Joseph "Joe" Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992) was a
Canadian-AmericanA Canadian-American is an American of Canadian descent. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in, Canada, and then relocated to the United States.Since...
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
best known for co-creating the
DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
, with
writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
Jerry SiegelJerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, first published in
Action ComicsAction Comics is an American comic book series which introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#1 (March 1938).
Shuster was involved in a number of legal battles concerning the ownership of the Superman character, eventually gaining recognition for his part in its creation. His comic book career after Superman was relatively unsuccessful, and by the mid 1970s Shuster had left the field completely due to partial blindness. In 2005, to recognize the efforts of Canadian comic book creators, the Joe Shuster Awards were introduced, named to honor the Canadian born artist.
Early life and career
Joseph Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario. His father Julius, an immigrant from
RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
,
South HollandSouth Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.-History:...
, the Netherlands, and his mother Ida, who had come from
KievKiev or Kyiv , is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300...
in
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
, were barely able to make ends meet. As a youngster, Shuster worked as a
newspaper boyA paperboy is the general name for a person employed by a newspaper, a news agent or even an official postal service to deliver newspapers to the homes of subscribers, as assigned by streets and routes. Paperboys traditionally were and are still often portrayed on television and movies as preteen...
for the
Toronto Daily StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
and, as a hobby, he liked to sketch. He had one sister, Jean Peavy. One cousin is comedian
Frank ShusterFrank Shuster, OC was a Canadian comedian best known as a member of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster ....
of the Canadian comedy team
Wayne and ShusterWayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster which was active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
.
When Joe Shuster was 10, his family moved to
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
In Cleveland, Shuster attended
Glenville High SchoolGlenville High School is a public high school in the Glenville neighborhood on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. The school is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The school's original campus, founded in 1919, was located at Everton and Parkwood. Its current campus, which opened...
and befriended his later collaborator, writer
Jerry SiegelJerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, with whom he began publishing a
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
fanzineA fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
called
Science Fiction. Siegel described his friendship with the similarly shy and bespectacled Shuster:
The duo broke into comics at Major
Malcolm Wheeler-NicholsonMajor Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was an American pulp magazine writer and entrepreneur who pioneered the American comic book, publishing the first such periodical consisting solely of original material rather than reprints of newspaper comic strips...
's National Allied Publications, the future
DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
, working on the landmark
New Fun — the first comic-book series to consist solely of original material rather than using any reprinted
newspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
comic strips — debuting with the
musketeerA musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe.-Musketeers in China:Muskets were used in China at least from the 14th Century....
swashbuckler "Henri Duval" and the
supernaturalThe term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others...
crime-fighter strip
Doctor OccultDoctor Occult is a fictional character, a magic user in the DC Comics universe. Created by Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Doctor Occult is the earliest character created by DC Comics still currently in use in its shared universe fiction....
, both in
New Fun #6 (Oct. 1935).
Creation of Superman
Siegel and Shuster created a bald
telepathicTelepathy is supposed to be the transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five senses . The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H...
villainA villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
named "The Superman", bent on dominating the entire world. He appeared in the short story "
The Reign of the Super-Man"The Reign of the Super-Man" was a short story written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Canadian-born Joe Shuster, a writer/artist duo who would later become famous for creating the fictional superhero Superman. This short story marked their first published use of any form of the name Superman...
" from
Science Fiction #3, a
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
fanzineA fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
that Siegel published in 1933. The character was not successful. Siegel eventually devised the more familiar version of the character, after reading his script, Shuster modeled the hero on Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and his bespectacled alter ego, Clark Kent, on
Harold LloydHarold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
. Siegel and Shuster then began a six-year quest to find a publisher. Titling it
The Superman, Siegel and Shuster offered it to Consolidated Book Publishing, who had published a 48-page
black-and-whiteBlack-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
comic book entitled
Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48Dan Dunn was the first fictional character to make his debut in an American comic magazine, making him the forerunner of many comic book heroes. Created by Norman Marsh, he first appeared in Detective Dan, Secret Operative No...
. Although the duo received an encouraging letter, Consolidated never again published comic books. Shuster took this to heart and burned all pages of the story, the cover surviving only because Siegel rescued it from the fire. Siegel and Shuster each compared this character to
Slam BradleySamuel Emerson "Slam" Bradley is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is a private detective who exists in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Universe...
