Superman is a superhero who first appeared in American comic books published by DC Comics. Along with the Lone Ranger he is one of Mork's favorite fictional character references.
About Superman[]
The character of Superman was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and published April 18, 1938).
Superman was born on the planet Krypton and was given the name Kal-El at birth. As a baby, his parents sent him to Earth in a small spaceship moments before Krypton was destroyed in a natural cataclysm. His ship landed in the American countryside, near the fictional town of Smallville. He was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who named him Clark Kent. Clark developed various superhuman abilities, such as incredible strength and impervious skin. His adoptive parents advised him to use his abilities for the benefit of humanity, and he decided to fight crime. To protect his privacy, he changes into a colorful costume and uses the alias "Superman" when fighting crime. Clark Kent resides in the fictional American city of Metropolis, where he works as a journalist for the Daily Planet.
Superman's love interest Lois Lane is the top journalist at the Planet, and the two characters are the most noted comic book couple on the page and on screen. Supporting characters include their editor, Perry White, photographer Jimmy Olsen, and Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor.
Superman is the classic archetype of the superhero character: he wears an outlandish costume, uses a codename, and fights evil with the aid of extraordinary abilities. Although there are earlier fictional characters who arguably fit this definition, it was Superman who popularized the superhero genre and established its conventions. He was the best-selling superhero character in American comic books up until the 1980s. [1]
Superman has leapt off the page to appear in many forms of media. The first adaptation of Superman beyond comic books was a radio show, The Adventures of Superman, which ran from 1940 to 1951 for 2,088 episodes, most of which were aimed at children. The episodes were initially 15 minutes long, but after 1949 they were lengthened to 30 minutes. Most episodes were done live. Bud Collyer was the voice actor for Superman in most episodes. The show was produced by Robert Maxwell and Allen Ducovny, who were employees of Superman, Inc. and Detective Comics, Inc. respectively.
In 1966 Superman had a Tony-nominated musical play produced on Broadway. It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman featured music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams and book by David Newman and Robert Benton. Actor Bob Holiday performed as Clark Kent/Superman and actress Patricia Marand performed as Lois Lane.[1]
But beyond the comic book pages it's the TV and Movie versions of Superman that live most in the memory.
- Paramount Pictures released a series of Superman theatrical animated shorts between 1941 and 1943. Seventeen episodes in total were made, each 8–10 minutes long. The first nine films were produced by Fleischer Studios and the next films were produced by Famous Studios. Bud Collyer provided the voice of Superman. Joe Shuster provided model sheets for the characters, so the visuals resembled the contemporary comic book aesthetic. More animated adventures were produced 60 years later, in a series of direct-to-video animated films produced by Warner Bros. Animation called DC Universe Animated Original Movies, beginning with Superman: Doomsday in 2007. Many of these movies are adaptations of popular comic book stories.
- His first animated television series was The New Adventures of Superman, which aired from 1966 to 1970. The show also feature a seven-minute part focused on Superboy named The Adventures of Superboy
- Starting in 1974, Superman was one of the leading characters in Hanna-Barbera produced an animated series called Super Friends and all its sequels until 1986.
- To celebrate his 50th anniversary, Ruby Spears produced an animated series partially based on Superman (1978) and post-Crisis Superman comics created by John Byrne. The model sheets for Superman (1988) were drawn by legendary comics artist Gil Kane and most of the episodes were written by comics writer Marv Wolfman.[1]
Live Action[]
- The first live-action adaptation of Superman was a movie serial released in 1948. Kirk Alyn became the first actor to portray the hero onscreen. The production cost up to $325,000 (equivalent to $3,501,000 in 2020). It was the most profitable movie serial in movie history. A sequel serial, Atom Man vs. Superman, was released in 1950. For flying scenes, Superman was hand-drawn in animated form, composited onto live-action footage.
- The first feature film was Superman and the Mole Men, a 58-minute B-movie released in 1951, produced on an estimated budget of $30,000 (equivalent to $299,000 in 2020). It starred George Reeves as Superman, and was intended to promote the subsequent television series.
