Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Man That is Super

Little girls can be Super Heroes, too.
David Gonzales had no idea when he was tearing into the wall of a old house that he bought to remodel, that he would make the fortuitous find of a lifetime. Among the old newspapers that had been put into the old walls for insulation, there was an Action Comic. NOT just any old Action Comic but  Action Comic #1 dated June 1938.   On the cover of that particular comic there appears a picture of a new character in a flowing red cape.

Gonzales knew the book was worth something but he didn't know that it was worth far more than the $10,000.00 he paid for the house.  Had he had an inkling of the book's true value, he might of stopped his in-laws from grabbing it and tearing the back cover.  (Way-to-go, in-laws...that rip is estimated to have cost him $75,000.)

75 years nearly to the month
Even with the torn cover, the current bid for the comic on ComicConnect is at $141,000.  ( Never fear if you want to purchases it,  though...the auction doesn't end until June 11th.)  ComicConnect describes it as the most important comic book in the history of comic books.  and " the introduction of the archetype of all other heroes to come."

(ANOTHER NOTE: If you find a 75 year old comic in your wall, try not to tear it. Had this been in perfect shape sold for $2.26 MILLION)


Thought Number One:  Kal-El is having a 75th Birthday

Superman was a comic book character resulting from  a collaboration of a couple of high school kids in Cleveland in the 1930s.   Jerry Siegel  did the writing and Joe Schuster did the artwork. The first plot line for Superman stories was about a bullet-proof super hero that saved a shopkeeper.  There are theorists that believe this story was a result of the tragic death of Jerry's father during a robbery of the family haberdashery store.

 As for the character of Super Man ....I am sure that you all know the back story of the of Kal-El (Superman's name on Krypton), AKA Clark Kent  AKA Superman.....but just on the outside chance you were  deprived of sitting for hours, wasting away your youth and developing an extreme Vitamin D deficiency due to sunshine deprivation...allow me to catch you up.

The story is that of a baby being rocketed to Earth due to the impending destruction of his planet, Krypton. His parents put their baby boy into a rocket that landed on the farm in Smallville, Kansas so that he might be spared certain death.  He was taken in by Jonathan and Martha Kent who realized their adopted son had special abilities.  He grew up to have amazing powers and decided to use those powers for good.  He moved to Metropolis where he led a dual existence between being Clark Kent, a newspaper reporter, and Superman, a fighter for justice, all the while wearing a strange costume made out of the blanket he was sent to Earth in. 



 The introduction to the TV series pretty much summed it up.

 Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! ("Look! Up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superman!")... Yes, it's Superman ... strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman ... who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way! And now, another exciting episode, in The Adventures of Superman!
 
Yep, that is just was I said, isn't it?

Now that we have established how Superman came to be....I was one of the lucky kids that got to camp out in front of the original TV series with George Reeves as Superman.  By the time I was old enough to watch it around 1957 or 1958, it was being broadcast in color.  Not that, that would of mattered as my parents didn't own a  a color TV in the time frame of  Superman...thereby, I only saw it in black and white. By today's standards, the quality of the 1950's programs seems archaic but to a 5 or 6 year old in the 50's, it was thrilling. 




Thought Number Two:  This month on June 14th, the next generation of Superman movie. 


Timing is everything.....David Gonzales finds a first edition comic just weeks before the 75th anniversary of the first comic ever to show the character image of the Man of Steel....AND a new motion picture named coincidentally, Man of Steel,  is being released as well.  Henry Cavill is the new Superman.  Looks like  the "used to be a blanket but is now Super Hero  duds"  has taken on some changes. 

So we have another Superman to join in the "I am Superman
Club". 

You might remember that we have our OWN Super Hero here at TAOBC.





And Camphor Girl (AKA Crabby Pants when not in her super gear) is on the job to check out if these Super Heroes are actually super.


Seems there are some imposters...but Crabby Pants is going to weed out the fakes.
Over the 75 years since two teenagers created a comic book character names Superman,  years there have been a number of movies.  What that number is, seems highly debated. There are so many movies that no two websites show the same number. If you want to try to figure it out you can click here to Superman's home page.

I have seen one Superman movie...yeh...ONE.  I saw the 1978 movie staring Christopher Reeve.   For me, I still tend to think of George Reeves as the iconic Superman but who is to say...Maybe Henry will persuade me to change my mind.






So maybe .......Thought Number Two Should of been

Technology has improved by (super) LEAPS and BOUNDS.





Come
Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments