Superduperman

"Superduperman" is a satirical story by Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood that was published in the fourth issue of Mad (April–May 1953). Lampooning both Superman and Captain Marvel, it revolutionized the types of stories seen in Mad, leading to greatly improved sales. Writers such as Alan Moore have cited this story as an influence.

Characters and story

The plot parallels the Superman scenario of the period: "Clark Bent" is a lowly assistant to the copy boy at The Daily Dirt newspaper, where he tries, unsuccessfully, to woo the disgusted "Lois Pain". Meanwhile, an 'unknown monster' is stalking the streets of the city. Bent changes into Superduperman to help save the day, but "boy reporter Billy Spafon" reveals himself to be the monster, "Captain Marbles". Superduperman is unable to harm Captain Marbles until he provokes Marbles into punching himself in the head. Hoping this victory will be enough to sway Pain, he reveals his alter ego, only to be rejected again; the story closes with Pain's putdown: "Once a creep, always a creep".

Kurtzman's script subverts the admirable image of the superhero. Clark Bent uses his X-ray vision to peer into the women's bathroom, and Captain Marbles has abandoned good deeds for the pursuit of money. The conflict between the two characters also parodies the

Influences

The story was an influence on Alan Moore when creating Watchmen. Moore has said: "We wanted to take Superduperman 180 degrees – dramatic, instead of comedic",[5] but it also influenced the art: "I think that we probably settled upon the kind of Wally Wood 'Superduperman' style. You know, super-heroics, lots of details, heavy blacks, of a distinctive style".[6] When asked about the influence of Superfolks on his work like the earlier Marvelman, Moore said: "I'd still say that Harvey Kurtzman's Superduperman probably had the preliminary influence".[7] He went into more detail in ''Kimota! the Miracleman Companion'':

"I remember being so knocked out by the 'Superduperman' story that I immediately began thinking – I was 11, remember, so this would have been purely a comics strip for my own fun – but I thought maybe I could do a parody story about Marvelman. This thing is fair game to my 11-year-old mind. I wanted to do a super-hero parody story that was as funny as 'Superduperman', but I thought it would be better if I did it about an English superhero'.[8]"

The story would also influence John Shelton Lawrence. As a child he dressed as a superhero and got himself into trouble but "[h]is understanding of superpowers matured, however, when he read Mad Magazine's ' "Superduperman" in the early 1950s. That teenage skepticism grew into a philosophical teaching career, resulting in his current position as a professor of philosophy, emeritus, at Morningside College in Iowa. With Robert Jewert, he developed his suspicion that America's righteous stance in the world often projects the story of the selfless crusader who can cleanly use superpowers to rescue the innocent".[9] These ideas would be expanded in their books The American Monomyth (1977), The Myth of the American Superhero (2002), and Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism (2003).

In 1956, Ernie Kovacs did a Superclod sketch parody that had some similarities to Kurtzman's version; Kovacs was also a contributor to Mad Magazine.

That same year, Warner Bros. released their own parody, Stupor Duck, which was another in a series of cartoons depicting Daffy Duck doing a parody of another character. The story has "Cluck Trent" squaring off against supervillain "Aardvark Ratnik," although neither Cluck Trent nor Stupor Duck are aware that Ratnik is merely a character in a TV show.

Don Glut made, and starred in, a Superduperman fan film in 1963.[10][11][12]

converted	yes
publisher	EC Comics
debut	Mad #4 (April–May 1953)
creators	Harvey Kurtzman Wally Wood
alter ego	Clark Bent
subcat	EC Comics
sortkey	Superduperman

Characters and story

Reception

Influences

See also

External links

References