Category: Movies/TV Shows

Family Guy
Genre	Animated sitcom[1]
Created by	Seth MacFarlane
Developed by	Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman
Showrunners	Seth MacFarlane (seasons 1–4) David Zuckerman (seasons 1–3) Daniel Palladino (season 3) David A. Goodman (seasons 4–7) Chris Sheridan (seasons 4–7) Mark Hentemann (seasons 8–10) Steve Callaghan (seasons 8–15) Alec Sulkin (seasons 11–13; 16–present) Richard Appel (seasons 14–present)
Voices of	Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Mila Kunis Mike Henry Patrick Warburton Arif Zahir
Theme music composer	Walter Murphy
Composers	Ron Jones Walter Murphy
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	22
No. of episodes	424 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman (1999–2003) Daniel Palladino (2001–02) David A. Goodman (2005–12) Chris Sheridan (2005–12) Danny Smith (2008–present) Mark Hentemann (2009–present) Steve Callaghan (2009–present) Alec Sulkin (2011–present) Wellesley Wild (2011–15) Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (2012–19) Kara Vallow (2012–present) Richard Appel (2012–present) Patrick Meighan (2018–present) Tom Devanney (2018–present) Alex Carter (2023–present)
Producers	Shannon Smith Kim Fertman Julius Sharpe Steve Marmel (2011) Sherry Gunther (1999–2003)
Running time	20–27 minutes 33–88 minutes (select episodes)
Production companies	Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Television[a] (1999–2021) 20th Television Animation[b] (2021–present)
Original release
Network	Fox[N 1]
Release	January 31, 1999 (1999-01-31) – February 14, 2002 (2002-02-14)[2][c]
Release	May 1, 2005 (2005-05-01)[2] – present
Related
The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve The Cleveland Show American Dad!

Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois, their children, Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their anthropomorphic pet dog, Brian. Set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, the show exhibits much of its humor in the form of metafictional cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture.

The family was conceived by MacFarlane after he developed two animated films, The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve. MacFarlane redesigned the films' protagonist, Larry, and his dog, Steve, and renamed them Peter and Brian, respectively. MacFarlane pitched a seven-minute pilot to Fox in December 1998, and the show was greenlit and began production. Family Guy's cancellation was announced shortly after the third season had aired in 2002, with one unaired episode eventually premiering on Adult Swim in 2003, finishing the series' original run. Favorable DVD sales and high ratings from syndicated reruns since then convinced Fox to revive the show in 2004; a fourth season began airing the following year, on May 1, 2005.

Since its premiere, Family Guy has received generally positive reviews. In 2009, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series had been nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy as the ninth-greatest TV cartoon.^[3] Although highly satirical in nature, the series has also garnered considerable amounts of criticism and controversy, ranging from storylines and character stereotypes, to allegations of racism, homophobia, and sexism.

Many tie-in media based on the show have been released, including Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, a straight-to-DVD special released in 2005; Family Guy: Live in Vegas, a soundtrack-DVD combo released in 2005, featuring music from the show as well as music created by MacFarlane and Walter Murphy; a video game and pinball machine, released in 2006 and 2007, respectively; since 2005, six books published by Harper Adult; and Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy (2010), a collection of three episodes parodying the original Star Wars trilogy. A spin-off series, The Cleveland Show, featuring Cleveland Brown, aired from September 27, 2009, to May 19, 2013.

On January 26, 2023, Fox announced that the series had been renewed for seasons 22 and 23, taking the show through the 2024–25 television season.^[4] Season 22 premiered on October 1, 2023.^[5] Family Guy moved to Wednesday nights beginning March 6, 2024, marking the first time the show airs on a weeknight since 2002.^[6]

Premise[edit]

Characters[edit]

The show centers around the adventures and activities of the dysfunctional Griffin family, consisting of father Peter Griffin, a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker; his wife Lois, a stay-at-home mother and piano teacher (in early episodes) who is a member of the affluent Pewterschmidt family; Meg, their often bullied teenage daughter who is constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris, their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent, unathletic, and in many respects a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who is an adult-mannered evil genius and uses stereotypical archvillain phrases. Living with the family is their witty, smoking, martini-swilling, sarcastic, English-speaking anthropomorphic dog Brian, although he is still considered a pet in many ways.^[7]

Recurring characters appear alongside the Griffin family. These include the family's neighbors: sex-crazed airline pilot bachelor Glenn Quagmire; deli owner/mail carrier Cleveland Brown and his wife Loretta (later Donna); paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson, his wife Bonnie, their son Kevin and their baby daughter Susie; neurotic Jewish pharmacist Mort Goldman, his wife Muriel, and their geeky and annoying son Neil, and elderly child molester Herbert. TV news anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons, Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa, and Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West, prior to his death.^{[citation needed]}

Setting[edit]

The skyline (right) references Providence, Rhode Island (left), as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, from left to right: One Financial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Superman Building.

The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog (/ˈk(w)oʊhɒɡ/ K(W)OH-hog), a fictional city in Rhode Island that was founded by Peter's ancestor, Griffin Peterson. MacFarlane resided in Providence during his time as a student at Rhode Island School of Design, and the show contains distinct Rhode Island landmarks similar to real-world locations.^[8][9] MacFarlane often borrows the names of Rhode Island locations and icons such as Pawtucket and Buddy Cianci for use in the show. MacFarlane, in an interview with Providence's Fox affiliate WNAC-TV, stated that the town is modeled after Cranston, Rhode Island.^[10]

Episodes[edit]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

MacFarlane conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).^[32] During college, he created his thesis film titled The Life of Larry,^[32] which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the company.^[33] In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry titled Larry and Steve, which featured a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve; the short was broadcast in 1997 as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons.^[32]

Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, titled Family Guy, based on the characters.^[9] Fox proposed that MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short and gave him a budget of $50,000.^[34] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.^[35] While MacFarlane worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.^[9][36] MacFarlane stated that the difference between The Life of Larry and Family Guy was that "Life of Larry was shown primarily in my dorm room and Family Guy was shown after the Super Bowl."^[35] After the pilot aired, the series was given the greenlight. MacFarlane drew inspiration from several sitcoms such as The Simpsons and All in the Family.^[37] Premises were drawn from several 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons he watched as a child, such as The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and Rubik, the Amazing Cube.^[38]

The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998.^[39] Family Guy was originally planned to start out as short movies for the sketch show Mad TV, but the plan changed, because MADtv's budget was not large enough to support animation production. MacFarlane noted that he then wanted to pitch it to Fox, as he thought that it was the place to create a prime-time animation show.^[37] Family Guy was originally pitched to Fox in the same year as King of the Hill, but

Clark Kent / Kal-El Superman
Superman appearing on a variant cover of Action Comics #1000 (April 2018) Art by Jason Fabok.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938; published April 18, 1938)
Created by	Jerry Siegel (writer) Joe Shuster (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Kal-El (birth name) Clark J. Kent (adopted name)
Species	Kryptonian
Place of origin	Krypton
Team affiliations	Justice League Legion of Super-Heroes Superman Family
Partnerships	Supergirl (various) Superboy (various) Batman Wonder Woman
Notable aliases	Superboy The Man of Steel The Last Son of Krypton The Man of Tomorrow The Big Blue Boy Scout
Abilities	Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, senses, and durability Heat vision Wind and freeze breath Solar energy absorption X-ray vision Flight Invulnerability Skilled hand-to-hand combatant Genius-level intellect

Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and published April 18, 1938).^[1] Superman has been adapted to a number of other media, which includes radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games.

Superman was born on the fictional planet Krypton with the birth name of Kal-El. As a baby, his parents sent him to Earth in a small spaceship shortly before Krypton was destroyed in a natural cataclysm. His ship landed in the American countryside near the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas. He was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who named him Clark Kent. Clark began developing various superhuman abilities, such as incredible strength and impervious skin. His adoptive parents advised him to use his powers for the benefit of humanity, and he decided to fight crime as a vigilante. To protect his personal life, he changes into a colorful costume and uses the alias "Superman" when fighting crime. Clark resides in the fictional American city of Metropolis, where he works as a journalist for the Daily Planet. Superman's supporting characters include his love interest and fellow journalist Lois Lane, Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen, and editor-in-chief Perry White, and his enemies include Brainiac, General Zod, and archenemy Lex Luthor.

