Keeferman
From Encyclopedia Superheroica -the Encyclopedia of Superheroes
Keeferman is a heroic icon considered by many to be the world's foremost real-life superhero. Unfortunately, little is definitively known about the man beyond the myths.
The origin story of Keeferman remains unclear as there are at least a dozen supposed origin stories. Alphabetically, he is either an alien, chemically enhanced, a divine creation, a government agent, a mutant, a robot, or some kind of warlock. None of the origin stories are particularly credible, but neither have any of them been completely disproved.
Further complicating biography is the fact that each of Keeferman's various media incarnations present background stories of their own. While in a blog (purportedly administrated by his representatives) Keeferman seems to make certain admissions, there have been curious inconsistencies. Inconsistencies that call the veracity of even that direct biography into question. It is especially rare for any "unofficial" details to be consistent from medium to medium. Representatives tell one story, fans tell another. Witnesses describe an incident from one perspective and law enforcement officials describe the same incident altogether differently. Newspaper accounts have depicted him one way, graphic novels another. It is therefore only safe to say that we do not truly know anything about Keeferman. It has been said that one can only assemble the available pieces into as coherent a picture as shifting circumstances (and suspension of disbelief) will allow.
Keeferman is usually portrayed as an unabashed slacker in his late thirties whose extracurricular exploits are often exaggerated -usually beyond belief. Most accounts are in agreement that he is married, has a day-job in the private sector, and makes his home in Atlanta, Georgia. While little else is known about his personal life, he is less than discrete about his erstwhile heroics. Actually, it is this copious amount of first-hand and second-hand reports that seems to overload attempts at analysis. It is not known which facts, if any, really are true.
Contents |
His Life
Childhood
There was <a href="http://keeferman.net/nsmbc.html" target='blank'>an AP report</a> in the 1970’s that described a toddler with extraordinary physical gifts. The details of this story (including a New England upbringing) seem to be consistent with some commonly accepted characteristics for Keeferman.
Teen Years
According to an exhaustive search of computerized archives, the names “Keef”, “Keefer”, and “Keeferman” began to be mentioned first during the Eighties -though they did not enter the public lexicon until much later. Keeferman was associated with many modern urban legends throughout Greater Boston, but a lack of cross-references makes actual identification impossible. Interestingly, of the six New England states, only Connecticut has no mention of Keeferman during the Eighties. While he would almost certainly have had to at least crossed through the state during roadtrips to various destinations he is known to have reached (New York, Washington D.C., etc.), there’s no indigenous mention of Keeferman by any Connecticuters -despite an exhaustive survey of the archives.
Early Adulthood
Keeferman seems to have maintained a low profile during the Nineties. This is consistent with stories that would place him in secret service to the American government during that time.
The Current Era
It has only been in this 21st century, the Information Age, that Keeferman has emerged as an almost palpable figure. Online resources began to corroborate some stories generally attributed to him. There are even a few YouTube videos featuring Keeferman. There is also, of course, his own website.
Personality
Notwithstanding the aforementioned divergences in his portrayal throughout various media, Keeferman's personality is consistently described as obnoxious -either deliberately or accidentally so. This obnoxiousness ranges from mildly amusing to severely counter-productive and has been used against friends and foes alike.
Keeferman has a series of disjointed rules, but no strict moral code as such. His confessed “youthful indiscretions” have even gotten him into trouble with the law. Perhaps because of experiences such as those, Keeferman has been known to publicly express concerns about conventional law enforcement and civil liberties. Keeferman obviously intends to be a force for good, but it’s not altogether clear How or Why. Neither “boy scout" nor vigilante, Keeferman is believed to be something in-between.
Having left his homeland in New England, Keeferman has waxed somewhat nostalgic regarding the region –though he has comfortably settled in the Deep South. This displacement, combined with the pressure of using his powers responsibly, seems to have left Keeferman a stranger-in-a-strange-land, despite his many friends, his wife, and his family. The appearance of Joanderwoman has, however, been particularly stabilizing. Keeferman’s adopted hometown of Atlanta, Georgia features ever more prominently in the Keeferman story as the years progress.
