American comics: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

“…Technicolor invented a color film shooting technology that converts black-and-white movies into color through three-color printing technology. Walt Disney is considering applying it to animation production to shoot the world's first color animation…”

Continue to read the newspaper, and news about Walt Disney appeared in Colin's eyes.

During this period, Walt Disney had already made his mark.

A few years ago, "Steamboat Willie" was released and premiered at the New York Expatriate Theater, which was a huge success. This was the world's first fully synchronized sound animation.

"Steamboat Willie" laid a solid foundation for Walt Disney's subsequent development. The founder Walt even defined November 18, 1928, the date of the film's release, as Mickey's birthday, symbolizing the birth of Disney.

Animation?

Colin did not think about creating animations related to "Superman".

However, due to the development of the times, the animation technology during the Great Depression was far less mature than that of later generations.

The production cycle of an animation is often surprisingly long.

Take Walt Disney's masterpiece "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" a few years later as an example. This feature-length animated film took a total of three years to produce. During the production process of the film, Disney not only had to face technical obstacles, but also had to overcome financial problems.

It is said that in order to complete the production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", Walt Disney invested a total of 1.5 million, but the final completion of the film is still a long way off.

At present, although Colin's "Courier" and "Courier Comics" have already gained him a lot of benefits, they are far from supporting his independent production of "Superman" animation.

Perhaps, we can consider cooperating with Walt Disney?

Looking at the report about Disney in the newspaper, Colin's mind was full of thoughts.

But soon, he suppressed this idea.

At least not now. At this time, even Walt Disney is still in the stage of exploration in animation production.

Moreover, with the success of Steamboat Willie, Walt Disney obviously focused more on the creation of the animated characters in his hands. At this time, even if Colin came to seek cooperation with them, Walt Disney had a high probability of expressing his refusal. They were too busy with the animations on hand, so where would they have time to make other animations.

All, need to wait.

For the current Superman, animation is not the first choice.

Silently suppressing the idea of ​​making Superman animation in his heart, Colin continued to turn the newspaper in his hand.

The reason why he flipped through the newspaper so frequently, in addition to getting news, is also to collect inspiration and materials for his comic creation.

As a comic that is serialized in the Messenger every week.

How to create the plot of Superman is also a test for Colin.

Considering the characteristics of the Great Depression, many Superman comic stories are not suitable for this period.

Especially many "correct" stories in later generations are not correct during the Great Depression.

Fortunately, with the unlocking of [Super Brain Power], although this ability is also limited in the positive world.

However, with the convenience brought by his ability.

Colin always maintains a certain level of inspiration for the creation of "Superman" comics.

At the same time, he would also draw hot events during the Great Depression into the comics. This creative method of breaking the illusion gives readers a sense of being in the presence of Superman.

He is very popular with readers, and even many fans wrote to him, vowing that Superman is by their side.

His aunt, who lives far away in Washington, once saw Superman on a farm.

"Superman syndrome" is also known as the "Clark effect". It is a psychological phenomenon that appeared during the Great Depression. Because of some widely circulated things, people lost the separation of reality and illusion, and mistakenly thought that the stories seen in comics and newspapers were what happened in reality.

According to a survey by Time magazine, many people at that time thought that they saw Superman appear in reality. The witnesses may be friends around them, or they themselves. In short, Superman seemed to be everywhere in that era.

…

At the Courier Newspaper Office, Colin was concentrating on reading the news in the newspaper.

Harry Donafield pushed open the half-open door and walked in.

At this time, his expression was high-spirited, and he had long lost his past anxiety and restlessness.

“The circulation of the first issue of Courier Comics has exceeded 290,000 copies. It’s time to publish the second issue.”

Although the emergence of piracy has had a certain impact on the distribution of Courier Comics, the sales of comics are still in short supply.

Perhaps, some people will find this incomprehensible.

But during the Great Depression, newspapers and magazines became the most important form of entertainment for people after radio.

The price of 10 cents per copy of Courier Comics may not be cheap, but this does not prevent more people, especially comics enthusiasts, from pursuing and loving comics.

Not to mention, the Courier Comics only set the price of a single copy at 10 cents. It does not mean that only one person can pay for it. The cash-strapped readers of Superman often gather together in groups of three or two, scrape together the money for a copy of the Courier Comics, buy comics from newsstands, and take turns reading them.

"So, the first issue of the Courier has almost been sold out?"

Putting down the newspaper in his hand, Colin glanced at Harry who was impatient in front of him and said casually.

"Only a small number of newsstands still have some Courier Comics. I asked the owners of these newsstands. In addition to some of them being specially asked by old customers, some owners simply plan to collect them for themselves."

At this point, Harry's eyes swept over Colin in the newspaper office, his eyes full of admiration.

At the beginning, when Colin chose to print 200,000 copies of the Courier Comics, he was still a little hesitant in his heart, fearing that such a radical approach would cause the good momentum of comic books to be hit, or even further, causing the publishing house to go bankrupt.

Although Colin approached them for the reason of cooperation.

However, Harry and Jack knew in their hearts that the real controller of "Courier Comics" was Colin. Whether it was the creation of comics or the plan of distribution, it was finally decided by him. What they did was just to provide channels and help for the publication, printing and distribution of comics.

The combination of the publishing house and the Courier newspaper was more like a disguised acquisition than a cooperation.