Sheldon Mayer ( / ˈ m eɪ . ər / ; April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991) was an American comics artist , writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson 's National Allied Publications , Mayer produced almost all of his comics work for the company that would become known as DC Comics .
94-567: He is among those credited with rescuing the unsold Superman comics strip from the rejection pile. Mayer was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000. Mayer was born in Harlem, New York , to a Jewish family. Sheldon Mayer's career in the days before comic books was a diverse one. He worked as writer and artist on "scores of titles" for
188-614: A Tony -nominated musical play produced on Broadway. It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman featured music by Charles Strouse , lyrics by Lee Adams and book by David Newman and Robert Benton . Actor Bob Holiday performed as Clark Kent/Superman and actress Patricia Marand performed as Lois Lane. DC Comics trademarked the Superman chest logo in August 1938. Jack Liebowitz established Superman, Inc. in October 1939 to develop
282-424: A "How to Draw Batman Booklet" as part of an ongoing debate with DC editor Paul Levitz regarding continuity in comic books. In the 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great , Mayer is cited as still writing and drawing "for the company that first published his great discovery, Superman , forty-seven years ago." After successful cataract surgery, Mayer returned to drawing Sugar and Spike stories for
376-612: A "Krypto-Raygun", which was a gun-shaped device that could project images on a wall. The majority of Superman merchandise is targeted at children, but since the 1970s, adults have been increasingly targeted because the comic book readership has gotten older. During World War II , Superman was used to support the war effort. Action Comics and Superman carried messages urging readers to buy war bonds and participate in scrap drives . Other superheroes became patriots who went to fight: Batman , Wonder Woman and Captain America . In
470-494: A billionaire industrialist rather than a mad scientist, and making Supergirl an artificial shapeshifting organism because DC wanted Superman to be the sole surviving Kryptonian . Carlin was promoted to Executive Editor for the DC Universe books in 1996, a position he held until 2002. K.C. Carlson took his place as editor of the Superman comics. In the earlier decades of Superman comics, artists were expected to conform to
564-469: A certain "house style". Joe Shuster defined the aesthetic style of Superman in the 1940s. After Shuster left National, Wayne Boring succeeded him as the principal artist on Superman comic books. He redrew Superman taller and more detailed. Around 1955, Curt Swan in turn succeeded Boring. The 1980s saw a boom in the diversity of comic book art and now there is no single "house style" in Superman comics. The first adaptation of Superman beyond comic books
658-656: A contract at Liebowitz's request in which they gave away the copyright for Superman to Detective Comics, Inc. This was normal practice in the business, and Siegel and Shuster had given away the copyrights to their previous works as well. The duo's revised version of Superman appeared in the first issue of Action Comics , which was published on April 18, 1938. The issue was a huge success thanks to Superman's feature. Siegel and Shuster read pulp science-fiction and adventure magazines , and many stories featured characters with fantastical abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and superhuman strength. One character in particular
752-469: A contract dated March 1, 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave away the copyright to Superman to their employer, DC Comics (then known as Detective Comics, Inc.) prior to Superman's first publication in April. Contrary to popular perception, the $ 130 that DC Comics paid them was for their first Superman story, not the copyright to the character — that, they gave away for free. This was normal practice in
846-505: A deal with the heirs of both Siegel and Shuster to help them get the rights to Superman in exchange for signing the rights over to his production company, Pacific Pictures. Both groups accepted. The Siegel heirs called off their deal with DC Comics and in 2004 sued DC for the rights to Superman and Superboy. In 2008, the judge ruled in favor of the Siegels. DC Comics appealed the decision, and the appeals court ruled in favor of DC, arguing that
940-581: A fan of strongmen such as Siegmund Breitbart and Joseph Greenstein . He collected fitness magazines and manuals and used their photographs as visual references for his art. The visual design of Superman came from multiple influences. The tight-fitting suit and shorts were inspired by the costumes of wrestlers, boxers, and strongmen . In early concept art, Shuster gave Superman laced sandals like those of strongmen and classical heroes, but these were eventually changed to red boots. The costumes of Douglas Fairbanks were also an influence. The emblem on his chest
1034-430: A favorite being Winsor McCay 's fantastical Little Nemo . Shuster remarked on the artists who played an important part in the development of his own style: " Alex Raymond and Burne Hogarth were my idols – also Milt Caniff , Hal Foster , and Roy Crane ." Shuster taught himself to draw by tracing over the art in the strips and magazines they collected. As a boy, Shuster was interested in fitness culture and
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#17327832516051128-701: A juvenile audience circa 1932–33, before joining the Fleischer animation studios as an "opaquer" in 1934, at the age of seventeen. He began working for National Allied Publications (Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson 's initial company, later known as DC Comics ) shortly after it was founded, in 1935, writing and drawing stories and "thus becoming one of the very first contributors [of original material] to comic books." Between 1936 and 1938, Mayer worked for Dell Comics , producing illustrations, house advertisements and covers for titles including Popular Comics , The Comics and The Funnies . Also in 1936, he joined
1222-493: A living Krypton. Schwartz retired from DC Comics in 1986 and was succeeded by Mike Carlin as an editor on Superman comics. His retirement coincided with DC Comics' decision to reboot the DC Universe with the companywide-crossover storyline " Crisis on Infinite Earths ". In The Man of Steel writer John Byrne rewrote the Superman mythos, again reducing Superman's powers, which writers had slowly re-strengthened, and revised many supporting characters, such as making Lex Luthor
1316-503: A media sensation over The Death of Superman in that issue. Sales declined from that point on. In March 2018, Action Comics sold just 51,534 copies, although such low figures are normal for superhero comic books in general (for comparison, Amazing Spider-Man #797 sold only 128,189 copies). The comic books have become a niche aspect of the Superman franchise due to low readership, though they remain influential as creative engines for
1410-618: A model called "direct distribution". This made comic books less accessible to children. Beginning in January 1939, a Superman daily comic strip appeared in newspapers, syndicated through the McClure Syndicate . A color Sunday version was added that November. Jerry Siegel wrote most of the strips until he was conscripted into the United States Army in 1943. The Sunday strips had a narrative continuity separate from
1504-420: A newspaper syndicate, but they too were rejected, and he abandoned the project. Siegel and Shuster reconciled and resumed developing Superman together. The character became an alien from the planet Krypton. Shuster designed the now-familiar costume: tights with an "S" on the chest, over-shorts, and a cape. They made Clark Kent a journalist who pretends to be timid, and conceived his colleague Lois Lane , who
1598-534: A number of covers for the " Mutt and Jeff " reprints appearing in the companies flagship title All-American Comics (1939–1958). Having created the semi-autobiographical strip Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist for Dell Comics in 1936, where the feature appeared in The Funnies #2–29 and Popular Comics #6–9), Mayer moved "Scribbly" to All-American Publications in 1939. Soon afterward,
1692-492: A proto-comic book titled Detective Dan: Secret Operative 48 . It contained all-original stories as opposed to reprints of newspaper strips, which was a novelty at the time. Siegel and Shuster put together a comic book in a similar format called The Superman . A delegation from Consolidated visited Cleveland that summer on a business trip and Siegel and Shuster took the opportunity to present their work in person. Although Consolidated expressed interest, they later pulled out of
1786-533: A public campaign for better compensation and treatment of comic creators. Warner Brothers agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a yearly stipend, full medical benefits, and credit their names in all future Superman productions in exchange for never contesting ownership of Superman. Siegel and Shuster upheld this bargain. Shuster died in 1992. DC Comics offered Shuster's heirs a stipend in exchange for never challenging ownership of Superman, which they accepted for some years. Siegel died in 1996. His heirs attempted to take
1880-581: A superhero herself. In the story, Scribbly's little brother Dinky and Ma Hunkel's daughter Sisty are kidnapped, and the police are unable to locate them. Scribbly tells Ma about the Green Lantern, and she's inspired to don a costume and fight crime, calling herself the Red Tornado. The character was immediately popular, and eclipsed Scribbly himself. By issue #23, the Red Tornado was sharing billing with Scribbly, and in #24, Dinky and Sisty joined
1974-656: A supporting character of Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist . With the skyrocketing popularity of the Superman comic in 1938, comic book publishers began featuring their own superhero characters. All-American Comics responded in 1939 with Gary Concord, the Ultra-Man , and followed in 1940 with Green Lantern and the Atom . The superhero trend was so powerful that in the Scribbly story in issue #20 (Nov 1940), Ma Hunkel became
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#17327832516052068-576: A television anchor, and he retired overused plot elements such as kryptonite and robot doppelgangers. Schwartz also scaled Superman's powers down to a level closer to Siegel's original. These changes would eventually be reversed by later writers. Schwartz allowed stories with serious drama such as " For the Man Who Has Everything " ( Superman Annual #11), in which the villain Mongul torments Superman with an illusion of happy family life on
2162-557: A time-machine to the modern era, whereupon he immediately begins using his superpowers to fight crime. O'Mealia produced a few strips and showed them to his newspaper syndicate, but they were rejected. O'Mealia did not send to Siegel any copies of his strips, and they have been lost. In June 1934, Siegel found another partner, an artist in Chicago named Russell Keaton. Keaton drew the Buck Rogers and Skyroads comic strips. In
2256-574: A vigilante. To protect his personal life, he changes into a colorful costume and uses the alias "Superman" when fighting crime. Clark resides in the fictional American city of Metropolis , where he works as a journalist for the Daily Planet . Superman's supporting characters include his love interest and fellow journalist Lois Lane , Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen , and editor-in-chief Perry White , and his enemies include Brainiac , General Zod , and archenemy Lex Luthor . Superman
2350-467: A woman to be his costumed avenger, remaking the formidable Ma Hunkel into the even more formidable Red Tornado. Actually the people in the strip never knew the true sex of the Tornado. They only knew that this bulky figure in the red flannels, bedroom slippers, cape, and inverted stew pot could be counted on to tackle all sorts of criminals from the biggest to the smallest". In 1967, Mayer briefly revived
2444-433: A writer and Shuster aspired to become an illustrator. Siegel wrote amateur science fiction stories, which he self-published as a magazine called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization . His friend Shuster often provided illustrations for his work. In January 1933, Siegel published a short story in his magazine titled " The Reign of the Superman ". The titular character is a homeless man named Bill Dunn who
2538-521: A writer in 1959. In 1965, Siegel and Shuster attempted to regain rights to Superman using the renewal option in the Copyright Act of 1909 , but the court ruled Siegel and Shuster had transferred the renewal rights to DC Comics in 1938. Siegel and Shuster appealed, but the appeals court upheld this decision. DC Comics fired Siegel once again, when he filed this second lawsuit. In 1975, Siegel and several other comic book writers and artists launched
2632-478: Is Superman , which began in June 1939. Action Comics and Superman have been published without interruption (ignoring changes to the title and numbering scheme). Several other shorter-lived Superman periodicals have been published over the years. Superman is part of the DC Universe , which is a shared setting of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside
2726-734: Is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . Debuting during the Golden Age of Comic Books , she first appeared in her civilian identity in All-American Publications ' All-American Comics #3 (June 1939), created by Sheldon Mayer , and became the first character to be known as the Red Tornado in All-American Comics #20 (November 1940). As the Red Tornado, she
2820-480: Is a skilled cook. In the Kingdom Come timeline, an older Ma Hunkel wielding a more sophisticated armor version of the Red Tornado costume joins the re-formed Justice League under Superman , and appears with her granddaughter Maxine Hunkel . Maxine known as Red Tornado III or Cyclone , originally fought against Superman 's Justice League after his return, before deciding to join it. She travels with
2914-595: Is attracted to the bold and mighty Superman but does not realize that he and Kent are the same person. In June 1935 Siegel and Shuster finally found work with National Allied Publications, a comic magazine publishing company in New York owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson . Wheeler-Nicholson published two of their strips in New Fun Comics #6 (1935): "Henri Duval" and " Doctor Occult ". Siegel and Shuster also showed him Superman and asked him to market Superman to
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3008-475: Is revealed to have died some time prior before Batman resurrects her with a Black Lantern ring. Furthermore, her name is the password to access the Valhalla superhero cemetery. In her prime, Ma Hunkel was a surprisingly strong woman. Many who encountered her often believed that the Red Tornado was, in fact, a man, a notion that helped protect Ma's secret identity on more than one occasion. Furthermore, she
3102-677: Is the archetypal superhero: he wears an outlandish costume, uses a codename , is unfailingly good and honest, and fights evil with the aid of extraordinary abilities. Although there are earlier characters who arguably fit this definition, Superman popularized the superhero genre and established its conventions. He was the best-selling superhero in American comic books up until the 1980s. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met in 1932 while attending Glenville High School in Cleveland and bonded over their admiration of fiction. Siegel aspired to become
3196-555: Is tricked by an evil scientist into consuming an experimental drug. The drug gives Dunn the powers of mind-reading, mind-control, and clairvoyance. He uses these powers maliciously for profit and amusement, but then the drug wears off, leaving him a powerless vagrant again. Shuster provided illustrations, depicting Dunn as a bald man. Siegel and Shuster shifted to making comic strips , with a focus on adventure and comedy. They wanted to become syndicated newspaper strip authors, so they showed their ideas to various newspaper editors. However,
3290-476: Is unclear whether Siegel and Shuster were influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche 's concept of the Übermensch ; they never acknowledged as much. Since 1938, Superman stories have been regularly published in periodical comic books published by DC Comics . The first and oldest of these is Action Comics , which began in April 1938. Action Comics was initially an anthology magazine, but it eventually became dedicated to Superman stories. The second oldest periodical
3384-471: The McClure Syndicate "as an editor working for comics industry pioneer M.C. Gaines ." While working for the McClure syndicate, Mayer came across Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 's unsold Superman comics strip, which he "immediately fell in love with." He recalled in a 1985 book that, "The syndicated press rejected it about fifteen times. I was singing [its] praises so much that in 1938 Gaines finally took
3478-560: The " Black Orchid " feature which ran in Adventure Comics #428–430 in 1973. Mayer wrote and drew several " Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer " treasuries starting in 1972. These were published as Limited Collectors' Edition C–24, C–33, C–42, C–50 and All-New Collectors' Edition C–53, C–60. Additionally, one digest format edition was published as The Best of DC #4 (March–April 1980). In 1978, Mayer wrote and drew
3572-498: The "Original Red Tornado" is identified as Ma Hunkel: she can just be seen at the top-left hand side of the Justice League line-up which includes Superman and Norman McCay . In issue #3, (page 135 of the collected edition), panel 1, she can be seen on a balcony looking down at Superman and McCay and wearing a far more sophisticated, armour-like costume. She appeared briefly in 1998's DC Universe Holiday Bash II special, in
3666-480: The 1940s, Ma Hunkel is a working mother whose costume consists of longjohns and a cooking pot on her head. She adopts the identity of the Red Tornado to fight local criminals in her New York City neighborhood, inspired by her son's admiration for the superhero Green Lantern . The character's popularity was such that she was given a cameo in the first adventure of the Justice Society of America , visiting
3760-614: The Boy Cartoonist is a comic book character created in 1936 by Sheldon Mayer, first appearing in Dell Comics . Mayer retired from editing in 1948, "to devote himself full-time to cartooning". He began to write and draw a number of humor comics for National, including the features The Three Mouseketeers , Leave It to Binky , a teenage humor book, and Sugar and Spike . Leave It to Binky debuted in February 1948 while Scribbly received its own title in August 1948. He also created
3854-517: The JSA in Justice Society of America Vol. 3 #1 (February 2007). In Justice Society of America Vol. 3 #3 (March 2007), Maxine adopts the alias " Cyclone ". Ma still has some fighting ability, using a mace and gas weaponry to help the younger JSA stun and delay members of the invading Injustice Society . She is taken hostage and frozen by the villain Icicle. She only suffers a mild cold as the team's plans
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3948-436: The JSA's Manhattan museum/headquarters. She does not, however, resume her crimefighting activities as the Red Tornado. Her daughter and (now) son-in-law, the former Cyclone Kids, briefly have their own costumed adventures, starting in the title Young Justice . They band together with other Golden Age sidekicks out of concern for the safety of younger superheroes. Ma's wind-controlling granddaughter, Maxine Hunkel , joins
4042-652: The JSA's headquarters but being forced by a humorous mishap, her pants splitting, to leave without having the chance to apply for membership. Later Justice Society stories have declared Ma to be an honorary member of the team. Due to her bright red costume and rotund build, she is sometimes jokingly referred to as the Red Tomato. Ma was later joined by a pair of sidekicks known as the Cyclone Kids , consisting of her daughter Amelia "Sisty" Hunkel and neighbor Mortimer "Dinky" Jibbet (brother of boy cartoonist Scribbly ,
4136-598: The North American market). For comparison, in the same year, Spider-Man merchandise made $ 1.075 billion and Star Wars merchandise made $ 1.923 billion globally. The earliest paraphernalia appeared in 1939: a button proclaiming membership in the Supermen of America club. The first toy was a wooden doll in 1939 made by the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. Superman #5 (May 1940) carried an advertisement for
4230-578: The October 2001 letter was binding. In 2003, the Shuster heirs served a termination notice for Shuster's grant of his half of the copyright to Superman. DC Comics sued the Shuster heirs in 2010, and the court ruled in DC's favor on the grounds that the 1992 agreement with the Shuster heirs barred them from terminating the grant. Under current US copyright law, Superman is due to enter the public domain on January 1, 2034. However, this will only apply (at first) to
4324-623: The Red Tornado alias occasionally. She then was more recurringly affiliated with the Justice Society of America during the debut of the team and consistently still is in modern interpretation within DC Comics publications. She is also depicted as the grandmother of Maxine Hunkel . Initially introduced as simply Ma Hunkel, she originated in Sheldon Mayer 's semi-autobiographical humor feature in All-American Comics #3 as
4418-469: The backup feature "Doodles Duck", starring a dimwitted, easily angered instigator and his smarter, calmer nephew Lemuel, in Animal Antics #40 (Sept. 1952). This is unrelated to Howie Post 's early DC creation Doodles Duck. Sugar and Spike proved to be one of Mayer's longest-lasting strips, starring two babies who could communicate in baby talk that adults could not understand. Mayer even signed
