Superman, the ultimate expression of human aspirations to power and pure freedom, was an instant triumph, a concept so intense and so instantly identifiable that he became perhaps the most widely known figure ever created in American fiction. Almost immediately it became apparent that he was too super to ever lose his war against crime. Once it was known who he was, it was known what would happen to him—for all intents and purposes, nothing. Consequently, it might have been possible that his very invulnerability would have been the source of his defeat, in the public eye if not in his adventures. Some devices, like the introduction of Kryptonite, the alien element with a deleterious effect on the Man of Steel, were to prove reasonably useful in keeping up interest. What really made the series a success, however, was already built into the story.

The most fascinating...