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Område/studieelement nr America’s Wild Ride: the Frontier Heritage in History, Culture and Politics

Eksamenstermin Winter 2014

Vejleder Michael Langkjær

Navn Robert Parkinson

KU-brugernavn BJV148

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‘Was Superman a New Dealer?’

This essay will engage in the debate over a theoretical link between the comic book superhero

Superman, and the socio-economic reform programme of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

The New Deal. An initial starting point would be to posit the question ‘Was Superman a New Dealer’?

This can be viewed from both from the point of view of the ordinary comic book reader, and equally

from the perspective of the writers. In 1938 Action Comics launched Superman in a serialised comic

under the auspices of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Still gripped by economic and social malaise

under the not too complimentary sounding ‘Roosevelt Recession’ in FDR’s 2nd

term in the oval office,

American people from all levels of society could be seen as being in an identity crisis; what was the

American way, and the American dream now post-crash? The identity of Americans in 1938 was a

far cry from the ‘roaring twenties’: rampant credit induced spending with a small federal government

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had seemed the inevitable way to both enable success and to eliminate poverty1. The historiography

of Superman and the character’s early years covers many themes, of which the critical arguments

shall be interpreted in this essay. There is the narrative of Superman allowing escapism for readers

from the grim life of depression era America. Literature has been published that explores Superman

embodying the crisis of identity for American Jews. Both authors were Jewish, and some attempts of

justification are offered as to Siegel and Shuster’s creation of Superman, as them physically and

tangibly asserting their ‘Americanness’, living the American dream and having successfully

assimilated. Leaving America’s shores and looking at tensions abroad, there is scope to combine the

frustrations of Americans and members of America’s Jewish community, of the lack of action that

America was taking against an increasingly anti-Semitic Nazi Germany. Argument has been made

that Superman was an embodiment of a Golem like creature, who was sent to protect threatened

Jews2. There is scope to explore the view that Superman was a medium for reader’s frustrations at

the social wrongs and injustices in America. Superman fought off corruption at city hall, prevented

domestic violence and petty theft. When Campbell’s American Monomyth is taken in account

Superman portrays very similar characteristics: the mystery figure that comes from nowhere, solves

the crisis in the community, and then proceeds to leave. Superman as a New Dealer asserts that

Superman was acting, alongside or even for the Roosevelt administration. The comic book character

Superman embodied the new drive and zeal emanating from the administration for ‘action, and action

now’3; the Man of Steel became a Rooseveltian New Dealer himself. Superman was an extension of

Roosevelt himself, going where FDR could not.

There was an acceptance culturally of comic books in parallel with Superman becoming popular in the

late 1930s. There can be broad reasoning for this, perhaps as super heroes were later seen to

embody American values of ‘truth, justice and the American way’. There is also the importance of

escapism and leaving the ordinary and going off to the extraordinary. This was a popular tradition in

America before Superman in 1938, and it is important to regard previous versions of comic books as

developing the industry, and permitting the Superman comics to become a successful format of

literature4. After the 1890s the modern “Culture industries” emerge, with their main market being

poorer, urban readers5. Initially there were Dime Novels that introduced serialisation of the comic

book form and the conception of perpetually embattled success, where an issue arises in each story

and the issue is resolved by the end and normality is returned. However it is perpetual so there this

pattern is constantly repeating itself. What we end up with is in effect the American monomyth in

constant rotation. First put forward by Joseph Campbell, the American monomyth is a hybrid of the

classical monomyth of the hero6. In both forms there is a peaceful civilisation that is threatened. The

hero comes from nowhere and saves humanity, thus restoring balance. However differing from the

classical monomyth, instead of staying in the community the hero of the American monomyth leaves,

only returning if there is another crisis that only they can solve7. After Dime Novels the industry

developed pulp literature or ‘pulps’, again aimed specifically at the socially lower groups. Pulps

revolved around a central character, an enduring popular model that has been followed in subsequent

revisions of the comic book format. Readers could see in these comics, as they could with

Superman, the crisis of balancing democratic instincts that Americans held sacred, pitted against

getting a job done or resolved sufficiently and in time. Superman’s masculine qualities were a

1 Herbert Hoover, August 1928, upon accepting the Republican nomination.

2 M. Lund, ‘American Golem: Reading America through Super-New Dealers and the “Melting Pot”’’ in M. Pustz

(ed.), Comic Books and American Cultural History An Anthology (New York, Continuum, 2009), p. 79. 3 Roosevelt, Inauguration Address, March 1933.

