Might as well post some Superman material: SYFY's oral history of the Death of Superman

Syfy's oral history. It's pretty long.

I read shortened versions of this in a variety of books about Superman as I did my research. I was also reading comics at this time (1992-1993). I wasn't reading Superman books, though, and I sort of missed the whole thing. I was aware of it, because it was hard not to be. But it didn't have much impact.

Here's editor Mike Carlin, at the end of the oral history:

We personally felt bad that characters like LOBO and The Punisher were being hailed as role models of some sort — and maybe it was our fault that Superman felt old-fashioned still. We were in a position to do something about it, or at least to TRY to do something about it, so we took that awkward opportunity of a postponed wedding and really made our point: Don't take Superman for granted — or he might not be there when you need him.

The Death of Superman was a product of its time.

New Job

When I was a graduate student working on my dissertation, I realized that I had one real goal for it: to get a job. That didn't so much work, and the reasons why aren't worth chronicling. I moved on to a larger, longer, more difficult project about Superman, still with the same goal.

It worked.

Well, technically, the Superman book got me an interview. From there I had to do the rest of the work in person. The book's release coincided with a good year for folklore jobs in North America, and so I applied several places. I returned to conferences for the first time in a while, too, to remind people in my field that I still exist, and to meet new folks, too.

The result: I'm now Assistant Professor of Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland. This fall I will teach Introduction to Folklore as well as a course on Urban Legends. Future courses include Folklore and Popular Culture, and whatever else comes up.

Right now I'm sitting in my new office, waiting for all my books to arrive and marveling at the resources I now have available. I undertook my Superman project without funding, without guidance, and without equipment. Things sure have changed.

Also, somehow I'm only a mile from the ocean. And if you head due east from where I am, there's only water between here and France. I saw some humpback whales the other day.