Prod. No.:
JEWEL_0009 Officially Licensed Superman Merchandise
Superman Solid Steel Logo Dog Tag (with chain)
An influence on early Superman stories is the context of the Great Depression. The left-leaning perspective of creators Shuster and Siegel is reflected in early storylines.
Superman took on the role of social activist, fighting crooked businessmen and politicians and demolishing run-down tenements. This is seen by comics scholar Roger Sabin as a reflection of "the liberal idealism of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal", with Shuster and Siegel initially portraying Superman as champion to a variety of social causes.
In later Superman radio programs the character continued to take on such issues, tackling a version of the KKK in a 1946 broadcast.Siegel and Shuster's status as children of Jewish immigrants is also thought to have influenced their work.
Timothy Aaron Pevey has argued that they crafted "an immigrant figure whose desire was to fit into American culture as an American", something which Pevey feels taps into an important aspect of American identity.
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