Did the Silver Age ruin Superman?

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, although I'm sure I still will.

We all know that Golden Age Superman was a bit different from the version that we have today, and not just in his powerset. The character was more serious and straightfaced, casually dealt violent fates to powerless human crooks, and was a far cry to what people "think" Superman is. Even the infamous Fleischer cartoons reflect this, many times coming off as a moody pulp series with an almost steampunk flare. Anyways, it has occurred to me that the stereotypical "light, fluffy, happy go lucky boy scout" image of Superman was the result of tampering and neutering. It came as a response to Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, and DC was wrist wrung into heavily altering Superman into something that he was not initially meant to be. The result saw him become FAR less anti-authoritarian, and almost comical in how much of a Pollyanna goody two shoes he was. This meant things such as saving cats from trees, helping old women bake their pies with his heat vision, and lecturing children on the values of good sportsmanship and such.

This overcompensation in making Superman appear wholesome and fun for the whole family was NOT a logical progression, and was forced onto DC, along with changes to Batman and Wonder Woman, so that the Trinity could survive the vast culling ravaging superhero comics at the time. What resulted with Batman was extreme silver age camp that fans without question reject as the true Batman, and see it for what it was: a neutering attempt to protect DC's dollars whilst destroying the original intent of the characters. In the case of Batman, that intent was a dark, detective noir story reminiscent of the at the time very popular pulp character The Shadow.

Superman, on the other hand, was a science fiction variant on the biblical story of Moses, touching on the themes of alienation and class warfare, much of which it garnered from Fritz Lang's sci-fi opus Metropolis. The name of Superman's city came from this film, while other elements were made in the mold of another pulp character: Doc Savage. Unfortunately, the proverbial damage was already done, and with the onset of the Silver Age, a tamed, PSA cutout Superman became the norm. When Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams salvaged the character of Batman in the 70s, all the while introducing fan favorite villains such as Ra's Al Ghul, they returned the character to his dark, detective roots, with a complete artistic and narrative overhaul completing the change. When a similar change was attempted in returning Superman to his Golden Age roots, it was more marginal and superficial than anything, with the only thing truly reminiscent of that era being Superman's now weakened powers. The Silver age personality and narrative was still very much there, to the point that other changes, such as WGBS News, lasted very briefly to return to a more classic setup.

The character was now trapped in a specific narrative and stylistic format, with any deviation from that format being deemed out of character. The character of Batman, however, was and still is much more open to interpretation. Whenever someone attempts to tell a serious Superman story that is devoid of any camp, or even possibly have "dark" elements, it is deemed dark and gritty or "trying to be like Batman". Whenever someone does a Silver Age/Adam West throwback of Batman, however, it is not deemed as "trying to be like Superman". Even in Grant Morrison's New 52 Action Comics, the initial Golden Age-esque setup was only implemented so that the character would "grow into" the perfect Pollyanna savior that he has been forced into being. Due to this, people have deemed New 52 "edgy with its Superman", and they do not mean that in a flattering manner.

The only ones to blame for this are the fans, and I don't say that to start a fight or flamewar, but I find it insulting that the same fans who constantly tell "haters" that Superman isn't so Pollyanna only want him to be portrayed that way. And also, stop calling drama and personal problems angst, it makes you look stupid (I'm sorry, it sounds mean, but I'm REALLY not in a good mood, and holding back all of the hatred that I have for Silver Age Superman doesn't help).

My question is, why do we(wait....YOU) try to pigeonhole the character so badly?

No, all of DC also had a camp session in the silver age, it's the unwilling/inabilty to shake that campy era that hurt Superman. Batman got The Dark Knight Returns to escape the shadow of the Adam West/Silverage.

Grim-Dark Superman is incredibly uninteresting, and if Superman went back to "casually dealing violent fates to powerless human crooks" then I would be backing Lex Luthor in his quest to eradicate the uncontrollable Alien who acts like a god over mankind.

@silent_bomber: the only version of Lex like that is the xenophobic mad scientist from the Silver Age

What else is interesting about Superman but the fact that he could but doesn't utilize his extraordinary power to fulfil his own selfish desires. I noticed the word "neutering", that's interesting because it seems like once you've taken way what makes a man a man you end up with a woman. Some serious sexist undertones happening here.

