra-Humanite. These earliest, unsettled stories began to see more commonly known plotlines and arcs when Lois first began to suspect that Clark, who in this was widely seen as a sniveling weakling, was in fact Superman's secret identity. Not having the gadgets that his Silver Age self relied upon for this challenge, Superman relied on his wits alone to thwart Lois' quest to "unmask" him.

The 1940's and World War Two
TBC...