The Ethics of Superman

Art and text by Arlen Schumer. Here's his web site.

“And superheroes are read as liberating. Commercial artist Arlen Schumer, author of the Silver Age of Comic Book Art (2003), told me several years ago that comics writer Alan Moore said that he learned his morals from Superman. Superman presents right and wrong very clearly and distinctly. He uses his powers to help others and to stand up against powerful, selfish forces. Schumer felt that he too had imbibed this view of the world and that it had served him well throughout his life. I had the same experience and agree with Moore and Schumer. Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster’s original vision of a heroic superman has held true throughout the character’s evolution.”

— Peter Coogan, “Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre”