Siegel: because the super-strength and action in the animated cartoons, rather than in the comic strip, were absolutely sensational. I thought: this is really great, but its done strictly as comedy. What if it featured a straight adventure character? You could end up with a very dynamic adventure strip. So that was one of the influences on Superman. There were many: there was Tarzan, who was the greatest action hero of the time, and various others; but I think the Popeye animated cartoons were one of the strongest influences.