Superman is the archetype of the superhero: he wears an outlandish costume, uses a codename, and fights evil with the aid of extraordinary abilities. Although there are earlier characters who arguably fit this definition, it was Superman who popularized the superhero genre and established its conventions. He was the best-selling superhero in American comic books up until the 1980s.^[2]

Development[edit]

Jerry Siegel, writer

Joe Shuster, illustrator

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met in 1932 while attending Glenville High School in Cleveland and bonded over their admiration of fiction. Siegel aspired to become a writer and Shuster aspired to become an illustrator. Siegel wrote amateur science fiction stories, which he self-published as a magazine called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization. His friend Shuster often provided illustrations for his work.^[3] In January 1933, Siegel published a short story in his magazine titled "The Reign of the Superman". The titular character is a homeless man named Bill Dunn who is tricked by an evil scientist into consuming an experimental drug. The drug gives Dunn the powers of mind-reading, mind-control, and clairvoyance. He uses these powers maliciously for profit and amusement, but then the drug wears off, leaving him a powerless vagrant again. Shuster provided illustrations, depicting Dunn as a bald man.^[4]

Siegel and Shuster shifted to making comic strips, with a focus on adventure and comedy. They wanted to become syndicated newspaper strip authors, so they showed their ideas to various newspaper editors. However, the newspaper editors told them that their ideas were insufficiently sensational. If they wanted to make a successful comic strip, it had to be something more sensational than anything else on the market. This prompted Siegel to revisit Superman as a comic strip character.^[5][6] Siegel modified Superman's powers to make him even more sensational: Like Bill Dunn, the second prototype of Superman is given powers against his will by an unscrupulous scientist, but instead of psychic abilities, he acquires superhuman strength and bullet-proof skin.^[7][8] Additionally, this new Superman was a crime-fighting hero instead of a villain, because Siegel noted that comic strips with heroic protagonists tended to be more successful.^[9] In later years, Siegel once recalled that this Superman wore a "bat-like" cape in some panels, but typically he and Shuster agreed there was no costume yet, and there is none apparent in the surviving artwork.^[10][11]

Siegel and Shuster showed this second concept of Superman to Consolidated Book Publishers, based in Chicago.^[12][a] In May 1933, Consolidated had published a proto-comic book titled Detective Dan: Secret Operative 48.^[13] It contained all-original stories as opposed to reprints of newspaper strips, which was a novelty at the time.^[14] Siegel and Shuster put together a comic book in a similar format called The Superman. A delegation from Consolidated visited Cleveland that summer on a business trip and Siegel and Shuster took the opportunity to present their work in person.^[15][16] Although Consolidated expressed interest, they later pulled out of the comics business without ever offering a book deal because the sales of Detective Dan were disappointing.^[17][18]

Siegel believed publishers kept rejecting them because he and Shuster were young and unknown, so he looked for an established artist to replace Shuster.^[19] When Siegel told Shuster what he was doing, Shuster reacted by burning their rejected Superman comic, sparing only the cover. They continued collaborating on other projects, but for the time being Shuster was through with Superman.^[20]

Siegel wrote to numerous artists.^[19] The first response came in July 1933 from Leo O'Mealia, who drew the Fu Manchu strip for the Bell Syndicate.^[21][22] In the script that Siegel sent to O'Mealia, Superman's origin story changes: He is a "scientist-adventurer" from the far future when humanity has naturally evolved "superpowers". Just before the Earth explodes, he escapes in a time-machine to the modern era, whereupon he immediately begins using his superpowers to fight crime.^[23] O'Mealia produced a few strips and showed them to his newspaper syndicate, but they were rejected. O'Mealia did not send to Siegel any copies of his strips, and they have been lost.^[24]

