When was Superman 1st called "The Man of Steel"? 0

[gadzukes]

I remember some early issues of Action comics referring to him as the "Man of Tomorrow", but I was wondering when the nickname "Man of Steel" was first coined.

I know that the Superman daily strips referred to him as the "man of steel" in mid Feb of 1939.

Is there an earlier reference?

[Mr.TawkyTawny]

18 hours ago, gadzukes said:

I remember some early issues of Action comics referring to him as the "Man of Tomorrow", but I was wondering when the nickname "Man of Steel" was first coined.

I know that the Superman daily strips referred to him as the "man of steel" in mid Feb of 1939.

Is there an earlier reference?

There was a small newspaper ad which was run the second week of January '39 announcing "Superman Man of Steel begins a startling new adventure Monday Dont miss it!" which mentions this reference.

Personally I've never seen or read the early Siegel/Shuster daily comic strips, what sticks in my mind is the Max Fleischer Superman Technicolor cartoons calling him the Man of Steel but those appeared late '41 so I believe you're correct with the daily newspaper strips.  

[gadzukes]

2 hours ago, Mr.TawkyTawny said:

There was a small newspaper ad which was run the second week of January '39 announcing "Superman Man of Steel begins a startling new adventure Monday Dont miss it!" which mentions this reference.

Personally I've never seen or read the early Siegel/Shuster daily comic strips, what sticks in my mind is the Max Fleischer Superman Technicolor cartoons calling him the Man of Steel but those appeared late '41 so I believe you're correct with the daily newspaper strips.  

Thanks.

I wonder if there is mention of "Man of Steel" in Action 2-7?

 

[jpepx78]

Action 6, cover date November 1938

[gadzukes]

29 minutes ago, jpepx78 said:

Action 6, cover date November 1938

Cool.  Nice detective work jpepx78.  I forgot that the "Daily Planet" wasn't around yet.  If this is truly the 1st coining of "Man of Steel" perhaps CGC should mention it on the label for Action 6

[Sqeggs]

43 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

Cool.  Nice detective work jpepx78.  I forgot that the "Daily Planet" wasn't around yet.  If this is truly the 1st coining of "Man of Steel" perhaps CGC should mention it on the label for Action 6

Good point.  I think it's important enough to merit a label mention.  Probably need to nail down that Action 6 really is the first mention, though, before approaching them.

[gadzukes]

1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:

Good point.  I think it's important enough to merit a label mention.  Probably need to nail down that Action 6 really is the first mention, though, before approaching them.

If someone out there has archived editions of Action 2-5, take a look.  I know he's not referred to as MOS in Action 1.

I don't think there was a radio show yet so that would rule that out.

[woowoo]

16 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

If someone out there has archived editions of Action 2-5, take a look.  I know he's not referred to as MOS in Action 1.

I don't think there was a radio show yet so that would rule that out.

I just looked in my Action archive and it only has the story to 1 than jumps to 7-8-9 on up story's. It say's you have to look in the Superman archive to read 2 thru 6 story's but my Superman daily's 1939 to 1940 has man of steel right before he goes after the car

[gadzukes]

34 minutes ago, woowoo said:

I just looked in my Action archive and it only has the story to 1 than jumps to 7-8-9 on up story's. It say's you have to look in the Superman archive to read 2 thru 6 story's but my Superman daily's 1939 to 1940 has man of steel right before he goes after the car

That strip is from Feb 9 1939.

Jpepx found a mention of the "Man of Steel" in Action 6 Nov 1938 (cover date).

[woowoo]

24 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

That strip is from Feb 9 1939.

Jpepx found a mention of the "Man of Steel" in Action 6 Nov 1938 (cover date).

Ya 6 is the best so far. We need someone with Superman archive 1 to look thru Action 2 to 6 stores and see if there is one before 6.

[LDarkseid1]

I just read through Action Comics #1-#5 and saw nothing. As far as I can tell, in comic book form he is first mentioned as the Man of Steel in Action Comics #6.

Edited January 11, 2018 by LDarkseid1

[woowoo]

59 minutes ago, LDarkseid1 said:

I just read through Action Comics #1-#5 and saw nothing. As far as I can tell, in comic book form he is first mentioned as the Man of Steel in Action Comics #6.

[bluechip]

I always thought it was interesting that "Superman" is loose translation of Ubermensch, a term the Nazis applied to Hitler, while "Man of Steel" is a loose translation for Stalin.

[gadzukes]

I have a suspicion that the phrase "Man of Steel" was coined before Superman appeared.  In the late 1800s to the early 1900s circus strongmen were a big deal (way more than now).  I wonder if the "Man of Steel" moniker was given to any of the old Strongmen.

BTW, I've read that when designing the look of Superman, Siegel & Schuster dressed him in the classic "Strongman outfit", made it colorful, and added a cape, so maybe they took "Man of Steel" from the Strongmen too.

[jaybuck43]

27 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

I have a suspicion that the phrase "Man of Steel" was coined before Superman appeared.  In the late 1800s to the early 1900s circus strongmen were a big deal (way more than now).  I wonder if the "Man of Steel" moniker was given to any of the old Strongmen.

BTW, I've read that when designing the look of Superman, Siegel & Schuster dressed him in the classic "Strongman outfit", made it colorful, and added a cape, so maybe they took "Man of Steel" from the Strongmen too.

There was a famous french wrestler in 1870 named "The Man of Steel".  He was known for using his teeth to lift heavy weights, including a live horse.  

[woowoo]

32 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

I have a suspicion that the phrase "Man of Steel" was coined before Superman appeared.  In the late 1800s to the early 1900s circus strongmen were a big deal (way more than now).  I wonder if the "Man of Steel" moniker was given to any of the old Strongmen.

BTW, I've read that when designing the look of Superman, Siegel & Schuster dressed him in the classic "Strongman outfit", made it colorful, and added a cape, so maybe they took "Man of Steel" from the Strongmen too.

Here is Wikipedia under Influences might be good read for you

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman