Why Superman?

When I started my research on Superman, I didn't stop to consider why I would want to write about that particular topic. As I wrote the book and delivered lectures and conference papers on Superman, the reasons started becoming obvious. I don't mean the reasons why I chose Superman in the academic sense (I actually describe the reasons in the preface to the book, which may come out next year...). I mean personal reasons. There are several.

I'd finished my doctoral work; my dissertation was about Prometheus in American culture. It was a good project, and I didn't even have to revise it after my defense. A lot of people will turn their dissertations into a book, but I didn't want to do that. I had chosen a project that turned out to be pretty easy, and I wanted a challenge, so: Superman.

I get into this a bit in the book itself: that I wanted to write about something people love in a visceral, foundational way. Prometheus is interesting to people, but for the most part I missed the window on that by about eighteen hundred years. Pausanias writes about the torch races in the Promethea way back when, and that's exactly what I was looking for.

Instead, I've got the Superman Celebration. And comic book stores (I didn't spend nearly enough time in those for this book). These are just as good; better, in fact, because they're happening now.

But beyond convenience, I was in fact a Superman fan when I was a toddler. I was so much a fan that I insisted on wearing my underoos, complete with cape, when we left the house. My parents discouraged this--their logic was the the bunched up cape made it look like I'd pooped my pants. I did not let this deter me. I was Superman, so nothing could deter me.

This behavior stopped about the age of four, when I discovered baseball. So when I was 32, I returned to Superman. This time, I wasn't a fan, though. I don't think I am even after all the research. I'm still not a Superman fan in any concrete sense of the word. I don't collect the comics or attend events, or watch the shows. I didn't even see Batman v Superman in the theater. I am a fan, however, of Superman fans. I kind of aspire to be one.

That's why Superman.