By the time his greatest creation had become a worldwide sensation in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992) was already beginning to lose his eyesight. Meanwhile writer Jerry Siegel (1914-1996) was just a Jewish kid from Cleveland with big dreams and a knack for writing high-flying adventure.
Together, the friends and comic luminaries created a character that would serve as the quintessential hero for decades to come: Superman. Based on a mutual love of science fiction and pulp adventure shared by the Cleveland teens, the Man of Steel debuted in 1938 in Action Comics #1 (DC) with Shuster’s hand shaping the dynamic look that would remain more or less intact for the next 70 years. Within a few years of his debut in Action Comics #1 Superman was a worldwide multimedia hit.
Although Siegel also created the creepy crusader known as the Spectre, it was the Man of Tomorrow that would cement Siegel’s name in the annals of pop culture. Sadly, much of Siegel’s later life was consumed more with legal battles than flights of fantasy as he (and later his family) fought to wrest control of his super-successful creations from DC.
Similarly, Shuster was marginalized by the industry in later years, eventually earning permanent credit for his role in Superman’s creation thanks to a crusade spearheaded by the likes of industry star Overstreet Hall of Fame members Neal Adams and Jerry Robinson. Fortunately, the ongoing courtroom sagas have not obscured Siegel and Shuster’s accomplishments as the architects of the Golden Age and our modern mythology.
Today every Superman comic and production still proclaims: “Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.” Currently, pop culture is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Siegel and Shuster’s Man of Steel with the release of Action Comics #1000, special animated features, action figures, select variants, limited edition Pop! Vinyl’s, specialty merchandise, and so much more!
As this year also marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the Superman film starring Christopher Reeve as Superman, Fathom Events has partnered with Warner Bros. to bring Superman to select cinemas nationwide. The special three-day event will also screen the 1941 Max Fleischer Superman animated short “The Mechanical Monsters”! The Superman 40th Anniversary Screening will take place in select theaters on November 25 and 27, as well as December 3.
The impact that the father’s of Superman had on the world of comics and pop culture as a whole cannot be overstated. Even after 80 years, Superman continues to be one of the most famous heroes of all time, a prototypical superhero, and an enduring cultural icon.