My honest opinion? Christopher Reeve and the Donner films both made and ruined Superman.

It's interesting. When I was a kid I only read Marvel comics because, in my mind, I thought of DC characters as being real cheesy. When I thought of DC, I thought of Superman from the Christopher Reeves movies and Adam West's Batman. Then I got into DC after watching some JL animated movies on Netflix.

So yes, the Silver Age ruined the public perception of DC for a long time. TDK and MoS that has deminished.

It wasn't worst than the ninties, the eighties and every other era. I can see people's problems with it but you can't blame a company for selling what the people want. I can't blame the current audience for liking Batman on everything and DC. You take the good with the bad. And no SA didn't ruin Superman considering he was in an all time high when it came to sales. What ruined Superman came after, when DC constantly rebooted and changed the character to appeal to the wider cynical audience, without realizing that Superman works best when he is a ray of hope in this cynical age Action Comics 775, All-Star Superman, these stories are considered some of the best of this era(not only of Superman), why? Because they hold true to what Superman is, making the audience understand Superman's value. But it seems DC doesn't get it even when writers spell it out for them.

Yep, I was thinking this to some extent...it helped shape the opinion of my of my age group that Supes was an over-powered and cheesy boy-scout! (still love the films however, except the 4th one).

..@squalleon , as usual on superman topics, I find myself agreeing with you too!

Finally someone who see things the same way i do, i hate silver age superman, it wasn't until a friend told me that superman used to kill his villains and was more serious that i started reading golden age, that superman was the shit, i think too many people are stuck on this Donner Superman, the original character was a bad ass and that who DC should be giving to the public, i like that new 52 Superman isn't just a flying brick he smart and he actually uses his intelligence, he strong and he knows it, he puts others in their place without hesitation and most of all he's an outsider as he was intended to be, i think they should have him take on galactic level threats some of his earth villains are not a threat and only serve to create boring stories. these are just some images for Adventures of superman if DC keeps giving out stories like this ill keep reading superman

I prefer the so called "Pollyana" version.i think it's nice to have strong,moral, kind hero at the head of dc and leading the JL but I suppose I could understand why others don't like it.

Really he was always a "Pollyanna" kinda character. And Batman wasn't always the dark detective. This "Pollyanna version has been around since the early 40's aka part of the Golden Age. Superman was violent and serious early on just as Batman was violent and serious. However in the 40's they did become more campy. Batman got Robin and Superman got less violent and serious and more of the Superman we know today. This was all due to an editor named Whitney Ellsworth who was in charge of Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, World's Finest Comics, Adventure Comics, and All-American Comics among others. Whitney Ellsworth made it a rule that no hero would kill realizing the possibly of censors (Remember! Early on comics were aimed to kid audiences). Superman then became less violent and became more of the hero we know of today. Batman also became less serious with the addition of Robin.

By the time the Silver Age came around the comics did become goofier. Superman was fighting a Jimmy Olsen who was a giant turtle monster, Batman became a Bat Baby, Wonder Woman had adventures as Wonder Tot. Everything was going goofier and cheesier even more than the Golden Age. However I do think the Superman stories influenced the modern Superman comics a lot and influenced the DC universe as whole a lot. Yes, they were goofy, but without the goofy stories of the Silver Age Superman stories we would have no Legion of Super Heroes. Without the Silver Age Superman stories we would have no well known villains like Bizarro, Brainiac, Metallo, General Zod, or Parasite. Without the Silver Age Superman stories who knows if the Daily Planet staff (with an exception of Lois Lane) would even be around as a prominent for Superman. Yeah Superman would still probably be working at the paper though his Daily Planet family (which I always thought of the equivalent to Batman's Bat Family in a way) I don't think would've been as big and prominent in the stories. Without the Silver Age stories we also wouldn't have had Supergirl. Silver Age stories didn't ruin Superman. Like someone said earlier, Superman was a bestseller at the time. Superman also brought in many characters that are so prominent that it would be hard to imagine a Superman or a DC universe without them.