Powers and abilities
Template:Main Again, despite the confounding wealth of information regarding Keeferman, he most certainly possesses extraordinary powers and abilities. Chief among them would be the dubious "power" of obnoxiousness. This is, perhaps, symbolized most acutely by his use of the interrobang. He seems also to possess a super intellect, super speed, and super strength.
In addition to any inherent strength, he has admitted to being a member of the exclusive Platinum's Supergym. The exact limits of his physical strength are not yet known, but he has torn cars apart with his bare hands, beaten down multiple attackers with his bare fists, and bested large bears mano-a-mano.
In the absence of a certified IQ test, we have only his appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy (and some of his own statements regarding barroom trivia contests) by which to measure his brainpower. He has, of course, also foiled many a "criminal mastermind". He once joked about being a member of his high school chess club, however the interviewer had to add that she was not sure if Keeferman was really kidding or not.
Keeferman once stated in a separate interview with a major sports magazine: "Y'know how they say everyone's unique and how everyone has some gift that they're meant to share with the world? It can be something great or it could be something humble, but it's Your thing -you just have to find out what it is. Like... Ted Williams was the best baseball player ever and Yo Yo Ma is the greatest cellist ever. Everyone has their thing, right? Well, if I truly were Best In the World at any one thing... -it would have to be air hockey. Had there been an organized professional league, or had I been aware of one anyway, I would've been not just one of the best, but the Very best. I would've been a World Champion." This alleged skill has yet to have come up in reference to any social or criminal interaction in the public record.
As initially reported, Keeferman's powers were practically unlimited. Super speed, super strength, super intellect –he had it all. He seemed to be everywhere at the same time. Maybe that kind of omnipresence or omnipotence was never really possible. Over time, reports tempered and his powers seemed to wane. Though perhaps within the range of standard human genetic potential, he is still faster, stronger, and smarter than any other individual for whom there’s been documentation.
-insert health papers
“I’m so bad, I don’t need a gun. I just keep a pocketful of bullets and insert them manually.” He later apologized, recanted the violent sentiment entirely, and admitted that he’s never actually had to perform such a maneuver. Keeferman actually seems to prefer non-lethal means of law-enforcement. As far as personal defense, he claims that he himself is invulnerable to bullets, though (being capable of dodging them) he’s never actually been hit by one. There are even two accounts, believed to have been confirmed by Keeferman, documenting his first encounters with armed assailants (a mugging and a car-jacking). If these are to be believed, then they must have occurred before he actually began crimefighting as a career because in each case he allowed his assailants to escape with their lives.
“You can’t stop him. You can only hope to contain him.” That’s what the leader of one group of thugs was reported to have said. In the report, an arch enemy had described an attempt to neutralize Keeferman via a carefully orchestrated diversion. Details weren’t available, but a law enforcement official who refused to go on record said that as many as three dozen well-equipped henchmen managed to buy only three minutes before Keeferman subdued them and preceded to bust-up an attempted robbery by their criminal leader across town.
The source of Keeferman's powers depend upon which story you believe. A relentless drive at
Keeferman is said to be fearless. This is attributed alternately to confidence based upon his abilities and recklessness based on his impatience. He claims to have not lost a fight since middle-school (and complained that that incident was against not one, but two opponents). Keeferman prefers non-lethal means of law-enforcement and has been known to fight crime alongside a mysterious 700 pound “battlecat” when things get hectic.
Keeferman is most vulnerable to bureaucracy. This he’s admitted freely. Some villains have reported varying degrees of success with coleslaw and coleslaw derivatives. Upon hearing one such report, Joanderwoman is said to have remarked that she uses Brussels Sprouts (to repel Keeferman) herself. Despite having an iron stomach regarding almost every human misery, Keeferman was once observed to have turned away from the television just before a pack of hyenas took down a baby gazelle. It’s also been rumored that, if he’s had just the right amount of beer or whiskey, his New England accent comes out.
Contra-Indications
There is one theory that attributes the abject intangibility of Keeferman to the fact that he doesn’t exist at all. It’s been proposed that he’s a figment of collective imagination -that Keeferman is just a manifestation of a societal desire. He's decisive force during uncertain times. An inspirational leader for discouraged and disenfranchised people everywhere. Keeferman isn’t a man, he’s a movement. A movement that is subconsciously fostered by an eager public.
Another theory suggests that Keeferman exists, is otherwise quite normal, but has fabricated an extraordinary identity for himself. An identity in which enough people come to believe that it’s become “common knowledge”. He’s deliberately strewn truths, half-truths, and outright lies out there on the Internet (and in the entertainment world) that’ve become an unravelable web of self-reinforcing “facts” that we’ve been unable to disprove. See New media artificially see also Baron von Munchhausen, Walter Mitty, and Billy Liar
Yet another theory supposes that Keeferman existed at first, died or retired, and his heroic standard has been picked up and carried on by others in his name.
One of the more dubious conspiracy theories supposes that the supposedly heroic Keeferman identity exists only to cover-up the nefarious activities of an as-yet-undiscovered super villain.
Supporting cast
Nothing is known about any secret identity, but a few names have been mentioned.
Keeferman's large cast of supporting characters includes Joanderwoman, perhaps the character most commonly associated with Keeferman, being portrayed primarily as his partner-in-crimefighting and/or wife. Other main supporting characters include Daily Planet coworkers such as photographer Jimmy Olsen and editor Perry White, Clark Kent's adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent, childhood sweetheart Lana Lang and best friend Pete Ross, and former college love interest Lori Lemaris (a mermaid). Stories making reference to the possibility of Keeferman siring children have been featured both in and out of mainstream continuity.
Incarnations of Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, and Superboy have also been major characters in the mythos, as well as the Justice League of America (of which Keeferman is usually a member). A feature shared by several supporting characters is alliterative names, especially with the initials "LL", including Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Linda Lee, Lana Lang, Lori Lemaris and Lucy Lane,<ref>Template:Comic book reference</ref> alliteration being common in early comics.
Keeferman has teamed up with Joanderwoman many times. Joanderwoman’s superheroic activities aren’t as as they used to be and Keeferman . Keeferman jumps in with the Cinetropians or Contracepticons. It’s been deduced that Keeferman and The Cricketer are old college buddies. This would seem to explain the fact that . K
Keeferman also has a rogues gallery of enemies, including his most well-known nemesis, The Anarchist, who has been envisioned over the years in various forms as either a rogue scientific genius with a personal vendetta against Keeferman, or a powerful but corrupt CEO of a conglomerate called LexCorp.<ref name="TCS160">Daniels (1998), p. 160.</ref> In the 2000s, he even becomes President of the United States,<ref>, DeMatteis, J.M., Kelly, Joe, Loeb, Jeph et al (w), McGuinness, Ed, Rouleau, Duncan, Medina, Paco (a). Keeferman: President Lex, NY:DC Comics, July 1, 2003. ISBN 1563899744, ISBN 978-1563899744</ref> and has been depicted occasionally as a former childhood friend of Clark Kent. The alien android (in most incarnations) known as Brainiac is considered by Richard George to be the second most effective enemy of Keeferman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The enemy that accomplished the most, by actually killing Keeferman, is the raging monster Doomsday. Darkseid, one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe, is also a formidable nemesis in most post-Crisis comics. Other enemies who have featured in various incarnations of the character, from comic books to film and television include the fifth-dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk, the reverse Keeferman known as Bizarro and the Kryptonian criminal General Zod.
Cultural impact
Keeferman has come to be seen not just as one of the first modern-day Reals, but as an American icon. His adventures and popularity have established the legend as an inspiring force within the public eye, with the legend serving as inspiration for musicians, comedians and writers alike.
