Joe Shuster

Infobox Comics creator


imagesize = 150px
caption =
birthname = Joseph Shuster
birthdate = birth date|1914|7|10|df=y
location = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
deathdate = death date and age|1992|07|30|1914|07|10
deathplace = Los Angeles, California, United States
nationality = Naturalized American
(immigrated Canadian)
area = Penciller, Inker
alias =
notable works = Superman
awards =

Joseph "Joe" Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-born American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in "Action Comics" #1 (March 1938).

Biography

Early life and career

Joseph Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father Julius, an immigrant from Rotterdam, South Holland, the Netherlands, and his mother Ida, who had come from Kiev in Ukraine, were barely able to make ends meet. As a youngster, Shuster worked as a newspaper boy for the "Toronto Daily Star" and, as a hobby, he liked to sketch. He had one sister, Jean Peavy. [cite web|url=http://joeshusterawards.com/content.asp?URL=4|title=About Us|work=The JOE SHUSTER Awards|accessdate=2008-08-12 [http://www.webcitation.org/5a1qtkgFu Archived 13 Aug 2008] .] One cousin is comedian Frank Shuster of the Canadian comedy team Wayne and Shuster. [ [http://members.tripod.com/~davidschutz/superman3.html Mietkiewicz, Henry. "Superman at "The Star"] , "The Toronto Star", April 26, 1992] [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007380 "The Canadian Encyclopedia": Shuster, Joe] ] , both in "New Fun" #6 (Oct. 1935).

Creation of Superman

Siegel and Shuster used an early version of the character that would become Superman in short stories and in a 1933 comic-strip proposal. In 1938, after that proposal had languished among others at National, 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.

When "Superman" first appeared, Superman's alter ego Clark Kent worked for the "Daily Star" newspaper, named by Shuster after the Toronto Daily Star, his old employer in Toronto. According to an interview he gave a few months before his death, he modeled the cityscape of Superman's home city, Metropolis, on that of his old hometown. When the comic strip received international distribution, the company permanently changed the name to "The Daily Planet".

In the same interview, Shuster stated that he modeled the look of Clark Kent after both himself and movie star Harold Lloyd, and that of Superman after Douglas Fairbanks Sr. He modeled Lois Lane after Joanne Carter, the woman who would later marry Jerry Siegel.

Legal issues

Shuster became famous as the co-creator of one of the most well-known and commercially successful fictional characters of the 20th century. National Allied Publications claimed copyright to his and Siegel's work, and when the company refused to compensate them to the degree they believed appropriate, Siegel and Shuster, in 1946, near the end of their 10-year contract to produce Superman stories, sued National over rights to the characters. They ultimately settled the claim for $94 000 after the court ruled against them — but that the rights to Superman had been validly purchased by the publisher when they bought the first Superman story. After the bitter legal wrangling, Shuster and Siegel's byline was dropped by DC comics.Ciepley, Michael. " [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/business/media/29comics.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Ruling Gives Heirs a Share of Superman Copyright] " "The New York Times", March 29, 2008. Accessed on 2008-29-03. [http://www.webcitation.org/5WgYPJEtl Archived] on 2008-29-03.]

In 1947, the team rejoined editor Sullivan, by now the founder and publisher of the comic-book company Magazine Enterprises where they created the short-lived comical crime-fighter Funnyman. While Siegel continued to write comics for a variety of publishers, Shuster largely dropped out of sight.

Later career

Shuster continued to draw comics after the failure of "Funnyman", although exactly what he drew is uncertain. Comics historian Ted White wrote that Shuster continued to draw horror stories into the 1950s. [White, Ted. "The Spawn of M.C. Gaines" in Lupoff, Dick & Don Thompson, eds., "All in Color For a Dime" (Ace Books, 1970)] In 1964, when Shuster was living on Long Island with his elderly mother, he was reported to be earning his living as a freelance cartoonist; he was also "trying to paint pop art — serious comic strips — and hope [d] eventually to promote a one-man show in some chic Manhattan gallery". [Richler, Mordecai. "The Great Comic Book Heroes", "Encounter", 1965; reprinted in Richler collections "Hunting Tigers Under Glass: Essays & Notes" (McClelland & Stewart, 1968), "Notes on an Endangered Species" (Alfred A. Knopf, 1974), and "The Great Comic Book Heroes andOther Essays" (McClelland and Stewart, 1978) ISBN-10 0771092687, ISBN-13 978-0771092688] Comics historian Maurice Horn wrote that by 1976, Shuster was almost blind and living in a California nursing home. [Horn, Maurice. "The World Encyclopedia of Comics": Shuster, Joe. (Scribner, 1976) ISBN-10 0877540306, ISBN-13 978-0877540304]

In 1967, when the Superman copyright came up for renewal, Siegel launched a second lawsuit, which also proved unsuccessful.

In 1975, Siegel launched a publicity campaign, in which Shuster participated, protesting DC Comics' treatment of him and Shuster. In the face of a great deal of negative publicity over their handling of the affair (and due to the upcoming Superman movie), DC's parent company Warner Communications reinstated the byline dropped more than thirty years earlier and granted the pair a lifetime pension of $20,000 a year plus health benefits. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6D71330F930A3575BC0A964958260|title=Joseph Shuster, Cartoonist, Dies; Co-Creator of 'Superman' Was 78 |last=Lambert|first=Bruce|date=August 3, 1992|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-08-12 [http://www.webcitation.org/5a1pxTNKz Archived 12 Aug 2008] .] [cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947632,00.html|title=Man and Superman|date=Jan 05 1976|publisher=Time|accessdate=2008-08-12 [http://www.webcitation.org/5a1qR5MVc Archived 12 Aug 2008] .] [cite news|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060628/superman_returns_cdn_060628/20060628?hub=Entertainment|title=Superman co-creator has humble Canadian roots|last=Associated Press|publisher=CTV|date=Wed. Jun. 28 2006|accessdate=2008-08-12] Joe Shuster died in Los Angeles, California in 1992.

Awards

*In 2005, Shuster was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame for his contributions to comic books. [cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/05/02/Arts/comicawards050502.html|title=Canadian comic-book awards: one down, one to go|date=Monday, May 2, 2005|publisher=CBC|accessdate=2008-08-12 [http://www.webcitation.org/5a1pCmGx1 Archived 2008-08-12] .]

*The Joe Shuster Awards, started in 2005, were named in honor of the Canadian-born Shuster, and honor achievements in the field of comic book publishing by Canadian creators, publishers and retailers.

References

External links

* [http://www.flixens.com/the_real_heroes_of_superman_part_2 Essay on Joe Shuster at Flixens.com]
* [http://www.comic-art.com/biographies/shuster1.htm Comic Art & Graffix Gallery - Artist Biography]

Persondata
NAME= Shuster, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Shuster, Joseph
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Co-creator of Superman
DATE OF BIRTH= July 10, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH= Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DATE OF DEATH= July 30, 1992
PLACE OF DEATH=