THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPERMAN by Dave Goode

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPERMAN by Dave Goode

During the Silver Age my favorite Superman outside of the comics and reruns of The Adventures of Superman were the 17 animated technicolor Superman shorts from the 1940s. These cartoons with their art deco look and straight out of a comic book story lines were cooler than the other side of the pillow.

The first of these shorts was simply titled "Superman". But it's come to be known by fans as "The Mad Scientist". Released on September 26, 1941 it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoon. It however lost out to Walt Disney's Pluto cartoon "Lend A Paw".

To today's comic book fans the Superman of these cartoons was severely lacking in power. You could also say the same of George Reeves television of the 50s who was no way as powerful as his comic book counterpart of the 50s. But the cartoon Superman's "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man" were on par with the Man of Steel that was found in the comic books of the period. This led to a lot more suspenseful moments.

In a clever bit of casting the two voice actors who portrayed Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane were Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander reprising their roles from the Superman radio series. The pair would recreate those roles in an animated Superman series from Filmation in the 1960s as well.

The actor who did the heavy lifting in the 40s cartoons was 5' 11", 200 lb. pro wrestler Karol Krauser who was the model for the rotoscoped Superman. Born Karol Piwoworczyk in Poland, Krauser was an all-around athlete excelling in weight-lifting, swimming, track, and wrestling. Coming to America Krauser would find fame and fortune tag-teaming with Edward Bruce as one of the Kalmikoff Brothers in the 1950s and 60s.

...and now...SUPERMAN!!!