Editing Superman (section)

==Comics==
{{See also|Publication history of Superman|Superman (franchise)}}

===Comic books===
{{See also|List of Superman comics}}
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 |caption1          = ''[[Action Comics]]'' [[Action Comics 1|#1]], the comic that first featured Superman. Original copies fetch the highest of prices for comic books at auction.<ref name="15million">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/comic-with-first-superman-story-sells-for-15m-1930852.html |title=Comic with first Superman story sells for $1.5m |work=[[The Independent]] |date=March 30, 2010 |access-date=March 30, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100402104134/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/comic-with-first-superman-story-sells-for-15m-1930852.html |archive-date= April 2, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
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 |caption2          = The cover of ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #6 (Sept. 1940) by [[Joe Shuster]], the original artist and co-creator
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Since 1938, Superman stories have been regularly published in periodical comic books published by [[DC Comics]]. The first and oldest of these is ''[[Action Comics]]'', which began in April 1938.<ref name=actioncomics1copyright/> ''Action Comics'' was initially an anthology magazine, but it eventually became dedicated to Superman stories. The second oldest periodical is [[Superman (comic book)|''Superman'']], which began in June 1939. ''Action Comics'' and ''Superman'' have been published without interruption (ignoring changes to the title and numbering scheme).<ref name=gcd-action1938>[http://www.comics.org/series/97/ ''Action Comics''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223222919/http://www.comics.org/series/97/ |date=February 23, 2016 }} at the Grand Comics Database.</ref><ref name=superman1939>[http://www.comics.org/series/116/ ''Superman''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227153800/http://www.comics.org/series/116/ |date=February 27, 2016 }} (1939–1986 series) and [http://www.comics.org/series/3345/ ''Adventures of Superman''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305150736/http://www.comics.org/series/3345/ |date=March 5, 2016 }} (1987 continuation of series) at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> Several other shorter-lived Superman periodicals have been published over the years.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/series/name/Superman/sort/chrono/ "Superman"-titled comics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305202812/http://www.comics.org/series/name/Superman/sort/chrono/ |date=March 5, 2016 }} at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> Superman is part of the [[DC Universe]], which is a [[shared universe|shared setting]] of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside the likes of [[Batman]], [[Wonder Woman]], and others.

More Superman comic books have been sold in publication history than any other American superhero character.<ref name="sells">{{cite web |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/583041/best-selling-comic-books/ |title=Best-selling comic books of all time worldwide as of February 2015 (in million copies) |website=Statista |access-date=July 30, 2018}}</ref> Exact sales figures for the early decades of Superman comic books are hard to find because, like most publishers at the time, DC Comics concealed this data from its competitors and thereby the general public, but given the general market trends at the time, sales of ''Action Comics'' and ''Superman'' probably peaked in the mid-1940s and thereafter steadily declined.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comicsbeat.com/unbalanced-production-the-comics-business-in-the-1940s/ |title=Unbalanced Production: The Comics Business in the 1940s |website=The Beat |first=Carol|last= Tilley |date=March 1, 2016 |access-date=July 30, 2018}}</ref> Sales data first became public in 1960, and showed that Superman was the best-selling comic book character of the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=DallasEtAl2013p208/><ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 163: "It did work. In 1960, the first year in which sales data was made public, Superman was selling more comic books than any other title or character, and he stayed on top through much of the decade.</ref><ref>Comichron. [http://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales.html Comic Book Sales By Year] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723085633/http://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales.html |date=July 23, 2016 }}</ref> Sales rose again starting in 1987. ''Superman'' #75 (Nov 1992) had over 23 million copies sold,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/voices/columns/thesp-trio-eyes-nurse-superman-may-fly-1117480870/|title=Thesp trio eyes 'Nurse'; 'Superman' may fly |date=Sep 29, 1998 |website=Variety.com}}</ref> making it the best-selling issue of a comic book of all time, due to a media sensation over [[The Death of Superman]] in that issue.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 245: "Journalists, along with most of their readers and viewers, didn't understand that heroes regularly perished in the comics and almost never stayed dead."</ref> Sales declined from that point on. In March 2018, ''Action Comics'' sold just 51,534 copies, although such low figures are normal for superhero comic books in general (for comparison, ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #797 sold only 128,189 copies).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2018/2018-03.html |title=2018 Comic Book Sales to Comic Book Shops |publisher=Comichron |access-date=July 8, 2018 }}</ref> The comic books have become a niche aspect of the ''Superman'' franchise due to low readership,<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 294: "The remaining audience [by 2011] was dedicated to the point of fanaticism, a trend that was self-reinforcing. No longer did casual readers pick up a comic at the drugstore or grocery, both because the books increasingly required an insider's knowledge to follow the action and because they simply weren't being sold anymore at markets, pharmacies, or even the few newsstands that were left. [...] Comic books had gone from being a cultural emblem to a countercultural refuge."</ref> though they remain influential as creative engines for the movies and television shows. Comic book stories can be produced quickly and cheaply, and are thus an ideal medium for experimentation.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 212: "So Jenette [Kahn] and her business-savvy sidekick, Paul Levitz, started viewing comics as creative engines rather than cash cows, able to spin off profitable enterprises in other media."</ref>

