Superman

I've now watched a couple of those Superman cartoons produced in the Forties by Max Fleischer. The animation is very good, simple but effective and capable of producing some striking images. But boy, the plots are sure thin, even by Forties cartoon standards. I was also surprised that they monkeyed with the origin story, having Kal-El raised in an orphanage rather than being found by Ma and Pa Kent. But then I got to thinking that maybe at the time these cartoons were produced, Ma and Pa Kent and that whole backstory hadn't been introduced yet in the comic books. For some reason I have the impression that they first showed up in the late Forties. Somewhere I have various comic book history volumes that would answer that question, but I'm too lazy to dig them out.

I had planned to start the next book today, but instead I wound up doing some revisions on a previous book that the editor asked for, as well as grappling with a balky outline that still isn't finished. I think I'm going to have to put it aside and let it percolate in my brain for a while. Sometimes when a plot won't work out all I really need to do is get away from it for a few days, and then when I go back the answer seems obvious.