Superman looks singularly heroic but still quite human in the drawing by Steve Ditko above. It was produced for an anniversary celebration of the Man of Steel. Though not technically an "atomic hero", I plan to revisit the most famous superhero, one powered by the radiation of our Sun itself.
I want to look at the absolutely exquisite cartoons produced in the early 40's by the Fleischer and Famous Studios for Paramount. I'm always blown away by the craftsmanship in these earliest of adaptations of the hero to the big screen.
Superman gets a bit more real when Kirk Alyn is tapped to portray the hero in two movie serials from Columbia. The animation is still important as it is used to showcase Superman in flight. The first introduces the hero and the second pits him against Lex Luthor, who also doubles as the "Atom Man" of the title.
Most of my time though will be spent revisiting the classic Superman TV show starring George Reeves. These wonderful vintage shows are among the most pleasant and heartwarming adaptations of the great DC hero. I haven't watched these in nearly a decade or more and it will be great fun to dive into them again.
And if time permits, I also want to take a look at those early 60's Superman cartoons created by Filmation. These were, along with a few well-handled comic books, my introduction to the character.
I'll be using the 1976 tome Superman - Serial to Cereal to give me some background insights to these shows as the month rolls along. I'll not be reviewing them, so as to keep the focus on Captain Atom and Doctor Solar, but below is a review I did some time back of my favorite George Reeves outing as Superman.
If you forced me to pick a single Superman feature as my all-time favorite, Superman and the Mole Men would get the nod. I love this delightful introduction to the George Reeves Superman which functions very effectively as a fable of mankind's fear of the unknown.
The Mole Men are small people who rise up out of a oil well hole which has sunk too far down. They emerge and are deemed hostile as humans get injured around them through a combination of fear and the innate radiation which emanates from the creatures themselves. They explore the small town in which they emerge and are met with fear by adults and ease with a small girl who warmly welcomes them into her bedroom.
This scene of the Mole Men lurking around the window scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a youngster. It seems a pretty naive scene today, but back then I was most affected by it. I love to revisit that tiny terror memory when I watch this one over and over. Phyllis Coates is effective as Lois Lane, though she is a particularly bitchy version of the character. No other regulars from the eventual Superman series appear.
This is a very good entertainment and gets my highest recommendation. So up, up and away amigos.
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Looking forward to the Fleischer animation segment. The first time I saw any of these fabulous cartoons was at a San Diego ComicCon back in the mid-70s. I was floored.
ReplyDeleteAlas this post is all the Superman coverage on the blog for this month. Too much Captain Atom. But for the record, the Fleischer cartoons were fantastic to watch again after several years away from them. The work is downright magic given the classic approach they had refined.
DeleteJust wanted to alert you that the Fleischer cartoons have been converted to 3D available on BluRay. Eyepop 3D makes 3D conversions of movies and other video in the public domain. The Superman cartoons have some glitches that a 3D afficionado will notice. But by and large, they are pretty good. When my 8 year old grandson came over a couple weeks ago, we watched several and he really enjoyed them. Eyepop has a website. Of course, you have to have a 3D TV or other way to view them.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Those cartoons already look fantastic, it's hard to imagine 3-D.
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