Why I Chose Superman

[Brandon Shepherd]

Part II of my journal focus.

 

For years I credited the Death of Superman storyline for starting my interest with Superman, but I have come to realize that this started long before the 1992 comic event that made headlines. When I saw the Death of Superman graphic novel for the first time in January, 1994, I was reminded of catching clips of the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve earlier in my childhood, this was the true beginning for me.I vaguely remember the late ‘80s, my older brother is almost eleven years older than me, and I would follow him everywhere and I would notice certain movies that he would watch for a bit. The movies I remember, Superman. I can only recall a few clips from Superman, Superman II and Superman IV, this was probably anywhere from 1986 to 1988. One night around this time my dad was putting me to bed when I told him Clark Kent was Superman, all of this stayed in abyss of mind, and would not resurface until I saw the Death of Superman graphic novel. As an 11 year old in 1994 with the Death of Superman graphic novel and a number of comics in my collection I could count with my hand, my mom asked me if I had seen the movies, I said no. When I came home from school one day, there was a Blockbuster rental sitting in my room, it was Superman the Movie. After I put it in the VCR, I started to recognize a few of the scenes, this took me back to the late ‘80s and noticing the few clips that my brother was watching. I loved the movie; the next rental was Superman II, bringing back more memories of those brief clips from that time in my early childhood. After talking to my older brother, it turned out that Superman The Movie and its sequel were movies that he remembered seeing and liking as a kid. Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of the Man of Steel was warm; Superman was a friend, a perfect representation of what the character embodied. Being new to Superman comics, watching the movies sealed the deal, I was now a Superman fan. I wanted to fly up into space, look at the earth, smile and then fly off, just like at the ending of each Superman film. With Superman as my favorite comic character, the first two Superman films set a good example for me. I was in sixth grade when Mr. Reeve had his accident, just about everyone I knew thought of me as the Superman kid, I was asked on the playground and the bus several times if I had heard about the guy who played Superman. I remember my family and I driving across the country for a vacation in the summer of ‘95, I saw a tabloid cover at a gas station with a picture of Christopher Reeve on a hospital bed, I remember being disgusted that someone had the nerve to take a picture of him in his condition and publish it in such a manor. As the ‘90s and my teens went on, I came to respect Reeve for his determination to not only better himself but to help others with spinal cord injuries, I started out thinking of him as the guy who played Superman, then I came to think of him as much more, a class act. Mr. Reeve wrote a few books, which I read of course, to deal with a condition like his and to write with such honesty about his experiences made me respect him even more. I would grow out of comic books for a while, but Superman and the influence from Mr. Reeve always stuck with me. In 2003, I got to see Mr. Reeve speak in Cincinnati, OH, he spoke about the breakthroughs on spinal cord research and treatments; he gave a few examples of people beating the odds to walk again. Reeve answered several questions from the audience, most of the questions came from people with similar conditions, so this was an experience unlike any I had ever had, I left feeling all the more grateful for my health, and with a greater respect for those who were fighting to walk again. Almost a year to the day after I saw him speak, I woke up early for school, as part of my morning routine I would check CNN.com. The site was slow to load, a picture of Reeve appeared, then the headline slowly loaded, Christopher Reeve had passed away. My heart sank when I saw this, I was pulling for him to walk again, he had been doing so well, I could not believe it. As I was walking to class, several people came up to me, they knew me as a Superman guy, they told me how they were sorry, how they thought of me when they heard, like I had known Reeve personally. I was somewhat surprised by this, but appreciative of their thoughts, as all of this was happening, I thought back to sixth grade, and how everyone had come up to me tell me about his accident.As I look back on this, I say again that I now realize that my discovery of Superman did not start with a comic book, it started with a few clips of a movie. This fictional character along with Christopher Reeve’s portrayal was a major influence on me and I will always be grateful for that. My third and concluding journal on this topic will focus on my discovery of a little pocket book, with pictures of covers of a certain comic book title

[RULKFAN1000]

Wow, thats really cool how a man who protrayed a fictional character influenced your collecting, I think its much cooler you respect the man for who he was and what he did. He took his injury and made a postive out of it. ( a mans, man). Keep on collecting the Man of Steel good sir and best of luck with your collection. Also I agree on the distasteful picture of man in a hospital bed.

[Brandon Shepherd]

Thanks a lot, good luck in your collection as well!