Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)Roger Stern. Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943 DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of Superman, in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster, published by DC Comics. They also created Doctor Occult, who was later featured in The Books of Magic. Siegel and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. With Bernard Baily, Siegel also co-created the long-running DC character The Spectre. Siegel created ten of the earliest members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, one of DC's most popular team books, which is set in the 30th Century. Siegel also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter and Jerry Ess.
Biography
Early life Siegel was born on October 17, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York in 1900, having fled antisemitism in their native Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire."Superman at 80: The Jewish origins of the Man of Steel and the 'curse' that haunts the actors who play him""DC Comics' newest writer is poised to make Superman Jewish again" His father was born Mikhel Iankel Segalovich and his mother was born Sora Meita Khaikels, but they changed their names to Michael and Sarah Siegel after moving to the United States. Jerry was the last of six children (Isabel, Leo, Minerva, Roslyn, and Harry). His father was a tailor and owned a clothing store. On June 2, 1932, Michael was punched hard in the chest by a shoplifter and suffered a fatal heart attack, while Sarah died of a heart attack on August 17, 1941.
Siegel's family moved to the Jewish neighborhood of Glenville, Cleveland, in 1928, and he attended Glenville High School. As a sci-fi fan, he created the first sci-fi fanzine in 1929 called Cosmic Stories, containing stories he had written and that the pulp magazines Amazing Stories and Science Wonder Stories rejected when he tried to publish with them. At about age 16, while at Glenville, he befriended Joe Shuster. Siegel described his friendship with the similarly shy and bespectacled Shuster: "When Joe and I first met, it was like the right chemicals coming together." They shared a love of science fiction, adventure fiction, and movies.
Siegel and Shutter both graduated from high school in June 1934.: "Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster finally graduated from Glenville High School in June 1934."
Early work for DC Comics (1935–1943)
Unable to afford college,: "Jerry had no money [...] and knew he wasn't going to college." he worked various delivery jobs, all the while courting publishers. In the summer of 1935, still living in Cleveland, he and Shuster began selling comic-book stories to National Allied Publications, the primary precursor of DC Comics, in New York.
Siegel and Shuster had been developing the Superman story and character since 1933, hoping to sell it as a syndicated newspaper comic-strip. But after years of fruitless soliciting to the syndicates, Siegel and Shuster agreed to publish Superman in a comic book. In March 1938, they sold all rights to Superman to the comic-book publisher Detective Comics, Inc., another forerunner of DC, for $130 ($ when adjusted for inflation).
Siegel and Shuster later regretted their decision to sell Superman after he became an astonishing success. DC Comics now owned the character and reaped the royalties. Nevertheless, DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster as the principal writer and artist for the Superman comics, and they were well-paid because they were popular with the readers. For instance, in 1942 they together earned $63,776.46 ().Exhibit Q (Docket 353-3) in Laura Siegel Larson v Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., DC Comics, Case no. 13-56243 (scans available from Dropbox and Scribd). Originally submitted as an exhibit in Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster vs. National Comics Publications Inc. et al. (New York Supreme Court 1947) Siegel bought a house in University Heights and a car.
Siegel was conscripted into the United States Army on June 28, 1943. His service number was 35067731.aad.archives.gov He was trained at Fort George G. Meade, where he was trained as an "Airplane Engine Mechanic, a Film Editor, Motion Picture Cutter, Public Relations Man or Playwright (Motion Picture Writer) or Reporter". He was posted in Honolulu, where he was assigned a writing job at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. He focused mainly on comedy columns. Siegel was discharged on January 21, 1946, at the rank of Technician 4th Grade.Jerome Siegel Military-Service Record
Postwar career (1946–1959) During his military service in Hawaii, Siegel learned from his friend Shuster that DC Comics had published a story featuring a child version of Superman called "Superboy", which was based on a story that Siegel had submitted to DC Comics, but which DC Comics had not bought. Because DC Comics never bought the copyright to Superboy from Siegel, Siegel sued DC Comics for the rights. A second claim they had was that DC had cheated them out of royalties from the Superman radio show and the merchandise. Siegel and Shuster simultaneously sued for the rights to Superman as well. At the conclusion of the trial, Siegel and Shuster agreed to relinquish the copyrights of both Superman and Superboy in exchange for a settlement of just over $94,000 (). Siegel's 1948 divorce papers suggest he was left with $29,000 after paying his court fees but prior to settling his divorce.:"The document mentions that though Jerry got $29,000 in settlement from the Westchester case"See Bella Siegel vs Jerome Siegel, Divorce no. 592351, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas (Archived at Scribd).: "Once the lawyers and broker took their shares, Joe and Jerry each walked away with $29,000"
After the war, Siegel moved to New York. Between 1937 and 1947 (i.e., during the span of their contract), Siegel and Shuster had together earned more than $400,000 (roughly ) while working at DC Comics.: "By 1947, the creators had earned over $400,000 in total compensation from all sources for the strip, which would equal $5 million today when adjusted for inflation.": "In the ten years from 1938, when the first Action was published, to the filing of the suit in 1947, Jerry and Joe were paid [...] a total of $401,194.85. That was a king's ransom—more than $5 million in today's terms"
After leaving DC Comics in late 1947, Siegel and Shuster created the comedic superhero Funnyman, which proved unsuccessful. This was their last collaboration. Siegel then took freelance writing jobs. Some of them include the newspaper strip Tallulah, Lars of Mars, and G.I. Joe. The publisher Ziff-Davis hired him as a comic-book editor in 1951, but its comics division closed after less than a year in business. Siegel never found steady work, and fell upon hard times. By 1959, he and his family were living in a one-bedroom apartment in Great Neck, Long Island, and struggling to pay their bills.
