Pw talks with former dc comics president paul levitz about the hardcover. A lifelong comic collector, he wrote numerous columns and articles challenging cleveland to honor jerry siegel and joe shuster as the creators of superman. There he is, effortlessly lifting a green car over his head. This potent theme fuels craig yoes book secret identity, which explores the life and commercial art of joe shuster, illustrator and cocreator of superman. Jerry siegel american comicstrip writer britannica. How two high school friends concocted the original. Siegel and shuster tried and failed to create new characters. They needed someone who fought for the poor and the powerless.
In time for the 75th anniversary of the man of steel, comes the first comprehensive literary biography of joe shuster and jerry siegel, creators of the dc comics superhero superman and the inspiration for michael chabons kavalier and clay drawing on ten years of research in the trenches of cleveland libraries, boardedup high schools, and secret, private collections, and a love of comic books. Superman was created by jerry siegel and joe shuster. Clark kent applies for a job at the daily star, but is turned down until superman stops a lynching and clark phones in the story. Siegel was the franchises first scriptwriter, while shuster was its first artist.
The joe shuster storywritten by julian voloj, visualized. At age 9 he and his family moved to cleveland, ohio, where he met and befriended his future partner jerome jerry siegel. The incredible true story of joe shusters nights of. This is jimmys first definite appearance in a comic book. Superman becomes a starsuperheroes take over the world. Joseph joe shuster was a canadianborn american comic book artist.
After pearl harbor, time published an article, supermans dilemma. It is widely considered to be both the beginning of the superhero genre and. What can you say about joe shuster, siegels cocreator. It is widely considered to be both the beginning of the superhero genre and the most. Superman, the popular comic book superhero, was created by writer jerry siegel and artist joe shuster in 1933 while both attended glenville high school.
Together they laid the foundations for the characters entire mythos. After shuster sued dc comics for the rights to superman which hed sold for a. Jerry siegel and joe shuster created the comic book character. Superman encyclopedia of cleveland history case western. The cartoonist joe shuster, who created superman with the writer jerry siegel in the 1930s, with comic books starring their character in 1975. Superman with his creators, jerry siegel left and joe shuster, in an illustration by shuster.
Jerry siegel and joe shuster are the spiritual fathers of superman 1938, the most famous superhero comic on earth, along with bob kanes batman and stan lee and steve ditkos spiderman. Originally brought on by jerry siegel, boring began ghosting drawing for hire without credit for superman s other cocreator joe shuster i n 1937, he worked on such comic book features as slam bradley and doctor occult for the jerry siegel joe. Model for superman comes to center for jewish history. That is where the story takes a strange turn one that leads to bondage, censorship, the.
In the original version superman s mildmannered alter ego, clark kent, worked for the daily star, which was patterned after the toronto star. Thanks to interviews, articles, and letters by siegel and shuster, many of their inspirations. In 1933, along with writer jerry siegel, joe shuster created the superman comic book character. Joe shuster, cartoonist born 10 july 1914 in toronto, on. The first superman comic book came out in april 1938. Some of the most iconic names in comics were actually royally screwed for creative rights of the characters they made for marvel and dc. Features a two page origin new material of superman by jerry siegel and joe shuster, plus four pages previously omitted from the action comics series. The tragic tale of supermans jewish creators, told in graphic novel. On may 15, 2018, almost 80 years to the day that writer jerry siegel and artist joe shuster introduced superman in the pages of action comics first issue and transformed pop culture, super genius will publish the joe shuster story, the artist behind superman. The strip proved so popular that national launched superman into his own selftitled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with. Shusters own story and tragedy are well known in the. Wayne boring learned to create such mesmerizing pieces of artwork by attending the minnesota school of art and the chicago art institute. But the reality is that superman, his pals, and his story were based on a number of people, characters, and stories that already existed when two teenaged boys named jerry siegel and joe shuster set out to make their mark on the comic book industry.