I think the reason Superman stayed as the boy scout and changing other heroes is due to the DC staff wanting to set him apart from the other Justice League members so every member of the Justice League bring a different personality to the table. Superman is the optimistic boy scout that is a symbol of hope. Batman was changed back to his early self which was originally only around for like 10 issues to give the team someone who was cynical and dark to the team. Wonder Woman was meant to be the warrior. The Flash was meant to be the down to Earth wisecracker of the team. Green Lantern was meant to intergalactic, sarcastic police man. Aquaman was meant to the king among the League. And Martian Manhunter is meant to be the ultimate alien.

Superman only stayed as a boy scout to give contrast to the League and the Silver Age didn't hurt Superman though bettered him in ways overall.

@syoungkeezy said:

Finally someone who see things the same way i do, i hate silver age superman, it wasn't until a friend told me that superman used to kill his villains and was more serious that i started reading golden age, that superman was the shit, i think too many people are stuck on this Donner Superman, the original character was a bad ass and that who DC should be giving to the public, i like that new 52 Superman isn't just a flying brick he smart and he actually uses his intelligence, he strong and he knows it, he puts others in their place without hesitation and most of all he's an outsider as he was intended to be, i think they should have him take on galactic level threats some of his earth villains are not a threat and only serve to create boring stories. these are just some images for Adventures of superman if DC keeps giving out stories like this ill keep reading superman

That has got to be one of the most badass Superman/Batman moments I've seen in a long time. Reminds me a bit of the Injustice universe too

This.

People who like a dark, angry, violent Superman aren't really Superman fans.

D@mn Right!

DC pandered to that kind of audience long enough.

I actually fount the golden age Superman to be the most interesting version of him but I'd agree that the natural character progression of him would have been to become the most horrifying supervillain.

As we see here, Pre-Crisis fans see their Superman as the only Superman

@syoungkeezy said:

Why would you want DC to make more awful comics?

@smashbrawler: considering your love of the silver age, perhaps the pot should meet the kettle

@bsaa: What "love of the silver age"? What the hell are you even talking about?

Personally, I think the light-hearted characterization works because a) Superman has come to represent the good in mankind and someone we can all aspire to be, and b) it makes him a great foil to Batman's cynical character. I think the problem is that people don't appreciate a character that doesn't swear and/or kill people all the time anymore, so poor Supes has become the target of mockery. It's basically like in "Turtles Forever", when the 80's Turtles were made even sillier to make the '03 Turtles look superior.

How could the Silver age "ruin" Superman when most of his best modern runs were due to it, such as Morrison, Johns and Kelly.

Your comparison to Batman makes little sense since I haven't read any stories where he is a ruthless Punisher like character in any stories lately.

@amazingwebhead: 80s turtles does suck

@bsaa:

No, as others have said the Silver Age made Superman who he is and made him as popular as he is today.

Well the world "hated" New 52 Superman and Man of Steel Superman. Imo the only versions that showed a Superman who's personality grew up on Earth. They werent anti-heroes in the least but while they ability was extraordinary their personalities didnt float above us as coherent Forest Gump's shouting "truth and justice".

However boy scouts characterization is why Injustice or any angry moment works.

Still everyone seems to forget this isnt how hes written when interacting with his rogues or other capes. He isnt as brash but theres good interaction.

Meh.. he's doomed to be hated from the start.

Reminder that the Silver Age was when Superman's entire mythology blew up.

Supergirl, Braniac, Bizzaro, Krypto, Jimmy Olsen, The Legion of Superheroes, Lana Lang, Superboy, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Parasite, Titano, Lori Lemaris, Lyta Lerrol, etc

If you ask me, Silver Age made Superman even better.

All this religious allegory and the like sound pretty dumb

Ruined him... Ha! More like made him what he is today.

Almost every great feat, the better characters, friends and foes, were introduced during the Silver Age.

Rather it was the Modern Age that messed up Superman.

Before the Modern Age, Superman was far more independent, proud of both his kryptonian heritage and his human upbringing.

Then came the Modern Age and with the New 52 exception, every other version of Superman is basically a hypocrite whining idiot.

Recently Rebirth Superman used the Flash cosmic treadmill, to travel back in time, to the moment of Krypton's destruction. And instead of taking a special suit, seeing he was gonna have to deal with red solar energy and kryptonite, he goes there with his normal suit. He's then conveniently launched to a alternative timeline, where Zod and Jor-El had allied themselves to save Krypton. He's on Krypton and gets surprised when a energy blast wounded him.