4 D. Welky, Everything was Better in America - Print Culture in the Great Depression (Chicago, University of

Illinois, 2008), p. 17. 5 M. Horkheimer and T. W. Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 2002).

6 J. Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Novato, California, 2008), pp. 1-18.

7 R. Jewett and J. Lawrence, Captain America and the Crusade against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous

Nationalism (Grand Rapids and Cambridge, William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 2003), p. 29.

3

hangover from Red-blooded Fiction, a firm favourite of the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and Owen

Whister. Red-blooded Fiction brought respectability and made comics more mainstream unlike the

cheaper and lower standard pulps8. All of these creations embolden fantasy, they all are part of the

myth-making process of selling and reinforcing American’s perceptions of their history and of

themselves. All of these developments are significant as to the creation of Superman and as to why

Siegel’s and Shuster’s creation was so successful and enduring9.

Superman debatably was a medium for America’s Jews to explore the realm of what it meant to be

American. This could be attempting to prove to oneself their worthiness by being American:

‘americanness’ was attained perhaps through the reading of the comic, or in the case of the writers by

publishing Superman, thus proving to others that you had assimilated into America and were not held

back by your heritage10

. Jewish migration to the USA had come in waves and after each wave a

settling in process began11

. When the next wave of immigrants came, be it from Central or Eastern

Europe, the Jewish community that had settled in the USA was often hostile, believing that they’d

disrupt the balance that had been reached in assimilating into American society12

. A concern for

many of America’s Jews at the time of Superman’s initial publication was the deteriorating treatment

of their Jewish kin and families back in the old world of Europe, specifically in Nazi Germany. Siegel

and Shuster would have been aware of old Jewish tales and the way to instantly communicate with

other Jews through a Superman character due to his resemblance to the Golem. Much research has

been carried out around putting forward the belief that Superman was a 20th century version of the

most famous Golem-related narrative, of the tale of Rabbi Judah Loew in 16th century Prague

13. In

that story after a wave of anti-Semitism in Prague the Golem creature, called Yossele, was created to

protect Prague’s Jewry. The similarities between the Golem and Superman are worth noting: when

the crisis subsides Golem is laid to rest away from human sight, waiting until the next crisis, much like

in Campbell’s’ monomyth thesis. As Martin Lund surmises ‘both characters are, in essence, created

superhuman beings whose overriding purpose is to protect the weak and oppressed’14

. In Superman:

The Man of Steel graphic novel collections the writers are keen to draw this link, with much

commentary on comparing Superman, who travels back in time to save Polish Jews under Nazi

occupation, to an angel or a Golem, after two boys dream and pray for a creature to come and save

them: ‘Superman is a Golem, created by two young Jews as protection against the Nazis’15

. If it was

to be shortly surmised, the message given is that when the old world is threatened it is the new world

that has the solution. Nazis were also reading about the Superman character. In 1940 the Das

schwarze Korps, the weekly magazine of the SS wrote a piece on Superman, describing him as a

Jewish creation and an effeminate, stupid minded monster16

. Superman could be viewed as an

American national figure by extension, or certainly as he developed. He did conform to an elevated

vision of the perfect American man: handsome, tough and went out and used his hands to fight his

way through his day. The catchphrases around him changed in the earlier years of his character,

which can give sustenance to Superman being a national figure17

. Much in line with the view that he

8 R. Slotkin, Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America (Norman, University of

Oklahoma Press, 1998), p. 194. 9 D. Welky, Everything was Better in America, p. 20.

