I've been planning this for over a week, so Sunday night when I had trouble sleeping I started to mentally compose this in the form of a PBS documentary. It started with the development of charicature, proceeded to Thomas Nast cartoons, the rise in literacy, the Yellow Kid and yellow journalism. It proceeded by theme in chronological order until I reached 1938. At that point the subject of comic books, especially the most universal Superman came up. I decided the best way to write this was to follow a hypothetical family from 1938. I'm sure some real families are not much different. Norbert was born in 1928 in a sleepy factory town. His dad managed to remain employed part-time during the depression, so starvation was not an issue, but the family went nowhere. One day young Norbert looked over his dad's shoulder as he struggled to read the newspaper. He noticed the comic strips and dad read it to him. For the next few years the pair bonded as the nightly comic reading became the high point of each evening. Norbert was also inspired to learn to read as quickly as possible. By age eight he could read most comics on his own. He didn't understand them all, but he loved it when he did. His mom read dime novels. They had colorful covers. One day he looked inside but found only text. By age 10 dad was back to work full time. He came home with aching limbs and eyestrain and couldn't read anything. Norbert could read the comics alone now. Some were already looking silly. Some he still didn't understand. Dad helped. Then one day at the store with mom he saw a new type of literature: the comic book. It had a colorful cover like the dime novels, but inside there were pictures to match the words. It accelerated his vocabulary growth and he could soon read stories to his parents. His favorite was Superman. He could do anything. Within 20 pages the world was saved, his friends, were rescued and his identity protected. That was more pleasant than World War II, where it took many casualties to gain one city or island and the enemy was still safe. The family listened to radio too, and soon Superman was there as well. It was a 15-minute program, so they listened together even when he no longer desired the monthly comic books. By 20 he was dating. Those were innocent dates (cinema and rug store). At the theater they started a 15-episode Superman serial. He took six different women in 15 weeks and kept the one that liked Superman best. By 1951 they were newlyweds enjoying their favorite wedding gift: a tv set. They had only one channel and it introduced a show called Superman. The show ran six years. Norbert didn't care for it much at first, but by the end he was watching it with his first son. Since that was weekly, and cancelled in 1957, he began to entertain his son by retelling the classic stories he read as a 10-year-old. To encourage a love of reading, he again began to buy Superman comics. He didn't expect his daughter to be too interested, but one day he noticed Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane also had a comic. Superman's Pal jimmy Olsen got his own comic too. Those little stories were innocent morality plays, perfect even for the third baby-a boy. In the mid-1960s the tv had more channels, including the first UHF channel. Its lineup included reruns of Superman. The family relived the old stories. That didn't last. The children outgrew the comics and by the mid-1970s that aspect of life seemed gone forever. Then came Superman the Motion Picture. By then he had a small grandchild to bring to the theater. His daughter loved the very modern Lois Lane. The film had an all-star cast. On that night they bonded for the first time in years. The sequels stunk, but when the family got cable and they aired seven times each month they all peaked. Superman 4: The Quest For Peace was so bad they all renounced the franchise. So did the public. Next came Batman. Norbert never really liked Batman, however Mrs. Adams adored Jack Nicholson and demanded to see it. The film was very mature, not for young children at all. The sequels were awful and retained none of them. Meanwhile news trickled out about changes in Superman. He was less powerful and had a wet dream about Wonder Woman. Norbert didn't look, but wondered. Next Superman died! Those issues were collector's items. He had to buy them. It didn't end though, and when Superman was back Norbert thought he was done with the subject for life. Over 10 years later came Superman Returns. He didn't care, but one day while flicking the remote it was that or a reality show. He didn't like it, but when his grea-tgrandchildren came for a long summer visit he could not relate to their video games, computer sites or lingo. He decided to connect with them on the one common ground he could relate to and they would understand: Superman videos.