Whereas comic books in the 1950s were read by children, since the 1990s the average reader has been an adult.<ref>{{harvp|Scivally|2007}}. ''Superman on Film, Television, Radio and Broadway'', p. 166: "Whereas in the 1950s, the average comic book reader was 12 years old, by the 1990s, the average comic book reader was 20. A mere decade later, in 2001, the average age of comic book readers was 25."</ref> A major reason for this shift was DC Comics' decision in the 1970s to sell its comic books to specialty stores instead of traditional magazine retailers (supermarkets, newsstands, etc.) — a model called "direct distribution". This made comic books less accessible to children.<ref>{{harvp|Gordon|2017}}. ''Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon'' p. 164</ref>

===Newspaper strips===
{{See also|Superman (comic strip)}}
Beginning in January 1939, a ''Superman'' daily comic strip appeared in newspapers, syndicated through the [[McClure Syndicate]]. A color Sunday version was added that November. Jerry Siegel wrote most of the strips until he was [[conscription|conscripted]] into the [[United States Army]] in 1943. The Sunday strips had a narrative continuity separate from the daily strips, possibly because Siegel had to delegate the Sunday strips to [[ghostwriter]]s.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.tcj.com/reviews/superman-the-golden-age-sundays-1943-1946/ |title= Reviews: ''Superman: The Golden Age Sundays 1943–1946'' |first= Paul|last=Tumey |work=[[The Comics Journal]] |date=April 14, 2014 |access-date= March 1, 2016|archive-date=May 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529211844/http://www.tcj.com/reviews/superman-the-golden-age-sundays-1943-1946/ |url-status=live |quote=...Jerry Siegel had his hands — and typewriter — full, turning out stories for the comic books and the daily newspaper strips (which had completely separate continuities from the Sundays).}}</ref> By 1941, the newspaper strips had an estimated readership of 20 million.<ref>{{harvp|Daniels|1998}}. ''Superman: The Complete History'', p. 74</ref> Joe Shuster drew the early strips, then passed the job to [[Wayne Boring]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supermansupersite.com/boring.html |publisher=SupermanSuperSite.com |editor-first=Neil A. |editor-last=Cole |title=Wayne Boring (1905–1987) |access-date=March 2, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008215738/http://www.supermansupersite.com/boring.html |archive-date=October 8, 2016 }}</ref> From 1949 to 1956, the newspaper strips were drawn by [[Win Mortimer]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.supermansupersite.com/mortimer.html |publisher=SupermanSuperSite.com |editor-first= Neil A. |editor-last=Cole |title=Win Mortimer (1919–1998) |access-date=March 1, 2016 |archive-date= June 30, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140630192703/http://www.supermansupersite.com/mortimer.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The strip ended in May 1966, but was revived from 1977 to 1983 to coincide with a series of movies released by Warner Bros.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/other.php?topic=newspaper-strip |title=Superman Newspaper Strips |publisher=SupermanHomepage.com |editor-first=Steven|editor-last=Younis|access-date= February 28, 2016 |archive-date= March 26, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150326134156/http://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/other.php?topic=newspaper-strip |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Editors===
Initially, [[Jerry Siegel]] was allowed to write Superman more or less as he saw fit because nobody had anticipated the success and rapid expansion of the franchise.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 49: "Initially Harry [Donenfeld], Jack [Liebowitz], and the managers they hired to oversee their growing editorial empire had let Jerry [Siegel] do as he wished with the character..."</ref><ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 41: "Neither Harry [Donenfeld] nor Jack [Liebowitz] had planned for a separate Superman comic book, or for that to be ongoing. Having Superman's story play out across different venues presented a challenge for Jerry [Siegel] and the writers who came after him: Each installment needed to seem original yet part of a whole, stylistically and narratively. Their solution, at the beginning, was to wing it..."</ref> But soon Siegel and Shuster's work was put under careful oversight for fear of trouble with censors.<ref>{{harvp|Daniels|1998}}. ''Superman: The Complete History'', p. 42: "...the publisher was anxious to avoid any repetition of the censorship problems associated with his early pulp magazines (such as the lurid ''Spicy Detective'')."</ref> Siegel was forced to tone down the violence and social crusading that characterized his early stories.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 49: "Once Superman became big business, however, plots had to be sent to New York for vetting. Not only did editors tell Jerry to cut out the guns and knives and cut back on social crusading, they started calling the shots on minute details of script and drawing."</ref> Editor [[Whitney Ellsworth]], hired in 1940, dictated that Superman not kill.<ref>{{harvp|Daniels|1998}}. ''Superman: The Complete History'', p. 42: "It was left to Ellsworth to impose tight editorial controls on Jerry Siegel. Henceforth, Superman would be forbidden to use his powers to kill anyone, even a villain."</ref> Sexuality was banned, and colorfully outlandish villains such as [[Ultra-Humanite]] and [[Toyman]] were favored over gangsters as they were thought to be less frightening to young readers.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 47: "No hint of sex. No alienating parents or teachers. Evil geniuses like the Ultra-Humanite were too otherworldly to give kids nightmares... The Prankster, the Toyman, the Puzzler, and J. Wilbur Wolngham, a W. C. Fields lookalike, used tricks and gags instead of a bow and arrows in their bids to conquer Superman. For editors wary of controversy, 1940s villains like those were a way to avoid the sharp edges of the real world."</ref>

