Normie Norman

A young hoodlum in league with the Hammerhead Haines mob who becomes, ironically, a finalist in the Daily Planet’s contest to select “the ideal average American” in January 1946. In a ruthless effort to eliminate the other finalists so that Norman will be assured of winning the prize money, Haines and his henchmen set out to force each of Norman’s competitors to do something sufficiently spectacular to ruin his image of averageness and eliminate him from contention in the eyes of the judges. A finalist himself in his Clark Kent identity, Superman apprehends the Haines gang and then deliberately captures the pistol-wielding Norman as Clark Kent in the hope that this uncharacteristic act of heroism will place him out of the running for the average-American award. The judges, however, award Kent the prize anyway, observing that “... like the ordinary American, you try to avoid trouble! But when it comes, you plunge in and make the other fellow sorry he started it! We feel that you are the perfect average American!” (Act No. 92: “The Average American!”).