Superman Poster # 8 Action Comics #1 (1938) by Joe Shuster

Description

Look up the word “iconic” in the dictionary and you may well see a picture of Joe Shuster’s cover for Action Comics #1, which introduced Depression-era comics readers to the character who would become the most recognizable super hero in the world. Superman was an immediate sensation, boosting sales of Action Comics exponentially every month from fewer than two hundred thousand to nearly a million in less than a year. The cover, which DC publisher Harry Donenfeld came close to vetoing because he thought the idea of a man lifting a car was too unbelievable, has inspired countless imitations and homages. Most were by other DC artists, such as Harry G. Peter’s cover for Sensation Comics #51 (March 1946) showing Wonder Woman hoisting up an almost identical green Studebaker. Others were by competitors. Whiz Comics #2 depicted Superman rival Captain Marvel not only picking up a car but also throwing it into a brick wall- a brazen slap in the face of the Man of Steel that DC responded to by suing Whiz publisher Fawcett Comics. More recently, in 2008- just in time for Action Comics #1’s seventieth birthda- Julian Fong, a software engineer at Pixar, reconstructed the cover out of Legos. The biggest challenge, Fong reported, wasn’t scrounging up enough green pieces to build the Studebaker. It was the fact that Lego figurines can’t raise their arms above their heads- a handicap far more disabling than kryptonite for a Superman figure tasked with lifting an entire car off the ground. Superman is a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is considered an American cultural icon. Superman was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school students living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933; the character was sold to Detective Comics, Inc. (later DC Comics) in 1938. Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips, and video games. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book. Superman’s appearance is distinctive and iconic. He usually wears a blue costume, red cape, and stylized red-and-yellow “S” shield on his chest. This shield is used in a myriad of media to symbolize the character. The origin story of Superman relates that he was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father Jor-El, moments before Krypton’s destruction. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent and imbued with a strong moral compass. Very early he started to display superhuman abilities, which upon reaching maturity, he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity. Superman resides and operates in the fictional American city of Metropolis. As Clark Kent, he is a journalist for the Daily Planet, a Metropolis newspaper. Superman’s archenemy is supervillain Lex Luthor. Superman has fascinated scholars, with cultural theorists, commentators, and critics alike exploring the character’s impact and role in the United States and worldwide. The character’s ownership has often been the subject of dispute, with Siegel and Shuster twice suing for the return of legal ownership. Superman placed first on IGN’s Top 100 Comic Book Heroes in May 2011. Action Comics #1 (June 1938) is the first issue of the comic book series Action Comics. It features the first appearance of several comic book heroes — most notably the Jerry Siegel/Joe Shuster creation, Superman. For this reason it is widely considered both the beginning of the super-hero genre and the most valuable comic book of all time: as of 2011 it is the only comic to have sold for more than $2 million for a single original copy. It has been estimated that there are only 50 to 100 original copies of Action Comics #1 still in existence, and a smaller number of such exceptional quality as to be at the very high end of collectibility. Joseph “Joe” Shuster (July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1 (June 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. He and Siegel were inducted into both the comic book industry’s Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2005, the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association instituted the Joe Shuster Awards, named to honor the Canada-born artist. Siegel and Shuster created a bald telepathic villain, bent on dominating the world, as the title character in the short story “The Reign of the Superman”, published in Siegel’s 1933 fanzine Science Fiction #3. The character was not successful, and Siegel eventually devised the more familiar version of the character. Shuster modeled the hero on Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and his bespectacled alter ego, Clark Kent, on a combination of Harold Lloyd and Shuster himself, with the name “Clark Kent” derived from movie stars Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. Lois Lane was modelled on Joanne Carter, who later became Siegel’s wife. 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-white comic book entitled Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48. Although the duo received an encouraging letter, Consolidated never again published comic books. Shuster took this to heart and, by varying accounts, either burned every page of the story, with the cover surviving only because Siegel saved it from the fire, or he tore the story to shreds, with only two cover sketches remaining. Siegel and Shuster each compared this character to Slam Bradley, an adventurer the pair had created for Detective Comics #1 (May 1939). In 1938, after that proposal had languished among others at More Fun Comics — published by National Allied Publications, the primary precursor of DC Comics — 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. As part of the deal which saw Superman published in Action Comics, Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the company in return for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material.