SUPERMAN RETURNS

"Faster than a speeding bullet!
More powerful that a locomotive!
Able to leap tall buildings at 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!"

When I was a child that is what we heard at the beginning of every Superman TV Show that we watched. Our generation had the original Superman on TV.

Superman started as a story in DC Comics in 1938. He was a social crusader. The first Superman leaped, he didn’t fly. He was portrayed as a meek ordinary, average person,(newspaper reporter, Clark Kent) but was really a super hero. In 1939 Superman became a comic strip in the newspapers. In 1940 he debuted on radio. 20 million listeners tuned in. It was during this time that he started flying.

In 1941 the first of 17 theatrical shorts were made to be shown in the movie theaters. He was an icon through the 1940’s, and with us being at war, he was a symbol of hope to a struggling nation.

In 1952 Superman came to television. The storyline added Lois Lane, to be a strong female character, George Reeves played Superman. He was the Superman I knew and the one my generation knew.
In 1978, when our daughter was growing up, Superman returned to the theater, with Christopher Reeve playing Superman. That is the “Superman” that my children know.
Dean Caine played him on TV from 1993 – 1997. I don’t believe the 90’s TV show was anywhere near as popular as the original in the 50’s.

10 years in the making, today, Superman returns today! There were 3 different directors, who had different ideas of how Superman should be portrayed for this generation. It took 10 years for the project to get completed. Brandon Routh will play him. He put on 20 pounds of muscle for the part.

Rob is encouraging me to go with him tonight to see the new movie. We will see the Superman of 2006. I will let you know what I think of him.