Joe Shuster
Joseph Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992) co-creator of Superman and much of the supporting cast and mythology.
Name:
Joe Shuster
Aliases:
- JoSh
Birth date:
July 10th, 1914
Death date:
July 30th, 1992
Home town:
Toronto, Ontario
Country:
Canada
Career
Birth of Superman
In 1932, Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel printed a fanzine known as "Science Fiction". Science Fiction #3 featured a story known as "The Reign of the Super-Man". The Super-Man in this story was bald villain who wanted to take over the world with his telepathic vision. The story was not well received so they decided to make Superman a hero. They redesigned the character in 1932 and created a Superman comic in 1933. Unfortunately, they were rejected from every publisher Joe destroyed the artwork but Jerry decided to hold on the cover.
A new publisher in 1935 rejected the Superman story but offered Joe and Jerry a job working for the company in which they created the character, Dr. Occult. Debuting in "New Fun #6" Oct 1935. Over the next three years they continued to work on various DC characters while developing their co-creation Superman. Max Gaines publisher of the All American label sent Joe and Jerry to Sheldon Mayer who was working on another DC title known as Action comics. Joe and Jerry gave Sheldon a cover art for his new title of Superman lifting a car. Sheldon took a chance on the Superman character and agree to publish their Superman story in June 1938.
Action Comics #1 sold out and every Action Comic after did so too. Superman was a big hit. By 1941 they were both on salaries of $75,000.
In 1992 Shuster was inducted into the Eisner Awards' Comic Hall of Fame.
Personal Life
Joe Shuster was born on July 10th, 1914 in Toronto, Canada. He showed a love for drawing at an early age. In 1931, he met his soon to be friend Jerry Siegel when he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Joe was very interested in Jerry’s work and soon they began working together.
