Joe Shuster
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| Joe Shuster | |
| Birth name | Joseph Shuster |
| Born | 10 July 1914 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | July 30, 1992 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Nationality | Naturalized American (immigrated Canadian) |
| Area(s) | Penciller, Inker |
| Notable works | Superman |
Joseph "Joe" Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-born American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1 (March 1938).
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and career
Joseph Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father Julius, an immigrant from Rotterdam, South Holland, the Netherlands, and his mother Ida, who had come from Kiev in Ukraine, were barely able to make ends meet. As a youngster, Shuster worked as a newspaper boy for the Toronto Daily Star and, as a hobby, he liked to sketch. He had one sister, Jean Peavy.[1] One cousin is comedian Frank Shuster of the Canadian comedy team Wayne and Shuster.[2][3]
When Joe Shuster was 10, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, Shuster attended Glenville High School and befriended his later collaborator, writer Jerry Siegel, with whom he began publishing a science fiction fanzine. The duo broke into comics at Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, the future DC Comics, working on the landmark New Fun — the first comic-book series to consist solely of original material rather than using any reprinted newspaper comic strips — debuting with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval" and the supernatural crime-fighter strip Doctor Occult, both in New Fun #6 (Oct. 1935).
[edit] Creation of Superman
Siegel and Shuster used an early version of the character that would become Superman in short stories and in a 1933 comic-strip proposal. In 1938, after that proposal had languished among others at National, editor Vin Sullivan chose it as the cover feature for National's Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The following year, Siegel & Shuster initiated the syndicated Superman comic strip.
When Superman first appeared, Superman's alter ego Clark Kent worked for the Daily Star newspaper, named by Shuster after the Toronto Daily Star, his old employer in Toronto. According to an interview he gave a few months before his death, he modeled the cityscape of Superman's home city, Metropolis, on that of his old hometown.[3] When the comic strip received international distribution, the company permanently changed the name to The Daily Planet.
In the same interview, Shuster stated that he modeled the look of Clark Kent after both himself and movie star Harold Lloyd, and that of Superman after Douglas Fairbanks Sr. He modeled Lois Lane after Joanne Carter, the woman who would later marry Jerry Siegel.
[edit] Legal issues
Shuster became famous as the co-creator of one of the most well-known and commercially successful fictional characters of the 20th century. National Allied Publications claimed copyright to his and Siegel's work, and when the company refused to compensate them to the degree they believed appropriate, Siegel and Shuster, in 1946, near the end of their 10-year contract to produce Superman stories, sued National over rights to the characters. They ultimately settled the claim for $94 000 after the court ruled against them — but that the rights to Superman had been validly purchased by the publisher when they bought the first Superman story. After the bitter legal wrangling, Shuster and Siegel's byline was dropped by DC comics.[4]
In 1947, the team rejoined editor Sullivan, by now the founder and publisher of the comic-book company Magazine Enterprises where they created the short-lived comical crime-fighter Funnyman. While Siegel continued to write comics for a variety of publishers, Shuster largely dropped out of sight.
[edit] Later career
Shuster continued to draw comics after the failure of Funnyman, although exactly what he drew is uncertain. Comics historian Ted White wrote that Shuster continued to draw horror stories into the 1950s.[5] In 1964, when Shuster was living on Long Island with his elderly mother, he was reported to be earning his living as a freelance cartoonist; he was also "trying to paint pop art — serious comic strips — and hope[d] eventually to promote a one-man show in some chic Manhattan gallery".[6] It has been reported that, at some point, his worsening eyesight prevented him from drawing and that he had to work as a deliveryman in order to earn a living[7]. Comics historian Maurice Horn wrote that by 1976, Shuster was almost blind and living in a California nursing home.[8]
In 1967, when the Superman copyright came up for renewal, Siegel launched a second lawsuit, which also proved unsuccessful.
In 1975, Siegel launched a publicity campaign, in which Shuster participated, protesting DC Comics' treatment of him and Shuster. In the face of a great deal of negative publicity over their handling of the affair (and due to the upcoming Superman movie), DC's parent company Warner Communications reinstated the byline dropped more than thirty years earlier and granted the pair a lifetime pension of $20,000 a year plus health benefits.[9][10][11] Joe Shuster died in Los Angeles, California in 1992.
[edit] Awards
- In 2005, Shuster was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame for his contributions to comic books.[12]
- The Joe Shuster Awards, started in 2005, were named in honor of the Canadian-born Shuster, and honor achievements in the field of comic book publishing by Canadian creators, publishers and retailers.
[edit] References
- ^ "About Us". The JOE SHUSTER Awards. Retrieved on 2008-08-12. Archived 13 Aug 2008.
- ^ Mietkiewicz, Henry. "Superman at The Star", The Toronto Star, April 26, 1992
- ^ a b The Canadian Encyclopedia: Shuster, Joe
- ^ Ciepley, Michael. "Ruling Gives Heirs a Share of Superman Copyright" The New York Times, March 29, 2008. Accessed on 2008-29-03. Archived on 2008-29-03.
- ^ White, Ted. "The Spawn of M.C. Gaines" in Lupoff, Dick & Don Thompson, eds., All in Color For a Dime (Ace Books, 1970)
- ^ Richler, Mordecai. "The Great Comic Book Heroes", Encounter, 1965; reprinted in Richler collections Hunting Tigers Under Glass: Essays & Notes (McClelland & Stewart, 1968), Notes on an Endangered Species (Alfred A. Knopf, 1974), and The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays (McClelland and Stewart, 1978) ISBN-10 0771092687, ISBN-13 978-0771092688
- ^ The injustice of Superman, The Guardian, april 5 2008
- ^ Horn, Maurice. The World Encyclopedia of Comics: Shuster, Joe. (Scribner, 1976) ISBN-10 0877540306, ISBN-13 978-0877540304
- ^ Lambert, Bruce (August 3, 1992). "Joseph Shuster, Cartoonist, Dies; Co-Creator of 'Superman' Was 78", New York Times. Retrieved on 12 August 2008. Archived 12 Aug 2008.
- ^ "Man and Superman", Time (January 5 1976). Retrieved on 12 August 2008. Archived 12 Aug 2008.
- ^ Associated Press (June 28 2006). "Superman co-creator has humble Canadian roots", CTV. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
- ^ "Canadian comic-book awards: one down, one to go", CBC (May 2, 2005). Retrieved on 12 August 2008. Archived 2008-08-12.
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Shuster, Joe |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shuster, Joseph |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Co-creator of Superman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 10, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 30, 1992 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