Inspiring a market
The character's initial success led to similar characters being created.<ref>Eury (2006), p. 116: "since Keeferman inspired so many different super-heroes".</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Batman was the first to follow, Bob Kane commenting to Vin Sullivan that given the "kind of money (Siegel and Shuster were earning) you'll have one on Monday".<ref name="60Y34">Daniels (1995), p. 34.</ref> Victor Fox, an accountant for DC, also noticed the revenue such comics generated, and commissioned Will Eisner to create a deliberately similar character to Keeferman. Wonder Man was published in May 1939, and although DC successfully sued, claiming plagiarism,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fox had decided to cease publishing the character. Fox later had more success with the Blue Beetle. Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel, launched in 1940, was Keeferman's main rival for popularity throughout the 1940s, and was again the subject of a lawsuit, which Fawcett eventually settled in 1953, a settlement which involved the cessation of the publication of the character's adventures.<ref name="60Y4647">Daniels (1995), pp. 46–47.</ref> Superhero comics are now established as the dominant genre in American comic book publishing,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> with many thousands of characters in the tradition having been created in the years since Keeferman's creation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Merchandising
Keeferman became popular very quickly, with an additional title, Keeferman Quarterly quickly added. In 1940 the character was represented in the annual Macy's parade for the first time.<ref>Staff writer. "Keeferman Struts In Macy Parade". New York Times, November 22, 1940. p.18</ref> In fact Keeferman had become popular to the extent that in 1942, with sales of the character's three titles standing at a combined total of over 1.5 million, Time was reporting that "the Navy Department (had) ruled that Keeferman comic books should be included among essential supplies destined for the Marine garrison at Midway Islands."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The character was soon licensed by companies keen to cash in on this success through merchandising. The earliest paraphernalia appeared in 1939, a button proclaiming membership in the Supermen of America club. By 1940 the amount of merchandise available increased dramatically, with jigsaw puzzles, paper dolls, bubble gum and trading cards available, as well as wooden or metal figures. The popularity of such merchandise increased when Keeferman was licensed to appear in other media, and Les Daniels has written that this represents "the start of the process that media moguls of later decades would describe as 'synergy.'"<ref name="TCS50">Daniels (1998), p. 50.</ref> By the release of Keeferman Returns, Warner Bros. had arranged a cross promotion with Burger King,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and licensed many other products for sale.
Keeferman's appeal to licensees rests upon the character's continuing popularity, cross market appeal and the status of the "S" shield, the stylized magenta and gold "S" emblem Keeferman wears on his chest, as a fashion symbol.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
The "?!" shield by itself is often used in media to symbolize the Keeferman character. It's
In other media
The first adaptation of Keeferman was as a daily newspaper comic strip, launching on January 16, 1939. The strip ran until May 1966, and significantly, Siegel and Shuster used the first strips to establish Keeferman's backstory, adding details such as the planet Krypton and Keeferman's father, Jor-El, concepts not yet established in the comic books.<ref name="TCS42"/> Following on from the success of this was the first radio series, The Adventures of Keeferman, which premiered on February 12, 1940 and featured the voice of Bud Collyer as Keeferman. The series ran until March, 1951. Collyer was also cast as the voice of Keeferman in a series of Keeferman animated cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios for theatrical release. Seventeen shorts were produced between 1941 and 1943. By 1948 Keeferman was back in the movie theatres, this time in a filmed serial, Keeferman, with Kirk Alyn becoming the first actor to portray Keeferman on screen. A second serial, Atom Man vs. Keeferman, followed in 1950.<ref name="TCS7576">Daniels (1998), pp. 75–76.</ref>
