Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 193 Beard
The message about the kidnapping case flashed through my mind.

Colin restrained his thoughts and returned his attention to the content of the broadcast.

In the TV program, the radio reporter in charge of broadcasting talked about the details of the kidnapping case and updated the latest developments of the case in real time.

Beginning with the Charles kidnapping, radio stations became heavily involved in newscasting.

Through a more convenient channel for information transmission than newspapers, radio has easily gained a large number of listeners.

At the same time, after continuous exploration, the news reporting methods of radio stations have gradually matured, converting written news information into language information that is easier for readers to accept.

It is precisely because of this that some listeners who are accustomed to reading newspapers have also begun to change their listening styles and turn to the radio to receive the latest reports.

Undoubtedly, this practice of the radio station undoubtedly touched the interests of the newspaper industry.

To this end, the "New York Times" has published articles related to broadcasting.

In the report, it is said that the radio possesses a 'huge unknown power', and that the existence of the radio is astonishing and almost anesthetized the soul.

Although in this article, The New York Times also somewhat agrees that the radio's ability to bring families together is especially important in the Great Depression, but the overall tone of the article is clearly warning listeners to be cautious. Absorb information so as not to be affected by irrational 'forces'.

Not just the New York Times report, but actually judging from the news that Colin got.

The major newspapers in New York have already begun to plan a counterattack against the radio, protesting against the TV station's practice of quoting newspaper news, intending to cut off the news channel of the radio program through this method and force the radio station to make a compromise.

However, as a latecomer, Ke Lin knew that the war between the newspaper industry and broadcasting would eventually end with the victory of broadcasting.

The newspaper industry's approach to cutting off broadcast news outlets has instead led to television stations developing in a more independent direction.

With the establishment of broadcast news agencies, the newspaper industry lost its means of restraint and finally had to accept the advent of the radio age.

Compared with the resistance shown by his colleagues in the newspaper industry, Colin was very open-minded in his attitude towards broadcasting.

It's not just because the broadcast of the radio drama has brought him both fame and wealth and [faith].

What's more, Ke Lin, who knows the direction of history, knows that the rise of the radio era is irresistible.

Just like how the TV and Internet era came after.

Therefore, instead of thinking about how to stop the development of radio with the group of people in the newspaper industry, it is better to cooperate with the radio station to obtain more benefits and benefits.

In any case, the Courier newspaper had not had a good relationship with the newspaper industry.

……

At six o'clock in the morning, Colin adjusted the angle of his collar in front of the mirror and looked at the growing beard at the corner of his mouth. Colin picked up the razor at hand and started shaving his chin.

Amidst the harsh sound of metal rubbing, the beard on Colin's mouth and chin in the mirror did not decrease in the slightest, but the surface of the razor in his hand became bumpy.

Seeing this, Ke Lin couldn't help showing a helpless expression on his face.

With the improvement of [Super Defense (Bronze)], his defense ability has been further strengthened, but this is not all a good thing, at least the problem of shaving has become more and more troublesome .

Throwing the razor into the trash can casually, Colin stroked the seemingly weak but surprisingly strong beard at the corner of his mouth.

From now on, with the firmness of the beard on his face, he basically bid farewell to the razor.

While shaking his head helplessly, Colin turned around and went to the kitchen, took out a 12-ounce bottle of Coke from the refrigerator and drank it down in one gulp. Feeling the faint refreshment brought by the carbonated drink, he carefully controlled the strength in his hand , crushed the glass bottle in his hand into pieces, and Colin then picked out a piece of suitable size.

Holding the shattered glass bottle fragments and coming to the mirror, Ke Lin stroked the beard on his chin. With the slight heat in his eyes, two small red light beams shot out from his eyes in an instant, and fell on Ke Lin under the reflection of the surface of the glass shards. above Lin's beard.

Controlling the power of the thermal vision, he cleaned up the beard on his mouth and chin, and looked at his neat face in the mirror. Then Colin heaved a sigh of relief, picked up the hat on the table and put it on his head.

In fact, the issue of Superman's hair has always been a headache in comics.

In 1959, in the original comic story about the old Superman, there was already a plot of Superman with a long beard struggling with how to deal with the beard, and in the subsequent comics, more or less related plots appeared, including 1960 at that time In the published comics, there is a plot where Superwoman and Super Dog Krypton help Superman shave through lasers.

Even later, for the convenience of creation, the original version simply added a hairless setting to Superman to avoid the trouble of beards.

And in the comics derived from this setting, there is even a plot about Clark wearing a wig.

Because if Superman has long hair, the screenwriter must think about the story of how Superman usually cuts his hair, so he simply made Superman an existence with only body hair but no hair, so as to block readers' curiosity.

Among the many settings, it was not until "Man of Steel" in 1986 that there was a way to conclude the story about how Superman shaves his beard. Just now, Colin used the method of reflection through heat vision, and this The setting also became Superman's widely circulated method of shaving in subsequent stories.

"Perhaps, I should consider adding this setting to the comics."

Stretching out his hand to touch his smooth chin under the effect of the hot gaze, Colin couldn't help thinking for a while.

Compared with the setting of not growing hair, he personally prefers the method of shaving his beard with hot sight.

Especially in Ke Lin's cognition, characters without hair in film and television works tend to be biased towards a certain group of unique image identities.

He has no intention of getting closer to that aspect of the character, so the setting of hot-sight shaving his beard is better. Although it is a bit troublesome, it is also a quite classic setting for comics. I believe readers will like it.

……

"Mr. Lange Voorster?"

Early in the morning, Colin saw Lange Voorster at the door of the Courier.

"What's the matter, did something happen to the factory?"

Seeing this figure standing at the door of the newspaper office, Ke Lin asked curiously.

At this point, Lange Vorster should be at the Brooklyn machine shop to take care of things.