Television[]
Actor George Reeves portraying Superman in Stamp Day for Superman. After appearing in film, he would be the first actor to star as Superman in television.
- Adventures of Superman, which aired from 1952 to 1958, was the first television series based on a superhero. It starred George Reeves as Superman, with Phyllis Coates and Noelle Neil as Lois. This show was extremely popular in Japan, where it achieved an audience share rating of 74.2% in 1958.
- Superboy aired from 1988 to 1992. It was produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the same men who had produced the Superman films starring Christopher Reeve, and focused on Clarks years in Smallville.
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman aired from 1993 to 1997. This show focused on the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane as much as Superman's heroics, and was a huge hit at the time, making a star out of Teri Hatcher who played Lois and Dean Cain who played Superman.
- Smallville aired from 2001 to 2011. The show was targeted at young adults. Played by Tom Welling, the series covered Clark Kent's life prior to becoming Superman, spanning ten years from his high school years in Smallville to his early life in Metropolis, with Erica Durance as Lois.
- Superman: The Animated Series (with the voice of Tim Daly on the main character) aired from 1996 to 2000. After the show's cancellation, this version of Superman appeared in the sequel shows Batman Beyond (voiced by Christopher McDonald) aired from 1999 to 2001 and Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (voiced by George Newbern), which ran from 2001 to 2006. All of these shows were produced by Bruce Timm. This was the most successful and longest-running animated version of Superman.
- Most recently Superman & Lois premiered on February 23, 2021, with Tyler Hoechiln as Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois, a spin off from the Supergirl series. [1]
Big Budget Movies[]
Superman (1978)[]
However it was the first big-budget movie Superman in 1978, that without doubt led to the multiple references to the character, either direct or indirect in the show. As the movie was a massive box office success and launched the career of Christopher Reeve, Robin Williams' close friend, fellow scholarship student and roommate from Julliard, and godfather to his first child. Both men finding stratospheric fame for playing Aliens in the same year.
The Movie produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, remains the most successful Superman feature film to date in terms of box office revenue adjusted for inflation. The soundtrack was composed by John Williams and was nominated for an Academy Award; the title theme has become iconic. Superman (1978) was the first big-budget superhero movie, and its success arguably paved the way for later superhero movies like Batman (1989) and Spider-Man (2002).[1]
The 1978 film spawned three sequels: Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).
In 2006, Superman Returns was released, designed after the 1978–1987 film series. Superman was portrayed by Brandon Routh, who later reprised his role in the Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019–2020)
In 2013, Man of Steel was released by Warner Bros. as a reboot of the film series, starring Henry Cavill as the latest big screen Superman.
Mork's Multiple References[]
- Mork the Tolerant - Mork, reading about Superman in his comic book and miffed at the adulation Superman gets for his, in Mork's opinion, limited super powers, and his wearing of his underpants on the outside of his suit, decides to write a letter to his fellow Alien complaining about how overblown he is, and seeking a stamp from Mindy so he can send his letter to Metropolis.
- Yes Sir, That's My Baby - Mindy discovers that Mork has bought a Superman romper set for the baby he intends to purchase from Chuck 'Sleazy' Wilson.
- Invasion of the Mork Snatchers - Mork has bought a Superman : The Movie fan magazine with Christopher Reeve on the front, that he has been obsessively reading the advertisements in.
- Mindy and Mork - After his attempts at doing the housework backfire on him, Mork tells Bickley that everything blew up around him out of the blue like Krypton, Superman's home world that exploded.
- My Dad Can't Beat Up Anybody - Mork & Mindy take Mearth to his first movie, Superman. Mindy having to suffer 2 hours of father and son 'flying' around everywhere with their coats as capes after leaving the theatre.
Animated Show[]
- The Greatest Shmo on Earth - When Doing is captured, Mork calls on Superman as one of the people to turn to to help.
- Time Slipper Slip Up - Mork paraphrases Superman's traditional 'Up! Up! And Away!' when he takes flight, calling out 'Back! Back! And Away!' as he and Mindy fly through the Time Vortex.
- Super Mork - The entire episode is a cross between Superman and The Greatest American Hero with reference to a number of Superman's most famous references from and about him.