Any examples?
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Yea I struggle through even when reading Bronze Age stuff.
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So I’m reading from this digital volume:
Stories that I feel could make fun adaptations:
- Action Comics 1 & 2, Superman 1. The way I’m reading it, looks like the story actually starts in Superman 1 (was it written as a prequel?), with Clark getting the written confession of a murderer, and using that confession to save an innocent person from execution in Action 1. The story continues in Action 1 & 2, with Superman fighting wife beaters, harassers, corrupt politicians, and even stopping a war between two foreign countries!
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Action Comics 7, where Superman saves the circus from a greedy/shady business man.
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The New York World Fair story. Looks like this was a special issue made for the fair. Cool setting with Clark doing some good reporting and traditional heroing.
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Action 13 and 14 have the first appearances of a very human looking Ultra Humanite. The character and his “technical” achievements need to be fleshed out a lot more, but I could see a stylized sci fi movie set in the 40s based on it.
Of course, the dialog and writing would have to be updated to suit a movie or show. But if Hollywood can adapt Dr. Seuss books into feature length movies… I’m sure they can make early Superman stories work 
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I feel like the one about Clark saving the innocent man is similar to an episode of S:TAS I think it was The Late Mr.Kent? Anyway I wonder if they got the idea from the comics!
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Don’t remember that one. Though I’ve watched them all, I definitely don’t have an episode by episode memory of the show like some here do. Wouldn’t surprise me if they took some inspiration from Golden Age comics, especially given how that version of Supes was somewhat powered down compared to other modern takes.
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In that episode Clark saves a petty thief who was framed for murder and about to be executed.
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If you have HBO Max, definitely seek it out- it’s one of the shows best episodes.
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I actually love Golden Age Superman. The art can be rough at times, and the stories certainly aren’t all winners (though at least they wrap up quickly—some things get dragged out too long in modern comics), but I like what Siegel does with OG Supes. I appreciate how much action and movement there is. Superman very rarely stops. I really, really like how important Clark Kent is. As a reporter (and a star reporter at that), Clark is able to get info that Superman can’t. As ridiculous as some of the plots can be, I absolutely love a Superman that steps in to right any wrong that he sees, no matter how big or small. He’ll take on corruption in football or dangerous vehicles as well as stopping thieves and supervillains. He’ll help out average Joes who are down on their luck as well as protecting his city or country.
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I want more of this type of Superman in all media. 
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Speaking of Golden Age Superman…
And interesting article on Superman from 2006:
“People ask all the time: Is Superman Jewish?” Weinstein said. “Ultimately, I like to say he’s not Jewish or Christian but a fictional alien. His creators, though, were real, and the culture he was created in was very real, and this cultural connection is very real.”
In the 1930s, when the comic book industry was born, many of its writers and illustrators were Jewish immigrants who found it difficult to get jobs elsewhere. So it’s no surprise they would tap into what they knew best–stories passed down from grandparents and parents, Weinstein said.
Superman was created in the post-Depression years by two Jewish teens from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The story of their collaboration–of selling the rights to Superman for $130 and how they lost control of their creation–was the inspiration for Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.”
I believe that Michael Chabon is currently working on a live-action adaption of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for Showtime; or I guess maybe for Paramount+ now.
I eagerly look forward to it wherever it lands.
Anyway, continuing…
“I think at that time, anything Jewish about the character was subtextual and probably inadvertent,” said Arie Kaplan, whose book “Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed” will be published next month by Chicago Review Press. “People didn’t think of it as high art or great literature.”
Intentional or not, the parallels are prevalent, Weinstein wrote in his book. For one: Superman is named Kal-El and his father is Jor-El. The suffix “El” is one of the ancient names for God used throughout the Bible.
“It is also found in the names of great prophets, such as Isra-el, Samu-el and Dani-el and angels such as Micha-el and Gavri-el… Kal is the root of several Hebrew words meaning ‘with lightness,’ ‘swiftness,’ ‘vessel’ and `voice,'” he wrote.
The book also points to a scene in a 1941 edition of the comic book in which Superman’s alter ego, reporter Clark Kent, is dispatched with fellow journalist Lois Lane to cover the fictional Dukalia American Sports Festival. The event looks much like the now-infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics at which Hitler believed German superiority would reign. Dukalian athletes marched with arms stretched in the “Heil Hitler” pose, and the Dukalian leader shouted: “Dukalians are superior to any other race or nation!”
“Clark soon enters the games as Superman and humiliates the fascist Dukalians,” Weinstein wrote. “This dark-haired heir of Moses defeats the Aryans on their own field.”
The author and others who study religion in comics say Superman’s story also parallels the Jewish immigrant experience. Superman’s story is “very much about assimilation into American culture,” Weinstein said, pointing out the difficulty Clark Kent had fitting in.
And what the article is talking about is from a story in SUPERMAN #10.
Yep, Golden Age Superman is what I feel Warner Bros. should adapt when it comes to Superman.
And of course that’s what I always wanted JJ Abrams to do with his Superman reboot. Try something new by doing something old. 
The overall article was interesting to me, but that part was of particular interest to me.
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Superman has had meetings with other famous people both in and out of comics.
This might be the best one.
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Good point. I think I only noticed it now that you mentioned it. Even though the art in those very early stories isn’t as detailed as what we get today, it was very dynamic.
Based in recent articles, between a Black Superman film in development, and that film maybe being a period piece… seems like you may be getting exactly what you’re hoping for. Time will tell, I suppose.
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You know, I haven’t watched an episode of George Reeves’ Superman in ages. Don’t think I’ve ever seen the I Love Lucy crossover, either. Was a funny burn at the end there. Thanks for the chuckle.
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Based in recent articles, between a Black Superman film in development, and that film maybe being a period piece… seems like you may be getting exactly what you’re hoping for. Time will tell, I suppose.
Yep, and that’s all that I wanted from JJ Abrams to begin with, before any of the Black Superman business came about.
I just wanted a Superman movie set in 1938 or whenever.
The way Superman: The Movie opened, with the little kid and the comic book…
And the camera zoomed in on the panel… that was just so cool to 8 year-old me, and that’s what I want in a Superman movie now.
That… 1938.
A Black Superman movie set in 1938 or whenever, or a traditional Superman movie set in 1938 or whenever.
It makes no difference to me, just give me one or the other.
And of course I’ll gladly take the black one.
It’s like, “Okay, fine. Just do it. And do it well.”
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My secret heart wants an Icon movie.
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Who’s got some favorite Superman artists?
I’ve got way too many to list, so I won’t try to do a Mount Rushmore or Top Ten or anything like that.
For now I just want to highlight one that I think is under-appreciated: Tom Grummett. Check out this beautiful work:
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in no particular order…
pre1990 division
Joe Shuster
Curt Swan
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez
John Byrne
Neal Adams
Jack Burnley
Kurt Schaffenberger
George Perez
Rich Buckler
non comics division
Max Fleischer
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in no particular order…
post 1990 division
Tom Grummett is also an all time favorite of mine
Kerry Gammill
Dan Jurgens
Jerry Ordway
Ivan Reis
Darwyn Cooke
Steve Rude
Alex Ross
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