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Chapter 27 - Chapter 27: The Comic's Serialized Run

Chapter 27: The Comic's Serialized Run

2023-05-02 Author: Yue Shang Xintou

Jimmy left.

He departed from the Newspaper Agency with Colin's guarantee of a discount and a new slogan.

Shortly after, this week's issue of The Messenger was printed.

Meanwhile, on the streets of New York, what the newsboys chanted changed from the popular Hoover nursery rhyme to a new slogan.

"Is that a bird? Is that a plane? That's Superman!"

Although the new slogan didn't resonate with the public as much as the original nursery rhyme, the newsboys' shouts of 'Superman' still managed to attract passersby's attention.

After several weeks of publication, The Messenger had successfully attracted a small group of readers.

The vast majority of them were people who had lost their jobs due to The Great Depression and were dissatisfied with the current situation, especially with President Hoover.

After buying The Messenger, they would, as usual, look at the criticism of Hoover on the front page. The scathing content gave these people, who were struggling through The Great Depression, an outlet for their frustrations.

"...That's right, even electing a dog would be better than Hoover. At least a dog can be satisfied with a bone. What Hoover eats in one meal could feed a family in poverty for a month..."

Muttering complaints, they flipped through the newspaper, and soon a four-panel comic appeared before the readers' eyes.

"What's this?"

Looking at the serialized comic in The Messenger, a look of confusion flashed in the readers' eyes.

"Why is there so little content bashing Hoover this time? Why on earth are they serializing a comic!"

Clearly, The Messenger's decision to run a serialized comic did not win the readers' approval; on the contrary, it sparked their dissatisfaction.

After all, the whole reason they bought the newspaper was to read about Hoover being criticized.

However, they had already spent money on the newspaper. It would be a bit of a waste not to read it. Although the price of The Messenger wasn't high, it was still an expense.

With this thought in mind, these people could only hold their noses, suppress their inner dissatisfaction and complaints, and continue reading.

"...In the vast universe, a planet named Krypton, having reached the end of its life, was about to face destruction. A pair of scientist parents placed their son into a newly designed spaceship and launched him towards Earth!"

"The spaceship landed on a farm on Earth. A childless couple discovered and adopted the sleeping child inside, naming him Clark Kent."

"This child's physiology was millions of years more advanced than that of Earthlings, and from a young age, he displayed astonishing powers."

"When he grew up, he found he could easily: leap over a twenty-story building in a single bound, move faster than a speeding bullet, was more powerful than a locomotive, and even an exploding bomb couldn't penetrate his tough skin. Soon, Clark decided to use his god-like powers to benefit humanity, and thus was born—Superman!"

"This hero vowed to use his powers to help those in need..."

Limited by the four-panel comic format, the content of the comic was not complex.

The first issue simply described Superman's origin. In the last panel, Colin even attempted to use a 'scientific' method to explain the source of Clark's powers.

This pseudo-'scientific' explanation might seem completely nonsensical to professional scientists.

But for the readers, it was extremely persuasive, allowing them to better accept the premise of Superman in the comic.

Flipping further through the newspaper, the contents of Superman's second issue were presented to the readers.

In this issue, Superman's power as a Superhero was displayed even more clearly. When they saw him effortlessly lift an automobile high into the air to save the passengers inside, even the readers who had been complaining about the comic couldn't help but marvel.

For the readers of this era, the concept of a Superhero was nothing short of groundbreaking.

Especially since, unlike many other comics serialized in the newspapers on the market...

Superman's story was not set in a distant fantasy world, but in a modern city—Metropolis.

This city was just like any other big city, with well-dressed gentlemen and hard-working blue-collar workers, with criminal gangs as well as police and soldiers...

It was almost a reflection of the real world, which gave the readers a profound sense of immersion, as if Superman existed in the very world they lived in.

"What? Superman's strength is so great he can lift an automobile!"

"Such a thick iron chain, and Superman can snap it with just one hand..."

Unlike the plots of other serialized comics on the market, which used a narrative style where the protagonist encounters a crisis and then breaks through it, Superman's power in the comic was absolute and invincible, a god-like existence.

Therefore, the comic's plot often consisted of situations that would be dangerous for ordinary people in the real world, but were effortlessly resolved when they fell into Superman's hands.

Reading three consecutive serialized issues gave the readers a thrilling and satisfying feeling.

Just as they saw Superman resolve another crisis and save a beautiful female reporter named Lois Lane, the readers were fantasizing about what might happen next between Superman and this female reporter. Full of anticipation, they flipped through the newspaper, only to find that it was the last page of The Messenger.

Printed on the back page was a cover image of Superman, wearing a bodysuit and a cape with a shield-shaped S symbol on his chest, holding an automobile high above his head.

Due to the limitations of the newspaper's black and white printing, the Superman cover on the page had no color.

However, looking at the man holding the automobile aloft in the newspaper, the readers now felt completely different than before.

"Why didn't they serialize more of Superman!"

In the end, their complaints changed from 'why are they serializing a comic' to 'why did they serialize so little of it'.

The discussion sparked by the comic wasn't limited to the readers of The Messenger.

The concepts of an alien, superpowers, and a Superhero successfully captured the readers' hearts and created a chain reaction.

After all, compared to the newspaper's previous content, the plot of the Superman comic had a much broader appeal, thus having a greater promotional effect on the newspaper's sales. In this world, extremist and hateful people are ultimately a minority; most people prefer to read normal content.

Leveraging the buzz generated by the comic, The Messenger's distribution sales successfully broke through ten thousand copies, and this was only the beginning.

Thanks to Geyong de Die for the 100 Qidian Coin reward. Please support this new book~

(end of chapter)

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