Super Tragedy
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the original superhero and then spent much of their lives in poverty. This is the story of saving the creators of Superman.
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Cleveland is a long way from Krypton. But for teenagers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, even Krypton was closer than their chances of reaching the dream of being nationally famous comic strip artists. The duo was constantly seeking syndication with one of the country’s prominent newspaper groups, but nothing ever came.
Their idea was… unusual, to say the least.
The last son of a distant dying planet, launched across space in a rocket ship. He lands among the cornfields of Kansas, is raised by a kindly old couple, and then ventures off to be a newspaper reporter. But this alien boy hid a powerful secret. Unknown to the world around him, he was…
…faster than a speeding bullet…stronger than a locomotive…able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…
He was Superman. Lone survivor of Krypton, but firstborn of a new age of superheroes.
In the 1930s comic strip market it was something else, though. Weird.
The only shot the two Jewish boys got came from a peculiar new start up, the fledgling “comic books.” What had begun as a means for newspaper publishers to squeeze a few more dimes out of old comic strips in cheap collections had quickly turned into a clearinghouse for every knock-off and second rate idea they could print to pulp paper.
Superman was different, though, and it was evident immediately.
The first glimpse of this new Superman on the cover of Action Comics #1 (1938) did not give the reader any sense of whether this character should be celebrated or feared. As he hoisted the green sedan over his head and smashed it against a rock, spectators fled in terror while the ejected driver stared in a frozen stupor.
But once readers opened the pages and read the story inside, they found truly good and genuine hero, dedicate to the ideals of his adopted land: truth, justice, and the American way. He embodied everything his readers aspired to and his warm heart invited them along for the adventure.
Superman was an instantaneous success. It was so successful, in fact, that it redefined the new comic book medium, quickly separating it from its cousin the newspaper comic strip. Comic books, while they also contained mystery and horror and romance and science fiction, was now the unabashed home of the supermen and (soon) superwomen.
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had taken their unwanted comic strip idea and instead transformed the future of American pop culture, birthing an entire industry and radically altering many others. But the two young men barely saw anything for their efforts.
While their publisher, DC Comics, began amassing a fortune with Superman in comic books and licensing in newspaper and radio (and eventually television, as well), Siegel and Shuster slowly vanished from the scene. Before long, their names vanished from the credits of their creation. Even worse, the two men found it nearly impossible to get work in the industry they had helped create.
By the 1970s, comic books and Superman were a staple of American youth culture. Meanwhile, Joe Shuster, now legally blind from untreated eye disease, slept on a tattered cot in a rundown New York apartment building with broken windows. Jerry Siegel suffered from severe heart disease and struggled to afford his medications on $7,000 a year as a mail clerk in Los Angeles.
The two men who had given America a new symbol of hope and virtue and honesty in some of the nation’s darkest years, now found themselves dying alone.
The world likely would have never even noticed had it not been for a simple, but powerful letter.
Addressing the Cartoonists Guild (lead at the time by comic artist Neal Adams) and every major newspaper in the country, Jerry Siegel pled their case. The teenagers, desperate for a chance as comic creators had signed a contract that gave full rights of their creation over to DC Comics. The two men had not seen a cent from Superman since 1948. Now, in 1975, the two 61-year olds were impoverished and in ill health with no legal way to make even a modest living off of their massively popular creation.
Neal Adams, an artistic phenom known for his sensational work on Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Batman, and the hit special issue Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, was deeply moved at the thought that the founders of the industry might die in poverty and obscurity while the industry flourished. Adams had to meet the two men. What he found, especially in the case of Joe Shuster, astounded and infuriated him. Despite his dismay, Adams did his best try and cheer up the fading cartoonist.
In 1975, ABC aired a televised special production of the musical “It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman!” The show had originally run on Broadway in 1966 to great fanfare and reviews, as well as three Tony nominations. Adams asked Shuster what he had thought of the show. Shuster recounted his delight going down to theater and watching as celebrities and city officials and even President Lyndon Johnson had come to view the premiere. It had moved him to tears with pride and joy.
Yes, that was all wonderful, Adams continued, but had Shuster thought of the show? I never saw it, the creator of Superman replied, I couldn’t afford the ticket.
Adams took it upon himself to approach Warner Brothers, by then the corporate owners of DC Comics. Their was no interest in dealing with Siegel and Shuster. Adams would not take no for an answer, though.
He turned the well-connected and highly respected organization for comic strip artists, the National Cartoonist Society, which had previously been led by Adams’ friend Jerry Robinson. Robinson’s own career had begun in comic books and he had found early success with the creation of the Batman characters Robin and the Joker. Robinson welcomed Adams to an NCS meeting to present his case to the members.
Held at the old Allied Chemical Building in NYC (then home to the International Press Core offices), the meeting was well attended. Adams made his appeal and the members were clearly moved. After discussion, the members moved to send a strong letter of disapproval of Warner Brothers’ inaction. How will that do, Robinson asked his friend.
Neal Adams was FURIOUS.
A letter?? You have careers because of the tremendous invention of these two men and the best you can muster is a letter?? Adams cursed out the gathering and then stormed out.
Within the hearing of Adams’ tirade was the president of the International Press Core himself. Impressed, he offered to set up a press conference for the two men.
At this point, Warner Brothers could no longer ignore Siegel and Shuster. They rushed to negotiate a settlement to put an end to the bad press. In the end, they granted the two annual salaries (complete with a $30,000 bonus to get them started), health insurance, and retirement benefits. It was the dream deal.
Almost, Adams replied.
Almost?! What could be missing? Siegel and Shuster’s names back on their creation. Not possible, Warner Brothers asserted. Okay, Adams calmly responded as the negotiations wrapped.
When reporters reached out to Adams for an update on the negotiations, Adams filled them in on the executives’ refusal to acknowledge credit for the Superman creators. After a few well placed tips to prominent news outlets, Adams took his family on an unannounced trip to Florida for a comic conference. There he waited for the media to do its work.
Within hours, Warner Brothers had caved and granted the credit line to Siegel and Shuster to complete the deal.
And in 1978 when Warner Brothers released that hit film Superman: The Movie starring Christopher Reeves, Jerry and Joe were credited, establishing a new (but still contested) standard in the evolving industry.
The story of the fight to save Siegel and Shuster from poverty and obscurity is really indicative of the history of comic books. The rocket rise of comics from an afterthought of the newspaper comic strips to one of the most popular creative mediums in American culture meant that the industry’s means quickly outpaced its manner.
Batman has had his own controversies over authorship and credits, one that wouldn’t get resolved until decades AFTER the death of one of his most important creators. For that story and MANY MORE, subscribe to Great Scott!! where you’ll get regular stories about the incredible history of comics and American pop culture!