Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster was a Canadian-born artist, best known for co-creating the iconic superhero Superman alongside writer Jerry Siegel. Born on July 10, 1914, in Toronto to Jewish immigrant parents, Shuster moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he developed a close friendship with Siegel during high school. Together, they began their creative journey by producing fanzines and comics, eventually leading to the creation of Superman in the 1930s. The character made a groundbreaking debut in Action Comics #1 in 1938, marking the beginning of the Golden Age of comics and influencing popular culture significantly through various media.
Despite their fame and success, Shuster and Siegel did not retain the rights to Superman, receiving only a fraction of the revenue generated by the character. Following World War II, they sought legal recourse against DC Comics, ultimately receiving a settlement but losing their bylines on future Superman comics. Shuster later moved away from the comic industry, but both he and Siegel campaigned for recognition in the late 1970s, leading to a resolution that ensured their credit as creators. Shuster passed away on July 30, 1992, leaving behind a legacy that includes one of the most enduring characters in popular culture.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Joe Shuster
Cartoonist
- Born: July 10, 1914
- Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Died: June 30, 1992
- Place of death: Los Angeles, California
Biography
Joseph “Joe” Shuster was born on July 10, 1914, in Toronto, one of three children of poor Jewish immigrants; his father, Julius, was from Rotterdam, Netherlands, and his mother, Ida, was from Kiev, Ukraine. Shuster was the cousin of popular comedian Frank Shuster, a member of the comedy team Wayne and Shuster. To help his family, young Shuster worked as a newspaper boy and sketched in his free time. At the age of ten, Shuster moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio.
While attending Glenville High School, he became fast friends with classmate Jerome “Jerry” Siegel, who in 1929 created the first science-fiction fanzine, Cosmic Stories. The boys, both shy, mild-mannered, and bespectacled sons of Jewish immigrants, were staff members of the school newspaper. They shared many interests, including movies, comic strips, and science-fiction pulp magazines. Shuster, the artist, and Siegel, the writer, began collaborating on a new fanzine, Science Fiction, which debuted in 1932. The magazine showcased a variety of cocreated comics, including a cave man strip that preceded Alley Oop, a time-travel adventure called The Time Crusaders (anticipating Brick Bradford), and a character that became one of the most recognized and commercially successful cartoon creations of all time: Superman. Originally called The Superman, the character was first conceived as a bald supervillain, but later adopted both the hair and heroic stature that would make him a comic icon.
After graduating in 1934, Shuster and Siegel vainly tried to sell their Superman strip to newspaper syndicates. They made their first commercial sale in 1935 when More Fun Comics purchased Henri Duval, the tale of a swashbuckling musketeer, and Dr. Occult, the adventures of a supernatural crime fighter. They also worked at Detective Comics (later DC Comics), where among other characters they created Slam Bradley. In 1938, they sold the rights to Superman to DC and agreed to create stories featuring the character. The first Superman story, composed of sample strips pieced together, appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938 and ushered in what has been called the Golden Age of comics.
A tremendous hit, by 1940 the Superman comic was a regular feature in Action Comics, Superman Comics, and World’s Finest Comics, and led to the creation of Superboy, which debuted in 1945. Superman soon spawned a popular radio serial, daily strips, and animated cartoons and served as the basis for a flood of television shows, films, graphic novels, video games, and an incredible outpouring of associated merchandise that continues to be produced today.
Though Shuster and Siegel became famous for their legendary creation and earned good salaries producing Superman stories, they did not own the copyright to the character and received only a small fraction of the millions of dollars that the publisher raked in. After they performed their military service in World War II, the two filed a lawsuit against DC in 1946, and in 1948 they each received a settlement of sixty thousand dollars. However, their bylines were removed from future Superman comics. After the lawsuit, Shuster, who suffered from poor eyesight, toiled with Siegel to establish a new strip, Funnyman, and then quit the comic book industry.
Siegel worked for Ziff-Davis, returned to DC, and wrote for Marvel Comics (as Joe Carter), Western Publishing, and other companies. In the late 1970’s, Shuster and Siegel launched a campaign to protest what they maintained was DC’s shabby treatment of the two men who created Superman and had done so much to advance the cause of comic books. DC’s parent company, Warner Communications, eventually awarded $35,000 annually to each man for the remainder of their lives and guaranteed that Siegel and Shuster would be credited as creators on all Superman products.
Shuster died on July 30, 1992, and Siegel died on January 28, 1996. Their collaborative character, Superman, will probably live forever.