Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 224 Yellow Sun
"Little John...Little John..."

In the newspaper office, just as Little John was attracted by the story on the drawing and was engrossed in it, Old John's voice suddenly came from behind him.

Turning his head, he saw Old John in front of the typesetting machine looking at him unkindly.

"If you have time to read the comic draft of "Superman" there, just go outside and shoot more news material for me."

With Old John staring at him, Little John couldn't continue to stay in the newspaper and read comics.With some reluctance, he turned his eyes away from the drawing, took the camera on the table and left the newspaper office step by step.

Watching the back of Little John leaving, Old John helped the brass reading glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose, shook his head and returned his attention to the typesetting work in his hand.

After the "Courier" was republished as the "Daily Courier", John's typesetting workload increased a lot.

For this reason, Ke Lin once planned to recruit another typesetting worker to share the pressure of Old John.

Old John rejected the proposal without hesitation.

With new typesetting workers, my job in the newspaper office will be affected immediately.

In addition, the number of typesetting machines is also a problem. It is impossible for two workers to use one machine in turn.And once the machine is purchased, it is another expense.

Since it is impossible to change the issue of typesetting workers, the only thing that can be changed is the newspaper itself.

Newspapers published during this period were still relatively crowded in design, and even the front-page news often squeezed a large amount of text into a small page, giving people a gray and boring feeling.

When the "Courier" was revised, considering the typesetting problem, Ke Lin deliberately changed the layout of the "Daily Courier". He not only relaxed the number of news columns, increased the font size, but also interspersed more news in the news The news is not limited to a specific page on a certain page.

This approach has undoubtedly greatly improved the readability of the news, and it is also closer to the news design that Ke Lin is familiar with.

The unique layout of the "Daily Courier" has also successfully attracted the attention of readers. In the near future, the sales growth trend is obvious, and it has even vaguely approached the day of "World Journal".

Feeling that the "Daily Courier", "World Journal" or other newspapers seem to be aware of the impact of the layout design on the attractiveness of readers, they have begun to try to adopt a new layout design.

For example, a large part of the layout of the latest issue of "World Journal" 'references' the typesetting content of Ke Lin's "Daily Courier".

If you block the name of the newspaper and just look at the layout of the news report, you may even mistakenly think that this is the newspaper issued by the "Daily Courier".

Unfortunately, news layout design cannot be patented.

Otherwise, the practice of "World Journal" called "reference" but actually "plagiarism" is enough for it to eat a pot.

……

"Change the episode?"

CBS, New York Radio.

In the dubbing studio for the radio drama "The Adventures of Superman."

The members of the Mercury Theater headed by Orson Wells learned from Colin that the script was going to be changed, and couldn't help showing a surprised expression.

Currently, the eight-episode script "My Girl" that they are in charge of dubbing is specially left by Colin before going to Los Angeles. The story, also in this episode, describes the connection between Clark as Superman and Lois.

At that time, the fledgling Superman rescued a crashed plane in flight, and Louise was a passenger on that plane, so the first report on Superman in the "Messenger Daily" was born.

The plot of the eighth episode of the radio drama will describe the relationship between Clark and his first love girlfriend, Lana, and the relationship with Louise later.Of course, Luther's appearance was interspersed in the plot at the same time, making the whole radio drama warm and at the same time full of tense and exciting battle scenes.

Because of the length of the entire episode, Orson Welles deliberately divided the story into two episodes. Currently, the Mercury Theater has completed the dubbing for the first ten minutes of the last episode.

Colin's sudden appearance and the request to change the episode undoubtedly disrupted their work arrangements.

"Feel sorry."

Ke Lin also knew that his actions were a little too strong.

However, considering the tension of the current situation, a daily radio series like "My Girl" is no different from his power acquisition.Therefore, as a last resort, Colin could only make a request to Orson Wells as a screenwriter. As for the reason, it was naturally the reason for the first anniversary that he had mentioned to Old John and others in the newspaper office.

As the screenwriter of "Superman Adventure" and the creator of "Superman", Colin himself has great dominance over radio dramas.

Therefore, after listening to the reasons he gave, even with a little dissatisfaction in his heart, Orson Wells accepted the request to change the episode.

Reaching out to take over the new script created by the other party, the first thing that caught Orson Welles' attention was the name of the new script - "Solar Energy".

Unlike the simple and clear title of the previous play, the name of the new play is a bit vague.

However, when Orson Wells opened the script and saw the description in it, he instantly understood the meaning of this episode.

……

Early the next morning, readers of the "Daily Courier" saw the appearance of General Zod in the newspaper.

The appearance of General Zod has brought great shock to the readers. The commander of the Kryptonian military has been extremely oppressive from the moment he appeared.

In order to be able to show the powerful characteristics of General Zod, Colin deliberately made some changes in the angle of comics, and depicted the villain image of General Zod from the perspective of looking up, giving readers who saw this scene a faint feeling. oppression.And this sense of oppression completely exploded when General Zod came to the metropolis.

Those who came to the Metropolis with General Zod must be exiled to the Phantom Zone together, and they are also criminals of the Kryptonian military court.

As soon as they appeared on the stage, these people showed a powerful force comparable to Superman.

At the same time, the comics also use the mouth of General Zod to describe why Superman is so powerful in a more detailed way.

Fiora: "I feel that the power has become much stronger?"