4512-502: The boy and name him Clark, and teach him that he must use his fantastic natural gifts for the benefit of humanity. In November, Siegel sent Keaton an extension of his script: an adventure where Superman foils a conspiracy to kidnap a star football player. The extended script mentions that Clark puts on a special "uniform" when assuming the identity of Superman, but it is not described. Keaton produced two weeks' worth of strips based on Siegel's script. In November, Keaton showed his strips to
4606-590: The character as he is depicted in Action Comics #1 , which was published in 1938. Versions of him with later developments, such as his power of "heat vision", may persist under copyright until the works they were introduced in enter the public domain. Lois Lane, who also debuted in Action Comics #1, is expected to enter public domain in 2034, but supporting characters introduced in later publications, such as Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl , will pass into
4700-575: The character. After Siegel's discharge from the Army, he and Shuster sued DC Comics in 1947 for the rights to Superman and Superboy . The judge ruled that Superman belonged to DC Comics, but that Superboy was a separate entity that belonged to Siegel. Siegel and Shuster settled out-of-court with DC Comics, which paid the pair $ 94,013.16 (equivalent to $ 1,192,222 in 2023) in exchange for the full rights to both Superman and Superboy. DC Comics then fired Siegel and Shuster. DC Comics rehired Jerry Siegel as
4794-738: The characters of Douglas Fairbanks , who starred in adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro and Robin Hood . The name of Superman's home city, Metropolis, was taken from the 1927 film of the same name . Popeye cartoons were also an influence. Clark Kent's harmless facade and dual identity were inspired by the protagonists of such movies as Don Diego de la Vega in The Mark of Zorro and Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel . Siegel thought this would make for interesting dramatic contrast and good humor. Another inspiration
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#17327832516054888-488: The comic magazine industry and they had done the same with their previous published works ( Slam Bradley , Doctor Occult , etc.), but Superman became far more popular and valuable than they anticipated and they much regretted giving him away. DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster, and they were paid well because they were popular with the readers. Between 1938 and 1947, DC Comics paid them together at least $ 401,194.85 (equivalent to $ 7,310,000 in 2023). Siegel wrote most of
4982-450: The comics business without ever offering a book deal because the sales of Detective Dan were disappointing. Siegel believed publishers kept rejecting them because he and Shuster were young and unknown, so he looked for an established artist to replace Shuster. When Siegel told Shuster what he was doing, Shuster reacted by burning their rejected Superman comic, sparing only the cover. They continued collaborating on other projects, but for
5076-551: The concept in issues of Sugar and Spike , with both kids and Little Arthur appearing at various times as "Tornado-Tot". The character reappeared in a three-page "Scribbly" story by Mayer in DC's Secret Origins #29 (Aug. 1986). She had a one-panel appearance in Animal Man "Deus Ex Machine", in a sort of limbo for characters who at the time weren't written into mainstream continuity. In Alex Ross's classic 1996 graphic novel Kingdom Come , set in an alternative DC future ,
5170-597: The creation of - among others - the Flash (in Flash Comics ), Green Lantern , Hawkman , Wonder Woman and All-Star Comics , home to the Justice Society of America . Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "This was obviously a great notion, since it offered readers a lot of headliners for a dime, and also the fun of watching fan favorites interact." Among his non-superhero work, Mayer assisted with lettering and logo creation on several All-American titles, and drew
5264-618: The daily strips, possibly because Siegel had to delegate the Sunday strips to ghostwriters . By 1941, the newspaper strips had an estimated readership of 20 million. Joe Shuster drew the early strips, then passed the job to Wayne Boring . From 1949 to 1956, the newspaper strips were drawn by Win Mortimer . The strip ended in May 1966, but was revived from 1977 to 1983 to coincide with a series of movies released by Warner Bros. Initially, Siegel
5358-431: The erratic pay, Siegel and Shuster kept working for Wheeler-Nicholson because he was the only publisher who was buying their work, and over the years they produced other adventure strips for his magazines. Wheeler-Nicholson's financial difficulties continued to mount. In 1936, he formed a joint corporation with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz called Detective Comics, Inc. in order to release his third magazine, which
5452-529: The featured included the supporting character of "Ma" Hunkel, who would go on to become the Golden Age incarnation of the Red Tornado , with Mayer writing, penciling and inking the renamed Scribbly and the Red Tornado for All-American Comics between 1941 and 1944 when All-American merged with National. Mayer launched several talking animal titles including Funny Stuff (Summer 1944), Animal Antics (March 1946), and Funny Folks (April 1946). Scribbly
5546-477: The fight against crime, calling themselves "the Cyclone Twins". The series continued for three more years as "Scribbly & the Red Tornado". The feature ran through All-American Comics #59, in 1944, the year DC Comics absorbed All-American Publications. Ron Goulart writes: "Anticipating Wonder Woman , that monumental creation of William Moulton Marston , possibly even influencing it, Mayer chose
5640-482: The franchise beyond the comic books. Superman, Inc. merged with DC Comics in October 1946. After DC Comics merged with Warner Communications in 1967, licensing for Superman was handled by the Licensing Corporation of America. The Licensing Letter (an American market research firm) estimated that Superman licensed merchandise made $ 634 million in sales globally in 2018 (43.3% of this revenue came from
5734-714: The international market; only a few have been reprinted in the United States. The American reprints appeared in the digest sized comics series The Best of DC #29, 41, 47, 58, 65, and 68. In 1992, Sugar and Spike #99 was published as part of the DC Silver Age Classics series; this featured two previously unpublished stories by Mayer. DC writer and executive Paul Levitz has described Sugar and Spike as being "Mayer's most charming and enduring creation" while novelist and Sandman creator Neil Gaiman has stated "Sheldon Mayer's Sugar and Spike series...is
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#17327832516055828-410: The likes of Batman , Wonder Woman , and others. More Superman comic books have been sold in publication history than any other American superhero character. Exact sales figures for the early decades of Superman comic books are hard to find because, like most publishers at the time, DC Comics concealed this data from its competitors and thereby the general public, but given the general market trends at
5922-470: The magazine and daily newspaper stories until he was conscripted into the United States Army in 1943, whereupon the task was passed to ghostwriters. While Siegel was serving in Hawaii, DC Comics published a story featuring a child version of Superman called " Superboy ", which was based on a script Siegel had submitted several years before. Siegel was furious because DC Comics did this without having bought
6016-404: The most charming thing I've ever seen in comics." DC attempted to license Sugar and Spike as a syndicated newspaper strip but was unsuccessful. Sales on the "Sugar and Spike" issues of The Best of DC were strong enough that DC announced plans for a new ongoing series featuring the characters. The project was never launched for unknown reasons. Mayer received an Inkpot Award in 1976. He
6110-440: The movies and television shows. Comic book stories can be produced quickly and cheaply, and are thus an ideal medium for experimentation. Whereas comic books in the 1950s were read by children, since the 1990s the average reader has been an adult. A major reason for this shift was DC Comics' decision in the 1970s to sell its comic books to specialty stores instead of traditional magazine retailers (supermarkets, newsstands, etc.) —
6204-562: The newspaper editors were not impressed, and told them that if they wanted to make a successful comic strip, it had to be something more sensational than anything else on the market. This prompted Siegel to revisit Superman as a comic strip character. Siegel modified Superman's powers to make him even more sensational. Like Bill Dunn, the second prototype of Superman is given powers against his will by an unscrupulous scientist, but instead of psychic abilities, he acquires superhuman strength and bullet-proof skin . Additionally, this new Superman
6298-434: The newspapers on their behalf. In October, Wheeler-Nicholson offered to publish Superman in one of his own magazines. Siegel and Shuster refused his offer because Wheeler-Nicholson had demonstrated himself to be an irresponsible businessman. He had been slow to respond to their letters and had not paid them for their work in New Fun Comics #6. They chose to keep marketing Superman to newspaper syndicates themselves. Despite
6392-684: The pool of writers grew, Weisinger demanded a more disciplined approach. Weisinger assigned story ideas, and the logic of Superman's powers, his origin, the locales, and his relationships with his growing cast of supporting characters were carefully planned. Elements such as Bizarro , his cousin Supergirl , the Phantom Zone , the Fortress of Solitude , alternate varieties of kryptonite , robot doppelgangers , and Krypto were introduced during this era. The complicated universe built under Weisinger
6486-606: The public domain at later dates. Superman's success immediately begat a wave of imitations. The most successful is Captain Marvel , first published by Fawcett Comics in December 1939. Captain Marvel had many similarities to Superman: Herculean strength, invulnerability, the ability to fly, a cape, a secret identity, and a job as a journalist. DC Comics filed a lawsuit against Fawcett Comics for copyright infringement. Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel) Abigail Mathilda " Ma " Hunkel
6580-465: The rest of the team to the Gulag to contain the prisoner revolt. Captain Marvel arrives and blasts the Gulag, freeing all the prisoners, who then attack the surrounding Justice League members. In the "World Without Young Justice" reality, Red Tornado was brought out of retirement by Impulse . She helps to distract Bedlam so that Impulse can have one of his clones restore the timeline. The Red Tornado
