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Joseph Shuster, cartoonist (born 10 July 1914 in Toronto, ON; died 30 July 1992 in Los Angeles, California). In 1933, along with comic book writer Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster created the famous comic book character Superman.
The Birth of Superman
Joe Shuster, first cousin of comedian Frank Shuster (see Wayne and Shuster), moved to Cleveland, Ohio, with his family when he was nine years old. He studied art at John Huntington Polytechnical Institute and the Cleveland School of Art, where he met his collaborator, American comic book writer Jerome “Jerry” Siegel.
From Captain Newfoundland to Shaman and Alpha Flight, what can some of the most iconic Indigenous and Canadian Superheroes tell us about our history? Turns out, quite a lot.
Note: The Secret Life of Canada is hosted and written by Falen Johnson and Leah Simone Bowen and is a CBC original podcast independent of The Canadian Encyclopedia.
The pair began publishing Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization, a “pulp fanzine”, while still in high school. The third issue in January 1933 featured “The Reign of the Superman”, the character’s first apparition, predating the release of Action Comics #1 (1938) — the magazine issue considered as Superman’s debut by most fans — by five years. In the original version, Superman's mild-mannered alter ego, Clark Kent, worked for the Daily Star, which was patterned after the Toronto Star. The newspaper's name in the strip was changed later to The Daily Planet.
From Captain Newfoundland to Shaman and Alpha Flight, what can some of the most iconic Indigenous and Canadian Superheroes tell us about our history? Turns out, quite a lot.
Note: The Secret Life of Canada is hosted and written by Falen Johnson and Leah Simone Bowen and is a CBC original podcast independent of The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Career at Action Comics
Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel broke into the comic book business in 1936, drawing adventure tales. Shuster's illustrations were rudimentary but well conceived.
In 1938, Shuster and Siegel sold Superman for $130 to Action Comics. However, the duo failed to copyright the character. They were paid to draw the series as staffers until 1947 when the Man of Steel became the most famous hero in comic book history. When they sued for a more equitable percentage of royalties, they were fired and Shuster stopped drawing completely.
By the mid-1970s Joe Shuster was blind and living in an apartment in Queens, New York. When the first Superman movie, starring Christopher Reeve, made $82.5 million, Siegel sued, and DC comics restored their creators' credits and agreed to pay each of them $20,000 a year for life.
(See also Cartoons and Comic Strips.)