According to Fiora's description, the female adjutant under General Zod easily lifted the car on the side and threw it flying.

Immediately afterwards, she took another deep breath, and sprayed superman-like cold frost from her mouth.

General Zod: "It's the sun. The sun here is different from Krypton."

Facing the doubts of the female adjutant Fiora, General Zod looked up at the yellow sun suspended above the earth, and revealed the difference between Krypton and the earth's sun from his description.

General Zod: "The sun on Krypton is red, while the sun on this planet is yellow. Different living environments have led to a gap in our strength. The sun on this planet is continuously providing us with strength. Let us become stronger."

As General Zod's words fell, a superman-like red light appeared in his eyes.

Immediately afterwards, the powerful thermal vision emitted from his eyes pierced through a building in an instant.

General Zod: "With these powers, we can transform this planet into a brand new Krypton!"

……

General Zod and others showed a strength not weaker than Superman, which immediately aroused the concern of former readers of the "Daily Courier".

Uneasy about Superman's situation, they turned to another page of the newspaper, and the story turned to Superman.

After receiving a call from his adoptive father, Jonathan, Clark returned to the countryside where he grew up. In the basement of the farm, he saw a spaceship sending a signal.

At the same time, in the spacecraft, he saw the message left by his biological father, Jo-El.

It turned out that when Krypton was destroyed, Jor-El deliberately put the central tome that recorded the hope of Kryptonian social development in the spaceship Clark was riding in, in order to preserve the fire and hope for the planet.At the same time, the message also revealed what happened on Krypton at the last moment, including General Zod's rebellion, and Clark's different birth from most Kryptonians.

It turns out that the highly developed Kryptonian has given up natural breeding hundreds of years ago and chose to use the central book to give birth. It is precisely because of this that the Kryptonians have determined their identity from the very beginning. In the beginning, he was responsible for defending Krypton, while Jor-El was a scientist.

But Clark is different. He is Krypton, the only naturally born child on this planet for hundreds of years.

Jor-Al revealed in the message that Clark is different, and he has the possibility of being able to freely choose his own future.

This plot also gave readers who read comics in front of the newspaper a hint that Superman is a unique existence, even as a Kryptonian, he is also unique.

Giving readers an advantage is a common creative method for comics and novels.

Because readers who watch works tend to substitute themselves into the identity of the protagonist, the existence of superiority is necessary. Once this uniqueness is lost, readers often feel dissatisfied and give up the work.

The existence of the villain is to enhance the value and uniqueness of the protagonist, not to depress the protagonist.

After giving readers a reassurance, the next plot began to enter the fierce battle between Clark and General Zod.

Through the positioning of the spaceship, Fiora, as an adjutant, came to the farm first, and fought fiercely with Clark who turned into Superman.

In order to show the intensity of the battle in the comics, Colin deliberately focused on the damage to the surrounding scenes between the two, including smashed farms, collapsed trees, and broken pits all over the ground. This kind of comic bridge design Obviously a very novel design for the period.

Although he had fought with Brainiac before, the feeling in the universe was obviously different from the battle that took place on Earth.

Especially when the scene where Fiora hit Clark's body and formed a huge depression on the ground appeared in the serialization of the "Daily Courier", readers who saw this scene subconsciously held their breath.

This kind of battle between pure power and power made them enjoy themselves, but at the same time, they couldn't help but feel a little uneasy for Superman as one of the fighting parties.

Because throughout the fight, it was clear that Colin's Superman was at a disadvantage.

Not only because he has to protect his adoptive parents on the farm, but also Kryptonian female adjutant Fiora's fighting skills seem to be stronger than Superman.

Regarding this point, Ke Lin introduced it in words in the blank next to the comic.

As the female adjutant of Krypton, Fiora herself has a strong fighting quality. She was born to fight, so it is only natural that Superman can't beat Fiora, because Superman has never accepted any since childhood. combat training.

Of course, this situation of being forced to be beaten did not last long.

Soon Superman made a counterattack. He fired a heat sight from his eyes to attack Fiora. Although Fiora also fought back, she couldn't resist the power of Superman's heat sight and was hit on the body the most. .

Meanwhile, explanations appear again in the margins.

Although he also gained abilities under the yellow sun of the earth, there are still obvious differences between Fiora and Superman. Clark grew up on the earth since he was a child, and has absorbed the power of the yellow sun for more than [-] years. The power is deposited in Superman's body, constantly improving his physical fitness, and Fiora has only come to the earth for less than half a day, and they can use these abilities freely, which is already very powerful.

After successfully defeating Fiora, Superman did not feel at ease because of the previous conversation with Fiora, the other party had revealed that he did not come alone.

Therefore, when Superman came to the metropolis, he immediately saw the Kryptonian warriors wreaking havoc in the city, and saw General Zod overlooking the city on the building of the "Messenger Daily" in the metropolis.

Seeing General Zod standing on the "Daily Courier", Superman flew over to attack without hesitation.

However, the next frame of comics turned into a picture of General Zod swinging his fist and hitting Superman.

At the same time, in this frame, it is clear that Superman is injured and bleeding.

This is also the first time that Superman has a bloody scene in the comics since its creation.

"Superman, are you hurt?"

In front of the "Daily Courier", readers showed shocked expressions when they saw this scene.

And the classic scene of Superman being injured in this episode has also become the last page of this series.

(End of this chapter)