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Contents
Introduction
In 1938, a cultural icon was created, spurring America towards a rhetoric of superheroes who surpassed the capabilities of humanity yet remained uncorrupted by immense power. The icon was Superman, and he was introduced to the world in Action Comics #1 written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Schuster. Superman is highly relevant because of his long, important history as an American icon and the symbolism he represents in modern culture. Part of his symbolism is contained in his role as the first superhero. It is widely accepted that Siegel and Schuster’s “Superman” gave birth to the concept of the superhero and inspired every superhero story that came after him (Coogan; Tye). In the last few decades, superhero films and television shows have permeated people’s screens in astounding numbers. With this genre saturation comes a need to understand the origin story of the superhero archetype in order to comprehend the arguments that underlie the modern comic book and the abundance of superhero narratives. That archetype is contained within Superman, specifically within the pages of his debut comic.
Importantly, like any other argument that is crafted, Siegel and Schuster had underlying perceptions of the world that were undeniably integrated into Superman from his first appearance in Action Comics #1. The field of rhetoric is uniquely suited to analyze the arguments embedded within Superman as it is the study of argumentation. Because comic books are a visual medium, it is vital the images that portray Superman are a subject of analysis. However, while studies of Superman’s history can be seen as adjacent to rhetorical understandings (Regalado; Tye), there are few formal visual rhetorical studies of Superman’s debut, and they are limited by their methods (Cross; Paris).
In order to accomplish a formal rhetorical study of Action Comics #1, this study adopts a unique methodology that is suited to analyze comic book images: cluster criticism. Cluster criticism identifies key terms that have elements that “cluster” around them, suggesting a rhetor’s conscious or unconscious meaning for their text (Foss 63-66). Although the method is not exclusively visual, this project explores the use of cluster criticism in visual applications by analyzing the enduring visual rhetoric of Superman’s comic debut. The concept that key terms cluster around a visual element is valuable to studying comic books because comics are reliant on messages conveyed to an audience through images, not just the conversations, thoughts, and narratives conducted within text bubbles or boxes. Additionally, Kathaleen Reid, an important scholar of cluster criticism, called for the study of more applications of visual cluster criticism. Thus, using cluster criticism will open a new path into Superman’s rhetorical meaning and further current understandings of cluster criticism by applying it to a new medium.
Due to Superman’s importance, the limited rhetorical study of his debut, and the usefulness of cluster criticism, this project will use cluster criticism to analyze the visual rhetoric of Superman in Action Comics #1 and answer specific queries. First, based on the visual clusters around Superman, what is the rhetorical meaning of Superman embedded within his debut? Second, knowing that cluster criticism is an analytic methodology with unique value for visual analysis that has seemingly gone unused in the rhetorical analysis of comic books, implementing this technique should examine the effectiveness of cluster criticism in relation to comic books. This will be achieved by understanding whether new rhetorical meaning emerges from Action Comics #1 using this method. Thus, I seek to answer the following questions: Does cluster analysis provide a new understanding of Superman’s debut? As an American symbol, what does Superman’s rhetorical meaning argue about America in 1938, and how might that meaning be relevant today?