Some may find it hard to realize that Superman, our boyhood superhero, is now an octogenarian.

Immediately recognizable by his blue uniform, red cape and the famous “S” shield emblazoned on his chest, the Man of Steel made his comic book debut in 1938.

While growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, the Superman character stood for many values we cherished about America’s national heritage.

According to Gerald Hartman, a renowned Jewish expert and collector of World War II era comic books, the comic book industry was really created by Jews because they weren’t able to get jobs in certain industries such as advertising or illustration art due to antisemitism. As a result, they came up with their own medium that soon won mass appeal. The creators of Superman, scenarist Jerry Siegel and draughtsman Joe Shuster, were both from Cleveland and the children of Jewish immigrants.

Hartman said that a number of Jewish ideas expressed in those early comic book story lines are rooted in Judaism. Superman’s famous slogan of “Truth, Justice and the American Way” for example, is another way of expressing the Torah’s service and acts of loving kindness.

Jewish American artists also used their comic books to urge America to join World War II and help defeat the Nazis. Almost two years before the U.S. entered the war in Europe, a cartoon strip telling how Superman would end the war appeared in Look Magazine.

One early cover shows the man of steel wringing the neck of Joseph Goebbels - Nazis’ propaganda minister - while holding the Liberty Bell.

In dialogue for another early story line, Adolf Hitler pleads to Superman, “Put me down! You are hurting me.” But our superhero seizes the Nazi dictator, then shoots into the air to pick up Josef Stalin in Moscow. He takes the two “power mad scoundrels” to the League of Nations in Geneva, where they are found guilty of “unprovoked aggression against defenseless countries.”

One comic also addressed the Holocaust and atrocities in the Nazi death camps. In that edition, artists showed civilians wearing identification tags and being marched into the crematorium.

While Superman was fighting the Axis powers in Europe it should be noted that another DC Comic super hero - Wonder Woman - was even more directly involved in the global hostilities, since she also fought evil on the Pacific battlefront of World War II.

Faster than a speeding bullet, we now zip to 2021 and the comic book industry’s handling of social inequality issues, today defined as “wokeism.” Comic book veterans from the baby boomer generation were appalled when Marvel politicized its latest comic, “The United States of Captain America,” with a statement that “the American dream isn’t real.

“It never really existed in the first place,” the new comic proclaims. On immigration, it states: “We’re at our best when we keep no one out. A good dream is shared. Shared radically. Shared with everyone. When something isn’t shared, it can become the American lie.”

No one was more shocked and upset with Marvel’s politicization of its latest comic than actor Dean Cain, who is best known for playing the role of Clark Kent/Superman in the TV series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.”

Cain said in an interview that while it may appear cool or fashionable to bash America and to hate America, he was on the exact opposite side of the fence.

“I love this country,” Cain explained. “It’s not perfect and we are constantly striving for a more perfect union, as we all know. But I believe she’s the most fair, equitable country ever with more opportunity than anyone’s ever seen. And that’s why people are clamoring to get here from all over the globe.”

Cain firmly believes in America’s founding principles, individual freedom and equality of opportunity. The ability to compete fairly and hard work, he said, brings you material wealth, which in turn gives you self-reliance.

“That’s what everybody wants on the face of this planet, that’s what everybody strives for, that’s why they are trying to come here,” the actor stated.

Although Cain said he loves Captain America and the concept of the American super-soldier, he’s tired of the woke culture and its anti-Americanism views.

Sen. Tom Cotton also weighed in, stating that perhaps Captain America needs to be demoted to lieutenant.

The backlash from conservatives, including those in places of influence like Cain in Hollywood and Cotton in the U.S. Senate, might be the “kryptonite” needed to free the comic book industry from the clutches of woke politics.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.