For my birthday my wife got me a copy of the first year of superman daily comics - from the newspaper in 1939.I find comics interesting because I think that's where we've created our American Mythology. Myths are stories of truth, which may or may not be true stories. That is, they communicate truths, whereas the actual events may be fables.
But you can learn more truth from a mythological fable than a true story.
I just finished reading this first year of superman, and it's interesting to see how he's evolved. In the comics, he could jump really high, was fast, and strong - just like his father on Krypton (his father could leap buildings and sun super fast on Krypton - see the first ever superman daily comic strip).
It wasn't until about 9 months later he had x-ray vision, but he couldn't fly, he was knocked-out by explosions, didn't have magic freezer breath. At that point he was not a semi-diety, but a super-man. He didn't mind when the bad guys died, even if it was his fault. The bad guys were bad and justice needed to be accomplished. (And, the newspaper was the Daily Star, not the Planet.)
Despite the changes in his character and abilities, the truth of the story remains. Superman, disguised as Clark Kent during the day is here to protect us, and be the champion of justice for the oppressed.
