Lampooning both Superman and Captain Marvel, it revolutionized the types of stories seen in Mad, leading to greatly improved sales.

The plot parallels the Superman scenario of the period: "Clark Bent" is a lowly assistant to the copy boy at The Daily Dirt newspaper, where he tries, unsuccessfully, to woo the disgusted "Lois Pain".

Clark Bent uses his X-ray vision to peer into the women's bathroom, and Captain Marbles has abandoned good deeds for the pursuit of money.

National never filed suit,[5] and this legal cover establishing the basis for Kurtzman's new editorial direction became the bedrock of Mad's humor.

Moore has said: "We wanted to take Superduperman 180 degrees – dramatic, instead of comedic",[6] but it also influenced the art: "I think that we probably settled upon the kind of Wally Wood 'Superduperman' style.

As a child he dressed as a superhero and got himself into trouble but "[h]is understanding of superpowers matured, however, when he read Mad Magazine's' "Superduperman" in the early 1950s.

That teenage skepticism grew into a philosophical teaching career, resulting in his current position as a professor of philosophy, emeritus, at Morningside College in Iowa.

With Robert Jewert, he developed his suspicion that America's righteous stance in the world often projects the story of the selfless crusader who can cleanly use superpowers to rescue the innocent".