10 L. Daniels, Superman: The Complete History - The Life and Times of the Man of Steel (San Francisco, Chronicle

Books, 1998), pp. 14-20. 11

A. Portes and R. G. Rumbault, Immigrant America: A Portrait (Oakland, CA and London, University of California Press, 2014), pp. 258-260. 12

R. Breitman and A. M. Kraut, American Refugee Policy and European Jewry, 1933-1945 (Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 222. 13

M. Lund, ‘American Golem’. 14

Ibid., p. 82. 15

Ibid., p. 81. 16

Das schwarze Korps, 25 April 1940, p. 8. 17

R. Jewett and J. Lawrence, The Myth of the American Superhero (Grand Rapids and Cambridge, William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 2003), pp. 21-25.

4

was a social campaigner he was originally called the ‘champion of the oppressed’ whilst he was

dedicated to ‘truth and justice’. After the Second World War commenced, the phrase ‘the American

way’ was added to his list of catchphrases and sayings and remained; the all American butch hero,

who fought injustices on the streets and kept the Nazis at arm’s length from Americans.

There is a field of argument that suggests Superman on the page reflected back to the reader their

frustrations in the Depression and with the New Deal. The comic book was a tool for reinforcing

opinions18

. The lingering economic depression caused some Americans to believe that Washington

seemed not to be prepared to do something beyond the rhetoric19

. Superman however was prepared

to fight crime, and by extension, fight the Depression. He could physically over power his enemies

but also had the moral conviction to do what was right; both are vital to understand the views of the

authors on the New Deal and why the American public bought into this character. By 1938 reform

was occurring, but America had returned to recession - political enemies called it the ‘Roosevelt

Recession’. The initial popularity of Superman was in part because his fictitious world mirrored the

issues in 1930s America. However in the face of failed federal attempts at reform and to handle the

crisis, the Superman character is portrayed as answering the call successfully to solve these issues,

lending support to the view that the two authors were fans of FDR’s New Deal. Basic, every day

issues were the penchant for Superman, from thwarting petty theft, preventing wife beatings to finding

the evil out-of-town mine owner who has avoiding safety concerns.20

Superman was virtuous, he

never drank, was physically fit and always on time: a model citizen. Of course Superhuman wasn’t of

this planet, perhaps the writers are suggesting it took a superhuman effort to bring about change. By

the virtue of being American Superman knows what is morally wrong and what is right, it is part of his

psyche. The unabashed self-confidence of Superman and Americans is instilled as part of a broader

faith system that has been called the American Civil Religion. The fundamental theory in the

historiography is that the separation of church and state has invoked in subsequent years worship of

the nation and of its institutions21

. Superman is from another planet but was raised with American

values, and it may be interpreted that he is guided by the civil religion. The agrarian life of his

adopted parents on the Kansas plains is supposed to have instilled a deep respect for the American

way of life and American exceptionalism, the wide open spaces that have been progressively opened

up and utilised for the nation.

The Superman character it could be reasoned is only successful in fighting the Depression because

of his status as an outsider to the community he is saving. Superman is sent away from his home

planet and his biological parents, landing on earth as an infant, but with greater powers than the

humans that rule the planet. Crucially Superman is better and stronger than the earthlings; one of the

first things he is seen doing in the 1978 film Superman is lifting the car of Jonathan Kent so that he

can replace the burst tyre22

. This act of selfless help and using his individual and unique powers for

the betterment of those around him is an extension of the ideal American that Shuster and Siegel

create in their comics. However it took Superman to come from elsewhere, to cross a boundary to

solve the crisis and then proceeding to leave. This is really in sync with Joseph Campbell’s American

Monomyth thesis. Superman however was not only an outsider to Earth and its traditions but was the

last of his kind. He had fled a failing planet that had been in chaos at the end of its life. Although he

was superior to humans, could teach them many things and help solve their issues, there is surely a

taint to him in that he had to leave a planet that was doomed, so surely even in the end he could not

solve all issues, making him fallible. The writers do create fallibility to his character; the radiation from

his home planet that reached earth, Kryptonite, weakens him, his own Achilles heel.

18

R. Slotkin, Gunfighter Nation, p. 156. 19

D. M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (New York and London, OUP, 1999), p. 217. 20

Action Comics, #3, 1938. 21

Jewett and Lawrence, Captain America, p. 27. 22

Superman (Richard Donner, 1978).

