Hero to zero

The booming popularity of Superman as a character in multipe forms of media throughout the 20th century has placed his character upon a trajectory of transformation that leaves the final product in a dramatically distorted version of his original self. The creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1938 took on the role of a social activist superhero who victoriously combatted the agents of elite Capitalism and provided solace for the honest and helpless working class citizen. Although his countless superpowers that could extinguish any conflict without strain make him seem silly as a literary figure, his fight for justice and social welfare stood sturdy and free of political influence throughout all issues of the first volume. Superman was, in a sense, a raw depiction of a true hero. Shuster and Siegel, members of working class society, generated this personality as an unmolested symbol, who unmasked corruption and mistreatment that oppressed American working class for decades as they witnessed it. Stories of unfit working conditions in a coal mine, arms investors who exploit the lives of thousands of soldiers, and destruction of tenement homes that do not adequately provide for the lower class people they house are examples of this purpose for Superman. He stands as an unrealistic solution to a realistic problem. It is at this point of Superman's career, the beginning, in which he holds the most value as a figure of historical context and as a foundation of the superhero genre.

It is not until Superman abounds in monetary value that his literary authenticity as a representation of society from which he came begins to diminish. As the comic book industry rapidly grows, and political powers start paying attention to the influence of comic book characters on the population, Superman's character takes on the pressure of propaganda and eventually becomes a symbol of "justice", fighting against evil as a law abiding citizen. Ben Saunders hypothesizes in his book "Do the Gods Wear Capes?" that the realization of Superman's value as a commodity is what urges his publishers to depict a more culturally senstitive hero who does not radically oppose the tenets of the law as a means to enact social justice and equality. Instead, Superman becomes an overly nationalistic agent of the state, who overtly fights against

evil as a brand of U.S. government. As his popularity increases along with the pressure of censorship, Superman becomes diluted from his original form until he eveuntually stands for nothing of true value any longer.

"Superduperman!" humorously expresses the transformation of Superman from a harmlessly silly resolution to social corruption into a product of Capitalist tyrants. In this version of a caped superhero, Superduperman hides under the alias of Clark Bent: a creepy assistant copy boy at the "Daily Dirt" who expresses a freakish and horny obsession of Lois Pain, whose busty figure resembles that of a porn star journalist. This satirical form of comic illustrates the sexualization of the comics industry as a means to easily appeal to readers in order to achieve the goals of propaganda.