Does Superman Just Work Better in the 1939–1950 Era?

Question

Does Superman Just Work Better in the 1939–1950 Era?

I’ve been revisiting really old Superman stories to help craft a an alt-timeline fanfic series, and the deeper I go, the clearer it becomes: Superman belongs in the world of 1939 to 1950. Not just aesthetically, but spiritually. He makes sense there in a way that’s hard to replicate in modern or postmodern stories.

That era was built on bold contrasts—good vs. evil, fascism vs. freedom, truth vs. propaganda. It was a time when the lines weren’t always clear, but people wanted to believe they were. Superman didn’t offer complicated moral ambiguity, he offered clarity, strength, hope. He wasn’t "relatable" in the modern sense; he was aspirational. He gave people something solid to believe in during an era of wars, depressions, and existential threats.

Fiction from that time wasn’t ironic. It was earnest. Heroes didn’t wink at the camera. They punched crooks, saved innocents, and looked good doing it. Superman thrives in that kind of storytelling where idealism isn’t mocked, and values like humility, kindness, and self-restraint are strengths, not quirks.

Postmodernism kills Superman. It sneers at sincerity, unravels heroism, and turns truth into opinion. In that framework, Superman becomes a problem to solve, a symbol to subvert, or worse—just another sad man in a cape with a god complex. Writers keep trying to "update" him by breaking him down or dragging him into "realism," but in doing so, they miss what makes him special. Superman isn’t meant to reflect our cynicism—he’s meant to defy it.

Is it any wonder that most of the successful Superman media—Fleischer cartoons, the George Reeves show, the first Donner film, even Superman: The Animated Series—leans into that retro, classic Americana vibe?

Maybe Superman doesn't need to be modernized. Maybe we need to meet him in his time.

Anyone else feel this way?

Yes, things have their place in time.
Most of the superheroes we still see in books coming out every month have long overstayed their welcome.

It's why DC always feels more antiquated compared to Marvel, pre-post WWII are just different societies

Superman works best as a space hero him being soft locked to earth is overdone. I'd rather him go around saving the cosmos and pull planets out of place holes then catch planes, save cats in trees and then work as a new room simp.

No he was great through the 80s and 90s too. Superman works wherever you want him to. He's timeless. And postmodernism was a blight on anything it touched not just the man of steel.

the character is the problem, not the people writing the stories

Superman isn’t meant to reflect our cynicism—he’s meant to defy it.

Problem is that anything that isn't cynicism is immediately decried as fascism.
Superman is by his very existence an appeal to tradition, and everyone nowadays screams at how having a traditional superhero who actually fights bad guys, and believes in things like Truth Justice and the american way is a dogwhistle for the far rtight.

Problem is that anything that isn't cynicism is immediately decried as fascism.

By retards. Whom you should ignore.

He was only great during that time because John Byrne was writing him, and when he was booted off Supes immediately started going downhill.

I think he works better on a smaller scale when he is one of the only superheroes in the setting.

His inflated level of importance ind of goes away when there are a few hundred other superheroes and loads of other aliens who are the last ones of their species.

Those retards are the ones who write Superman comics

There are lots of good Superman stories, casual faggot. The golden age stuff, while historically important, is the same shit over and over again.

gangster does crime

almost gets away

actually no perfect superman who can do anything was only tricking them

I want him to at least be from there
if I ever made something myself, obviously I'd set it in the 90s, as all things should be, or at least the three decades prior.
but I'd still want the backstory to have happened in '39 or so. But I want Ma and Pa alive, so I'd say they were teenagers when they found Clark, and they passed him off as a teen pregnancy, had a shotgun wedding, and now in the 80s or 90s they're elderly but still kickin', and just sweet old folks to give Clark some advice when he needs it.
His costume is a circus strongman costume, and it needs to stay that way. I'd give him back the supermullet of course, but in more of a Tarzan context. Look at me, I'm a mighty wild man from space, a biblical hero just with boots instead of sandals.

Character is great because writers do a good job.

And the Triangle era was terrific.

imagine, if you had some kind of button you could press, to make those people objectively realize that they are the fascists.. what the fuck would they do? They're already not that emotionally stable, and they must have huge barriers up because they gotta know the definition of fascism. if they forgot, planet of the apes brought it up again, so there it is.

Can you read?

I am a big fan of the 90's mullet era but even I feel that keeping Superman specifically in the Golden / early Silver age simply fits better because the character hit his peak as an American institution in that time

I think the only way to make a superman movie these days would be to make it a 1950s period piece and have him in this kind of grounded setting. I don't mean grim or bleak or even overly realistic, just a setting that allowed him to really pop. Have him be the colorful inspirational figure to a world that never even considered any of the cynicism that came out of the 60 and beyond. You can do other fantastic stuff in later films, but the setup should be something amazing to people still capable of sincerity and hope. I think there could be something magical about the contrast between how we'd see "simpler times" and this bigger than life hero. It also eliminates a lot of the convoluted storytelling needed to adapt Superman to a world where technology would ruin his secret.

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The random issues I've read from this era have been subpar. Who were the best writers during this time?

Heroes didn’t wink at the camera.