"Good morning, Mr. Looper."

Hearing Colin's inquiry, Lang quickly turned around and greeted him, and then said with a wry smile: "It's not that I don't want to stay in the factory, but that a group of people have been blocking the factory since early in the morning. Before, our workers were not allowed to enter, so I had to come to you."

If there is anyone who most hopes that Kelin's mechanic factory can go online, it is undoubtedly Lange Voorst.

After all, the sales commission he and Ke Lin talked about will only work if the factory starts working.

However, the current situation does not seem to be as smooth as expected.

"Blocking in front of the factory?"

Hearing Lange Vorst's answer, Colin frowned subconsciously.

"Can you tell me about the situation of the factory in detail, Lange Vorst."

"Of course, Mr. Looper."

In Langer's description, Colin roughly figured out the problems that occurred in his own factory. It seemed that someone was unwilling to let his machinery factory in Brooklyn continue to operate.

But who exactly?

Colin thought secretly in his heart. With the development of the "Daily Courier", the newspaper office more or less touched some people's reasons.

Among them are colleagues in the newspaper industry, and perhaps some subjects in news reports.

"Sir, I think those people around the factory don't look like workers. They look more like gangsters, and their behavior is quite rough. Some workers who want to argue with them are almost killed by this A group of people were injured, so..."

Looking at Colin, who was obviously thinking in front of him, Lange Vorst hesitated to remind him.

"A gang member?"

Hearing Lange's reminder, Ke Lin had an idea in his mind.

"Don't worry too much, Mr. Lange Voorster, I will take care of everything."

"But before that, I need to deal with some newspaper matters."

After comforting Lange Voster in front of him, Colin turned around and came to the Messenger newspaper in front of him.

After handing over the prepared serial to Jacob, and explaining a few words to Old John in the newspaper office, Colin walked out of the Messenger Newspaper office and nodded slightly to Lange standing at the door.

"The boss is here!"

"It's the factory manager..."

It didn't take too long to travel from the Courier newspaper to the machinery factory in Brooklyn. When the two arrived at the factory, the confrontation continued.

Looking at Colin who arrived with Lange Voster, many workers who were originally nervous couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

They worry that their hard-won jobs will go to waste.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

In front of the Messenger Machinery Factory, Ke Lin explained to the anxious workers before turning his attention to the people around the factory.

The suits and peaked caps on these people also confirmed a certain conjecture of Colin from the side.

Looking across the crowd in front of the factory, Colin quickly locked on a familiar figure in the lead.

On the other side, noticing the arrival of Lange Voster and Colin, there was a little commotion in the crowd, and soon the leading figure came out of it and said to Colin.

"Meet you again, Mr. Colin Looper."

His gaze stayed on the leading man in front of him for a moment, and he said calmly.

"So, this time you are here for."

Facing Colin's inquiry, the leading man made an 'invitation' in a low voice.

"Boss wants to meet with you."

Hearing the lead man's invitation, Ke Lin glanced at the crowd in front of the factory, and frowned to express his dissatisfaction: "If it's just to meet once, why are you in the factory?"

"Feel sorry."

Facing Ke Lin's questioning, the leading man apologized without sincerity.

"The boss has been waiting in the factory for a while."

As the voice of the leading man fell, several figures wearing peaked caps appeared behind Ke Lin, showing a vague tendency to surround him.

"Mr. Colin Looper, please come in early."

In the distance, noticing the situation on Colin's side, some workers became agitated again.

"You don't need to remind me of this."

Ignoring the hostile figures around him, Ke Lin casually patted the leading man on the shoulder, then turned around and walked towards the factory, bypassing the man in front of him.

"head?"

Seeing Ke Lin leaving, the surrounded men turned their heads to look at the leading man who was standing still, with a puzzled expression on his face.

They didn't expect that the man would let Colin pass by without doing anything. Usually, he is not such a talkative person.

"Look at these workers, don't let them make trouble."

He explained a few words to several people, and waited until these people left.

Only then did the man grit his teeth and touched his shoulder, feeling the sharp pain from his arm, and his entire back was soaked in sweat.

"How on earth did he do it?"

Gritting his teeth and enduring the severe pain from his arm, the leading man was full of doubts.

He never imagined that Colin would cause such a serious injury to his arm just by slapping his shoulder without any special action.

In front of the factory, Colin swept the chain of the gate.

Looking at the clearly visible cutting marks on the iron chain, he immediately understood how these people broke into the factory.

Under the provocative eyes of several people wearing peaked caps at the door, Ke Lin came to the factory expressionlessly.

Once inside, he saw Charlie Luciano with his back turned to him.

"Mr. Colin Luper..."

Hearing footsteps coming from behind, Charlie Luciano flicked the cigar in his hand, and said to him in a tone without any ups and downs: "I'm sorry to disturb you in this way."

He said sorry words, but from Luciano's attitude, Colin didn't feel the other party's apology at all.

Putting the cigar in his hand into his mouth and taking a puff, Luciano looked at the situation in the factory and said in a casual tone: "Unexpectedly, Mr. Luper also had ideas about factory manufacturing. During this period, you dare to cross industries like you Not many people invest in manufacturing."

A machine shop started by a newspaper owner surprised even Charlie Luciano himself.

To be honest, he was not very optimistic about the prospects of Kelin's factory. Manufacturing was not a good direction for starting a business during the Great Depression.In the hands of Charlie Luciano, there are many closed factories, most of which are manufacturing factories that went bankrupt due to the Great Depression, and he transformed them all into underground casinos and bootleg factories.

It was also through the monopoly of bootlegging that Charlie Luciano became the leader of the New York Mafia step by step.

After all, gang expansion requires money, and what could be a more lucrative business than bootlegging in this period.

(End of this chapter)