Graphic Narrative -RAY

Superman

The superman man character was first created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in 1933. But then later on was sold to detective comics

In 1938 ACTION COMICS #1 was first published comic staring superman. During the 1940s the superman comic books became really popular and were loved by people of all ages. In the United States during the time of World War II sales of superman increased dramatically, as superman presented himself as good VS evil. 

Super man was first featured as a comic book that wasn't very popular in the 1938 then moved on to newspapers and radio shows and then moving on to TV screens Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic books. In the 1950s the television series of “adventures of superman” aired it was the first series to feature the comic book character “superman” 

It has been thought that Jerry Siegel first came up with the idea for superman during the period of his father’s death as His father was involved in a robber and was thought to have died of a heart attack. This story relate to the first comic book story of superman of when he was saving civilians from being robbed.

Superman’s target audiences’ all social classes, from all age ranges from young children to fully grown adults superman also targets both genders. However superheroes are mostly intended to attract more of a male’s audience. Superman’s comics would mostly be aimed at people who enjoy reading in there free time and for people who like to see cartoons as a form of art. The stereotypical audience would be geeks and nerd.

Seeming as superman came out around the era of World War II most young men looked up to the superman and wanted to be more like him seeing as he basically represented the country of America with his superman custom with the colors or red and blue representing the American flag, this comic made people want to be like superman, he was like a role model to men he also influenced a lot of men to join the war. However during the time of 1929-1939 the era of depression a lot of people used superman as a form of escapism to help them forget what was happening in their lives and think about a life if they had superpowers. In the comics superman is drawn with a lot of muscles and known for having a range of different superpowers this makes the readers see him as a stereotypical masculine man and powerful super hero, who always seemed to save the world and the girl. But on the other hand superman is also presents as the nerdy, geeky character that works as a news reporter at a news agency called the daily planet. By having superman be presented as a masculine but also nerdy character it shows that anyone can be a hero no matter his or her persona. Because superman was released around the world warII era it made people feel like they wanted to go to war so they could be like superheroes also saving their country from going under attack. Also Superman has become very popular because it shows that he has not only superhero problems but also human problems which makes him come across as not only being a hero but a normal man. Which represents him as being a normal person and this helps people relate more to him. 

Copy Rights

Siegel and Shuster had copy right issues when they sold there rights to superman “in return for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1940 that the pair was each being paid $75,000 a year, a fraction of National Comics Publications' millions in Superman profits. Siegel and Shuster renegotiated their deal, but bad blood lingered and in 1947 Siegel and Shuster sued for their 1938 contract to be made void and the re-establishment of their ownership of the intellectual property rights to Superman”.

“in 1973 Siegel and Shuster again launched a suit claiming ownership of Superman, this time basing the claim on the Copyright Act of 1909 which saw copyright granted for 28 years but allowed for a renewal of an extra 28 years. Their argument was that they had granted DC the copyright for only 28 years. The pair again lost this battle, both in a district court ruling of October 18, 1973 and an appeal court ruling of December 5, 1974.”
“In 1975 after news reports of their pauper-like existences, Warner Communications gave Siegel and Shuster lifetime pensions of $20,000 per year and health care benefits."

To start creating my graphic narrative I will need a starting off budget of £1000. The resources I will need would be:-

• 2/3 models would cost around £400 per hour 
• 1 HQ cannon camera £550
• Props £20

Doing my graphic narrative I will be at a high risk of danger so I will have to look at the health and safety risks that could occur because I will be taking photographs in different locations I will need to oversee the dangers that could occur beforehand.