Jerome “Jerry” Siegel (October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)

Who will not be familiar with the man who wore a big “S” on his chest and whose only weakness was a Kryptonite? Everybody who was born in the era of comics and cartoons will surely recognize this man. Avid fans might have memorized all the characters, knew all the lines, but do they know who were the people behind this epic superhero?

Before Superman was made into cartoons and adapted into movies, it started as a comic book. On the 20th century, it undoubtedly became one of the most recognizable superhero characters. And one of the two men who brought this character into life was Jerome “Jerry” Siegel.

Born on October 17, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio, Jerome Siegel was a son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. He was the youngest of the six children of Sarah Fine and Mitchell Siegel.

Siegel loved watching movies, reading comic strips, and later on developed a liking on science fiction pulp magazines. His father saw the artist’s side of Siegel that he had encouraged him to make a career out of it. Unfortunately, when he was in junior high school his father died of heart attack.

In 1929 after that seatback, he produced SF fanzine and Cosmic Stories using a manual typewriter. He advertised these creations in the section of Science Wonder Stories.

While in high school, he worked in a student newspaper called The Torch. Despite his shyness and being unpopular, his creation Tarzan parody, “Goober the Mighty” made him achieved a bit of fame.

It was in Glenville where he met Joe Shuster. They became friends and later on the two of them collaborated as comic-artists. They made their debut with the musketeer swashbuckler “Henri Duval” and the supernatural-crimefighter strip Doctor Occult in issue #6 (Oct. 1935).

Later on, they created one of the most unforgettable comic characters. It all started with a bald telepathic villain named “The Superman” who wanted to dominate the entire world. The character made its first appearance in the short story “The Reign of the Super-Man” from Science Fiction #3, a science fiction fanzine that Siegel published in 1933.

Unfortunately, the debut of the most acclaimed superhero was not successful. It was in 1934 when Siegel finally had made a good character out of the villain.

The concept of the new hero was inspired by Gladiator, Samson and Hercules legends. Unfortunately, when the comic book was rejected, Shuster destroyed the artwork. Fortunately, Siegel had rescued the cover art.

The duo then began a six-year quest to find a publisher. Their attempt to publish it was a failure. Shuster burned all pages of the story and only the cover page was rescued by Siegel.
In 1938, Vin Sullivan, editor of DC Comics chose it as the cover feature for National’s Action Comics #1. Siegel & Shuster initiated the syndicated Superman comic strip and created the ghostly avenger “The Spectre” the following year.

  Nearing the end of their 10-year contract to produce Superman stories in 1946, they sued National over rights to the characters.

It was after the World War II when DC produced Superboy, a hero with similar features and story to the one that Siegel and Shuster proposed. They once again sued DC over the Superman rights. They won in the hearing and was compensated with a big amount of money. However, compared to the millions that the company earned for producing such character, the duo artists were not given justice.

In his later works, Siegel used the pseudonym “Joe Carter”. He was invited by DC Comics’ editor Julius Schwartz invited Siegel to write an “imaginary” final story for Superman in 1986. He declined the offer.

  Being one of the most creative writers in his time, he was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.

Siegel died on January 28, 1996 in Los Angeles. He maybe one of the many authors who succeeded in creating their masterpieces, but only few can actually recall their names.
This is one of the sad realities in an artist’s life. Everybody knows the superhero. Everyone knows the line “It’s a bird…it’s a plane…It’s Superman”. On the contrary, try to ask them one by one if who created the legendary character; you’ll be surprised of their answers. Some will surely give you a blank stare or a nod but the exact name or names that you want to hear, they simply forgot.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Siegel

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=343

http://www.comic-art.com/biographies/siegel01.html

I eat Manga!

1. The stories are very light…not complicated and very interesting
2. The characters are unbelievably handsome and beautiful (not to mention smart, talented and tall)
3. The lines are funny…but with hidden meanings

I’ve been an avid anime fan since I was 5 or younger. I always love day-dreaming about my favorite characters. I cry whenever I missed an episode or for some instances there have been no electricity or I got a lot of things to do. Until now, I am still drawn to various stuffs Japan introduced to my country. I started reading Manga, Mahnwa and comics. I can’t stop from wondering what’s next after I finish one story. I’ve been addicted. I’ve been hooked…and I’m proud of it. Over a month, I managed to read almost 10 Manga and watch over 3 anime series. I often spend my time in my room talking to myself and laughing…with my laptop and downloaded stuffs, my addiction is on the next level.

Why read/watch? They say it is a waste of time but I say it actually gives me quality moments with myself. I get to know my personality better and get to improve some of my stupid behaviors.

What I like about “Dear Miss Manners”

After almost four years of visiting the library and just staring at this encyclopedic like book, I finally got to open it and read its content…Just the first few pages of course since I got classes to attend.

The book which I find interesting is about how people should act with etiquette even in the most unexpected situation. Dear Miss Manners gives the readers the simplest solution in dealing with day-to-day problems with confidence and grace.

As I was reading, here are the quotable lines which I really like…

“If one does the right thing, one does not have to read nasty little books about how to deal with guilt”

“You wouldn’t trust a preacher who never experienced the temptation of sin”

“Who says there is a right way of doing things and a wrong?”

“Two wrongs make a blight”

“We now have a world full of new, improved people who are really ready to move on to improving others. This had better stop before there are no good people left”

“Most people can be trusted to behave personally well when they are in love and perfectly dreadfully when they have been dumped”

“Magazines are full of suggestions to help one fool people about one’s identity”

and the one that struck me most is…..

‎”The bride’s wish that the wedding be “the happiest day of her life” came true. Each succeeding day was slightly less happy than one before, finally they divorced.”