Without either the benefit or the hindrance of editorial oversight, the. Through his work on the landmark comic strip, new fun, shuster established himself as a visionary and singularly creative cartoonist. Jerry siegel american comicstrip writer britannica. The artist behind superman is a comprehensive overview of his life, driven by the creation of one particular hero. Based on archival material and original sources, all incredibly well documented with extensive notes, here is told the very personal story of the friendship between illustrator joe shuster and writer jerry siegel, and how creating superman changed their lives both for the better and for the worse. Shuster, joe studio superman large pg 6, supermite superman break in, lex luthors trap 1944. Only the two cover sketches survive, which can be seen in comic book price guide 18 and comic book marketplace 36. Thomas campi joe shuster the artist behind superman.
Joseph shuster july 10, 1914 july 30, 1992 was a canadianamerican cartoonist. With jerry siegel, a neighbor in cleveland, shuster created the comic book character superman. It proved one of the most popular and influential comic book hero in comic book history. Joe shuster did have a hard life yes he cocreated superman but his life was anything but super. 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. 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.
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. The joe shuster story tells the story of the friendship between writer jerry siegel and illustrator joe shuster, and puts it into the wider context of the american comic book industry. Comic books all of popular culture, really could never possibly be the same again. Shusters own story and tragedy are well known in the. Shuster was involved in a number of legal battles over ownership of the superman character.
Joe shuster the cocreator of superman, shusters contribution should be obvious. This book delivers the true story of joe shuster and how he was mistreated over his cocreation of superman. The joe shuster story, written by julian voloj and drawn by thomas campi, is the story of the birth of the comic book industry, spotlighting not just the storied. Siegel was the franchises first scriptwriter, while shuster was its first artist. Joseph shuster was born on july 10, 1914, in toronto, canada.
Jerry siegel and joe shuster are the spiritual fathers of superman 1938. Shuster died of a heart failure and hypertension in. Shortly after siegel and shuster died in the 1990s, a similar struggle for recognition of supermans creators took place in cleveland. The joe shuster awards are named in honor of the great artist, joe shuster 19141992, whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the north american comic book industry. Jerry siegel and joe shuster only did one indepth interview, and here it is. Stan lee is a writer, editor, and comic book creator, and the former president and chairman of marvel comics. Depressed, joe tore the original superman story to shreds. See more ideas about superman, superman comic and comic books. Established in 2004, the joe shuster awards are canadas national award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. Supermans real comic origin told in the joe shuster story. Five comic book artist movies even freakier than superman.
A wellresearched primer on american comic book history, a beautifully. 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. They brushed off their old superman story and quickly made a comic book around it. Joe shuster was an american artist and one of the creators of the superman comic book character. The tragic tale of supermans jewish creators, told in graphic novel form the joe shuster story by julian voloj and thomas campi portrays the children of eastern european immigrants and.
The tragic tale of supermans jewish creators, told in. The awards are named after pioneering torontoborn artist joe shuster who, along with writer jerry siegel, created the iconic superpowered hero, superman. The character was created by writer jerry siegel and artist joe shuster, high school students living in cleveland, ohio, in 1933. Because the lives of these two creators are so entwined, i have decided to do both their biographies in one swoop. Superman by joe shuster comic art action comics 1, dc comics, comic art. The artist behind superman voloj, julian, campi, thomas on. Based on archival material and original sources, the artist behind superman. See more ideas about superman, comic books and comics. His comic book career after superman was relatively.
After falling out with nationaldc, shusters search for work led him to briefly providing illustrations for nights of horror fetish pulps. That publishers legal problems coincided with the infamous senate hearings on the connection. Michael sangiacomo, a comic books critic and a reporter for. Perhaps too comprehensive, as i fear only the most dedicated, oldschool comic fan will want to wade through the 160plus pages here, particularly given how downbeat this gentlemans life was. He was best known for cocreating the dc comics character superman, with writer jerry siegel, first published in action comics no. Joseph joe shuster was a canadianborn american comic book artist. Shuster originally worked for national allied publications, which would later become dc comics. He was best known for cocreating the dc comics character superman, with writer jerry siegel, first published in. Joe shuster canadianamerican, 19141992 was a comic book artist best known for cocreating superman. Joe shuster the artist behind superman is my latest graphic novel in collaboration with julian voloj who wrote the original script about the life of joe shuster the artist that together with jerry siegel created superman the most iconic and first comic book superhero. Joe shuster comic artist the most popular comic art by. That is where the story takes a strange turn one that leads to bondage, censorship. Joseph shuster was born on july 10, 1914, in toronto. Movies like american splendor and monkeybone prove that fourcolor artists are typically as wacky as their creations.
Dylan horrocks, cartoonist of sam zabel and the magic pen. The joe shuster story tells the story of the friendship between writer jerry siegel and illustrator joe shuster, and puts it into the wider context of. Everyone knows superman, but not everyone knows the secret origins of this american legend. A wellresearched primer on american comic book history, a beautifully painted tribute, and a powerful human story. Joseph joe shuster july 10, 1914 july 30, 1992 was a canadianamerican comic book artist.
Shuster was involved in a number of legal battles concerning the ownership of the superman character, eventually gaining recognition for his part in its. Joseph shuster was a canadianamerican comic book artist best known for cocreating the dc comics character superman, with writer jerry siegel, in action. The book covers a lot, with supermans 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. Superman drawn by comic book artist doc shaner syfy wire. That idea scotched jerry and joe turned to new concepts and soon had a contract with the cleveland shopping news to put out a monthly comics tabloid called popular comics. Together they laid the foundations for the characters entire mythos. Joe shuster was born on july 10th, 1914 in toronto, ontario, canada. Finally, the comic book world stood up neal adams and jerry robinson and others campaigned for jerry and joe. In 1938, superman took flight from the drawing board of a teenage boy named joe shuster into the pages of action comics. The incredible true story of joe shusters nights of. Joe shuster simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Everyone knows superman, but not everyone knows the story of two youngsters from cleveland who created superman.
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