1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: Cleveland, Ohio, nineteen thirty two. The Great Depression is in 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: full swing, and it's not exactly a barrel of laughs. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: Economic hardship is everywhere, and people are growing desperate, desperate 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: enough to do anything for even a few dollars. Tucked 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: into Cleveland Business District is a secondhand clothing shop. It's 6 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: run by a man named Mitchell Segull. He's a Lithuanian 7 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: Jewish immigrant born Mikhail Segalovitch. The shop does a fair business. 8 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: He's able to provide for his family, his wife, his 9 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: son Jerry, Jerry, siblings five in all. Mitchell's shop has suits, shirts, 10 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: shoes previously worn, but in this economic climate, affording any 11 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: kind of clothing at all is a luxury. Anyone walking 12 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: through the door is greeted warmly. The two men coming 13 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: in to his shop now, just before he starts closing up, 14 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: he welcomes, how can I help you, gentlemen? They don't answer. Ah, 15 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: that's a very nice, very shop. Would you like to 16 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: try it on? The men pull suits from the racks, 17 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: stretching out the sleeves admiring them. Mitchell has a good 18 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: selection of sizes and colors. Maybe this man wants to 19 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: look good for a job interview. Maybe he's going to 20 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: be married, or maybe he has something else in mind. Rabbi, stop, 21 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: it's a robber. One man has grabbed a suit and 22 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: is headed for the door. Mitchell begins to move towards them, 23 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: shouting there's two of them and only one of him. 24 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: They pry the suit from his grasp, a suit that 25 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: won't be easily replaced, that could earn him money he 26 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: won't have. The struggle is half a name literally and metaphorically, 27 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: all across the country. But even though Mitchell is one 28 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: of many here, he's all alone. Please no, no. The 29 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: men flee the store, leaving Mitchell on the floor. He 30 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,399 Speaker 1: can't catch his breath and his chest is heavy. Does 31 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: he think he's been shot? Soon his wife will learn 32 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: she's a widow, and his children will be told they 33 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: no longer have a father. For the next six years. Really, 34 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life, his teenage son Jerry 35 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 1: will wish someone had been there to protect Mitchell, to 36 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: save him, someone who could shake the thieves out of 37 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: their car as they ran away in terror, protecting an 38 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: innocent man who only wanted to go to work to 39 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: provide for his family. Someone invulnerable. Our story starts with 40 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: a robbery, a coppy of Superman's first appearance being taken 41 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: from the home of Nicholas Cage. But Superman's story starts 42 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: here with another robbery, and in the eyes of Jerry Siegel, 43 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: it won't be the last. Superman was taken from him 44 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: over and over again, stolen a thousand times before a 45 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: thief ever set foot on Cages property. For I Heart Radio, 46 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: this is Stealing Superman. I'm your host, Dani Schwartz, and 47 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: this is episode six Another Planet In three. One year 48 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: after his father died, Jerry Siegel walked down from his 49 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: second floor shared bedroom at a hundred and six two 50 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: Kimberly Avenue in Cleveland, headed to Glenville High When he 51 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: was finished for the day, he'd head back home and 52 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: immerse himself in science fiction in the Pulpse. Those were 53 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: the digest sized fiction collections with titles like Amazing Stories 54 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: and Private Detective that let the imaginations of their authors 55 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: run wild. The full color covers held big promises, rockets 56 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: to outer space, malevolent aliens, mad scientists. Jerry loved them. 57 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: He breathed in the cheap brown paper and used it 58 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: as kindling for his own imagination. Jerry wanted to be 59 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: a writer, a sci fi writer, just like the ones 60 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: he had admired in the Pulps. Everyone knew it too, 61 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: I know my mom told me the story word. She 62 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,720 Speaker 1: was about seven or eight at that time, and she'd 63 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: come over with her siblings. She had a four other siblings, 64 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: and they come over the house and they knock on 65 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: the door, and Jerry would be in his bedroom. He 66 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: had this kind of like an attic bedroom where he 67 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: kept this typewriter and he wrote all kinds of stories, 68 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: even as a young team. And he'd look out the 69 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: window and he see them coming up of the driveway 70 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: and then he would go around to the door and 71 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,039 Speaker 1: they say opened the door, and he would say, wait, 72 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: I'm gonna use my X ray vision to tell you 73 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: what you're wearing. And he would say, Irv, you're wearing 74 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: a white shirt, and Ruth, you're wearing a blue dress. 75 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: And of course he knew this because he looked out 76 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: the window, but he wanted to pretending he had X 77 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: ray vision, and they didn't know what X revision even was. 78 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: So he had all these ideas. And this was even 79 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 1: before Superman. You know, he was coming with these different ideas. 80 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: That's Gary Kaplan. Gary is a cousin of Jerry's and 81 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: knows a lot about the family history, which means he 82 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: knows quite a bit about our shared cultural history. Well, 83 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: I remember in the beginning, I didn't even know that 84 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: men was graded by a family member. When I was 85 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: really young, I was I remember I was watching The 86 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: Adventures a Superman on TV with George Reeves. My mom 87 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: walked in the room. She says, you know, that's your cousin, 88 00:05:57,839 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: And at first I didn't know what she was talking 89 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: about because I knew Superman wasn't real. She's no, she says, 90 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: she's my cousin. Jerry. He created Superman with his friend Joe, 91 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: and I was like shocked. In life, there are different 92 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: kinds of fortune, good and bad circumstances. Losing his father 93 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: was a tragedy, but not long before, Jerry Siegal had 94 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: met someone who would change his life, a classmate named 95 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: Joe Schuster. The Joe Gary mentioned they had actually lived 96 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: near each other for a few years, but didn't know it. Yes, 97 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: Jerry lived in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland and Joe 98 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: lived in the Kinsman area of Cleveland, and they didn't 99 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: know each other. The neighbors are not too far apart, 100 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: but there were different neighborhoods. And Joe went to Alexander 101 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: Hamilton Junior High and they had a newspaper there, the 102 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: Junior High, and my uncle was editor of that paper 103 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: as a ninth grader, and Joe was an illustrator and 104 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: he did comics for that paper. And this was an 105 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,559 Speaker 1: early nineteen thirties. Jerry and Joe met through another cousin 106 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: of Jerry's who knew Joe's family had moved to Cleveland 107 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: from Toronto a few years earlier, and believed that the 108 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: two boys would get together like a house on fire. 109 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: That's because Joe was also a science fiction fanatic, but 110 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,559 Speaker 1: he didn't want to write for the Pulps exactly. Joe 111 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: was a born artist, an illustrator, self taught mostly from 112 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: tracing other art. Someone who might feel more comfortable drawing 113 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: the covers that enticed people from the drug store shelves 114 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: or the introductory drawings that set the stage for the 115 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: story to follow. Joe would draw on anything, even wallpaper 116 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: someone had thrown away. They had the same type of 117 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: personalities and they related off. They both loved science fiction, 118 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: and those days, science fiction was relatively small compared to today, 119 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: so it was something that only a few people were 120 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: interested in. And they read the pol magazines like Amazing Stories, 121 00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: and they love that kind of stuff, and they wanted 122 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: to do something similar to that, but something really really 123 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: different and new, and they kept coming up with ideas, 124 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: and your Wood write and Joe would illustrate. It's hard 125 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: to explain how serendipitous this meeting was. Jerry and Joe 126 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: were even alphabetized in class close together. The universe seemed 127 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: to want to make certain they would meet their skills 128 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: complemented each other perfectly for what was at the time 129 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: a virtually unknown medium, the comic book. In the nineteen thirties, 130 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: comics usually referred to comics strips, the sequential art published 131 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: in newspapers that offered tiny snippets of illustrated humor and adventure. 132 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: Some publishers collected the strips into periodicals, and that over 133 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,240 Speaker 1: time gave way to creating original, long form illustrated stories, 134 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:58,319 Speaker 1: Beginning with ninety five New Fund number one, which is 135 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: believed to be the first all new collection of comic 136 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: book stories. Along with Jazz, it would be one of 137 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: the rare homegrown mediums of art in the United States. 138 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: But Jerry and Joe weren't thinking of birthing a new medium. 139 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: They were high school kids having fun collaborating. Jerry conjured 140 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: up sci fi tales and Joe visualized them. One of 141 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: their stories was titled Reign of the Superman, which they 142 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: published in their own pulp magazine they named Science Fiction. 143 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: It was about a maniacal scientist trying to craft an 144 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: unstoppable monster with powers of telepathy, super eyesight, and hearing 145 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: via a special serum. But this superman was a crook, 146 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: a villain. All he wants is money and power. You 147 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: can see the wheels turning how Jerry and Joe were 148 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: moving towards something new and different, something pop culture didn't 149 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: even have a word for yet. As they moved through 150 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: high school, Jerry and Joe absorbed what was happening in 151 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: the world around them. One of the biggest local heroes 152 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,239 Speaker 1: in town was Benny Friedman, a football player for Glenville 153 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: High the quarterback, he was solidly built and had a 154 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: spit curl falling down over his forehead. He wore form 155 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: fitting tights and in the Olympics all anyone could talk 156 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: about was Jesse Owens, a Cleveland native who was believed 157 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: to be the fastest man alive, like he had superpowers. 158 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: There's a synthesis here, a translucent glimpse into the creative 159 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: minds of Jerry and Joe. They were being inundated with 160 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 1: information about people with physical abilities far beyond the norm 161 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: at a time the world was in desperate need of 162 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: a figure of hope, a figure that began to emerge 163 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: from a symphony of fiction. They had both consumed with 164 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: darkof breathing out, connected the right for death, and refugating alive. 165 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: They decided their superpowered antagonist worked better as a protagonist. 166 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: His origin was the stuff of science fiction. Born on 167 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: a planet called Krypton that was about to end and 168 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: sent off to Earth to be raised by mortals. A 169 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: skin tight costume broadcast his other worldliness. A small curl 170 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: hung over his forehead. He had speed and incredible powers. 171 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: It was an homage to the strong men of the era, 172 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: who were famous for feats of strength. Joe Shuster was 173 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: trying to come up with costumes, and he said, these 174 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,719 Speaker 1: county fairs all over the country, and he used to 175 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: have these strong men that would come to town. You know, 176 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,719 Speaker 1: these guys with the handlebar mustaches and they would ben 177 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: steal on their bare hands and break chains, and they 178 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: were these costumes that would be it would be like 179 00:11:55,120 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: tights with swim trunks over the tights. And hey, Joe 180 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: would go to these county fairs where they have these strongman. 181 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: He would take his art pad and he would illustrate 182 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: or he would draw these strongman. He would get ideas. 183 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: Because Superman ended up with kind of costume with people 184 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: joking he's wearing his underpants on the outside, but really 185 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,079 Speaker 1: that is what the strongman used to have. They have 186 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: these tights and they had these boots, and they had 187 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: the swim trunks over that, and that's what he decided 188 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: to go with. The s on his chest stood for Superman. 189 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: It also could have stood for Seagull and Schuster. It 190 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: was a few years when they were in eleventh grade 191 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,839 Speaker 1: is when they came up with the Superman idea. It 192 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: wasn't a percent like it is today Superman the original 193 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 1: one and even half a costume originally, and they drew one. 194 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: It was a publisher actually interested because all the all 195 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: the publishers they were communicating with wouldn't publish anything they 196 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: came up with because they were high school kids, you know. 197 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: And there was a publisher who was publishing a comic 198 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: called Detective Dan, which was really like the first real 199 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: comic book, because all the other comics were really comic 200 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,199 Speaker 1: strips and newspapers. They were syndicated. There were no comic 201 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: books originally. So they saw this. I though, this would 202 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: be really cool, this is what they would like to do. 203 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: So they contacted that publisher and he said he was interested. 204 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: But then the company went out of business a few 205 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: weeks later, and they were so frustrated the cover they 206 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: put for Superman, which basically he was as bear chested 207 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: Joe Schuster was so upset that he destroyed everything except 208 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: Jerry Siegel managed to say the cover that Jerry imagined 209 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: Superman could be the next comic strip hit. It was 210 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: clear that Superman was a visual character, one whose physical 211 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: abilities needed to be seen, not just described. But the 212 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: New York comic strip publishers Jerry queried were indifferent. At best. 213 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: Superman was strange, a weird amalgam of sci fi and 214 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: the kind of street level justice dished out by Dick Tracy. 215 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: Superman was virtually invulnerable, but seemed content to punch the 216 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:59,719 Speaker 1: lights out of common thieves, thieves who might rob innocent shopkeepers. 217 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: Jerry eventually tried his luck with National Allied Publications, which 218 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: had already published a few of Jerry and Joe's stories. 219 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: And just to be clear that publisher later known as 220 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: d C Comics went through several names and was involved 221 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: in acquisitions early on, will spare you the confusion and 222 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: just refer to them as d C. The company was 223 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: gearing up to begin printing a new anthology comic book 224 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: title Action Comics Short and to the point, to grab 225 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: a young reader's attention. They took a look at Jerry 226 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: and Joe's submission and believed Superman would be a good fit. 227 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: No one, of course, could predict what Superman would bring, 228 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: that he would be the beginning of the superhero age. 229 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: And then they kept working on it, and they sent 230 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: it to other publishers, and they came up with the 231 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: Superman costume and so forth, and in many other aspects 232 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: of it, including that he was not from Earth originally 233 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: he was from Earth, and how he came to Crypton 234 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: and added different gravity and that would allow him to 235 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: be able to leap tall buildings with the single bound 236 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: and so forth, because they wanted to make sure they 237 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: could justify how we could do all these things and 238 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: lived how the objects because the weight on earth was different, 239 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: although he couldn't fly in the beginning. But they kept 240 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: getting objections. They graduated high school in nineteen thirty four, 241 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: and they still worked at it, and they kept trying 242 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: and trying and trying, and they never gave up. And 243 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: finally publisher finally agreed to publish it, and that publisher 244 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: later became known as d C Comics. Harry Donnenfeld, who 245 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: headed up DC, offered the two young men the opportunity 246 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: to write and illustrate their first Superman story. Jerry and Joe, 247 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: who had been trying to break into the business of 248 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: telling stories for years, eagerly accepted, and so in April 249 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: of ninety eight, the cover of Action Comics number one 250 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: depicted the debut of Superman and and the birth of 251 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: the American comic book Superhero. A single copy would come 252 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: to be worth millions of dollars. Back then it was 253 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: ten cents. But that big break came with a catch. 254 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: They said, Hey, we're gonna publish it, and not only 255 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: that we're gonna give you a tenure contract, guaranteed money, 256 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: guarantee salary to write and illustrate Superman. Well, this was 257 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: their dream come true. So they were excited to agree 258 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: to that d C. And I'll call it d C 259 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: so as that we know for the audience. They said, 260 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: but we agree to sign you this tenure contract, we 261 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: must own the rights, not you. And they wanted to 262 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: make sure they Superman got published, so they agreed to that, 263 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: and they got a very small conversations for the writing. 264 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: Harry Donnenfeld paid Jerry and Joe a hundred and thirty 265 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:54,119 Speaker 1: dollars and in return, Jerry and Joe gave Harry everything 266 00:16:54,840 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: Superman to have and hold forever. The contract said forever. 267 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: How can you even measure the success of a genre 268 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: that didn't yet exist? When Action number one hit news stands, 269 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: there was no such thing as a superhero. Sure, the 270 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: Phantom had worn tights and comic strips, and Doc Savage 271 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: had unbreakable skin, but Superman was something else and readers 272 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: knew it. D C printed two hundred thousand copies of 273 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: Action number one and watched as it sold out. Who 274 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: knows why kids like anything but that cover of Superman 275 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,879 Speaker 1: hefting a car over his head while people run away 276 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: from him was galvanizing. No one had seen anything like it. 277 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: It stood out one because it was colorful too, because 278 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: of what it had on the cover. I mean, people 279 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: knew what comics were, well, they know what comics worrying 280 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: that they had started to show up, and they knew 281 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: what what comic strips were, so they recognized, you know, 282 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: that's what this was. But you have this strange picture 283 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 1: of this guy in this suit, and the suit was 284 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,679 Speaker 1: like nothing else before, and he's lifting this car and 285 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 1: kind of smashing it and it's a brand new car. 286 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: That's brad Rica. Brad wrote the definitive dual biography of 287 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:28,640 Speaker 1: Jerry and Joe. It's called Superboys and it was published. So, 288 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: you know, I teach once, I teach a class in 289 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: comics and we always analyze this cover. You know, what 290 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: is it about this cover that got kids to buy it? 291 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: Because that's the oldest anecdote in Superman lores that you know, 292 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: kids bought this thing and that's why comics and Superman 293 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,679 Speaker 1: took off. And you look at that cover and he 294 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: doesn't even look like a hero, and that he looks 295 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: like the villain because there's somebody's brand new car and 296 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: he's destroying it. And who has a brand new car 297 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: in the depression? And nobody but somebody in class. And 298 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: I tried to remember who said it, so I feel 299 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: bad about it, but I'll always acknowledge that somebody said 300 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,120 Speaker 1: it. It It wasn't me. They said, no, that's not why 301 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: kids bought this book. And if you look at the 302 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 1: picture of the cover of Action Comics one, if you 303 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: know kind of picture in your head, they're Superman lifting 304 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 1: the car and there's this guy on the bottom left 305 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: who's with his both his hands he kind of looks 306 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: like the scream and both his hands on his face, 307 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: and he's running kind of out of the cover with 308 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: a scream on his mouth. And somebody said, that's why 309 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: kids bought it, and the rest of the custles like, 310 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: why what are you talking about? They bought it because 311 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: of Supermans. He's super cool. No matter the reason, Action 312 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: Comics was a hit, Superman became a regular feature, eclipsing 313 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: any other character within its pages. In nine he got 314 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: his own title, and he had come from all places Cleveland, 315 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: where Brad was from. When I got older and I realized, well, 316 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: they did come from Cleveland, and they did create Superman here. 317 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: The question that kept nagging at me was, well, how 318 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: they do it? Because to me, that's like the Superman, 319 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: the first superhero, really the first superhero. It's the Philosopher's stone, right, 320 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: you know, how did they figure out to put all 321 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: these different things together and have this magic to create 322 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: somebody who wears his his underwear on the outside and 323 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: that we all still love, you know, almost eighty years later. 324 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: So to me then it became more of a kind 325 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 1: of a detective story that I really wanted to know 326 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: how they did it. It was Brad who debunked one 327 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: of the great Superman creation myths that Jerry's father had 328 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: been shot during that clothing store robbery. What I found 329 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: is that, in fact, he did obviously die that night, 330 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: but what happened is he had a heart attack. Is 331 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: he was in his clothing store and some men came 332 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: in and they were going to steal a suit, and 333 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: he went to stop them and he dropped over of 334 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: heart failure. And it's hard to say whether he was 335 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: scared or he just you know, didn't know to do. 336 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: We overexerted himself, but that's how he died. And then 337 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,160 Speaker 1: a year later, like almost to the day, is when 338 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: Jerry comes up with the idea for Superman. And I 339 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: started to see once you kind of see that all 340 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: the early comics, there's all these panels where criminals dropped 341 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: dead of a heart attack when they see Superman, and 342 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: Superman goes, well, they're weak and what else could I do? 343 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: And it's also Clark Kent, who's in one hand, Is 344 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: this really meek, mild mannered American journalist who faints when 345 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: there's action nearby turns into Superman? And this made me think, 346 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: this is why Jerry was so invested in it, because 347 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 1: he put the tragedy of his father's death into this 348 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: character who is not the victim of crime but fights 349 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: crime as this immortal superhero forever in the comics and beyond. 350 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: And it made me see Superman is not just this, 351 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: at least their version, not just this commercial thing, colorful 352 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: thing to sell to kids who would go nuts. But really, this, 353 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: for lack of a better word, but maybe it is 354 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: the word is As the work of art and his 355 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: mythology only grew. A new radio show followed, which introduced 356 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 1: Jimmy Olsen, as well as Kryptonite, which weakened Superman. A 357 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,680 Speaker 1: series of theatrical cartoons by animation legend Max Fleischer were 358 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: produced and were so exquisite that they don't have equals 359 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: to this day. Superman toys began filling up shelves, model 360 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: kits and statues and decoder rings. Kids were crazy for 361 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: him and the other heroes that followed, Batman, Captain America, 362 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: Wonder Woman, A damn had burst and out came heroes 363 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:51,360 Speaker 1: with grandiose origin stories and spandex uniforms, but none were 364 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: as visible or as powerful as what Jerry and Joe 365 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,920 Speaker 1: had drunk up. For a few years, the two got 366 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 1: steady work from d C Comics, so much work that 367 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,639 Speaker 1: the two hired artists to help fulfill the need for 368 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: Superman stories. Superman even got the syndicated newspaper comic strip 369 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,640 Speaker 1: deal Jerry longed for, But when they'd asked for more 370 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 1: fair compensation, d C editors would remind them that Superman 371 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: belonged to d C and if they were sore about it, well, 372 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,440 Speaker 1: DC could find someone else to write and draw him. 373 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: That scared the two. Superman was theirs, if not legally 374 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: then creatively and emotionally, so they kept working, watching as 375 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: d C counted their money. In alone subsidiary company, Superman Inc. 376 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:49,360 Speaker 1: Made one point five million dollars. Jerry and Joe didn't 377 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: in my opinion, they knew what they were doing, that 378 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 1: it wasn't just buying another comics feature. And part of 379 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 1: this is that Harry Donond felt that lost out a 380 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: contract on the Lone Ranger, and the Lone Ranger was 381 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: hugely popular. Everyone was jealous of the Lone Ranger because 382 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: it all came out of one person that every time, 383 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: you know, you would license the Lone Ranger, but you 384 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 1: would hear it on the radio, you'd watch the serials, 385 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,879 Speaker 1: you'd read the pulps and the whatever you had to 386 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: pay this guy, just like Disney with Mickey Mouse. And 387 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: I think Donald Felt really liked that because when he 388 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: finally lost his contract, he was bringing Lone Ranger magazines. 