Pop Music Super Heroes: Encore

Just when I thought we've run out of pop star super heroes it's been brought to my attention a couple other super-jems. These both feature the original hero, the man of steel. So I close out the set with:

Crash Test Dummies
Superman's Song
Featuring both Superman and Tarzan



and loosen your leisure suit and put on your boogie shoes for...

Superman
by Herbie Mann



Check out set one, set two and set three here.

Pop Music Super Heroes Set 2

Yesterday we began the exploration on super-heroes in pop music. Today we continue that with a focus on the hero that started it all; Superman! It's not surprising that this man from Krypton has iconic status and is almost the go-to figure when looking for that all-encompassing super-heroic image with him being the first man in tights, an outsider, an alien, powerful and invulnerable yet isolated and alone.


Yesterday, Donovan showed up with his Supergirl song and today he's here with Sunshine Superman featuring both Superman and the Green Lantern



Next up we have Jim Croce with "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" featuring Superman and the Lone Ranger.



REM comes up next with "I Am Superman" which is actually a cover from a 1969 band called the Clique.



Finally we have The Spindoctors with Jimmy Olsen's Blues (A Pocketful Of Kryptonite).



Check out set one and set three here.

Encore here

You Don't Pull On Superman's Cape...

After finishing the fantastic historical book Men of Tomorrow by G. Jones, I got really pumped up for some Superman action, most notably the earliest newspaper strips of the underwear clad hero. These were exclusively written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster, creators of Superman (with a little help from their studio) for National Periodicals (DC Comics) wayyyy back in 1939.

Siegel and Shuster's pulp influences shine through as this Superman is grim, a bit of a smart-ass, and a cold-hearted do-gooder before DC (without Siegel and Shuster) removed all edge from the hero.

In just only six months of the strip, we have one suicide attempt, 6 death (most of which are by the hands of Superman himself), one case of animal experimentation (let's face it this one is just plain cruel), child abuse from a orphanage superintendent and Superman delivers some cold justice and Superman's 'cold justice' is literally letting you die.

Here's just some examples from the first few months of the strip (pardon the images as I couldn't scan them from my book but had to take photos).

This speaks for itself.

Superman's patented style of 'persuasion' as he liked to call it.

A little too much 'persuasion' perhaps?

Thugs attempting to escape in a plane? Not with Superman around and
his form of Justice!

Cold, Superman, cold. Dick Cheney better watch out, Superman don't like no war-profiteers.

Oh, and this is just an amazing sequence for any comic strip....

No, Clark, sadly this is not a gag....

Ambrose looks a bit agitated, as well he should for in the next sequence....

Yes, Clark, he's dead. DEAD! Ambrose! Noooooooooooooo!

I love this old Superman strip. He's mostly fighting gangsters, graft and corruption at all levels, definitely a sign of the depression era. Siegel and Shuster's hero was pretty dark and grim, much on the same level as Batman was back then too - a direct influence from the pulps that these creators grew up with in the 1920's. But they were heroes in the eyes of the readers as everyone felt the oppression and hopelessness of the times with breadlines, unemployment and the shadows of the coming war. Superman struck a chord of the times and began an industry.

It's sad that today's comic strips are nothing compared to the grim fantastic tales of the origins of adventure strips. They lack the sexuality of Flash Gordon, the noir of Dick Tracy, and the cold violent reality of the times from Superman. Maybe the print media wouldn't be on the ropes so much if they advanced their comic strips with the times. But times are different and they're constantly changing faster today than ever. It sure would be great to have strips like this promoted by your local great metropolitan newspaper.