[[Mort Weisinger]] was the editor on Superman comics from 1941 to 1970, his tenure briefly interrupted by military service. Siegel and his fellow writers had developed the character with little thought of building a coherent mythology, but as the number of Superman titles and the pool of writers grew, Weisinger demanded a more disciplined approach.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 162: "Before Mort came along, Superman's world was ad hoc and seat-of-the-pants, with Jerry and other writers adding elements as they went along without any planning or anyone worrying whether it all hung together. That worked fine when all the books centered around Superman and all the writing was done by a small stable. Now the pool of writers had grown and there were eight different comic books with hundreds of Superman stories a year to worry about."</ref> Weisinger assigned story ideas, and the logic of Superman's powers, his origin, the locales, and his relationships with his growing cast of supporting characters were carefully planned. Elements such as [[Bizarro]], his cousin [[Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)|Supergirl]], the [[Phantom Zone]], the [[Fortress of Solitude]], alternate varieties of [[kryptonite]], [[Superman robots|robot doppelgangers]], and [[Krypto]] were introduced during this era. The complicated universe built under Weisinger was beguiling to devoted readers but alienating to casuals.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 173: "But Weisinger's innovations were taking a quiet toll on the story. Superman's world had become so complicated that readers needed a map or even an encyclopedia to keep track of everyone and everything. (There would eventually be encyclopedias, two in fact, but the first did not appear until 1978.) All the plot complications were beguiling to devoted readers, who loved the challenge of keeping current, but to more casual fans they could be exhausting."</ref> Weisinger favored lighthearted stories over serious drama, and avoided sensitive subjects such as the [[Vietnam War]] and the [[civil rights movement|American civil rights movement]] because he feared his [[right-wing]] views would alienate his left-leaning writers and readers.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman'', p. 165: "Weisinger stories steered clear of the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, the black power movement, and other issues that red the 1960s. There was none of what Mort would have called "touchy-feely" either, much as readers might have liked to know how Clark felt about his split personality, or whether Superman and Lois engaged in the battles between the sexes that were a hallmark of the era. Mort wanted his comics to be a haven for young readers, and he knew his right-leaning politics wouldn't sit well with his leftist writers and many of his Superman fans."</ref> Weisinger also introduced [[Comic book letter column|letters columns]] in 1958 to encourage feedback and build intimacy with readers.<ref>{{harvp|Daniels|1998}}. ''Superman: The Complete History'', p. 102: "One of the ways the editor kept in touch with his young audience was through a letters column, 'Metropolis Mailbag,' introduced in 1958."</ref>

