Thoughtnami Classics | Remembering Christopher Reeve

Originally Posted 10/08/04 by Jeff Harris

Another Superman from my youth passed away yesterday. Earlier in the year, Danny Dark, voice of the Superfriends' Man of Steel, died, and this morning, I learned that the quintessential Superman, Christopher Reeve, died yesterday afternoon. He was 52.

I've seen and heard many individuals portray the first iconic superhero over the years, from Bud Culdyer and George Reeves to Tim Daly and Dean Cain to George Newbern and (at least in the Clark Kent identity) Tom Welling, but it was Christopher Reeve who put a human face on the comic book character. Twenty-six years ago, he graced the silver screen in a way that, at the time and, to some, still has, changed the way the American public looked at comic book-driven films and television shows.

Think about that for one moment.

Until the Superman movie came out, Americans still considered the 60s Batman series as a template for all comic book-based productions. Campy, over the top, full of overdramatics, hamtastic acting, just plain silly. Superfriends, as good as it was, also had similar attributes. Even less silly comic book-based projects like Wonder Woman (which could have been a disasterous comedy series if the Batman producers' earlier pilot had been successful) were more or less cut from the same cloth. When Christopher Reeve first donned the familiar Superman costume, attitudes about comic book properties changed. The film personified the current attitudes of the comics of the era, long trying to get from under the Batman camp image in the mainstream. Mr. Reeve's performance as the Man of Steel paved the way for Bill Bixby's David Banner/Hulk, John Wesley Shipp's Barry Allen/Flash, Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne/Batman, Wesley Snipes's Blade, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Tobey McGuire's Peter Parker/Spider-Man, among others.

Christopher Reeve made people believe that a man can fly. He has made such an impact on the mythos of the Superman legacy in many ways. Kingdom Come, a miniseries created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, was largely a Superman story that was dedicated to Mr. Reeve. Recently, he made one last mark on the current incarnation of the Superman mythos Smallville as Dr. Swan, who enlightened Clark Kent about where he came from and what his destiny will be.

In recent years, after an equestrian accident left him paralyzed, he became an advocate for many causes. Though he wasn't as mobile as he once was, Mr. Reeve continued to champion many paraylsis studies and programs, some more controversial than most. To some, these real-life heroics made him more like Superman than ever, but to me, slightly reverting back to the days when I wore my Superman pajamas with the velcro cape, Christopher Reeve will always be Superman, and he will be missed.