Superman "The Mark of Zorro" and "Robin Hood". The name of Superman's home city, Metropolis, was taken from the 1927 film of the same name. Popeye cartoons were also an influence. Clark Kent's harmless facade and dual identity was inspired by the protagonists of such movies as Don Diego de la Vega in "The Mark of Zorro" and Sir Percy Blakeney in "The Scarlet Pimpernel". Siegel thought this would make for interesting dramatic contrast and good humor. Another inspiration was slapstick comedian Harold Lloyd. The archetypal Lloyd character was a gentle man who finds himself abused by bullies but later in
Marcus Corvinus (fictional character) Marcus Corvinus (fictional character) Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus is a fictional character in a series of historical detective novels by the Scottish author David Wishart. Corvinus (he goes by his "cognomen") is of a noble Roman family, living in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. He has turned his back on the "cursus honorum", preferring a quiet private life with his wife, Rufia Perilla, the scholarly, beautiful stepdaughter of the poet Ovid. Corvinus' main activity is solving mysteries and crimes. He met his wife when she contacted him to investigate the circumstances surrounding the exile and death of her stepfather,