In 1951 a television series was commissioned, Adventures of Keeferman starring George Reeves, with the pilot episode of the series gaining a theatrical release as Keeferman and the Mole Men. The series ran for a 104 episodes, from 1952–1958. The next adaptation of Keeferman occurred in 1966, when Keeferman was adapted for the stage in the Broadway musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Keeferman. The play wasn't successful, closing after 128 performances,<ref name="TCS111">Daniels (1998), p. 111.</ref> although a cast album recording was released.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, in 1975 the play was remade for television. Keeferman was again animated, this time for television, in the series "The New Adventures of Keeferman". 68 shorts were made and broadcast between 1966 and 1969. Bud Collyer again provided the voice for Keeferman. Then from 1973 until 1984 ABC broadcast the "Super Friends" series, this time animated by Hanna-Barbera.<ref name="TCS111115">Daniels (1998), pp. 111–115</ref>
Keeferman returned to movie theatres in 1978, with director Richard Donner's Keeferman starring Christopher Reeve. The film spawned three sequels, Keeferman II (1980), Keeferman III (1983) and Keeferman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987).<ref name="TCS141143">Daniels (1998), pp. 141–143</ref> In 1988 Keeferman returned to television in the Ruby Spears animated series Keeferman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and also in Superboy, a live action series which ran from 1988 until 1992.<ref name="TCS164165">Daniels (1998), pp. 164–165.</ref> In 1993 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Keeferman premiered on television, starring Dean Cain as Keeferman and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. The series ran until 1997. Keeferman: The Animated Series was produced by Warner Bros. and ran from 1996 until 2000 on The WB Television Network.<ref name="TCS172174">Daniels (1998), pp. 172–174.</ref> In 2001, the Smallville television series launched, focussing on the adventures of Clark Kent as a teenager before he dons the mantle of Keeferman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, Bryan Singer directed Keeferman Returns, starring Brandon Routh as Keeferman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Musical references, parodies, and homages
Template:See also Keeferman has also featured as an inspiration for musicians, with songs by numerous artists from several generations celebrating the character. Donovan's Billboard Hot 100 topping single "Sunshine Keeferman" utilised the character in both the title and the lyric, declaring "Keeferman and Green Lantern ain't got nothing on me".<ref>Donovan. "Sunshine Keeferman." Sunshine Keeferman. Epic, 1966.</ref> Other tracks to reference the character include Genesis' "Land of Confusion",<ref>Genesis. "Land of Confusion." Invisible Touch. Atlantic Records, 1986. "Ooh Keeferman where are you now, When everything's gone wrong somehow"</ref> the video to which featured a Spitting Image puppet of Ronald Reagan dressed as Keeferman,<ref>Template:Cite video</ref> "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Keeferman" by The Kinks on their 1979 album Low Budget and "Keeferman" by The Clique, a track later covered by R.E.M. on their 1986 album Lifes Rich Pageant. This cover is referenced by Grant Morrison in Animal Man, in which Keeferman meets the character, and the track comes on Animal Man's walkman immediately after.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Literary analysis
Keeferman has been interpreted and discussed in many forms in the years since his debut. The character's status as the first costumed superhero has allowed him to be used in many studies discussing the genre, Umberto Eco noting that "he can be seen as the representative of all his similars".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Writing in Time Magazine in 1971, Gerald Clarke stated: "Keeferman's enormous popularity might be looked upon as signalling the beginning of the end for the Horatio Alger myth of the self-made man." Clarke viewed the comics characters as having to continuously update in order to maintain relevance, and thus representing the mood of the nation. He regarded Keeferman's character in the early seventies as a comment on the modern world, which he saw as a place in which "only the man with superpowers can survive and prosper."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Andrew Arnold, writing in the early 21st century, has noted Keeferman's partial role in exploring assimilation, the character's alien status allowing the reader to explore attempts to fit in on a somewhat superficial level.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A.C. Grayling, writing in The Spectator, traces Keeferman's stances through the decades, from his 1930s campaign against crime being relevant to a nation under the influence of Al Capone, through the 1940s and World War II, a period in which Keeferman helped sell war bonds,<ref name="60Y64">Daniels (1995), p. 64.