Rating:  -
As with Daniels's other comics histories, this is a beautiful coffee table book, thoroughly illustrated and full of much fascinating trivia about the medium. When reading it, though, it's important to remember that the book was fully approved and virtually coproduced by DC Comics, and so basically represents DC's PR department view of its history. For example, it mostly rationalizes or dismisses the company's appalling treatment of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. For history, there are non-corporate approved books that do a much more realistic job. But for beautiful pictures and an overview of the comics themselves, this is great.
Rating:  -
He's the first, and greatest superhero ever, the man who not only was faster than a speeding bullet, but more importantly the man who was able to survive the golden age fallout of superhero comics and continue to thrive almost 70 years later. Les Daniels' magnificent book traces the history of Superman from his humble beginnings, to the major marketing franchise it is today. It's the story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, a couple of young men from Cleveland who putting the ideas for this new and fantastic character down on paper as early as 1933, and then struggled for years to get the feature sold. We see a rare cover, the only page surviving from 1933, after Joe Shuster burned the rest of the pages in frustration. The spotlight reviewer contends that Daniels does not give credit to Siegel and Shuster and even takes stabs at the pair. Nothing could be further from the truth. The book details the pairs drive to get the character sold, and their diligence is well documented by Daniels. It's a tribute to their persistence that Superman is around today. Had they thrown in the towel after their many rejections Superman would never have seen the light of day. I think that pays them high tribute. There's no doubt that DC comics made millions...no billions off Superman and that Siegel and Shuster did not benefit much from this. Unfortunately, the pair, so desperate to get the idea in print, signed away their rights to the character. It may have been cheap on DCs part, no doubt, but creators simply did not own their characters back then.
Daniels goes onto to show how Superman was a smashing success right out of the gate and would go onto conquer virtually every form of media of the day including newspaper strips, animated shorts, movie serials, feature films, radio, TV, and incredible merchandising. Daniels traces Superman's adventures from the enemy-smashing efforts of WWII, to the ridiculous, often silly stories of the 1950's, to Superman's death and eventual resurrection in the 1990's. Daniels traces all those others who were key in making Superman the American Icon he has become, particularly the late Julius Schwartz who basically created the Silver Age of comics and guided superman for years and artists the late Wayne boring the primary superman artist after Shuster and through the mid-1950's, and the late Curt Swan who took over in the mid-1950's and was the primary artist on Superman for the next thirty years.
But the book isn't all about the comic books. We'll see Superman in the great Fleischer cartoons of the 1940's, his early film appearances by Kirk Alyn, and then on TV with George Reeves...Heck there was even a Superman musical in the 1960's. Superman would be re-vitalized in the 1970's when Christopher Reeves played the Man of Steel in four big-screen films before the character would return to TV in the romantic Lois and Clark, and the new look at Clark Kent as a young man in the smash hit "Smallville". Daniels covers it all including the wonderful animated series on WB, and the controversies surrounding Superman's "death" and resurrection and eventual marriage to Lois Lane. Daniels leaves no stone unturned, even providing great photos of vintage and current Superman toys and other collectibles.
Siegel and Shuster are given their proper due for the creation of Superman, but it was an entire host of talented writers, artists, actors, animators, and directors that have turned the character into the legend that he has become. This is a terrific book for any fan of the character. Well-written and researched.
Rating: -
This is a great book for anyone who is interested in reading about the history of The Man Of Steel in all of his media incarnations (it's a few years old, so misses out on any info on the tv series Smallville). Well written and illustrated, it's a must-have for any fan of Superman.
Rating:  -
There is no doubt the comic book industry owes a great debt to Superman, or rather, to Siegel and Shuster who created him, but in his book, Les Daniels frequently looks for ways to minimize, rather than credit, their contribution. DC Comics made millions of dollars on the movies, TV Shows, cartoons, and other merchanising over the decades, while Siegel and Shuster shared in hardly any of it. The most shocking thing now is, this book, written with the cooperation of DC - rather than apologize to the two men, or even express any kind of gratitude, it actually takes stabs at Sigel and Shuster. Rather than simply state the facts regarding to Superman's history, Daniels frequently assails the characters of the two men, claims they took most of their ideas from other places, assigns poor motives to both men, even mentions extra-marital affairs they may or may not have had. The book is supposed to be about Superman, who cares about any of that? Of course Daniels would never turn a critical eye towards DC, who seem to have hired him, it's surprising they still seem to be bitter about two men that made them so much money for the last sixty years. There is no doubt, DC has been the best comic book company when it comes to promoting their characters, but they have also been very lucky in the courts. Not only did they force Superman's creators to relinquish all rights to the character, their lawsuits also managed to force Captain Marvel, a character more popular than Superman at the time, out of business. They claimed they were too much alike, but anyone who knows comics could see their differences. Later, DC took over Captain Marvel and actually began publishing him themselves (!). This story is only touched on briefly here. I give the book two stars because the illustrations are good, but the text deserves one, if even that. Everyone is entitled their opinion, but, in a book like this, people don't want to hear about it, they expect a decent read about the character of Superman. The true history of Superman is really not told here, it actually involves greedy businessmen sitting back and counting their money, while the creators that were the ones to make these characters, end up dying peniless.
Rating: -
Superman is, without a doubt, one of the most recognizable characters in the world. But how did he reach that point? Les Daniels excellent history of Superman tells that story, and is packed with great pictures and photos as well. A perfect book for comic or pop culture fans. Highly Recommended.
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