SUPERMAN

Mark Millar, creator of Kick-ass and Kingsman, on why Christopher Reeve so perfectly inhabited Krypton’s finest

Going into the cinema to see Superman for the first time, at eight years old, I vomited with excitement. I felt sick; my mum said, “Are you okay?” And I vomited along the side of the street. She asked what had happened. I said, “It’s just excitement.” I could not wait. And seeing Superman was a religious experience. It was like Moses seeing the burning bush. I remember coming out of the cinema afterwards thinking, “I need to do this,” but I didn’t know what this was, because I was in Scotland. I was so far away from Hollywood, or comic books. What Christopher Reeve brought to Superman was really clever. It was an authenticity. He played it totally straight. He brought a warmth and a humour and an intelligence to it, and you thought, “That’s probably what Superman would be like.” He just looked like Superman. He acted like Superman. He could push planets, but he had a humility. He looked like a guy who was super-strong but grew up in the American Midwest, and had all the good manners that come with that. He embodied the ultimate man,

because he had the kindness as well as the strength. And he counterbalanced that brilliantly with Clark Kent. Tripping on his shoelaces. Other people have made Clark Kent just Superman with glasses. But the genius of Reeve is he realised what Clark Kent is. To me, Clark Kent is the most fascinating character in fiction — he’s essentially Superman’s creation. He’s a work of art. People say that Clark’s the real guy, but of course he isn’t — Superman’s the real guy, disguised as a mild-mannered reporter. He’s just trying to mix with normal people and have friends, and I love that. He hangs out all day with people, because he enjoys them. Reeve just nailed that.

I’ve got Christopher Reeve’s cape from Superman III. They were selling three capes in an auction, and the Superman

I and II capes were so expensive, I couldn’t justify it. But the Superman III cape was a decent price. I’ll never regret it.