The John Carter-Man of Steel Connection: “I was a superman” — John Carter

As the release date for Man of Steel approaches, I’m thinking more about the John Carter and Superman connections. Jerry Siegel made clear in his remarks on the 45th Anniversay of Superman in 1983 that he had both Tarzan and John Carter in mind when he created Superman.

But what about this one?

John Carter actually says “I was a superman” near the end of Warlord of Mars.   

Here is the passage.

I had intended waiting until some circumstance should give me a
reasonable hope of success; for, even though the entire ceremony
should be completed, there could be no valid marriage while I
lived.  What I was most concerned in, of course, was the rescuing
of Dejah Thoris--I wished to take her from the palace of Salensus
Oll, if such a thing were possible; but whether it were accomplished
before or after the mock marriage was a matter of secondary import.

When, however, I saw the vile hand of Salensus Oll reach out for
the hand of my beloved princess I could restrain myself no longer,
and before the nobles of Okar knew that aught had happened I had
leaped through their thin line and was upon the dais beside Dejah
Thoris and Salensus Oll.

With the flat of my sword I struck down his polluting hand; and
grasping Dejah Thoris round the waist, I swung her behind me as,
with my back against the draperies of the dais, I faced the tyrant
of the north and his roomful of noble warriors.

The Jeddak of Jeddaks was a great mountain of a man--a coarse,
brutal beast of a man--and as he towered above me there, his fierce
black whiskers and mustache bristling in rage, I can well imagine
that a less seasoned warrior might have trembled before him.

With a snarl he sprang toward me with naked sword, but whether
Salensus Oll was a good swordsman or a poor I never learned; for
with Dejah Thoris at my back I was no longer human--I was a superman,
and no man could have withstood me then.

With a single, low:  "For the Princess of Helium!" I ran my blade
straight through the rotten heart of Okar's rotten ruler, and before
the white, drawn faces of his nobles Salensus Oll rolled, grinning
in horrible death, to the foot of the steps below his marriage
throne.

For a moment tense silence reigned in the nuptial-room.  Then the
fifty nobles rushed upon me.  Furiously we fought, but the advantage
was mine, for I stood upon a raised platform above them, and I
fought for the most glorious woman of a glorious race, and I fought
for a great love and for the mother of my boy.

And from behind my shoulder, in the silvery cadence of that dear
voice, rose the brave battle anthem of Helium which the nation's
women sing as their men march out to victory.

That alone was enough to inspire me to victory over even greater
odds, and I verily believe that I should have bested the entire
roomful of yellow warriors that day in the nuptial chamber of the
palace at Kadabra had not interruption come to my aid.

Fast and furious was the fighting as the nobles of Salensus Oll
sprang, time and again, up the steps before the throne only to fall
back before a sword hand that seemed to have gained a new wizardry
from its experience with the cunning Solan.

Two were pressing me so closely that I could not turn when I heard
a movement behind me, and noted that the sound of the battle anthem
had ceased.  Was Dejah Thoris preparing to take her place beside
me?

Heroic daughter of a heroic world!  It would not be unlike her to
have seized a sword and fought at my side, for, though the women
of Mars are not trained in the arts of war, the spirit is theirs,
and they have been known to do that very thing upon countless
occasions.

But she did not come, and glad I was, for it would have doubled my
burden in protecting her before I should have been able to force
her back again out of harm's way.  She must be contemplating some
cunning strategy, I thought, and so I fought on secure in the belief
that my divine princess stood close behind me.