389 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: I think he kind of was looking for a character 390 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 1: that he could do that with. And again that's just 391 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: a theory of my part. But also I think the 392 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 1: fact that once they got Superman, almost immediately they're turning 393 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: him into what we today would call a trans media empire. 394 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: They're working on the radio show is what transforms the 395 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,679 Speaker 1: audience for that, and then that just explodes. But I 396 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: think so the other side of it, Like you said, 397 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: they work on Superman for ten years, and they make 398 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,439 Speaker 1: a lot of money, and they asked for raises, they 399 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: beg for raises, they get raises. It's a long and 400 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: tumultuous relationship. But they're very well paid, you know. They 401 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,359 Speaker 1: moved to new houses and they're kind of what I 402 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 1: call Cleveland famous around town and even bigger than that too. 403 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: And then Jerry went off to war. Joe couldn't serve 404 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: because of his poor eyesight, and Superman couldn't either. With 405 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: his powers, it would be easy to imagine him pummeling 406 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,640 Speaker 1: the Axis, but that would minimize the sacrifices being made 407 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: by real heroes. So when Clark Kent tries to enlist, 408 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: he fails an eye exam, his X ray vision means 409 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: he accidentally reads the eye chart in the next room. 410 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,160 Speaker 1: While stationed in Hawaii, Jerry contributed to Stars and Stripes, 411 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:59,360 Speaker 1: a periodical distributed to soldiers. His writing experience largely kept 412 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: him out of action, though he was away from his 413 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: own family. He had married a woman named Joanne, whom 414 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: Joe had used as the physical model for Lois Lane. 415 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: The war was being unkind to Superman in another kind 416 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: of way, thanks to paper shortages. Paper drives were common, 417 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: with households donating their newspapers, magazines, and comics so they 418 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: could be pulped for the war efforts. There's no telling 419 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: how many thousands, or even millions of comics were destroyed 420 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:35,920 Speaker 1: this way, for good cause, obviously, but turned into confetti nonetheless, 421 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: and contributing to a scarcity of these comics that are 422 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: so valued today. The war ended one conflict, but when 423 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,920 Speaker 1: Jerry returned home he was still fighting another, the one 424 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 1: with d C. He and Joe felt they had been 425 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:57,120 Speaker 1: strung along, placated with work and good salaries while d 426 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: C had profited handsomely from Superman. They suit the company 427 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 1: for five million dollars, based in part on the introduction 428 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: of Superboy, a juvenile version of the character the two 429 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: had created and DC had published without obtaining the copyright 430 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: to the character. The two ultimately settled for a hundred 431 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, sensing d C had three resources for a 432 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: long legal fight. As a result, Jerry and Joe were 433 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: persona non grata at d C and that infuriated both men, 434 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: but Jerry especially and he tended to act on his emotions, 435 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: which led to another story Brad was able to debunk. 436 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 1: And there were other stories too. There was one that 437 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: took me forever to track down that he put on 438 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 1: a Superman cave and was going to jump off a 439 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 1: building in Midtown because he was so upset with the 440 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: way he had been treated. And I found out that 441 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: that story was wrong, even though you know, there are 442 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: tons of comics professionals to this day who will swear 443 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: to its accuracy. All that was Jerry Siegel. It wasn't 444 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: it with some other guy just doing it for some 445 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:09,400 Speaker 1: completely other reason. So there's a lot of stories like that. 446 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,440 Speaker 1: And as his wife once called into d C and said, 447 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: we're out of money, we have a daughter, a young daughter, 448 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: Please give him some work. And there's just there's a 449 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,159 Speaker 1: lot of that. I think you said, it's kind of 450 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 1: extra legal, but kind of going on in the relationship 451 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: between him and DC. And then things got very personal 452 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: when DC sold the television rights to Superman in ninetift 453 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: Jerry and Joe felt slighted now the character. In their view, 454 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: their character was being beamed into millions of household and 455 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: conquering another new medium, and they didn't get a penny 456 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: for it. Having spent the settlement money, Jerry retaliated in 457 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: whatever way he could. He wrote a letter to the 458 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: FBI admonishing the agency to investigate d SE alleging their 459 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: employees had criminal and communist pasts. When the Superman Show 460 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: made it to air, Jerry proclaimed he was going on 461 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: a hunger strike to protest what he said was unfair 462 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 1: treatment by the company, and they began sending him a 463 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: little bit of money, if only to avoid the negative publicity. 464 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,880 Speaker 1: But hadn't Jerry and Joe sold their rights free and clear, 465 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: and of their own volition. They did, but in their eyes, 466 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: what was legal and what was ethical were worlds apart. 467 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: Without income from d C, both men were struggling, Joe 468 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,719 Speaker 1: more so. His eyesight, which had long been an issue 469 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: for him, kept getting worse. At one point, he took 470 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 1: on work as an artist for the underground adult illustration scene. 