Perry White
57 years ago - Perry White is born in Metropolis.
44 years ago - 13-year-old Perry White becomes a copy boy at the Daily Planet.
39 years ago - 18-year-old Perry White starts working for the Daily Planet full-time.
36 years ago - 21-year-old Perry White gets his first story published, exposing a ring of corrupt landlords in Suicide Slum, and becoming a reporter for the Daily Planet.
29 years ago - 28-year-old Perry White earns a Pulitzer for his work exposing Intergang's drug trade in Metropolis.
27 years ago - 30-year-old Perry White's work exposing Lex Luthor's role in Metropolis organized crime is shut down when Lex buys the Daily Planet.
25 years ago - 32-year-old Perry White marries Alice Spencer.
22 years ago - 35-year-old Perry White & his wife Alice adopt their son Keith.
20 years ago - 37-year-old Perry White fights Lex Luthor as he dismantles the Daily Planet. He finds elderly investor George Taylor, who agrees to set up a trust to fund the Daily Planet indefinitely if Perry becomes the Editor-In-Chief.
15 years ago - 42-year-old Perry White starts giving work to young hotshot reporter Lois Lane.
14 years ago - 43-year-old Perry White brings Lois Lane on full-time at the Daily Planet.
13 years ago - 44-year-old Perry White hires world reporter Clark Kent. Superman first appears in Metropolis, and the Daily Planet gets a series of exclusives.
6 years ago - 51-year-old Perry White has a heart attack. He begins delagating his editorial responsiblities.
This was an interesting timeline to make, but for a kind of strange reason; Perry White isn't exactly a character, in the strictest sense of the word. He's certainly had stories that featured him, and we used some of them in our timeline, but his real responsiblity in the story of Superman is to make sure there is a stable launching point for Clark & Lois's adventures. So while we tried to make sure his timeline flowed like an actual character... our main task was to make sure he was in positon for the other characters.
Perry White's Comic HistoryPerry White's first cannon appearance is in Superman #7 in 1940, although an almost identical character already existed going all the way back to Superman's very first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938. Clark's original editor was George Taylor, but Perry was invented in the Adventures of Superman radio show, which was popular enough that he was quickly adapted over into the main comic.
Perry's role in the mythology of Superman is an interesting one, because it speaks to an element of his story that is sometimes lost on modern readers. In those classic stories, Clark and Lois and Jimmy often got themselves in trouble not because of anything to do with Superman, but specifically because they were crucading reporters going up against organized crime and corruption. Their status as reporters was a framing device for their heroism, much like James Bond's status as a secret agent. From that perspective, Perry was how we introduced and resolved their adventures. He was their M. |
Our Perry White StoryOne challenge in telling modern Superman stories is that they are all structured around this traditional media newspaper, and most modern readers can't imagine the idea of a newspaper that isn't perpetually on the verge of collapsing, because that's what real life newspapers are like in the real world... nevermind that the same comic features a man that can fly. It's a core part of this mythology that this newspaper is not just solvent, but also a well respected and trusted bastion of truth. It's just part of the leap necessary in telling a Superman story, and that is basically personified in Perry White.
So for our story, we're actually not spending a lot of time with stories involving the Daily Planet being on the verge of being shut down, because that's simply doesn't contribure to the actual mythology at play. We wanted to make sure we had a story in our timeline that depicted him rebuilding the Planet and securing it a permanent source of funding (this is where we used the character George Taylor) because that just lets us focus on what the Planet actually IS. Instead it's about Perry White, as Editor-in-chief, standing as a pillar of journalistic integrity, steering his crusading superstar reporter Lois Lane, her sidekick (and eventual husband) Clark, and their unpredictably adventursome photographer to expose the truth wherever in may be. As a side note; The internet responded badly to Lawrence Fishburn playing this part because the interent always does that, but I just wanted to make sure I was on record that even for a character like this that has had tons of great performers play him, Fishburn was an amazing choice and I am fully in favor of more of that. |