5

Siegel and Shuster’s creation was in all likelihood written and then viewed by the reader as an

extension of FDR’s programme. Even if the two writers didn’t originally plan Superman to be, he soon

was a New Dealer. Many viewers also made a tangible connection between Superman and the man

in the oval office. In the privacy of their own home readers escaped into Superman comics and

comforted listening to FDR on their radio, possibly to one of his ‘fire-side chats’23

. The beginning of

Superman and FDR’S New Deal programme are close in time. Superman was published in Action

Comics in 1938 to solve the crisis on the mean streets and to fight the failings and corruptions that

blighted America and its industries. Six years beforehand FDR won the presidential election and

began his New Deal programme just over five years before Superman was published in Action

Comics. A prototype Superman was first published in Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of

Civilisation comic in 1933, exactly when FDR came to office. However it is important to appreciate

the transformation between 1933 and 1938 of the character of Superman, and perhaps the paradox is

further important to viewing Superman as a New Dealer. In 1933 ‘the Superman’ is an evil genius,

bald, who brings destruction to the world. Some writers have argued that this initial Superman is

more in line with Nietzsche’s view of a ‘superman’ or in the German an ‘Übermensch’24

. A Nietzschen

superman is a superior type of man who escapes from the myths of objective morality, in essence

doesn’t believe in a higher being, much like Nietzsche himself. Beyond this in the pursuit of

happiness the superman will view the attainment of power itself as the source of earthly happiness,

and so will therefore pursue power unendingly. However this power is ‘free from all moral and social

constraints’, such as the constraints disseminated by religion’s moral compass25

. All those that do not

desire freedom and happiness, and attempt to consider what is morally wrong or right whilst

pondering over pity and clemency are inherently weak, so goes the theory. It is perhaps

understandable in this short description of Nietzsche’s view of supermen why the Nazis found it so

appealing. Is it no coincidence that the year the Nazis came to power with their propaganda of

supermen was the same year the evil version on the Super-Man was published, 1933? This proto-

Superman was more akin to Lex Luthor, the bald evil genius who is the protagonist to the good

redeeming Superman. In between the five years of first publishing as a one-off, to the serialised and

successful version of Superman, the context of America and the wider world were to catalyst in

changing what Siegel and Shuster wanted from their super character. Lex Luthor does not appear

until #23 (April 1940) nearly two years after Action Comics started with the Superman character.

Superman was now an archetypal superhero, who saved humanity from wrong, and used his powers

in a constructive sense. Like the New Deal was attempting to bring, Superman brought fair justice to

small time business owners. There is one story of Superman saving a circus owner’s business from

collapse, by becoming the stare attraction himself! Indeed Superman’s costume would fit into a circus

troupe quite well. Is it no surprise that Lex Luthor is described as a business owner, who with his

wealth and influence decides to bring injustice and corruption for his own personal gain and perverted

pleasure26

? Superman was written to mirror the federal government in attempting to save America’s

businesses and industry, such as the setting up of the NRA27

. Its blue eagle badge showed although

this was government intervention, it was still all American28

. Superman was intervening in business

like the government but he too was carrying on the American way, instilling its values, but in a

different sense from yesteryear, as America was now in a crisis, and someone had to step up to meet

the task. Labour rights were a further challenge that the New Deal attempted to resolve, through the

National Labor Relations Act29

. Superman too flew into the labour crisis30

, an area of American

23

R. D. Buhite and D. M. Levy, FDR’S Fireside chats (Norman and London, University of Oklahoma Press, 1992), p. 3. 24

A. Barkman, ‘Superman: From Anti-Christ to Christ-Type’ in M. D. White (ed.) Superman and Philosophy: What would the Man of Steel Do? (John Wiley and Sons, 2013), p. 111. 25

Ibid., p. 115. 26

Action Comics, #23, 1940. 27

The NRA stands for the National Recovery Administration. 28

D. Reynolds, America Empire of Liberty. A New History of the United States (London, Penguin, 2009), p. 352. 29

Ibid., p. 349.

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society that had been tumultuous since the economic woes of the late 19th century, when even then it

was feared a second civil war may break out between organised labour and the state31

. He brought

mine owners to account over their poor safety standards by taking them down to the bottom of mine

shafts so that they could see the awful conditions that their workers had to endure. Superman

believed in fair trial and campaigned against miscarriages of justice. The reader is first introduced to

him in Action Comics as he saves a woman from being found guilty of murder by bringing the correct

murderess to the court house. FDR had many difficulties with the judiciary during his presidency,

especially the Supreme Court, which overruled many of his agencies and legislation as

unconstitutional, and an overreach of his executive powers.

FDR’s crisis with the Supreme Court even though he had the full backing of Congress for most of his

presidency was part of a wider debate, the over reach of executive authority in the system of checks

and balances. The relevance to Superman is that we are to view the character as assuming the office

of the executive in fighting for justice whilst not being accountable to a higher authority. A term has

emerged for this behaviour by the executive, that of the ‘Imperial Presidency’. First put forward by

Arthur Schlesinger in 1973, the imperial presidency is in its essence the overreaching of executive

power over the systems of accountability that are maintained by the legislature (Congress) and the

judiciary32

. This was created so as to avoid the arbitrary exercise of power by the executive. When

the systems of accountability are enfeebled in favour of presidential power then it may be judged that

the president has become ‘Imperial’33

. It is widely sighted that FDR was the father of the Imperial

Presidency. Schlesinger angles his debate at the field of foreign affairs, believing that the presidency

can become imperial when it is dealing with other nations rather than at home, as in the domestic

scene the system of checks is quite strong. FDR saw this with the Supreme Court closing down the

NRA, which really defined his first term in office, as one of perpetual conflict. His second term was, in

regard to passing legislation a greater success, but maybe not so much in terms of the legacy of the

New Deal, which was seen as an economic failure even by then by some critics. Schlesinger reasons

that as Roosevelt progressed into his second term he gained greater domestic executive power, so as

to implent his changes, however the Congress did not give way right until ‘The Day of Infamy’ on

foreign policy and executive power34

; ‘The Roosevelt Administration struggled to the very eve of Pearl

Harbor to untie the knots in which Congress had bound it’35

. With FDR’s efforts at reform and

confidence building, Superman perhaps can be seen as an extension of the executive, or even due to

his high success rate and his accountability to no-one but himself, the executive of the executive.

Films that were released around the time of the early Superman comics can be critiqued in respect to

their attempts to relate to the New Deal and other broader events that were occurring just as

Superman can be inferred to have been doing as well. In 1933, the year FDR was inaugurated

Hollywood released ‘Gabriel Over the White House’. The controversy about this film, more so in later

years upon reflection, is that it does seem to offer up the viewpoint that fascism is a better form of

government in America than the democratic model36

. This all the more alarming when we cast an eye

over the context of the wider world of the 1930s: fascism was being adopted as the form of

government across parts of Europe and Asia, most historiography agreeing as a reaction to the

30

It should be pointed out though that Superman initially could not fly, this power was introduced a few years later in the comics. 31

Slotkin, Gunfighter Nation, p. 88. 32

Schlesinger, The Imperial Presidency (New York, First Mariner Books, 2004), p. IX 33

M. Hasain, ‘The Return of the Imperial Presidency’, in J. A. Aune and M. J. Medhurst (eds.) The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric (College Station, Texas A&M University Press, 2008), p. 72. 34

Schlesinger, Imperial Presidency, p. 95. 35

Ibid, p. 98. 36

A. Schroeder, Celebrity-in-chief: How Show Business Took Over the White House (Boulder, CO, Westview Press, 2004), p. 287.