471 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: These were drawings of a lurid nature that appealed to 472 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 1: fetish enthusiasts, with men and women bound up and whipped. 473 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: In Joe's drawings of these scenarios, the men looked very 474 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: much like Clark Kent, and the women looked remarkably like 475 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: Lois Lane. It was as though Joe was driven to 476 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: depict them as being victimized, perhaps in the way he 477 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: felt they were being tormented by d C, the way 478 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: he and Jerry were being mistreated. Joe, of course left 479 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: the drawings unsigned, and they weren't identified as his until 480 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: decades later. In the late nineteen fifties, Jerry went back 481 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: to Deasey as a writer, invited into the fold by 482 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: new editors to resume being a co author of Superman's adventures. 483 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: He set about writing the best stories he could, but 484 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: the arrangement didn't last long, and by the nineteen sixties, 485 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: Jerry was once more at odds with the company. He 486 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: pursued another lawsuit to try and reclaim Superman's copyright. Though 487 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: the odds weren't good, and Joe had relinquished the rights 488 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: not once but twice, a court sided with d C. 489 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: If the relationship was fractured, it suffered permanent injury. When 490 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,440 Speaker 1: d C entered into an agreement for a major motion 491 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: picture to be made about the character, Warner Brothers would 492 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: release Superman, the movie, starring Christopher Reeve as the Man 493 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:30,440 Speaker 1: of Steel In Jerry wrote an open letter in which 494 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 1: he literally cursed the production. So I rate was he 495 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: at the idea of d C profiting from the character 496 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: while he and Joe struggled to make ends meet. He 497 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: hoped He wrote that the movie quote super bombs. Yeah, 498 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,040 Speaker 1: And it was that movie because there's stories of he 499 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: passed once on a New York street and it's his 500 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 1: years before he passed, his wife and him passed. George 501 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,959 Speaker 1: Rey said, Jerry fro and he just couldn't handle it. 502 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: And Joe would stand outside there was like the Superman 503 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: musical on Broadway, and he, you know, would see the 504 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 1: famous people coming in. He just froze. He just couldn't 505 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: deal with it. But then it was that movie because 506 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: they announced in the magazines there's gonna be this big 507 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: Superman movie. But it was Brando is going to be 508 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: in it, and he was going to be paid this 509 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: obscene amount of money to be jo L. And that's 510 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,960 Speaker 1: what put Jerry over the edge. Merlin Brando was to 511 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 1: play Superman's father, joor L. With Brando being the most 512 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 1: respected living actor at the time, he was paid handsomely 513 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: for relatively little work. Almost four million dollars, a number 514 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: that grew when he received part of the box office gross, 515 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: more than Jerry and Joe could ever dream of seeing 516 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: from having created Superman. Money that went to an actor 517 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: who seemed slightly disinterested in the role and suggested to 518 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: director Richard Donner he could play the character as a 519 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 1: suitcase or a bagel. He'd just do the voice. The 520 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: publicity was not perhaps what d C and Warner wanted, 521 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: so they agreed finally that Jerry and Joe were due 522 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: at least modest compensation beyond their initial one hundred and 523 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: thirty dollar payment and work for higher fees. After three 524 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: decades of fighting, d C began paying them each an 525 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: annual pension of thirty thousand dollars with healthcare. Of course, 526 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:37,360 Speaker 1: that's something that's good, but it still didn't seem just 527 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: They created one of the most indelible characters in modern culture. 528 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: But there was another concession, one that was probably as 529 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,960 Speaker 1: important to Jerry and Joe. From that point on, whenever 530 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 1: Superman appeared in print or on screen, a credit would 531 00:33:55,080 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: appear created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. If you 532 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 1: walk around Cleveland today, you'll see pages from Action Comics 533 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: number one, priceless pages stuck on an outdoor fence, and 534 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 1: in a testament to the respect due Jerry Siegel and 535 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 1: Joe Schuster, no one tries to pry them off or 536 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:23,319 Speaker 1: deface them. The pages are oversized and FA similes, not 537 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 1: the real thing, but they're there in tribute to what 538 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:31,920 Speaker 1: these two clevelanders really just two teenage boys contributed to 539 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:36,359 Speaker 1: the world an idealized version of a hero beyond the 540 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,759 Speaker 1: pettiness of human behavior, strong enough to defend the week. 541 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: For Jerry and Joe, Defending them and honoring their memory 542 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: meant creating the Siegell and Schuster Society, a nonprofit devoted 543 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,920 Speaker 1: to keeping their roles as pioneers alive in the eyes 544 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: of the public. Here's Gary Kaplan. In two thousand and seven, 545 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: journalists for the Cleveland Playing Dealer, his name was Mike 546 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: san Jacomo wrote a story, it was a full page story, 547 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,880 Speaker 1: asking why doesn't the city of Cleveland celebrate that Superman 548 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,680 Speaker 1: was created in Cleveland? And this sort of brought a 549 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 1: lot of attention, and so a group of people got together, 550 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: some businessmen, some college professors, and they formed the Seagull 551 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,320 Speaker 1: Schuester Society In two thousand and seven. My uncle was 552 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,439 Speaker 1: on the board at that time. I was not. And 553 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine, two years later, they renovated 554 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: the home of Jerry Siegel, which was in pretty poor shape. 555 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: He had a typewriter in his attic bedroom where he 556 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: wrote so many of the stories, and so they wanted 557 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: to preserve the home, and with the help of author 558 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: Brad Meltzer, money was raised online and they raised over 559 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,719 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars but a hundred thousand dollars of 560 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: renovations in the home and they had a ribbon counting 561 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: ceremony in two thousand nine. It was a wonderful event. 