He Believed a Man Could Fly - October 17, 2008

 

Jerry Siegel's old home in Cleveland

You'd think a guy who created one of the world’s most famous fictional characters would spend the rest of his life on Easy Street. In most cases, you'd be right. In the case of Jerry Siegel, though, you'd be wrong.

Siegel was born on October 17, 1914, and grew up loving comic strips and science fiction. His world was shattered, though, when his father died of a heart attack brought on by the armed robbery of his haberdashery. 

Perhaps inspired by the crime, Siegel created a bulletproof Man of Tomorrow -- a "Superman," to borrow Nietzsche's term -- who would help the powerless. Siegel's final version of Superman was created with artist Joe Shuster, and although recent research has shown that he first approached other artists, this earlier vision of the superhero differed from the one we've come to know over the ensuing 70 years.

Siegel and Shuster tried to sell Superman to comic strip syndicates, but no one was interested until 1938, when DC Comics paid $130 for the rights to the character -- a move Siegel came to regret even before DC fired him in 1947. He was rehired in 1959, and wrote some of the greatest Superman stories of the 60s before being fired again in 1967.

In the 70s, as Warner Bros. was publicizing the then-upcoming Superman movie, Siegel and Shuster launched a campaign of their own, telling the media how DC had mistreated them. Eventually, the publisher was shamed into granting the men lifetime pensions and a guarantee that all future depictions of Superman would carry their credit.

In recent years, the two men's families have sued to regain the copyright to the Man of Steel, and a court case is pending. In 2006, author Brad Meltzer launched a campaign to save the Cleveland house where Siegel created Superman. It's far from a Fortress of Solitude, but in its own way, it's as important to American pop culture as Broadway or Hollywood.

Suggested Sites...

• CBR.com: 10 Best Superman Writers of All Time - the rankings may be debatable, but the stories are hard to beat.
• Saving Superman's House - NPR report on Brad Meltzer's efforts to save and refurbish the Siegel house.
• Ordinary People Change the World - official site for Meltzer's charity.
• Fred Allen Interviews Jerry Siegel - the radio superstar interviews Superman's creator. 
• The Reign of the Super-Man - read Siegel's first Superman story -- but be warned, he's a villain, and he's bald. (Sound familiar?)