Superman and the Politics of Utopia: a History and Philosophy of the Man of Tomorrow
Part One: Introductions
“A physical marvel, a mental wonder, Superman is destined to reshape the destiny of the world!”
– Action Comics #1 (1938)
“Have you seen this one?” asked my father inside “Things from Another World” at the Universal Studios CityWalk, reaching for an oversized, glossy hardcover with the instantly recognizable Batman, Wonder Woman, and an electric-blue Superman standing before a blood-red sky; eight year old me, exhausted from a day in the park, suddenly rejuvenated by the literal gods among men presenting themselves before me; an idea brewing then, that has continued to express itself now: the potential of the yet-to-be-revealed when endeavoring on a fruitful encounter for the first time.
It is the yet-to-be-revealed ideas that hold the most transformative power. Often subliminal and unconscious, they exist in our past and present, on a collision course with the yet-to-be-determined idealized desires of the future. The graphic novel, as an image-driven medium, has the power to distill these ideas and shape and transform society. The creation of Superman is a prime example of how literature and popular culture, with their unique ability to capture and convey these ideas, can impact the present, shaping societal values and inspiring generations.
Superman’s arrival was an unprecedented event in our artistic/literary traditions, an impactful idea stemming from the sociopolitical and historical canon of the Western world. The ideas behind Superman, a distillate of the future, were not just born, but they exploded into existence from the imaginations of two second-generation Jewish immigrant teenagers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Their dream, met with continual trial and error, birthed a myth so significant that early viewers of the concept could not fathom the transformative impact he would have on the present. Superman's influence on American culture and his role as a beacon of inspiration for a global village of people, from the streets of Metropolis to the farthest corners of the Earth, underscore his significance as a global cultural icon.
Since his debut in 1938, The Man of Tomorrow has witnessed a dynamic evolution in his fictional narrative and our reality. Conceived with a utopian ideal during the turbulent Great Depression, the birth of Superman coincided with the emergence of modern America: the anticipated country of the ‘future.' The stark dichotomy between the character's unwavering idealism and the stark reality of the times is an early testament to his role as a symbol of hope and resilience, underscoring his profound societal impact.
Superman's influence as a fictional witness to the shifting landscape of the modern world extends far beyond comics. It encompasses a critical history of philosophy and ideology, embodying the purpose behind any art form—to inspire and transcend any specific period. Superman, a culmination of past histories and future possibilities, is a conduit for the politics of utopia, a transformative beacon that continues to inspire generations.
As Ernst Bloch writes in the Principle of Hope, “Great works of art essentially show a realistically related pre-appearance of their completely developed subject matter… every attempt of this kind is experimenting with something that overhauls, something perfect which the world has not yet seen… in this way, the whole of art shows itself to be full of appearances which are driven to becomes symbols of perfection” (Bloch 1938, 14). The utopian potential imbued within a work of art appears inherent to Bloch. Our ability to perceive the 'perfect' finds its conduit in the creation of symbols and its fulfillment, too. Bloch’s argument centers around the hopeful principle that we will continue to conceive of a better world by bringing work into it, an exercise that delivers revelation from the “yet-to-be-revealed.”
Unaware of Siegel and Shuster’s invention, Bloch began his principal work in New York in 1938, near the two teenagers aspiring to create a symbol of human triumph and perfection. Witnesses to a similar world, the two philosophies, one in the abstract realm of Western philosophy and the other, a condensed 2-D, cape-wearing hero, represent a shared understanding of art’s potential to change, revolutionize, and drive toward perfection. Superman, as expressed in comics, is the continued preview of this unfolding utopia through creative practice.
Superman represents an ideal utopian future rooted in universal values of truth, hope, and equality. He is a symbolic figure embodying American ideals and universal aspirations for human perfection stemming from Enlightenment liberalism. This concept reflects Superman's ability to represent opposing and unifying forces. Akin to a Hegelian aesthetic, he synthesizes a future-forward drive while reconciling aspects of his past, unifying the utopian visions of socialist liberal thought and libertarian individualism. This “utopian individualism”[1] defines an individual's independence and self-reliance far exceeding collective state principles to battle for egalitarian, socially liberal politics. However, despite his association with triumphant human ideals, Superman has faced criticism not as a symbol of potential but as a harmful ideal.