In June 1934, Siegel found another partner: an artist in Chicago named Russell Keaton.^[25][26] Keaton drew the Buck Rogers and Skyroads comic strips. In the script that Siegel sent Keaton in June, Superman's origin story further evolved: In the distant future, when Earth is on the verge of exploding due to "giant cataclysms", the last surviving man sends his three-year-old son back in time to the year 1935. The time-machine appears on a road where it is discovered by motorists Sam and Molly Kent. They leave the boy in an orphanage, but the staff struggle to control him because he has superhuman strength and impenetrable skin. The Kents adopt the boy and name him Clark, and teach him that he must use his fantastic natural gifts for the benefit of humanity. In November, Siegel sent Keaton an extension of his script: an adventure where Superman foils a conspiracy to kidnap a star football player. The extended script mentions that Clark puts on a special "uniform" when assuming the identity of Superman, but it is not described.^[27] Keaton produced two weeks' worth of strips based on Siegel's script. In November, Keaton showed his strips to a newspaper syndicate, but they too were rejected, and he abandoned the project.^[28][29]

Siegel and Shuster reconciled and resumed developing Superman together. The character became an alien from the planet Krypton. Shuster designed the now-familiar costume: tights with an "S" on the chest, over-shorts, and a cape.^[30][31][32] They made Clark Kent a journalist who pretends to be timid, and conceived his colleague Lois Lane, who is attracted to the bold and mighty Superman but does not realize that he and Kent are the same person.^[33]

In June 1935 Siegel and Shuster finally found work with National Allied Publications, a comic magazine publishing company in New York owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson.^[35] Wheeler-Nicholson published two of their strips in New Fun Comics #6 (1935): "Henri Duval" and "Doctor Occult".^[36] Siegel and Shuster also showed him Superman and asked him to market Superman to the newspapers on their behalf.^[37] In October, Wheeler-Nicholson offered to publish Superman in one of his own magazines.^[38] Siegel and Shuster refused his offer because Wheeler-Nicholson had demonstrated himself to be an irresponsible businessman. He had been slow to respond to their letters and had not paid them for their work in New Fun Comics #6. They chose to keep marketing Superman to newspaper syndicates themselves.^[39][40] Despite the erratic pay, Siegel and Shuster kept working for Wheeler-Nicholson because he was the only publisher who was buying their work, and over the years they produced other adventure strips for his magazines.^[41]

Wheeler-Nicholson's financial difficulties continued to mount. In 1936, he formed a joint corporation with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz called Detective Comics, Inc. in order to release his third magazine, which was titled Detective Comics. Siegel and Shuster produced stories for Detective Comics too, such as "Slam Bradley". Wheeler-Nicholson fell into deep debt to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and in early January 1938, Donenfeld and Liebowitz petitioned Wheeler-Nicholson's company into bankruptcy and seized it.^[3][42]

In early December 1937, Siegel visited Liebowitz in New York, and Liebowitz asked Siegel to produce some comics for an upcoming comic anthology magazine called Action Comics.^[43][44] Siegel proposed some new stories, but not Superman. Siegel and Shuster were, at the time, negotiating a deal with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate for Superman. In early January 1938, Siegel had a three-way telephone conversation with Liebowitz and an employee of McClure named Max Gaines. Gaines informed Siegel that McClure had rejected Superman, and asked if he could forward their Superman strips to Liebowitz so that Liebowitz could consider them for Action Comics. Siegel agreed.^[45] Liebowitz and his colleagues were impressed by the strips, and they asked Siegel and Shuster to develop the strips into 13 pages for Action Comics.^[46] Having grown tired of rejections, Siegel and Shuster accepted the offer. At least now they would see Superman published.^[47][48] Siegel and Shuster submitted their work in late February and were paid $130 (equivalent to $2,814 in 2023) for their work ($10 per page).^[49] In early March they signed a contract at Liebowitz's request in which they gave away the copyright for Superman to Detective Comics, Inc. This was normal practice in the business, and Siegel and Shuster had given away the copyrights to their previous works as well.^[50]

The duo's revised version of Superman appeared in the first issue of Action Comics, which was published on April 18, 1938. The issue was a huge success thanks to Superman's feature.^[1][51][52]

Influences[edit]

Siegel and Shuster read pulp science-fiction and adventure magazines, and many stories featured characters with fantastical abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and superhuman strength. One character in particular was John Carter of Mars from the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. John Carter is a human who is transported to Mars, where the lower gravity makes him stronger than the natives and allows him to leap great distances.^[53][54] Another influence was Philip Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator, featuring a protagonist named Hugo Danner who had similar powers.^[55][56]

Superman's stance and devil-may-care attitude were influenced by the characters of Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro and Robin Hood.^[57] The name of Superman's home city, Metropolis, was taken from the 1927 film of the same name.^[58] Popeye cartoons were also an influence.^[58]

Douglas Fairbanks (left) and Harold Lloyd (right) influenced the look of Superman and Clark Kent, respectively.