Sorry, but I have to stop you there. Golden age Superman winked at the camera plenty of times. Watch the Fleischer shorts. Listen to some radio programs. He's the smuggest shit ever. If anything, modern Superman isn't smug enough about what he's doing.

You want to know which Superman works?
Two words: RON ELY.
He did a cameo in an episode of the Superboy tv show, back in 1991, title "The Road to Hell"
Find the clip.

I'd argue the same goes for a lot of big name DC characters. Batman belongs to the 1940's.

You're absolutely right though. Superman was written for a society that enjoyed optimism. For some reason, there's been an increasing trend since that time period of people seeking out pessimist literature. The easy explanation is that people have convinced themselves that its a more intellectual style of storytelling, but I don't think its that simple.

Of course most good superman media was not written in that short time period OP mentioned, but they are set in it. I don't care what the calendars say in those stories, or what technology they have. Good superman stories take place in societies that socially and tonally resemble the 30s-50s.

Everything is a matter of taste, but I'd say he doesn't work better in the 40s as much as he works better in a world that isn't full of other super heroes to compare him to and he worked better when his powers weren't so outrageously godlike.

Powercreep was a little out of hand in early DC, be it superman going from "being able to jump over a skyscraper" to straight up limitless flight or batman always just so happening to have the perfect tool to get out of this insanely specific situation shoved up his ass.

A generic superhero saving the day is a lot more grounded than the universe's walking tactical nuclear weapon having to be factored into every threat when doing anything that might even one day show up in a crossover. Which again has made everyone else much more powerful so they can survive a threat that slows superman down, not him weaker so he doesn't steamroll through anything outside the worst of his own cast of villains.

You had some really good stuff from Roger Stern, Ordway, Dan Jurgens and Louise Simonson. Honestly I have no idea what part of this you read that would count as sub par. Things a powerhouse. The Exile omnibus that precedes it also a great collection.

when I saw this promotional picture for Man of Steel I thought it would be Golden Age Superman and thought that would be cool

I can see that since it looks like an industrial setting with a slight pseudo-sepia tint. That's a bit how I see the aesthetic of if they did a period piece Superman set in the 40s or 50s.

This applies to most DC characters. Even the ones that were invented to fill out team rosters would work better on their own in a smaller scale setting.

Even a simple AI prompt and resulting slop kind of looks more "right" to me for a Superman setting.

Mind elaborating on that "alt-timeline fanfic series''?

Dan Jurgens and Louise Simonson

These are the authors I read from.

Superman is the quintessential original super hero. But to me he always seemed very grounded in 1950's style American culture.

Street level/lower stakes/lower power superman can be really good. The 50's TV show and the Fleisher shorts are full of solid stories
Superman mythos is stuck trying to make sense of Mort Weisinger basically not giving a shit and letting the powers go off the rails. And decades later, in spite of how stupid things got, we still have to abide by that power scaling and additions to the mythos

Most superheroes work better in the decade the came out in. The only one who's ever benefited from any real world passing of time is Cap. But that's because waking up a full lifetime after he was frozen adds to the drama.

Why do retards hate postmodernism? I see it used as a boogeyman all the time here

Superman works better when the writers agree his values are good and hes good for supporting them. If the writer unironically hates america and the phrase "truth justice and the American way" they will attempt to deconstruct supermans values and character, if they hate white people they will deconstruct his parents for being white farmers. They usually try to go for "why doesnt superman solve all socioeconomic problems and cancer and politics hurr durp" probably because hes just a inocuous guy in a costume trying to make people happy, but again if you hate America and white people that isnt permissible he needs to be "doing more" and look at the news, you cant even apprehend shoplifters without it being political. If someone starts a riot and people start looting best buy superman cant stop them, thats a heckin racist. So I dont think he needs to be in 40s-50s to 'work' you just need to approach it with the mindset that superheroes are good and helping people with everday things is good and worth our time and we dont need a guy in tights to solve cancer and politics for us.

Exactly. He should be lifting cars, but not buildings. He certainly shouldn't strike with the force of a nuclear bomb.

thing good

what if thing wasnt good, what if there is no objective good

what if america bad

what if truth justice and american way is a heckin bad thing :0

lets make supermans son a faggot lol

No, postmodernists are the retards, the framing of your question is inherently wrong. Any attempt to have this discussion is met with psduedo-intellectualism like now youre going to tell me I dont get it and postmodernism is so much more complex than I am capable of understanding.

I have not read a Superman comic in a long time. Rec e a good run or time period. Retro Superman sounds fund but 80s-90s has piqued my interest a well.

The time period itself seems foreign, superheroes all work better in a setting that is different from modern day. Superheroes are for fantasy problems not today's problems

desu just google "Bryne Superman reading order" im not an expert but I really like his writing, he understands characters like Fantastic Four and superman well.

There is nothing going on today that wasnt going on then except for internet culture brainrotting people and that doesnt actually change the issues were dealing with just the context in which we view information.

that was before batman became the dark character, and essentially set the tone for DC comics.

Muh postmodernism!

It's too cynical!

No it isn't
You're just retarded

These retards hate postmodernism because it goes against the idea of a singular authoritative truth
That both hurts their brain and challenges their authoritative (read: fascist) mindset