Man & Superman

Truth,

Justice,

And the American Way...

In 1938

Two Jewish men

Published the first adventure 

Of Superman.

Some have called his creation

Wish-fulfillment,

Not just for the lives

His creators lived

But for the era

In which it happened.

Elsewhere,

There were other Jews

Fighting a man

Who dreamed of

A different superman.

Now,

Oddly,

These creators 

First envisioned 

Superman 

As a villain.

It was only

When forced

To reconsider

That he became 

A hero.

A hero

Who could

Exhibit

All manner

Of great

But relatively human 

Abilities.

They created

Many adventures 

For Superman 

Over the next several 

Decades.

That’s kind of

Forgotten.

Today 

They’re only seen

As the creators,

Not as active

Participants 

In his history.

One in which

Eventually,

Superman 

Passed into

The hands

Of others

And they lost

All control

And it even seemed

Credit.

And it wasn’t 

For many years

Until they got that back.

And then,

Not until their twilight years,

And their heirs

Continued

That fight,

That never-ending 

Battle.

Perhaps hoping

To one day

Lay claim

To all the rights.

And not quite

Conceiving

That Superman 

Had long ago

Passed into the realm

Of public imagination.

One where he

Is more

And less

Than he has ever been.

Superman,

A fictional man,

Who is sometimes seen

As allegory,

Jewish, 

Even Christian,

But never 

The bad guy.

But then again,

Not always 

The good guy we need.

Sometimes an embarrassment,

Somehow unrelatable.

If you can believe it.

Man,

And Superman.

The American way,

As it were.