Clark Kent's harmless facade and dual identity were inspired by the protagonists of such movies as Don Diego de la Vega in The Mark of Zorro and Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Siegel thought this would make for interesting dramatic contrast and good humor.^[59][60] Another inspiration was slapstick comedian Harold Lloyd. The archetypal Lloyd character was a mild-mannered man who finds himself abused by bullies but later in the story snaps and fights back furiously.^[61]

Kent is a journalist because Siegel often imagined himself becoming one after leaving school. The love triangle between Lois Lane, Clark, and Superman was inspired by Siegel's own awkwardness with girls.^[62]

The pair collected comic strips in their youth, with a favorite being Winsor McCay's fantastical Little Nemo.^[58] Shuster remarked on the artists who played an important part in the development of his own style: "Alex Raymond and Burne Hogarth were my idols – also Milt Caniff, Hal Foster, and Roy Crane."^[58] Shuster taught himself to draw by tracing over the art in the strips and magazines they collected.^[3]

As a boy, Shuster was interested in fitness culture^[63] and a fan of strongmen such as Siegmund Breitbart and Joseph Greenstein. He collected fitness magazines and manuals and used their photographs as visual references for his art.^[3]

The visual design of Superman came from multiple influences. The tight-fitting suit and shorts were inspired by the costumes of wrestlers, boxers, and strongmen. In early concept art, Shuster gave Superman laced sandals like those of strongmen and classical heroes, but these were eventually changed to red boots.^[34] The costumes of Douglas Fairbanks were also an influence.^[64] The emblem on his chest was inspired by heraldic crests.^[65] Many pulp action heroes such as swashbucklers wore capes. Superman's face was based on Johnny Weissmuller with touches derived from the comic-strip character Dick Tracy and from the work of cartoonist Roy Crane.^[66]

The word "superman" was commonly used in the 1920s and 1930s to describe men of great ability, most often athletes and politicians.^[67] It occasionally appeared in pulp fiction stories as well, such as "The Superman of Dr. Jukes".^[68] It is unclear whether Siegel and Shuster were influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the Übermensch; they never acknowledged as much.^[69]

Comics[edit]

Comic books[edit]

The cover of Superman #6 (Sept. 1940) by Joe Shuster, the original artist and co-creator

Since 1938, Superman stories have been regularly published in periodical comic books published by DC Comics. The first and oldest of these is Action Comics, which began in April 1938.^[1] Action Comics was initially an anthology magazine, but it eventually became dedicated to Superman stories. The second oldest periodical is Superman, which began in June 1939. Action Comics and Superman have been published without interruption (ignoring changes to the title and numbering scheme).^[71][72] A number of other shorter-lived Superman periodicals have been published over the years.^[73] Superman is part of the DC Universe, which is a shared setting of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, and others.

Superman has sold more comic books over his publication history than any other American superhero character.^[74] Exact sales figures for the early decades of Superman comic books are hard to find because, like most publishers at the time, DC Comics concealed this data from its competitors and thereby the general public as well, but given the general market trends at the time, sales of Action Comics and Superman probably peaked in the mid-1940s and thereafter steadily declined.^[75] Sales data first became public in 1960, and showed that Superman was the best-selling comic book character of the 1960s and 1970s.^[2][76][77] Sales rose again starting in 1987. Superman #75 (Nov 1992) sold over 23 million copies,^[78] making it the best-selling issue of a comic book of all time, thanks to a media sensation over the supposedly permanent death of the character in that issue.^[79] Sales declined from that point on. In March 2018, Action Comics sold just 51,534 copies, although such low figures are normal for superhero comic books in general (for comparison, Amazing Spider-Man #797 sold only 128,189 copies).^[80] The comic books are today considered a niche aspect of the Superman franchise due to low readership,^[81] though they remain influential as creative engines for the movies and television shows. Comic book stories can be produced quickly and cheaply, and are thus an ideal medium for experimentation.^[82]

