Superheroes! They have lived in our comic books, television
shows, movies, and off late, web series, with a charm that is second to none!
Some of them were conceptualized a long time back while a couple of them have
been conceptualized in the current decade. However, it would be a serious folly
to ignore their creators – the brains behind these marvels!
From Batman to Superman, Green Lantern to Silver Surfer,
Wonder Woman to Justice Woman, superheroes have left an impact in our lives
from a wide variety of angles. They have taught us about virtue, honesty,
integrity, bravery and a lot of other values that a good human being should
have. They have been idolized and from little brains to big brains – everyone
has at some point of time or other done quite a lot to emulate their favorite
superheroes.
How did Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster come up with the idea
of creating Superman? It was not an overnight, weekly job! It took a lot of
time, dedication, imagination, and patience to do what they did – their
immortal creation keeps on coming back today in comics, movies and will
continue to do so in the future as well. Lots of brainstorming sessions,
scribbles, mind maps, storylines, went into the late nights that both Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster put in. Simply, speaking whether it be Superman, Batman,
or any other superhero, the role of the creator is essential simply because he
himself creates and builds in all the cogs of the concept wheel known as a ‘superhero’.
Having said that, let’s have a look at five such superheroes
and their creators.
Batman created by Bob Kane
Bob Kane, an American Comic Book Artist, and the inductee to
Jack Kirby Hall of Fame and Will Eisner Hall of Fame, made an entry into the world
of comics in 1936. His early years featured many creations like Peter Pupp;
Ginger Snap etc. created the breakthrough hit superhero Batman in 1938. The
Batman created by Bob Kane was infused with a scientific detective outlook with
the entry of Bill Finger in early 1938. Kane said that the idea of Batman came
to him as an inspiration from the actor Douglas Fairbanks’ portrayal of the
Mexican defender of justice Zorro, Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch of the
Ornithopter and a film in 1930s called the Bat Whispers. Batman first appeared
in May 1939 in Detective Comics’ Issue No. 27. The fame of Batman grew to the
level that the demand for new stories from Detective Comics rose quickly. So,
the intellect of Kane and Finger was complemented by the artwork of Jerry
Robinson and George Roussos along with scriptwriter Gardener Fox (It was in the
Monk – the script was written by Gardener Fox – that the Batman introduced his
‘Bat-equipment). Even the arch-nemesis of the Batman, the Joker was the
co-creation out of the inspiration of Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson.
The Joker’s look was inspired from Conrad Veldt – a character from the book
‘The Man Who Laughs’ by Victor Hugo. Kane was the brainchild behind the
creation of Two-Face, another bad guy in the Batman series. Robin, the trusty
sidekick of Batman, was introduced as the implementation of Kane’s idea that
since Batman was a sort of a combo between Douglas Fairbanks and Sherlock
Holmes, he should also have the assistance of his ‘Watson’ and, therefore, the
character of Robin was introduced. The world over, truly enjoys the character
of Batman owing to the hard work and imaginative thought process put in by
Kane, Finger, and their associates.
Phantom created by Lee Falk
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Lee Falk was utterly fascinated
by the thugs of India. He was also fascinated by a host of myths and legends
such as Ei Cid, Nordic and Greek folklore heroes, and King Arthur. He was
highly fascinated by ‘Mowgli’ – the jungle boy from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book
and ‘Tarzan’ – a man raised in the African jungles by the Mangani great apes. All
of them contributed to the formulation of the Phantom (He initially preferred
to name the superhero as the ‘Gray Ghost’). The surroundings of the Phantom was
inspired from Jungle Book and Tarzan, while his overall persona was the result
of Falk’s desire to create a superhero who was majestic, brave, tough and
mysterious at the same time. The costume of the Phantom was influenced from the
skin-tight attire worn by the English mythical hero Robin Hood, while the mask
of the Phantom – one that covered his pupils – was influenced from Ancient
Greek stone busts that did not show the pupils of the eyes. The Skull Cave,
Devil – the wolf were also Falk creations inspired from fictional and mythical
characters and surroundings. The Phantom was the first ever superhero to wear
skin tights – an attire which would later become a standard for all
superheroes. The pupil-covered mask was also the first ever of its kind – Again
a standard which would soon become a standard for superheroes. Finally, the
genius of Falk was also shown in his scripts featuring mysterious nick-names
for the Phantom like ‘The Ghost Who Walks’, ‘Guardian of the Eastern Dark’, and
‘The Man Who Cannot Die’.
Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack
Kirby
The super soldier Captain America who was famous for
fighting in the Second World War along with dispatching his arch nemesis HYDRA
was the immortal creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Simon and Kirby created
him with an alter-ego Steve Rogers, who with the desire to become a soldier was
unable to do so due to his frail health. He was then subjected to an experiment
which turned him into a super solider known as Captain America. The costume of
Captain America with the American flag motif was the brainchild of Simon and
Kirby and the original idea led to the superhero becoming the flag-bearer of
justice and a symbol of truth especially for the American soldiers during the
Second World War. The first issue was released in 1941, but the series was
discontinued in 1961. Captain America made a terrific comeback as the leader of
the Avengers – a group of super heroes formed to fight terror. The main weapon
of Captain America was his nearly indestructible shield which was created from
a mix of steel and a fictional element called Vibranium. An interesting feature
of this super hero was that his enemies followed actual ‘isms’ for instance
Nazism (Baron Zemo and Red Skull), Neo-Nazism (Doctor Faustus and Crossbones),
technocratic Fascism (Arnim Zola and AIM), Communism (Aleksander Lukin),
Anarchism (Flag smasher) and terrorism (HYDRA).
Justice Woman created by Vanessa Verduga
A stage, film, and TV actress, Vanessa Verduga is a trained
lawyer but is popular all over the world as a lead actress and the producer of
the award-winning web series Justice Woman. Sophia Escala, an assistant
district attorney during the day works rounds the clock as the protector of
justice by donning on the cape of Justice Woman – a superheroine who whips
crime into submission. She is aided by her side-kick Roberta (a.k.a Robert
Gallion, a colleague and the best friend of Sophia). Together, they investigate
the corrupt legal system and seek to bring justice to the innocent and the
powerless. ‘Justice Woman Begins’ is the name of the comic book which has
gained immense popularity across the world. Vanessa has been a fan of
superheroes ever since her childhood. Justice Woman is, therefore, her tribute
to the superheroes of the yesteryears. Vanessa’s experiences as an attorney
were key inspirations behind of the storyline showing Sophia’s experiences as
an assistant district attorney. Her creative genius is proven by the fact that
her creation Justice Woman puts forth the horrible face of the corrupt legal
system plaguing the innocent and the powerless – A system where the rich and
the powerful are able to bend the law for their benefits while the poor and the
weak are deprived of justice. Justice Woman has already become an iconic figure
as a defender for justice and Vanessa has plans of coming up with a musical as
well apart from the highly successful comic book and the web series.
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
The
name Superman is almost an epitomization of a superhero. Created by Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster, both children of Jewish immigrants, the story of
Superman being an immigrant from the planet of Krypton is seen as a fictional
depiction of the real life scenario of his creators. The concept of superheroes
having their real-life alter-egos living and working as normal human beings
also stemmed from Superman, whose alter-ego Clark Kent was raised by a Kansas
farmer and his wife and worked as a reporter. Inspired by characters such as
Samson and Hercules, Superman is the superhero bent on righting the wrongs and
fighting for social justice. The costume of the Superman was inspired by the
suits worn by outer-space travelers shown in Pulp magazines and also from the
comic strip Flash Gordon. The costume was also inspired by the traditional
strongman costumes in circuses. The fame of this super hero was testament to
the fact that there was never a dearth of publication houses or media
franchises to support it. On top of that, Hollywood also realized the potential
of Superman as a movie. The fame of the super hero is such that ever since its
first appearance in Action Comics in 1938, things have just got bigger and
bigger for this super hero. The hardwork of his creators are becoming quickly
immortal as Superman is one superhero who will remain not only in the coming
years but also in the coming decades.
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