Advertisement
 

Born on Krypton, Created in Cleveland!!!! By Matthew Rizzuto

Born on Krypton, Created in Cleveland!!!! \S/
Jerry Siegel’s love for science fiction, fantasy and writing began during his childhood in the Glenville section of Cleveland, Ohio.
Joe Shuster, who was born in Canada, had always loved drawing.
They got to know each other shortly after Joe’s family move to Cleveland, when Jerry’s cousin, Jerry Fine, told him that a young artist would soon be attending Glenville High School. They became close friends and Joe illustrated Jerry’s stories for their high school newspaper, The Glenville Torch. It was a friendship that lasted a lifetime. In 1932, they started their own magazine, “Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization”, filled with imaginative, futuristic tales. In the third issue, Jerry’s short story, “The Reign of The Superman”, with drawings by Joe Shuster, told of a homeless derelict, transformed by an evil scientist, into a villainous, telepathic madman. It was the first of several versions of Superman created by the team who, by the second version, had changed him into the superhero we know and adore today.
People needed Hope during the hard times of The Great Depression and Jerry and Joe knew that this Superman would be very popular. They wanted Superman to appear in newspapers, as a syndicated comic strip, but its first appearance came instead, in Action Comics #1 in 1938. Superman flew off the newsstands and soared into history fighting a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice and The American Way…as he still does today!!!!
When writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster would listen to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats on the radio, they were motivated to action.
What could they do?! One could write. One could draw.
Their forces combined: Superman. It’s that simple. Look, it’s true!!!! The Man of Steel is an immigrant, a refugee, an orphan, an intergalactic Boy Scout in tights, blessed with fantastic intelligence and wonderful athleticism. He is troubled by shyness and insecurity and he is a divided individual – both man and Superman, timid reporter Clark Kent and fearless hero Kal-El.

It’s literally no wonder Superman caught on with Depression-era readers and his dynamic popularity has continued through the ages and the decades ever since his first appearance.

Through it all, no matter what unusual costume changes or personality alterations he underwent, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman never stopped being the paragon of moral and physical strength his creators had endowed him to be from the very beginning in Cleveland, Ohio.

Superman has survived so much, including from vile supervillains, misunderstood publishers, the spreading of evil, hate and negativity from the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazis and noted scumbag Adolf Hitler himself to idiotic physicians, like Dr. Fredric Wertham, silly directors and producers in Hollywood and so much, much more.

With all due respect, Superman is the first fictional character to ever openly share with others the importance of The Power of Tolerance and Diversity, especially at a time when segregation was considered the norm.

Superman, Tolerance and Diversity go together like baseball, hot dogs and America.

You never saw or heard Tarzan, Betty Boop, The Shadow, Felix The Cat, The Lone Ranger, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Buck Rogers, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, The Green Hornet or Mickey Mouse and all the other great comic strip or cartoon characters that were around when Superman first debuted in the 1930’s actually come out and publicly speak about The Power of Tolerance and Diversity.

When it involves Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman, Tolerance and Diversity are his game. If you don’t like it, take your act somewhere else.

Comics and superheroes are currently on the upswing in the media, even while the actual print magazines struggle to exist. These four-color heroes and their morality have invaded every aspect of our lives and sometimes, we even benefit from them.

Just so everyone knows, comics are words on pictures and the stories that are shared within those tales can inspire individuals to help others in need, so that they can make a profound difference in the lives of others.

The lights of creativity soared through Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster when they were giving the world Superman. Their genius chose to defy the logic of the times in The Great Depression and gave Hope to many people who so desperately needed it and that same inspiration continues today.

If the medium of comic books can do that with superheroes, just choose to think of what else we can imagine, create and accomplish when we put our minds to it, just like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster have done by creating Superman.

You see, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman is the all-American immigrant from the stars, that showed us all how to hero and believe that a man can fly.

Peace, Honor, Honesty, Tolerance, Diversity, Freedom, Fairplay, Ethics, Hope, Liberty, Strength, Courage, Compassion, Understanding, Patriotism, Truth, Justice and The American Way for one and for all.

Born on Krypton, Created in Cleveland!!!! \S/

Thank You. \S/

join us for more discussion at the CBH Facebook group

get historic comic CBH Merchandise

check out the CBH Youtube Channel

check out the CBH Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google PlayerFM and Stitcher.

Images are not intended to infringe on copyright, but rather used for academic purpose.

All Comics Above© DC Comics, Photos ©Their Respective Copyright holders

The opinions of any one article do not reflect the intentions of the website.

Advertisement

Listen and Subscribe to the Podcast...

©