Proof that Golden Age Superman = Silver Age Superman

[Gangbuster]

When "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" was published, it was hailed as "the end of one generation's Superman"...not two. Certainly Jerry Siegel, who wrote the first Superman stories, came back during the Silver Age, and was almost on board to write that last story, saw them all as the same character.

I see the Superman of Earth-2 as simply a Superman from another dimension, stuck in the Golden Age. Nothing more. Trying to backwards- continuity- fix Superman's history with the Superman of Earth-2 simply doesn't work. Are stories where Superman flies Earth-1 stories? What about the 1945 Superboy comics? Then how do you explain the stories where Superman doesn't fly, but works at the Daily Planet?

Two of my biggest problems with Infinite Crisis were trying to get readers to buy that the Earth-2 Superman portrayed in the series was the actual Golden-Age Superman (the characterization was way off anyway) and trying to pass Superboy-Prime off as the Silver-Age Superboy. Not working for me.

[MatterEaterLad]

Sometimes I wonder what Gardner Fox intended at the time or if he thought it all out.  Did he intend Earth 2 to be a universe only populated by heroes that had their comics cancelled?  And I wonder if Mort ever said, "leave my Superman universe out of all this"?

[Super Monkey]

Sometimes I wonder what Gardner Fox intended at the time or if he thought it all out.  Did he intend Earth 2 to be a universe only populated by heroes that had their comics cancelled?  And I wonder if Mort ever said, "leave my Superman universe out of all this"?

Perhaps.

I know that Mort hated that DC put Superman in the Justice League, he had no control over those books and did not really considered them canon. In many ways the Superverse was pretty much self contained, with only Batman and Robin being the only real Superheroes that Superman interacted which outside of it, other than a few stories here and there.

It wasn't until the Bronze Age after Mort retired, that Superman felt more like part of the greater DC multiverse.

[Super Monkey]

some quotes from an article:

However, as much as Weisinger might have tended to domineer during his peak, he found that other forces in DC could move him as well. Consider the case of the creation of the Justice League at the dawn of the sixties. Bob Kane and Mort Weisinger, respectively, thought that including DC's most recognizable creations, Superman and Batman, might overexpose the characters. Both sought to keep the heroes off the covers of Justice League of America, and, if possible, out of the book altogether. Had these men had their way, a Justice League very similar to that of Waid's JLA: Year One might have appeared in print originally, not just in revision.

Weisinger, according to Schwartz, wanted Superman left out of the Justice League of America (except, perhaps, in the occasional end-of-story one-panel appearance), possibly owing to fears of overexposure of the character and possible market saturation.

read the full article here: http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/niven/142/talentpo/tp23.html

[MatterEaterLad]

Yeah, that is always what I had heard as well...the funny thing is, aside from the JLA/JSA team-up, the Justice League stories hardly really featured any characters acting normally, or even showing much of themselves in the stories, it was much more a identify the menace and split into teams approach, generally with Superman groaning on the floor somewhere due to a pre-emptive Kryptonite attack....those were some of the simplest storylines I can remember reading at the time, even if MM, Aquaman and Wonder Women got a little more exposure...and I had no problem with Wonder Woman showing some personality in ordering Snapper Carr around.

[DoctorZero]

It was stated early on (I think the fourth JLA-JSA team up) that earth two had a Batman and a grown up Robin (who became a JSA member).  They held off for years showing the Earth two Superman.  I think the first appearance may have been a pin up of the JSA in a JLA annual, which showed both Sueprman and Batman there.  

In the Earth Two Superman's first JLA-JSA team up I believe there was little difference between him and his earth one counterpart, both in appearance and powers.  

I think his inclusion on Earth Two came from the writers wanting to include the golden age Superman stories somehow, and trying to backdate them to earth two.  I always thought it was silly to worry about references to historical dates and the feeling that this dictated that certain characters "had" to be on Earth two then (like Green Arrow and Aquaman).  The meant that almost everyone on Earth one had to have an earth two counterpart except for recent additions like Martian Manhunter and Adam Strange.  

Personally, I would have preferred that DC not recognize the WW II JSA stories and they could have stayed 20 years behind the JLA.  That way they wouldn't have to come up with any Nick Fury like explainations as to why they don't all have one foot in the grave.

[Super Monkey]

Another break point would be the first fight scene Superman ever had where he doesn't throw a single punch, one of the Golden Age Superman's favorite pastimes, but something Silver Age Supes would never, ever do. If Silver Age Superman ever actually threw a punch anywhere, I think I would have a heart attack.

Well, then I guess you haven't read many Silver Age Superman stories, since he punches a lot!

Perhaps you shouldn't for your health

[MatterEaterLad]

Yeah, he tends to punch or use his fists in combination with his flying power plenty in the Silver Age, as well as being good with the fists in the many de-powered stories during the 60s.

Superman's early leaping ability served more as a device to get him somewhere, where he could use his strength on the ground (often seen in the TV series with limited special effects as well)...like all powers, he gradually used his flight and strength in combination, more as an evolution of what a person like that could do rather than a switch in personality, IMO....