Return to DC and lawsuits (1959–1975) Siegel returned to DC Comics in 1959 at the prompting of his second wife. Although he did write some Superman stories, he no longer had any creative control, but instead answered to the direction of the editor Mort Weisinger. During this time, he wrote extensively about the team the Legion of Super-Heroes, adding many enduring characters to its cast. Siegel's contributions during this time are difficult to determine because DC Comics did not generally give creator bylines. His last work for DC was the lead story in Adventure Comics #341 (February 1966). DC Comics ceased giving him work in 1966, when the company learned Siegel and Shuster were planning a second lawsuit to reclaim the copyright to Superman. He lost that lawsuit.
Siegel again fell into hard financial times after this second dismissal, as he was unable to find regular writing work. For a period of seven years, he worked as a typist in the mailroom for the Los Angeles Public Utilities Commission, later telling an employee newsletter "[w]ith all the troubles and prolonged litigation I have had over, I just wanted to hide out." In 1975, upon hearing that Warner Bros. was producing a Superman film, Siegel alerted the press to his condition. In response, Warner Bros, agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a lifetime stipend of $20,000 a year (later increased to $30,000) in exchange for not contesting ownership of the copyright to Superman.
Amalgamated Press After leaving DC Comics, Siegel wrote The Spider for the British comic Lion, published by Fleetway Publications."Web of Intrigue" by Karl Stock, in Judge Dredd Megazine #431, May 2021, pp. 42–44 His episodes were published from January 1966 to February 1969.
Writing career
School years Siegel wrote for his school's weekly newspaper, The Glenville Torch. One of his known works for that newspaper was Goober the Mighty, a parody of Tarzan. Joseph Shuster provided illustrations for some of Siegel's Goober stories. This was their first known collaboration as writer and artist.
Siegel also self-published a fanzine called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization. In the third issue of this fanzine, he published a short story titled "The Reign of the Superman" under the pseudonym "Herbert S. Fine". The story is about a vagrant named Bill Dunn who gains vast psychic powers after taking an experimental drug. Dunn then calls himself "the Superman" and proceeds to use his powers maliciously.
In 1933, Siegel and Shuster began making amateur comic strips together. They self-published their work in a fanzine titled Popular Comics.
DC Comics Siegel and Shuster began working for DC Comics (then known as National Allied Publications) in 1935. Siegel's writing career there was interrupted in June 1943 when he was conscripted into the Army, though he continued to receive credit for stories written by ghostwriters.Judge J. Addison Young, "Findings of Facts", April 12, 1948:"92. From June 1, 1943 to March, 1947, DETECTIVE COMICS, INC. published in magazines, 120 releases of the comic strip SUPERMAN, for which plaintiff SIEGEL did not create the continuity.93. DETECTIVE COMICS, INC. paid to plaintiff SIEGEL the sum of $200. per release for each of said 120 releases, which sum was accepted by plaintiff SIEGEL in full payment." After his discharge, he sued DC Comics for the rights to Superman and Superboy, and was consequently given no more freelance work from the publisher. In 1959, he returned to DC as a writer, and was dropped again in 1967 when he again attempted to take back the copyright to Superman.
During his first tenure at DC Comics (1935–1943), Siegel created the following characters: Henri Duval, a French swashbuckler, first appeared in New Fun Comics #6 (October 1935), lasted only a few issues. Doctor Occult, paranormal investigator, ran from New Fun Comics #6 (October 1935) to #32 (June 1938). Radio Squad, police serial, ran from 1936 to 1943 in New Fun Comics. Slam Bradley, a fist-fighting vigilante, first appeared in Detective Comics #1 (March 1937) Spy, serial starring the globe-trotting investigator Bart Regan and his female sidekick Sally Norris, ran from Detective Comics #1 (March 1937) and ended in issue #83 (January 1944). Superman, a costumed vigilante with superhuman strength, first appeared in Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938). Co-created with artist Joe Shuster. Superboy, a child version of Superman, first appeared in More Fun Comics #101 (without Siegel's consent). The Presence, a fictional representation of the Abrahamic God, first appeared in More Fun Comics #52. The Spectre, a ghostly avenger, first appeared in More Fun Comics #52 (February 1940). Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, masked heroes, first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #1 (October 1941); co-created with artist Hal Sherman.