When you get Booster Gold telling Superman the most obvious things, you know something very bad is being written.

Silver Age Superman was never that reckless or stupid.

What people don't like about Superman is that he's "too powerful". I've never heard anyone that doesn't like the character mention him being too campy and wholesome...

OP posted this years ago but it's still woefully off the mark.

First off, Superman wasn't changed because of Wertham. Superman was undergoing changes way before Wertham and most of it was because the general public was starting to like that happy-go-lucky version of Superman and thus he evolved. And make no mistake - "social crusader" Superman is a misnomer for what GA Superman actually was, which is a childish power fantasy by a dude who saw his father get murdered (or maybe just injured, I can't remember) in a robbery when he was a kid and wanted to create a hero who was virtually indestructible to come and save the day in his fantasies. So he ripped-off a bunch of different stories, threw in some real life stuff and voila, you got Superman. Take an actual look at what GA Superman stories were - not what you think they are. They are far more childish and simplistic than many Silver Age and Bronze Age Superman stories.

The propaganda stories which you try to use to justify your flimsy premise were also not because Superman was light and campy or because of Wertham - many of those had themes that Wertham would (and did) object to - but because the government wanted a way to distribute propaganda to the general public in an easy and digestible manner. And what easier way to do that than via comics like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America and many others?

In short OP, your post is, shall we say, full of c**p.

Yeah, no. The Silver Age was probably Superman's best era. I'm pretty sure that was when he and his books were at the height of their popularity.

I mean, I get it. I really like the class warfare stuff out of the Golden Age and was really glad that some of that made its way back into Morrison's Action Comics, but there were so many other things that the Silver Age did really well. The theme of alienation was still there. Clark would struggle with loneliness and found it difficult to connect with the normal people around him. He was less violent, sure, but he was often still a bully. He would physically and intellectually humiliate many of his foes in that era. There were these strange undertones of anxiety and paranoia in the Silver Age stories, too. Superman was constantly questioning if he was really all that special or if his friends even really liked him. He was always worried that people would find out who he really was and what they would do about it. The Silver Age gave us Brainiac, The Legion of Superheroes, Kryptonite in every color of the rainbow, and Supergirl. No era has done more for his world.

Wertham probably helped influence the era, but, as someone pointed out earlier, Superman had already started changing before that terrible book. Superman changed because America changed. After WWII people didn't want all that violence and class struggle. The country paid a steep price, but came out of the war at the height of its power. The public's attention shifted to domestic concerns and things like the space race. The changes in Superman reflect this and had they not made these changes Superman would've faded in the early fifties like most of the superhero genre did. In fact, many superhero books tried to imitate Silver Age Superman to ride his success and survival. That's why Batman and Wonder Woman stories from the 50's were so similar, or the end of the police officer Dan Garrett Blue Beetle stories copied Silver Age Supes beat for beat. Basically, Silver Age Superman was the best American mythology at the height of the American Empire. When I read those stories I see Buddy Holly, the Apollo moon landing, and the promise of Kennedy's Camelot. Is it America seen realistically or cynically? No. It is comforting and humanistic. It gives you hope. It's also really weird, fun, and has so many hidden messages about what was really going on and how people were really feeling back then.

The Silver Age was the best.

I think I'd probably agree with you about some other things. Like, I think the argument that the New 52 Superman was too grim and gritty is ridiculous. He wasn't. At least, not any more than the Post-Crisis Superman. I'd also like to see more of the class warfare stuff brought back into the mythology. I think we really need it this day in age.

But, you're wrong about Silver Age Superman and I think you should read some of those stories again with an open mind. They're really great.

Nah, Byrnes mandate did. Also, I'd also argue that Reeves iconic performance in the Superman films severely hinders the character as well, ironically enough.

The Silver Age might have been kinda cheesy and corny but it added so much mythology, new characters, concepts and other staples to the Superman comics that define it to this day. OP is obviously outdated and working off a flawed premise but even though I prefer the Bronze Age and Modern Age over the Silver Age, it's wrong to say the Silver Age had a negative effect on Superman.

It expanded it, lol.