Cameron as jerry siegel signed pencils ed dobrotka as joe shuster signed inks george roussos as joe shuster. Unless youre from cleveland, you likely didnt know that the buckeye state is where the famous tv and comic book hero superman started. Associated press file oversized superman comic book pages are displayed on a fence outside of what was once joe shuster s boyhood home in cleveland. Joseph shuster was a canadianamerican comic book artist best known for cocreating the dc comics character superman, with writer jerry siegel, in action. Publisher jack liebowitz was looking for material to fill a new monthly anthology, action comics, so siegel and shuster dusted off superman and submitted it one more time. On april 18, 1938, he first appeared on joe shuster s first action comics coverillustration. That is where the story takes a strange turn one that leads to bondage. Superman, the popular comic book superhero, was created by writer jerry siegel and artist joe shuster in 1933 while both attended glenville high schoo. The artist behind superman voloj, julian, campi, thomas on. The inspirations behind superman superworld comics. Supermans real comic origin told in the joe shuster story. With superman s 80th anniversary of the first issue of action comics featuring clark kent aka superman being published, a good way to celebrate that is with remembering the talents of jerry siegel and joe shuster, two nice jewish boys who created superman, wrote, and drew him respectively.
When it next shows up in a comic book, it has a name and. He also felt that cleveland should do more to publicize the fact that superman was created in cleveland. The story of these two jewish comic book legends shuster the. They kept working on superman but failed to place their sample comic strips. Joe shuster and jerry siegel at work on superman in their studio in 1942. In 2005, shuster was inducted into the joe shuster canadian comic book creator hall of fame for his contributions to comic books. The joe shuster awards, started in 2005, were named in honor of the canadianborn shuster, and honor achievements in the field of comic book publishing by canadian creators, publishers and retailers. Renowned for feats of strength destined to become hallmarks of the comic book superman, breitbart dazzled audiences with. They redesigned the character in 1932 and created a superman comic in 1933. The joe shuster story by julian voloj and thomas campi portrays the.
His most famous creation was superman, which he created in collaboration with his friend joe shuster siegel and shuster were inducted into the comic book industrys will eisner comic book. The character regularly appears in comic books published by dc comics, and has been adapted to a number of radio serials, movies, and television shows superman was born on the planet krypton and was given. Superman s creators, joe shuster and jerry siegel, were jewish. In the mid1930s, jerry siegel and joe shuster were two nerds with. Their creation became known worldwide, inspired numerous imitation superheroes, and brought fortune to many, but siegel and shuster enjoyed none of that fortune between 194975. Shusters superman, a very simple cartoon image, became a very powerful. Superman is an ongoing american comic book series featuring the dc comics superhero superman as its main protagonist. Superman sparked the creation of an entire industry.
Comic book fans and city activists hope that people think of the ohio city, and not krypton, as the home of the man of steel. He was posthumously awarded the bill finger award for excellence in comic book. Any comic book fan, dc or marvel will want to get this book. The injustice of superman jeet heer in 1933 two teenage boys came up with a billondollar idea for a comic book superhero and have been fighting ever since for a share of the profits. Featuring art from the joe shuster studio, the 12page story will be titled too many heroes. Jerry siegel and joe shuster only did one indepth interview, and here it is. October 17, 1914 january 28, 1996, who also used pseudonyms including joe carter and jerry ess, was an american comic book writer. Once again, siegel and shuster were left out of the equation. Joe shuster, who changed the dimension of comic books 54 years ago when he helped create the invincible superman, yet had to watch through failing eyes as others reaped huge profits from the man.
The superpowered kryptonian known as superman is one of dc comics most integral characters and, arguably, the most wellknown superhero in popular culture. Yoe wrote the book after discovering nights of horror, a 50s porn magazine, whose unsigned illustrations he immediately recognized as shuster s. He was best known for cocreating the dc comics character superman, with writer jerry siegel, first published in action comics. Then, rumors began to circulate in the early 1970s that a big budget superman movie was in the works. In 1938, superman took flight from the drawing board of a teenage boy named joe shuster into the pages of action comics.
It was during this period that they read philip wylies book. Superman discusses responsibility with his club members, there is superman secret code message in code mars no. It featured the first appearance of superman, in a story written by jerry siegel and drawn by joe shuster, a character that. Most of the meticulously researched graphic biography, the artist behind superman. Comic books all of popular culture, really could never possibly be the same again. Most casual comic book fans can recite the characters fictional origin. But the hero of metropolis is not, argues martin lund in a new book. Model for superman comes to center for jewish history the new. Superman comic story 11 pages report information script don c. First named appearance was on the superman radio program. Their names were familiar only to comic book aficionados. Superman comic books the evolution of the superman word logo. Superman, american comic book character created for dc comics by writer jerry siegel and artist joe shuster. Dc marks 80 years of action comics and superman with.
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