Superman a Jewish Canadian Hero?

I know. I know. The elections have just finished and my thoughts turn to leaders who are greater than life. And who should leap into mind, but Superman!

Superman, is beyond a doubt - an American cultural icon? But there are rumours out there, that Superman, slipped into the US from Canada.

Wikipedia says:

Superman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon.

Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc. (later DC Comics) in 1938, the character first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips, and video games. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book.[1] The character's appearance is distinctive and iconic: a blue, red and yellow costume, complete with cape, with a stylized "S" shield on his chest.[5][6][7] This shield is now typically used across media to symbolize the character.[8]

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Now it would be nice to claim him as our own. He would stand right up there with such Canadian cultural icons as Wayne Gretzky, Dr. Frederick Banting, and Mohawk lacrosse player Tonto (Jay Silverheels).

But alas, a visit to the Superman website deflates the national ego.

Joe Shuster was born in Toronto, Canada on July 10, 1914. At the age of nine, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he would later meet Jerome Siegel.

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But, Canadian author Mordecai Richler, saw something in Superman which seems eerily Canadian:

Shuster's Superman is a perfect expression of the Canadian psyche. The mighty "man of steel" hides his extraordinary strength, speed, and superhuman powers under the bland, self-effacing guise of the weak and clumsy Clark Kent. He is a hero who does not take any credit for his own heroism, a glamorous figure in cape and tights who is content to live his daily life in horn-rimmed glasses and brown suits.

Richler wryly suggests that Superman, with his modest alter-ego, is the archetypal Canadian personality who became a "universal hero," famed throughout the world as the champion of everything virtuous.

All this is sure to send Canuck comic book collectors, running to thumb through old issues of Superman comic books looking for the one vital clue which would nail down the case. Did Superman say, eh?

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