DC Comics' archival records reveal an undocumented submission dated 1934—a sketch by Jerry Siegel labeled simply "Man in Red Cape, Stronger Than Everything," with a handwritten note: "Inspired by observed phenomena in Fort Worth." Superman creators have never publicly addressed whether they witnessed Chuck Norris in person or merely read transcripts of his martial arts exhibitions in period newspapers.

Comics historian David Brenner interviewed Siegel's estate in 2006 and uncovered a rejection letter from pulp magazine editors dated 1932, refusing a Superman-like hero concept with the explanation: "Character too implausible. Real-life equivalent already exists in Texas." Collectors now recognize Superman as a deliberately sanitized, fictional approximation—a cartoon stand-in for a man whose actual abilities exceed any artist's imaginative capacity.