Umberto Eco’s “The Myth of Superman” (1962) argues that Superman, despite his indestructible nature as an idea and icon, lies in the a-temporal adventures that cage him not for revolution but for the preservation of reinforced pedagogy. In a similar take, Richard Reynolds’ Superheroes: A Modern Mythology (1992) states, “the superhero has a mission to preserve society, not to re-invent it” or, in worst instances, become the harbinger of nostalgia, says Ian Gordon in “Nostalgia, Myth and Ideology: Visions of Superman at the End of the ‘American Century’” (2001).
Another counterintuitive aspect of Superman is his corporate overlords, DC Comics. In an age where late-stage capitalism dominates how we spend our time, how can a corporate character like Superman aspire to be a beacon of hope and renewal when he, too, is trapped in the market-driven world, argues Dan Hassler-Forest in Capitalist Superheroes: Caped Crusaders in the Neoliberal Age (2012). Despite his opposition, creators, writers, editors, filmmakers, and fans have defended and defined Superman for almost a century. Born to represent “what we all might become,” writes Grant Morrison in Supergods (2011), the ideologue of hope stands above human corruption.
While Superman may stand above human corruption as an unwavering ideal, can Superman, in a genre defined by male direction and readership, accurately represent a future inclusive of sex, gender, and race? Are the politics behind him relevant to contemporary readership? Though it is a concept of 'potential' that Superman embodies and inspires, to fill us with hope and optimism for what is yet-to-come is a grand endeavor needing a mighty sway.
Can a fictional alien from the planet Krypton inspire today as done in decades prior? The concepts behind Superman indicate a belief in his relevance for tomorrow and today. This direction toward the utopian is rooted in Superman and a long tradition before him, which continues to shape our understanding of hope, resilience, and representation.
In Chapter One, Superman’s conceptual history and debut examine his immediate impact to question the character’s central premise: a dream of hope amidst the consequences of early 20th-century history, U.S. economic turmoil, and the rise of Fascism in Europe, while changing our perceptions of the future and wrestling with creative control. In Chapter Two, Superman’s facelift from a Utopian “champion of the oppressed” into an American icon further examines his publication history and their coinciding editorial changes where his mythology expands and conflicts with a national and political identity. In Chapter Three, alongside the political tremors of the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam, Superman straddles the line between a popular comic crusader and a receptive political contestant while weaving strands of philosophical and critical thought from Eco, Gordon, Wright, and Moore to face the ever-changing landscape of late modernity, fighting for relevancy and reception. In Chapter Four, amidst a changing global scene with the Reagan administration and the fall of the Berlin Wall, a “Dark Age” questions Superman’s role in the coming century in a period riddled with varied interpretations, reboots, retcons, and deaths. Chapter Five delivers the Man of Tomorrow into the 21st century, tying together the hero’s origins and history with his modernization from an American superhero to a global political icon.
From the explosive Action Comics #1 to Moore’s farewell in “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, Morrison’s eternal mythology in All-Star Superman, and a meta-fictional wunderschlag in Geoff Johns’ Doomsday Clock, Superman’s comic history began with a dynamite debut that has since seen the action-born character continue to press the bounds of our thoughts and imaginations to conceive a brighter and more equal future without losing sight of his tradition and history. Inspiring the hearts and minds of comic readers and universally recognizable as a symbol of our potential, this examination of Superman will focus on his defining history in the comic genre that has shaped his appearances on radio, Broadway, film, television, and global iconography. Ultimately, Superman’s story details the struggle to embody a political ideology that casts a shadow both backward and forward through time. Anchoring between left-wing socialist utopianism and right-wing libertarian utopianism, Superman’s transformative nature produces and actively engages his audience to reflect on our potential to be active political agents in the pursuit of liberal utopian individualism.
[1] This definition draws upon ideas in social liberalism, classical liberalism, libertarianism, and anarchism. For more, see Britannica’s definition of “social liberalism” and “classical liberalism.”
continued next week!