562 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,640 Speaker 1: In addition to that, Joe Schuster who illustrated it. This 563 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,600 Speaker 1: home was nine blocks away and the home had already 564 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,799 Speaker 1: been torn down years ago, so it was a new 565 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,240 Speaker 1: home put there. But they put up a commemorative events 566 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: with the panels from Action Comics number one going all 567 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 1: the way around the fence, which is really really cool, 568 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,439 Speaker 1: and so people drive by and they can see all 569 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 1: these panels of the comic from Action Comics number one. 570 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:11,840 Speaker 1: And then in two thousand twelve, a Seagull Interstor Society 571 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 1: worked with Cleveland Hopkins Airport to put in a permanent 572 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:20,160 Speaker 1: Superman exhibit which contains a datio Superman along with assign 573 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,840 Speaker 1: this as welcome to Cleveland, where the legend began, and 574 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 1: everyone can see that as they go to the baggage 575 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:27,839 Speaker 1: department at Cleveland Hopkins Airports. All's our society. In two 576 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 1: thousand thirteen, we work with the State of Ohio the legislature. 577 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,319 Speaker 1: We put together a license plate with a Superman uh 578 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: S Sabney at the logo with the words truth, Justice 579 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 1: in American way. So anybody the know how can get 580 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:41,839 Speaker 1: one of those license plates. And there's at the legal 581 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand ohiolands have that license plate, including myself. 582 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 1: So those are some of the things that we have done, 583 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: and we're working at some other things right now too. 584 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: In a way, Jerry's home became a kind of shrine, 585 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:56,400 Speaker 1: a place of cultural birth. It's also occupied by a 586 00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,879 Speaker 1: couple the Grays, who warmly welcome people make a pilgrimage 587 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,640 Speaker 1: to pay their respects to Superman's co creator. It's the 588 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,440 Speaker 1: best looking house on the block. You know you're in 589 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,040 Speaker 1: the right place because there is a big s on 590 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:14,080 Speaker 1: the wooden fence out front. For years some collectors arrived, 591 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 1: wondering if the rumors about Jerry leaving stacks of Action 592 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:22,600 Speaker 1: number ones in the attic were true. After all, no 593 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:27,879 Speaker 1: one knew they'd become cultural artifacts, prized like Maltese falcons. 594 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,839 Speaker 1: Well where newsstands were typically they would have some comic books. 595 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,640 Speaker 1: It could be a pharmacy, but it could be lots 596 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,239 Speaker 1: of places. Really, it was ten cents to buy a 597 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:41,400 Speaker 1: Superman comic, and who knew years later it would be 598 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,799 Speaker 1: worth so valuable. Because what happened, people would buy it 599 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:46,319 Speaker 1: and then the next one would come out so they 600 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:48,120 Speaker 1: could throughout the old one. They wouldn't save it. No 601 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 1: one envisioned it would have some value to it. Author 602 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,359 Speaker 1: Brad Meltzer traveled to the family home once along with 603 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,239 Speaker 1: a journalist, and the current owners told him no one 604 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: had been in the attic in decades. He was seized 605 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:06,400 Speaker 1: by the possibilities. Could there really be a small pile 606 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:10,600 Speaker 1: of million dollar comics just sitting in this attic? So 607 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: he asked to go up, but there wasn't any easy 608 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,680 Speaker 1: access to it. They promised they'd have their son take 609 00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,800 Speaker 1: a look. The Grays later phoned the reporter to state 610 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: that they had gone up and no, there was no 611 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:27,279 Speaker 1: hidden treasure. Well, I suppose they'd say that regardless, wouldn't they. Well, 612 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:29,680 Speaker 1: I can guarantee you there are no Superman actually Comics 613 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 1: number one in the house that the Grays occupy right 614 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:33,719 Speaker 1: now in Cleveland, that I can tell you there's none 615 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,320 Speaker 1: in there. Jerry himself saved many copies of Action Comics 616 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 1: Number one, and they had dozens of them. And his 617 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,120 Speaker 1: daughter told me that what happened was well, him and 618 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,759 Speaker 1: Joe both were financially devastated by losing their jobs, and 619 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:48,440 Speaker 1: for years they had several things out. Joe worked for 620 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,799 Speaker 1: the post office, and it was difficult for them. So 621 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,600 Speaker 1: they ended up selling some of these Action Comic number 622 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 1: ones for money. So they get a hundred dollars maybe 623 00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 1: for one, which was that's a pretty good return on 624 00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:01,960 Speaker 1: a ten s investment, you know. And then later they 625 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 1: may maybe they've got a few hundred dollars, you know, 626 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,840 Speaker 1: and eventually they never left. I'm sure they never envisioned 627 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 1: it would be worth over a million dollars. The same 628 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:14,120 Speaker 1: comic coveted by collectors and thieves who spend or steal millions, 629 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:18,320 Speaker 1: once sold off for a few hundred dollars because Jerry 630 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,799 Speaker 1: Siegal needed the money. It's a cutthroat media world out there, 631 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:27,399 Speaker 1: with massive entities jocking for consumer dollars and comic book 632 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:32,200 Speaker 1: properties treated like roadmaps to fortunes. Lost among all of 633 00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:36,640 Speaker 1: that maneuvering are the people responsible for creating these characters. 634 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: The Seagull family waged a legal battle for years against Warner, 635 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 1: arguing the estate was entitled to compensation and partial ownership 636 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:51,520 Speaker 1: for the cultural pillars Superman had become. That fight seemingly 637 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:56,080 Speaker 1: ended in with a court ruling that concluded years of 638 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: legal entanglement. Warner brothers would keep Superman in the Seagull 639 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:07,319 Speaker 1: estate would get a settlement. So did d C steal Superman? No, 640 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:11,560 Speaker 1: of course, not a deal was made, But what precedent 641 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:15,680 Speaker 1: did Jerry and Joe have? Who could have anticipated what 642 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:21,239 Speaker 1: Superman would become? The promise of making a living as 643 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: creators was intoxicating. What reason would either of them have 644 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:29,440 Speaker 1: to ever lay down at night and imagine a world 645 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:35,200 Speaker 1: where Superman was earning millions in toys and movies and comics, 646 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:39,239 Speaker 1: while Joe would later be so downtrodden. He was awakened 647 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: by a cop on a park bench and taken for 648 00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:48,120 Speaker 1: a warm meal. Superman seemed to enrich everyone around him 649 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:52,400 Speaker 1: except the two men who brought him to life. Not theft, 650 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:58,880 Speaker 1: but something was taken. Today, living comic writers and artists 651 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: often see there were are co opted for movies or 652 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:06,640 Speaker 1: streaming shows, but checks rarely make their way to their mailboxes. 