First appearance of Clark Kent, 1934-35

“In 1945, National Periodical Publications (later simply known as DC Comics) trademarked Superman’s symbol, allowing the ability to print his stories in perpetuity, rather than allowing the printed material to become public domain after 75 years, as was the norm at that time. The ability to license and merchandise the character created another source of income for the comics industry.”

In 1944, the trademarked version of the symbol appeared in Superman 26

“Superman’s symbol has become recognizable all over the world. However, at one time, it was not even very consistently drawn — and that is the crux of this article. Prior to having trademarked the symbol, it went through a great deal of metamorphosis (metamorphoses?). Here is the story as we know it.”

View the full archive on Brian G. Philbin’s MetropolisPlus.com.