, an adventurer the pair had created for
Detective ComicsDetective Comics is an American comic book published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best-known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman. It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and the source of its company's name...
#1 (May 1939). In 1938, after that proposal had languished among others at
More Fun Comics — published by
National Allied PublicationsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
, the primary precursor of
DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
— editor
Vin SullivanVincent "Vin" Sullivan was a pioneering American comic book editor, artist and publisher.As an editor for National Allied Publications,, the future DC Comics, he was responsible for buying Superman from creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and edited that archetypcal superhero in his first...
chose it as the cover feature for National's
Action ComicsAction Comics is an American comic book series which introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#1 (June 1938). The following year, Siegel & Shuster initiated the
syndicatedPrint syndication is a form of syndication in which news articles, columns, or comic strips are made available to newspapers, magazines, and websites....
Superman comic stripSuperman was a daily newspaper comic strip which began in January 16, 1939, and a separate Sunday strip was added on November 5, 1939. These strips ran continuously until May 1966. In 1941, the McClure Syndicate had placed the strip in hundreds of newspapers...
.
When
Superman first appeared, Superman's alter ego
Clark KentClark Joseph Kent is a fictional character created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. He serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
worked for the
Daily Star newspaper, named by Shuster after the
Toronto Daily StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, 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. When the
comic stripSuperman was a daily newspaper comic strip which began in January 16, 1939, and a separate Sunday strip was added on November 5, 1939. These strips ran continuously until May 1966. In 1941, the McClure Syndicate had placed the strip in hundreds of newspapers...
received international distribution, the company permanently changed the name to
The Daily PlanetThe Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The Daily Planet is based in Metropolis and employs Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen; its Editor In Chief is Perry White...
.
In the same interview, Shuster stated that he modeled the look of Clark Kent after both himself and movie star
Harold LloydHarold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
, and that of Superman after Douglas Fairbanks Sr. He modeled Lois Lane after Joanne Carter, the woman who would later marry Jerry Siegel.
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.
In 1947, the team rejoined editor Sullivan, by now the founder and publisher of the comic-book company
Magazine EnterprisesMagazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes...
where they created the short-lived comical crime-fighter
FunnymanFunnyman is a fictional comic book character whose adventures were published in 1948 by Magazine Enterprises.-Publication history:After leaving DC Comics and suing that company in a dispute over the rights to Superman, the character's co-creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, rejoined their former...
. While Siegel continued to write comics for a variety of publishers, Shuster largely dropped out of sight.
Later career
Shuster continued to draw comics after the failure of
Funnyman, although exactly what he drew is uncertain. Comic historian Ted White wrote that Shuster continued to draw horror stories into the 1950s. In 2009 comic historian Craig Yoe said Shuster was one of the anonymous illustrators for
Nights of Horror, an underground sadomasochistic fetish comic book series. This was based on character similarities, and artistic style between the illustrations and those of the cast of the Superman comics.
In 1964, when Shuster was living on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
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". At one point, his worsening eyesight prevented him from drawing, and he worked as a deliveryman in order to earn a living.. By 1976, Shuster was almost blind and living in a California nursing home.
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 ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
' 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 CommunicationsWarner Communications was established in 1972 when Kinney National Company spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations and changed its name....
reinstated the byline dropped more than thirty years earlier and granted the pair a lifetime pension of $20,000 a year plus health benefits. Joe Shuster died in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
in 1992.
Awards and honors
- In 1992, Shuster was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, commonly shortened to the Eisner Award, is a prize given for creative achievement in American comic books. It is named in honor of the pioneering writer and artist Will Eisner, who was a regular participant in the award ceremony until his death in 2005, and...
.
- In 2005, Shuster was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame for his contributions to comic books.
- The Joe Shuster Awards
The Joe Shuster Awards are given for achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics by Canadians. The full name is the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator 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.
- In Shuster's home town of Toronto, the street Joe Shuster Way is named in his honor.
Further reading
- Yoe, Craig. (Introduction by Stan Lee). Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster (Harry N Abrams Inc, 2009) ISBN 978-0810996342
External links