So I’m reading Action Comics from SCRATCH now as my next reading assignment. At first I was against going back to the Golden Age because it’s so hard to judge stories from back then, but my completest nature took over. It was a decision I have not regretted yet.

Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster were sons of Jewish immigrants, and there is no doubt to me that their version of Clark Kent/Superman was Jewish. June, 1938: the Superman has arrived, and he’s Jewish: his origin is based on baby Moses, he’s forced to be an immigrant, his homeland is destroyed, he’s making a living in the big city, black hair, pale, bespectacled, clean-cut, defender of the abused and meek, anti-authoritarian if need-be, yet unlike so many small Jewish kids, Superman was the most powerful man on earth and defeated bullies. Superman is NOT a Messiah; he is a deliverer of JUSTICE and PUNISHMENT. Superman obeyed the Talmud: to do good for its own sake.

Some more interesting facts about the Golden Age Superman (I’ve read Action Comics #1 – 63 so far):

• There is no Ma and Pa Kent from Kansas. In fact, there’s no Kansas. The boy was found by a passing motorist and given to an orphanage.
• There is no “Krypton” by name, just a planet that was “destroyed by old age”, and with a rocket ship that was “hastily” made. There is no kryptonite. No mention of Superboy yet. I’m reading the real deal from Superman’s original creative team, not the retcons.
• There is no “Kal-L” or “Kal-El” or “Jor-L”, etc. Superman is the only survivor.
• Superman for a while makes long jumps, but doesn’t fly, although over time I’m seeing him hover and “fly”. His powers seemed to develop over time, such as X-Ray vision, and occasionally heat vision and super-breath.
• Superman kills, usually by tossing someone or letting them die. He also threatens to kill, and is not bluffing.
• One aspect that stays the same regardless of era: Lois Lane is really cold and mean to Clark Kent, who is a baffling fool, but Superman is in full control. Superman loves Lois.
• The newspaper building changes names from The Daily Star to Cleveland Evening News (one issue) to The Daily Planet: without any in-story reason. The newspaper’s editor in chief starts off as The Editor, finally named as George Taylor, who was replaced by Perry White- without mention or in-story reason.
• Believe it or not, but I could tell that Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster tried to make Superman “realistic” by offering explanations for his powers in the context of the natural world. In fact, there are not a lot of sci-fi adventures. Most of the stories take place in the U.S.A.
• I don’t believe Jimmy Olsen has been mentioned by name yet as of Action Comics 63, and I’m in 1943. He’s mentioned in the other comic named Superman, according to Wikipedia. Regardless, he has no major role in any story in Action- mostly cameos- nothing special at all.
• The far future is seen in one issue: Superman is alive and hasn’t aged, and behind the scenes; the city is doing fine without him.
• Superman’s personality is not an Enneagram Type 3, as shown in the 1950′s until today in the comics (although Smallville Superman is an Enneagram Type 6). The Golden Age Superman is an Enneagram Type 8, the same type as the Old Testament God, Yahweh.
• Superman’s first super-villain was the Ultra-Humanite, who was bald and in a wheel-chair. He was Superman’s arch nemesis, and switched bodies early on to actress Delores Winters. Lex Luthor had red hair only in one issue of Action Comics!  Other super-villains include The Puzzler, who predated Batman’s The Riddler (!), The Prankster (lame), and The Toyman. However, most of Superman’s opponents had super-powers and he would easily defeat gangsters and thieves.
• Most of the Action Comics covers featured Superman in World War II, but he was never there yet. Most of the covers are misleading and generic. The bulk of the comic covers have no “blurbs” or word captions. The covers could be U.S. propaganda posters.
• There are no reference footnotes saying “See issue 6″ or whatnot.
• But perhaps the most INTERESTING difference between the Golden Age Superman and his later incarnations: Superman was local- he cared about Metropolis, and was not a “global citizen of earth”. Superman did not try to fix the world’s problems, either, he actually practiced “save one soul at a time”- and he helped a battered wife, a struggling circus owner, a young bush-league baseball player in “Fort Lauderville, Florida” with potential, juvenile delinquents, and a rich man’s snobby daughter. He was not politically correct.
• Another STARTLING difference is that Superman was pro-active, not reactive. Superman launched a war on….SPEEDING! One of Clark Kent’s friends was killed by a hit and run driver (which was called something else back then) so he physically stopped speeders and destroyed a car manufacturer for designing cheap and dangerous parts! Superman was not “deputized” by the police, either- in fact, he would routinely break the law and was wanted by them for a time, like Batman. You see, Golden Age Superman took the law in his own hands because he practiced the high moral imperative: if an innocent person was going to prison, he was break the law to stop it. Superman also went on a crusade to abolish GAMBLING! He went against public officials, crooked politicians and police commissioners, scam doctors, and mobsters. Superman’s main concern seemed to giving kids who lived in neglected slums a better life, like Babe Ruth. Since he came from an orphanage, he always had a soft spot for the poor and for kids who needed a break. When it comes to truly defending the meek, weak, and helpless, the Golden Age Superman took initiative. He had no use for money )he routinely gave money away to charities), materialism, or fame. In fact, he’s seen as an urban myth at first, and is not known by many criminals he encounters.

Well, I’m glad I was able to bust some myths about the Golden Age Superman for you by actually reading the comic books. Generally, people are parrots, and just repeat what has been said time and time again, but you can rely on me to tell it like it is.

For example, most “experts” describe the Golden Age Superman as the Earth-2 Superman or Kal-L, or recognize the Superboy retcon in 1945, which was made without input of writer Jerry Siegel. They also claim that The Daily Star is a different newspaper than The Daily Planet, when clearly we weren’t supposed to remember The Daily Star or editor George Taylor. The Daily Star only appeared for around 21 issues of Action Comics anyway. They describe Superman as representing “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” and imply that’s the Bible Belt CHRISTIAN WAY, but Superman had JEWISH values and a symbol of the Jewish people. The Golden Age Superman was Old Testament, not New Testament. Later revision undid this, but I have seen the truth, and now you can too.

Tags: action comics, clark kent superman, Comic Book Editorial, daily planet, Delores Winters, Fort Lauderville, george taylor, God, golden age superman, jerry siegel, jewish immigrants, joe schuster, krypton, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, orphanage, Prankster, Superboy, U.S.