7

economic woes of the Great Depression37

. The central character is the president of the USA, who

after having a car accident assumes dictatorial powers and in the process saves the nation from the

crisis it had been in. It is difficult to discern whether the film was meant to be a critique of the rise of

fascism in others countries, the risks of what the New Deal and FDR may bring about, or in fact the

opposite, a celebration of a strong centralised figure who overturns government and becomes the

saviour of his nation. In all likelihood it is the later, suggesting that the new president was widely

believed to be the man who would save America from its economic and social woes: no wonder FDR

is alleged to have enjoyed the film. Beyond this it can be interpreted as showing that the solid

convictions of a politician will carry them through the difficult times, even with certain handicaps, in

FDR’s case, the effects of polio. In spite of being bound to a wheelchair FDR managed to assume

the highest office in the land and go onto accumulate great executive powers, not seen since Lincoln

in the civil war. Like the powers Superman has and learns to use as he progresses, FDR wields great

power to bring a change that was widely asked for and that only he could bring. Of the same year

Mussolini Speaks was a hit US production, detailing the first ten years of the dictator’s rule in Italy. It

is interesting to note that it was an American film, distributed through Columbia Pictures and was

popular with American audiences, perhaps highlighting the contemporary desire for a strong politician

figure who acted in times of crisis. Similarly Superman is portrayed as a strong man character who

acts on instinct and goes to face the issues presented before him. There was a faith that had been

instilled in FDR to act as the hero in the time of the nation’s need, much as Superman did on paper.

The popularity of Superman on one level can be accounted to his high success rate in fighting crime

and restoring balance to his society. A significant principle to deal with when confronting the

American monomyth is that the hero is fundamentally undemocratic. He is not elected to office and is

not accountable to anyone. Superman is just such an example. FDR’s attempts of reform may have

been in the best of intentions but the democratic process could be viewed as preventing his real

desire for further change. The general assertion made therefore is that the democratic process is

fundamentally weak and that only a strong figure that rises above democracy can solve the issue.

Jewett and Lawrence point out therefore the superhero is inherently a pop fascist.38

The use of the

costume is justified as the superhero cannot be seen as being part of the democratic process as he is

undemocratic. In the American monomyth the hero always leaves the civilisation or community he

saves; he cannot stay as he has had to usurp the democratic traditions to resolve the crisis. The hero

becomes a fascist and authoritarian to bring adequate justice, a justice that democracy due to its

divisions and time delays in decision making simply cannot bring. Superman carries out his part of

the New Deal in an undemocratic way, as that it can be interpreted is the only way the true potential

of reform may be witnessed. Superman’s costume disguises him and singles him out as apart from

the democracy that Americans and his alias Clark Kent live under. Apart from being in a fascistic

tradition Superman certainly has inherent qualities of the vigilante. Vigilantism is more or less part of

the American fibre, from the writing of the constitution, to being a central tenant in almost every

western film. The vigilante takes justice into their own hands, riding into the town and restoring

balance to the society. Vigilantism has an inherent quality of being very violent, just as Superman’s

encounters with his enemies involved inherent violence. Some writing suggests that there is a

dualism in the mentality of the American, divided between wanting to get things done immediately and

to smite their opponent, versus wishing to uphold the rule of law. With intent to understand these two

competing dialectics, Jewett and Lawrence have labelled them the ‘zealous nationalist’ and the

‘prophetic realist’. These two mentalities have run opposed to one another since the foundation of the

nation, or it is argued even earlier to the time of the Puritans, and it can be seen that Superman

represented qualities of both. A zealous nationalist believes in the right of their way and methods.

The zealot always knows who the enemy is and has to defeat them and destroy them, or otherwise

ultimately they themselves have failed. A prophetic realist can have strains of a zealot but actively

37

S. Ambrose and D. G. Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy since 1938 (New York, Penguin Books, 2011), pp. 1-15. 38

Jewett and Lawrence, Captain America, p. 42.

8

chooses to attempt to understand the motives of the other party, to understand why they are in the

situation they are now in. Superman displays both character traits: he is a zealot in his unwavering

mission to find evil and bring justice, if it is wanted or not. However he is also a prophetic realist in

that he sees that justice is carried out ultimately by the correct authorities. He never actually kills

people or casts the final judgement on them however; he always brings them back to the authorities.

