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
The Eel (fictional character) The Eel (fictional character) The Eel is a pulp fiction character, a gentleman thief of "courageous action and questionable morals," created by Hugh B. Cave, writing under the pseudonym Justin Case. Short stories about The Eel originally appeared from 1936 to 1942 in the "Spicy" magazines issued by Culture Publications. In the first of the series, "Eel Trap," the author introduces the character thus: Cave would later explain, in his foreword to "Escapades of the Eel", that it was his admiration of author Damon Runyon that led him to write the adventures using "the same present-tense, first-person narrative style that