Weisinger retired in 1970 and [[Julius Schwartz]] took over. By his own admission, Weisinger had grown out of touch with newer readers.<ref>{{harvp|Tye|2012}}. ''Superman: The Complete History'', p. 168: "He admitted later he was losing touch with a new generation of kids and their notions about heroes and villains."</ref> Starting with [[The Sandman Saga (Superman)|The Sandman Saga]], Schwartz updated Superman by making Clark Kent a television anchor, and he retired overused plot elements such as kryptonite and robot doppelgangers.<ref>Julius Schwartz, quoted in {{harvp|Daniels|1998}}: "I said, 'I want to get rid of all the kryptonite. I want to get rid of all the robots that are used to get him out of situations. And I'm sick and tired of that stupid suit Clark Kent wears all the time. I want to give him more up-to-date clothes.  And maybe the most important thing I want to do is take him out of the Daily Planet and put him into television.' I said 'Our readers are not that familiar with newspapers. Most of them get their news on television, and I think it's high time after all these years.'"</ref> Schwartz also scaled Superman's powers down to a level closer to Siegel's depiction. These changes would eventually be reversed by later writers. Schwartz allowed stories with serious drama such as "[[For the Man Who Has Everything]]" (''Superman Annual'' #11), in which the villain [[Mongul]] torments Superman with an illusion of happy family life on a living Krypton.

Schwartz retired from DC Comics in 1986 and was succeeded by [[Mike Carlin]] as an editor on Superman comics. His retirement coincided with DC Comics' decision to [[Reboot (fiction)|reboot]] the [[DC Universe]] with the companywide-crossover storyline "[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]". In [[The Man of Steel (comics)|The Man of Steel]] writer [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]] rewrote the Superman mythos, again reducing Superman's powers, which writers had slowly re-strengthened, and revised many supporting characters, such as making [[Lex Luthor]] a billionaire industrialist rather than a mad scientist, and making Supergirl an [[Supergirl#Matrix|artificial shapeshifting organism]] because DC wanted Superman to be the sole surviving [[Kryptonian]].

Carlin was promoted to Executive Editor for the [[DC Universe]] books in 1996, a position he held until 2002. K.C. Carlson took his place as editor of the Superman comics.

===Aesthetic style===
In the earlier decades of Superman comics, artists were expected to conform to a certain "house style".<ref>{{harvp|Harvey|1996|p=144}}: "Artistic expressiveness of a highly individualistic sort had never been particularly welcomed by traditional comic book publishers. The corporate mind, ever focused on the bottom line of the balance sheet, favored bland "house styles" of rendering..."</ref> Joe Shuster defined the aesthetic style of Superman in the 1940s. After Shuster left National, [[Wayne Boring]] succeeded him as the principal artist on Superman comic books.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{harvp|Eury|Adams|Swan|Anderson|2006}}. ''The Krypton Companion'', p. 18: "In 1948 Boring succeeded Shuster as the principal superman artist, his art style epitomizing the Man of Steel's comics and merchandising look throughout the 1950s."</ref> He redrew Superman taller and more detailed.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{harvp|Daniels|1998}}. ''Superman: The Complete History'', p. 74: "...Superman was drawn in a more detailed, realistic style of illustration.  He also looked bigger and stronger. "Until then Superman had always seemed squat," Boring said. "He was six heads high, a bit shorter than normal. I made him taller–nine heads high–but kept his massive chest."</ref> Around 1955, [[Curt Swan]] in turn succeeded Boring.<ref name="Curt Swan 1987">Curt Swan (1987). ''Drawing Superman''. Essay reprinted in {{harvp|Eury|Adams|Swan|Anderson|2006|pp=58}}: "For 30 years or so, from around 1955 until a couple of years ago when I more or less retired, I was the principal artists of the ''Superman'' comic for DC Comics."</ref> The 1980s saw a boom in the diversity of comic book art and now there is no single "house style" in Superman comics.{{CN|date=January 2023}}