Whereas comic books in the 1950s were read by children, since the 1990s the average reader has been an adult.^[83] A major reason for this shift was DC Comics' decision in the 1970s to sell its comic books to specialty stores instead of traditional magazine retailers (supermarkets, newsstands, etc.) — a model called "direct distribution". This made comic books less accessible to children.^[84]

Newspaper strips[edit]

Beginning in January 1939, a Superman daily comic strip appeared in newspapers, syndicated through the McClure Syndicate. A color Sunday version was added that November. Jerry Siegel wrote most of the strips until he was conscripted in 1943. The Sunday strips had a narrative continuity separate from the daily strips, possibly because Siegel had to delegate the Sunday strips to ghostwriters.^[85] By 1941, the newspaper strips had an estimated readership of 20 million.^[86] Joe Shuster drew the early strips, then passed the job to Wayne Boring.^[87] From 1949 to 1956, the newspaper strips were drawn by Win Mortimer.^[88] The strip ended in May 1966, but was revived from 1977 to 1983 to coincide with a series of movies released by Warner Bros.^[89]

Editors[edit]

Initially, Siegel was allowed to write Superman more or less as he saw fit because nobody had anticipated the success and rapid expansion of the franchise.^[90][91] But soon Siegel and Shuster's work was put under careful oversight for fear of trouble with censors.^[92] Siegel was forced to tone down the violence and social crusading that characterized his early stories.^[93] Editor Whitney Ellsworth, hired in 1940, dictated that Superman not kill.^[94] Sexuality was banned, and colorfully outlandish villains such as Ultra-Humanite and Toyman were thought to be less nightmarish for young readers.^[95]

Mort Weisinger was the editor on Superman comics from 1941 to 1970, his tenure briefly interrupted by military service. Siegel and his fellow writers had developed the character with little thought of building a coherent mythology, but as the number of Superman titles and the pool of writers grew, Weisinger demanded a more disciplined approach.^[96] Weisinger assigned story ideas, and the logic of Superman's powers, his origin, the locales, and his relationships with his growing cast of supporting characters were carefully planned. Elements such as Bizarro, his cousin Supergirl, the Phantom Zone, the Fortress of Solitude, alternate varieties of kryptonite, robot doppelgangers, and Krypto were introduced during this era. The complicated universe built under Weisinger was beguiling to devoted readers but alienating to casuals.^[97] Weisinger favored lighthearted stories over serious drama, and avoided sensitive subjects such as the Vietnam War and the American civil rights movement because he feared his right-wing views would alienate his left-leaning writers and readers.^[98] Weisinger also introduced letters columns in 1958 to encourage feedback and build intimacy with readers.^[99]

Weisinger retired in 1970 and Julius Schwartz took over. By his own admission, Weisinger had grown out of touch with newer readers.^[100] Starting with The Sandman Saga, Schwartz updated Superman by making Clark Kent a television anchor, and he retired overused plot elements such as kryptonite and robot doppelgangers.^[101] Schwartz also scaled Superman's powers down to a level closer to Siegel's original. These changes would eventually be reversed by later writers. Schwartz allowed stories with serious drama such as "For the Man Who Has Everything" (Superman Annual #11), in which the villain Mongul torments Superman with an illusion of happy family life on a living Krypton.

Schwartz retired from DC Comics in 1986 and was succeeded by Mike Carlin as an editor on Superman comics. His retirement coincided with DC Comics' decision to reboot the DC Universe with the companywide-crossover storyline "Crisis on Infinite Earths". In The Man of Steel writer John Byrne rewrote the Superman mythos, again reducing Superman's powers, which writers had slowly re-strengthened, and revised many supporting characters, such as making Lex Luthor a billionaire industrialist rather than a mad scientist, and making Supergirl an artificial shapeshifting organism because DC wanted Superman to be the sole surviving Kryptonian.

Carlin was promoted to Executive Editor for the DC Universe books in 1996, a position he held until 2002. K.C. Carlson took his place as editor of the Superman comics.

Aesthetic style[edit]

In the earlier decades of Superman comics, artists were expected to conform to a certain "house style".^[102] Joe Shuster defined the