The mugger and burglar are stopped in their act and placed at the foot of the town’s police station so

that the officially uniformed and democratic authorities can bring the final part of justice and resolve

the emergency. Then Superman leaves the community and returns to his home. When he is part of

society again he is concealed and under his alias Clark Kent. Kent is the complete opposite to

Superman: cowardly, his voice is effeminised and high pitch and he wears glasses. He prefers to be

a pencil pusher behind his desk than out there fighting the good fight in the American sense, in the

tradition of Theodore Roosevelt and Owen Whistler’s The Virginian. It is the cowardly nature of Clark

Kent that separates him mostly from the hero Superman. They both live in the same society but don’t

play out their lives at the same time, obviously. Kent, at seemingly great personal sacrifice especially

in his love life with Lois Lane, is represented by the writers as a reclusive self-styled loser figure, even

though as Superman he has greater abilities39

. Those greater abilities are more in line with the manly

qualities Theodore Roosevelt would be looking for. What separates the character Superman from

other superheroes that come later is that his real character is the superhuman and he has to play at

being a human. In Superhero mythology costumes and the superhero’s characteristics are vital to

understanding their motives and purpose40

. Clark Kent is how Superman interprets humanity: he is

weak and a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique of the whole human race41

.

The historiography around the superhero Superman as a New Dealer therefore as is evident is quite

broad and there is sufficient evidence to suggest he can be viewed as a New Dealer. After being

launched on the comic book scene a nation grew to familiarise with the ‘Man of Steel’. Although in

the early years Superman’s character develops, in essence he remained a New Dealer. If the reader

was to look at the background context of the time of publication we can see that the anxieties of

American have shaped their thoughts and judgments. Even with the reverential call of ‘The only thing

we have to fear is fear itself’, five years after Roosevelt’s inaugural address the fear was still there42

.

For America’s Jews as well as many other citizens across the world there was concern over the

actions in Nazi Germany and other fascist anti-Semitic leaning nations. Superman could therefore be

interpreted as a Golem like creature as some historiography alights to43

. However this is unlikely as

the Siegel and Shuster family like many of America’s Jews were more focused on assimilating and

being accepted as true blue Americans, rather than as defined by their Jewish identity. Hero’s like

Superman were written to represent the American way and appealed to those young people who

were in a crisis of identity44

. Superman was their vent to aide in their belief not only that they were

Americans, but truly heroic Americans. As a comic book character indeed Superman allowed

escapism, building on a longer history and tradition of escapism through the comic book medium or its

earlier formats, such as pulps and Dime Novels. This rich tapestry of literary tradition that Superman

and Action Comics built on allowed for its mainstream commercial success. Readers could have an

immediate affinity with the character as they and previous generations had done with many other

characters. Crucially to this argument, Superman acted in the manner of a New Dealer not only on

the larger theoretical layer as described, but on the ground so to speak. He went where the executive

couldn’t or wouldn’t go. Believing to being actively held back by Congress and the Supreme Court,

the federal New Dealers were unable it was viewed by many Americans, to bring ‘action, and action

39

N. Farghaly, The Scoop on Superman’s Sweetheart (Plymouth, MA, Scarecrow Press, 2013), pp. 1-10. 40

R. Reynolds, Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology (Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 1994), p. 53. 41

Kill Bill Volume 2 (Tarantino, 2004). 42

Roosevelt, Inauguration Address, March 1933. 43

M. Lund, ‘American Golem’, p. 3. 44

B. W. Wright, Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America (Baltimore, The John Hopkins University Press, 2001), p. 5.

9

now’. Superman embodied the active New Dealer in going beyond these limitations and actually

bringing justice, to the wife beater, finding the real murderess, forcing the mine owner to see the awful

conditions his workers toiled away under, to saving the circus owner’s business. Superman became

what the readers wanted FDR and the New Deal to be, just as Gabriel over the White House has

been interpreted as a calling for the president to assume dictatorial powers to overcome the crisis.

Indeed as a way to get round the obstacles, Schlesinger wrote that it was FDR who created the

imperial presidency. This all highlights the belief in the weaknesses of democracy, that only a

centralised strong man figure at Capitol Hill can save the nation in its time of crisis. Superman’s

ending quote in the 1978 film in a nuanced form embodies what Superman’s relation with the

authorities was “Don’t thank me...we’re all part of the same team”45

. To not be too polemical,

Superman was the executive of the executive, the long arm of FDR, but in comic book form.

34894 characters

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