Superman and Batman, 2 of the Greatest Heroes of All Time
The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight
Stranger from space, Superman, began as an idea in the 1930's. Mort Weisinger, Forrest J. Ackerman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were all creators of the fan mag called "Science Fiction". From these humble beginnings Seigel and Shuster created, developed and evolved the massive popular character called Superman.
Once Seigel and Shuster had developed the idea into a full fledged super powered character they pitched the idea of Superman to many newspapers with no luck. In 1938 they pitched Superman to Detective Comics Publications, D.C. Comics for short. DC Comics is officially called National Periodical Publications.
J.S. Liebowitz, the publisher of DC Comics bit on the idea and featured Superman in Action Comics.
Action Comics sales picked up immediately, the first appearance of Superman caught the public eye and Superman boosted the sales of Actiom Comics by leaps and bounds. So much so that the powers that DC decided to feature Superman in his own comic book. Now Superman made appearances in 2 different, widely popular comic books. The first appearance of Superman in Action Comics and in his own title are highly sought after in the comic collecting world, 2 of the most prized collector's items comics of all time, values on these 2 comic books increase every year.
Having conquered the monthly comic book realm, Superman's first wish was granted to him and his creators found him soaring to new adventures daily and weekly in newspapers all around the world thanks to the McClure Syndicate of newpaper publishers.
Next, Superman set out to capture and conquer the Silver Screen and the public radio waves, the first Hollywood Superman serial film superstar was Kirk Alyn. The first on-air voice of Superman was provided by Bud Collyer.
Before an actor donned the big red S for Hollywood, Superman was animated in full-color by Paramount Pictures, these early 1940's cartoons are credited for being of the highest quality and way ahead of their time, they are still viewed today as very unique and groundbreaking.
In 1948, Columbia Pictures filmed Kirk Alyn as Superman in a 15 episode serious of films called serials. Serials were played before feature films, Superman appeared with other serial stars, such as the 3 Stooges, before the feature film in movie houses all across world. In 10 short years Superman evolved from an idea on paper to a widely popular, well known worldwide superstar...and he wasn't even a real person!
After the 1950 appearance of Alyn as Superman in "Atom Man vs. Superman" a change in casting had George Reeves taking over the title role in 1951. George Reeves went onto star in over 100 TV episodes in 1 of the most popular TV shows of all time.
Superman continues to be one of the most recognized science fiction characters of all time. Several feature films starring Christopher Reeve have been released since his first appearance in 1938. Superman continues to star on TV as Superboy and Superman in several massively popular weekly TV shows. In the DC comic books Superman was killed off in 1989 only to be ressurected back to life, the character seems to have a life of it's own and is seemingly immortal, as long as there is a kid with enough pocket change to buy a comic book there will always be a Superman.
Batman made his appearnace in 1939 in Detective Comics without Robin by his side. Batman was created by Bob Kane. Batman proved to be as popular as Superman, so much so that by 1942, Batman was appearing in his own comic, along with Detective Comics and World's Finest Comics in which he teamed with Superman to battle the evils of crime. Robin was brought in to lighten up the dark hero and also as a hero that kids could directly relate to.
Both Batman and Robin witnessed their parents murders by hienous criminals, in their young civilian lives as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, the end result was the creation of a pair of Comic Books heroes that dedicated their lives to bettering themselves and stamping out and eliminating crime in all of it's forms.
Seeking to capitalize on Batman and Robin's massive popularity DC created a Batman family, which included Batwoman, Bat-Girl, Bat-Mite and Ace, the Bat-Hound.
In 1943 Columbia Pictures made the first Batman serials, the role of Batman was played by Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft played Robin. Batman's first on screen villian Dr. Daka was played by J. Carrol Naish.
Dr. Daka met a grisly death onscreen ending up in an alligator pit.
In 1949 Batman and Robin again graced the Silver Screen in The New Adventures Of Batman and Robin. Robert Lowery played Batman and Robin was played by Johnny Duncan.
Since then both Superman and Batman continue to remain in the public eye in print and onscreen, both characters remain widely popular and their onscreen and print legacies have continued long after their creators have long since passed.
Batman and Robin swingin' CD!
CD Cover art.
Neal Adams artwork on the CD insert.
This Album/CD was originally released in 1966 on Tifton Records when Batman was extremely popular due to the campy TV show starring Adam West. This album was originally released as a novelty item to try and cash in on Batman and Robin's popularity. In actuality the album is considered an absolute cult jem, the music can be considered avant-garde instrumental jazz. The music was the end result of a collaborative effort by Sun Ra's Arkestra and Danny Kalb's Blues Project. Guitar Dan is Danny Kalb and Guitar Dale is Steve Katz. The only recognizable track is the 1st track, all the rest are jazzy, funky, psychedelic jams with some cool guitar solos thrown in. Being a big Batman fan I couldn't resist picking this up awhile back.
Check out my music blog for some more music I dig http://www.jotellwnymusic.blogspot.com/