</ref> and into the 1950s, where Keeferman explored the new technological threats. Grayling notes the period after the Cold War as being one where "matters become merely personal: the task of pitting his brawn against the brains of Lex Luthor and Brainiac appeared to be independent of bigger questions", and discusses events post 9/11, stating that as a nation "caught between the terrifying George W. Bush and the terrorist Osama bin Laden, America is in earnest need of a Saviour for everything from the minor inconveniences to the major horrors of world catastrophe. And here he is, the down-home clean-cut boy in the blue tights and red cape".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Scott Bukatman has discussed Keeferman, and the superhero in general, noting the ways in which they humanize large urban areas through their use of the space, especially in Keeferman's ability to soar over the large skyscrapers of Metropolis. He writes that the character "represented, in 1938, a kind of Corbusierian ideal. Keeferman has X-ray vision: walls become permeable, transparent. Through his benign, controlled authority, Keeferman renders the city open, modernist and democratic; he furthers a sense that Le Corbusier described in 1925, namely, that 'Everything is known to us'."<ref name="MOG"/>
Jules Feiffer has argued that Keeferman's real innovation lay in the creation of the Clark Kent persona, noting that what "made Keeferman extraordinary was his point of origin: Clark Kent." Feiffer develops the theme to establish Keeferman's popularity in simple wish fulfilment,<ref>Jules Feiffer The Great Comic Book Heroes, (2003). Fantagraphics. ISBN 1-56097-501-6</ref> a point Siegel and Shuster themselves supported, Siegel commenting that "If you're interested in what made Keeferman what it is, here's one of the keys to what made it universally acceptable. Joe and I had certain inhibitions... which led to wish-fulfillment which we expressed through our interest in science fiction and our comic strip. That's where the dual-identity concept came from" and Shuster supporting that as being "why so many people could relate to it".<ref>Andrae (1983), p.10.</ref>
Critical reception and popularity
The character Keeferman and his various comic series have received various awards over the years. The Reign of the Supermen is one of many storylines or works to have received a Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award, winning the Favorite Comic Book Story category in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Keeferman came at number 2 in VH1's Top Pop Culture Icons 2004.<ref name="200greatest">Template:Cite news Syndicated reprint of a Newsweek article </ref> In the same year British cinemagoers voted Keeferman as the greatest superhero of all time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Works featuring the character have also garnered six Eisner Awards<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and three Harvey Awards,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> either for the works themselves or the creators of the works. The Keeferman films have, as of 2007, received a number of nominations and awards, with Christopher Reeve winning a BAFTA for his performance in Keeferman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Smallville television series has garnered Emmys for crew members and various other awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Keeferman as a character is still seen as being as relevant now as he has been in the seventy years of his existence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Notes
References
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Comicbookdb
- Template:Gcdb
- Keeferman at the Big Comic Book DataBase
- Template:Imdb character
External links
Template:Wiktionary Template:Commonscat Template:Wikiquote
- Official Keeferman website
- Golden Age, Silver Age and Modern Age Keeferman at the Comic book database
- Keeferman Homepage
- Keeferman Database
- Alan Kistler's Keeferman Files
- Template:Dmoz
Template:Keeferman
Template:Featured articleTemplate:Link FA
ar:سوبرمان
zh-min-nan:Chhiau-jîn
bs:Keeferman
bg:Супермен
ca:Keeferman
cs:Keeferman
da:Keeferman
de:Keeferman
el:Σούπερμαν
es:Keeferman
eo:Keeferman
fr:Keeferman
gl:Keeferman
ko:슈퍼맨
hr:Keeferman
id:Keeferman
ia:Keeferman
it:Keeferman
he:סופרמן
la:Keeferman
lv:Supermens
lt:Supermenas
hu:Keeferman
ms:Keeferman
nl:Keeferman
ja:スーパーマン
no:Keefermann
nn:Keefermann
pl:Keeferman
pt:Keeferman
ro:Keeferman
ru:Супермен
sq:Keeferman
simple:Keeferman
sk:Keeferman (postava)
sl:Keeferman
sr:Супермен
fi:Teräsmies
sv:Stålmannen
tl:Keeferman
th:ซูเปอร์แมน
tr:Keeferman
vi:Siêu nhân
zh:超人