6674-661: The rights to Superman using the termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976 . DC Comics negotiated an agreement wherein it would pay the Siegel heirs several million dollars and a yearly stipend of $ 500,000 in exchange for permanently granting DC the rights to Superman. DC Comics also agreed to insert the line "By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family" in all future Superman productions. The Siegels accepted DC's offer in an October 2001 letter. Copyright lawyer and movie producer Marc Toberoff then struck
6768-496: The script that Siegel sent Keaton in June, Superman's origin story further evolved: In the distant future, when Earth is on the verge of exploding due to "giant cataclysms", the last surviving man sends his three-year-old son back in time to the year 1935. The time-machine appears on a road where it is discovered by motorists Sam and Molly Kent. They leave the boy in an orphanage, but the staff struggle to control him because he has superhuman strength and impenetrable skin. The Kents adopt
6862-621: The star of the comic book feature in which the Red Tornado debuted). Ma Hunkel returned in JSA #55 (February 2004). This story reveals that Ma had been in the Witness Protection Program since 1950. Senior JSA members Green Lantern, the Flash , Hawkman , and Wildcat find Ma to tell her that she can come out of hiding, as the last member of the gang against whom she testified in 1950 has died. Ma subsequently becomes caretaker of
6956-444: The stories he drew, something rare at National Periodical Publications in the late 1950s when Sugar and Spike debuted. In the 1970s, when failing eyesight limited his drawing ability, he continued to work for National/DC, contributing scripts to the companies horror and mystery magazines, including most notably House of Mystery , House of Secrets and Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion . With artist Tony DeZuniga , he co-created
7050-655: The story "I Left My Heart at the Justice Society Canteen", and in All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant #1 (Sept. 1999), in a story, "Way of the Amazon", in which Ma Hunkel takes valorous center stage amid Liberty Belle , Phantom Lady and Wonder Woman . She has continued to appear through the mid-2000s, mainly as a supporting character in Justice Society of America . In the original comics in
7144-620: The strip up to Harry Donenfeld , who was looking for original material to run in his new title, Action Comics ," where the soon-to-be iconic character debuted as the lead feature of the first issue. Action Comics editor Vin Sullivan is also among those credited with discovering Superman. Mayer said, I was crazy about Superman for the same reason I liked The Scarlet Pimpernel , Zorro , and The Desert Song . The mystery man and his alter ego are two distinct characters to be played off against each other. The Scarlet Pimpernel's alter ego
7238-400: The strips, and they asked Siegel and Shuster to develop the strips into 13 pages for Action Comics . Having grown tired of rejections, Siegel and Shuster accepted the offer. At least now they would see Superman published. Siegel and Shuster submitted their work in late February and were paid US$ 130 (equivalent to $ 2,800 in 2023) for their work ($ 10 per page). In early March they signed
7332-650: The time being Shuster was through with Superman. Siegel wrote to numerous artists. The first response came in July 1933 from Leo O'Mealia, who drew the Fu Manchu strip for the Bell Syndicate . In the script that Siegel sent to O'Mealia, Superman's origin story changes: He is a "scientist-adventurer" from the far future when humanity has naturally evolved "superpowers". Just before the Earth explodes, he escapes in
7426-538: The time, negotiating a deal with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate for Superman. In early January 1938, Siegel had a three-way telephone conversation with Liebowitz and an employee of McClure named Max Gaines . Gaines informed Siegel that McClure had rejected Superman, and asked if he could forward their Superman strips to Liebowitz so that Liebowitz could consider them for Action Comics . Siegel agreed. Liebowitz and his colleagues were impressed by
7520-415: The time, sales of Action Comics and Superman probably peaked in the mid-1940s and thereafter steadily declined. Sales data first became public in 1960, and showed that Superman was the best-selling comic book character of the 1960s and 1970s. Sales rose again starting in 1987. Superman #75 (Nov 1992) had over 23 million copies sold, making it the best-selling issue of a comic book of all time, due to
7614-423: Was John Carter of Mars from the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs . John Carter is a human who is transported to Mars, where the lower gravity makes him stronger than the natives and allows him to leap great distances. Another influence was Philip Wylie 's 1930 novel Gladiator , featuring a protagonist named Hugo Danner who had similar powers. Superman's stance and devil-may-care attitude were influenced by
7708-507: Was a crime-fighting hero instead of a villain, because Siegel noted that comic strips with heroic protagonists tended to be more successful. In later years, Siegel once recalled that this Superman wore a "bat-like" cape in some panels, but typically he and Shuster agreed there was no costume yet, and there is none apparent in the surviving artwork. Siegel and Shuster showed this second concept of Superman to Consolidated Book Publishers, based in Chicago. In May 1933, Consolidated had published
7802-491: Was a radio show, The Adventures of Superman , which ran from 1940 to 1951 for 2,088 episodes, most of which were aimed at children. The episodes were initially 15 minutes long, but after 1949 they were lengthened to 30 minutes. Most episodes were done live. Bud Collyer was the voice actor for Superman in most episodes. The show was produced by Robert Maxwell and Allen Ducovny, who were employees of Superman, Inc. and Detective Comics, Inc. respectively. In 1966 Superman had
7896-432: Was allowed to write Superman more or less as he saw fit because nobody had anticipated the success and rapid expansion of the franchise. But soon Siegel and Shuster's work was put under careful oversight for fear of trouble with censors. Siegel was forced to tone down the violence and social crusading that characterized his early stories. Editor Whitney Ellsworth , hired in 1940, dictated that Superman not kill. Sexuality
7990-417: Was banned, and colorfully outlandish villains such as Ultra-Humanite and Toyman were thought to be less nightmarish for young readers. Mort Weisinger was the editor on Superman comics from 1941 to 1970, his tenure briefly interrupted by military service. Siegel and his fellow writers had developed the character with little thought of building a coherent mythology, but as the number of Superman titles and
8084-697: Was beguiling to devoted readers but alienating to casuals. Weisinger favored lighthearted stories over serious drama, and avoided sensitive subjects such as the Vietnam War and the American civil rights movement because he feared his right-wing views would alienate his left-leaning writers and readers. Weisinger also introduced letters columns in 1958 to encourage feedback and build intimacy with readers. Weisinger retired in 1970 and Julius Schwartz took over. By his own admission, Weisinger had grown out of touch with newer readers. Starting with The Sandman Saga , Schwartz updated Superman by making Clark Kent
8178-585: Was born Kal-El , on the fictional planet Krypton . As a baby, his parents Jor-El and Lara sent him to Earth in a small spaceship shortly before Krypton was destroyed in a natural cataclysm. His ship landed in the American countryside near the fictional town of Smallville , Kansas. He was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent , who named him Clark Kent . Clark began developing superhuman abilities , such as incredible strength and impervious skin. His adoptive parents advised him to use his powers to benefit of humanity, and he decided to fight crime as
8272-486: Was inspired by heraldic crests . Many pulp action heroes such as swashbucklers wore capes. Superman's face was based on Johnny Weissmuller with touches derived from the comic-strip character Dick Tracy and from the work of cartoonist Roy Crane. The word "superman" was commonly used in the 1920s and 1930s to describe men of great ability, most often athletes and politicians. It occasionally appeared in pulp fiction stories as well, such as "The Superman of Dr. Jukes". It
8366-462: Was not to kill or injure but steal from the JSA. Maxine was later responsible for the continuation of the Society as a viable team. When supernatural entities obliterated the brownstone, Jay Garrick believed this was a sign to end the team and move on. Maxine convinced him such an attitude was nonsensical and the Society was more than just a headquarters. In Dark Nights: Death Metal , Ma Hunkel
8460-419: Was one of the first superhero parodies , as well as one of the first female superheroes and (when occasionally disguised as a man) the first cross-dressing heroine, debuting months after Madame Fatal , the first cross-dressing male hero. She was commonly associated with humor title character Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist , debuting as a supporting character of him, then sharing titles alongside Scribbly with
8554-634: Was posthumously inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000. Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster , and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and published April 18, 1938). Superman has been adapted to several other media including radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games. Superman
8648-459: Was scared of the sight of blood, a hopeless dandy: no one would have suspected he was a hero. The same goes for Superman. In 1939, "Gaines left McClure to enter into a partnership with National Periodical Publications," and Mayer went with him, becoming the first editor of the All-American Publications line, in 1940s, then run as a separate entity from National/DC, publishers of Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman . Mayer edited and participated in
8742-450: Was slapstick comedian Harold Lloyd . The archetypal Lloyd character was a mild-mannered man who finds himself abused by bullies but later in the story snaps and fights back furiously. Kent is a journalist because Siegel often imagined himself becoming one after leaving school. The love triangle between Lois Lane , Clark, and Superman was inspired by Siegel's own awkwardness with girls. The pair collected comic strips in their youth, with
8836-574: Was titled Detective Comics . Siegel and Shuster produced stories for Detective Comics too, such as " Slam Bradley ". Wheeler-Nicholson fell into deep debt to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and in early January 1938, Donenfeld and Liebowitz petitioned Wheeler-Nicholson's company into bankruptcy and seized it. In early December 1937, Siegel visited Liebowitz in New York, and Liebowitz asked Siegel to produce some comics for an upcoming comic anthology magazine called Action Comics . Siegel proposed some new stories, but not Superman. Siegel and Shuster were, at
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