653 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:11,799 Speaker 1: Sometimes you can create something so big and immersive that 654 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:16,040 Speaker 1: you can't get out from its shadow. Gary wants Jerry 655 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:23,160 Speaker 1: and Joe to avoid that fate. Joe died in two Jerry. 656 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:27,040 Speaker 1: The Society raises money and promotes events to make sure 657 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:31,880 Speaker 1: their memory remains a constant, that every time Superman bursts 658 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:35,279 Speaker 1: through a wall, that fans will remember. The s can 659 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:39,839 Speaker 1: stand for Segel and Schuster. And you know, Jerry's father 660 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:42,359 Speaker 1: died during a botched robbery, and I think he thought 661 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:46,280 Speaker 1: of his father a lot when he wanted to create somebody, 662 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,560 Speaker 1: have somebody who would defend the defenseless, and he thought 663 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: of his father, I'm sure. And he made a bulletproof too. 664 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:54,840 Speaker 1: But I think for that reason, with Siegel and Schuster 665 00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:58,440 Speaker 1: left behind, is much more than a comic book. There 666 00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:01,720 Speaker 1: is so much history thin the pages of Action Comics. 667 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,680 Speaker 1: Number one superficially it's an object and one to be 668 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,839 Speaker 1: coveted among the millionaire collectors of the world. But look 669 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,640 Speaker 1: past the panels and you'll see a story about a 670 00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:16,240 Speaker 1: grieving son who coped with the loss of his father 671 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:21,520 Speaker 1: by giving the world what everyone needs, a hero. What 672 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:27,360 Speaker 1: you're buying isn't scarcity, but a representation of hope. Well. 673 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:29,400 Speaker 1: I can't put a price on it. I think the 674 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:32,640 Speaker 1: market decides the price like anything. But even if it 675 00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:35,239 Speaker 1: was only worth a dollar, I would want it, you know, 676 00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,280 Speaker 1: because it's historical and it means a lot to my family, 677 00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:42,640 Speaker 1: and it started the entire superhero genre. This one comic. 678 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:45,000 Speaker 1: It all started with that, and now we have all 679 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:48,719 Speaker 1: these superheroes everywhere and they're more popular than ever. And 680 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,480 Speaker 1: during Joe made it happened, and I'm very proud of them. 681 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,040 Speaker 1: The value of the world is, I would say, is huge. 682 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:56,719 Speaker 1: I mean he's known all over the world. You could 683 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:00,279 Speaker 1: go to visit cities in Tokyo and Paris and so worth, 684 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,759 Speaker 1: and you see people walking out around with T shirts 685 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:06,240 Speaker 1: with a Superman s chield on it all over the world. 686 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:10,120 Speaker 1: Even in Ukraina they were showing people defending Ukraini and 687 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:13,400 Speaker 1: somewhere wearing Superman T shirts because they thought like Superman 688 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:15,799 Speaker 1: for that moment trying to defend the defense is just 689 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 1: like Jerry wanted Superman to defend the defense. So the 690 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:26,000 Speaker 1: significance is tremendous. Here's brad Rika. Yeah, I've thought about 691 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,640 Speaker 1: this a lot and other people too. It's it's a 692 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:34,680 Speaker 1: really strange, almost unique kind of American artifact Action One 693 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,200 Speaker 1: because it's like this almost holy relic because it's worth 694 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:42,640 Speaker 1: so much money, but it's also this holy relic because 695 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:45,759 Speaker 1: of what's in it, because it's the first appearance of Superman. 696 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:49,440 Speaker 1: I mean, that's why it's in the Smithsonian, not because 697 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:53,400 Speaker 1: it's worth millions of dollars. You know, everyone who's ever 698 00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:57,240 Speaker 1: seen an Action comics one, you have this moment where 699 00:43:57,239 --> 00:43:59,920 Speaker 1: it's like this is it, and then people that effect 700 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:02,840 Speaker 1: really touched one or help it's the same thing. I'm like, 701 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: oh wait, this is just a comic, just paper and staples. 702 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:10,000 Speaker 1: But it's something more too. It's so strange to think 703 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:14,480 Speaker 1: of a thief stealing of all things Action one, right, 704 00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:18,520 Speaker 1: because it's the it's the superhero, it's the fight against crime, 705 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:22,319 Speaker 1: and someone's trying to take that away. The thing with 706 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:26,919 Speaker 1: Action one it has no physical value, right, but it's 707 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: kind of all that symbolic value. I mean it's valuable 708 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,480 Speaker 1: because it's rare, certainly, but there's a lot of things 709 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,080 Speaker 1: that are rare that aren't worth millions of dollars. I mean, 710 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:42,680 Speaker 1: it's just Superman. It's the first superhero, and you know, 711 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:46,040 Speaker 1: I think it gets more valuable with time because we 712 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:52,040 Speaker 1: start to realize how more important that is to our 713 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,759 Speaker 1: history than maybe we first thought. Was that on the 714 00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:59,320 Speaker 1: mind of the thief who took it from Nicholas Cage, 715 00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:03,880 Speaker 1: the they were really stealing someone's idealized version of Superman, 716 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:06,920 Speaker 1: that they were robbing him of the innocence that the 717 00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:11,439 Speaker 1: character was supposed to be projecting. The thing about Superman, too, 718 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:15,399 Speaker 1: is it's so it's it's Superman. It's the good guy, 719 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:17,319 Speaker 1: you know. I mean, what do you do if you 720 00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:19,640 Speaker 1: steal it and you're just like looking at it every 721 00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:23,319 Speaker 1: night and Superman's right on the cover, just saying, you know, 722 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:25,920 Speaker 1: why don't you steam lee? That's the wrong thing to do. 723 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:30,360 Speaker 1: You can't like Superman and steal action one, No, you 724 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:34,040 Speaker 1: probably can't. That would probably be the first thing you'd 725 00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:37,880 Speaker 1: want to ask anyone who surfaced with the comic why 726 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:42,320 Speaker 1: why do it? But after eleven years, it didn't seem 727 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,960 Speaker 1: like that day was ever going to come, that Superman 728 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:50,319 Speaker 1: would be forever defeated by the Cage Party robber. But 729 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:55,399 Speaker 1: then one day, Cages comic book dealer Stephen Fishler got 730 00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:59,480 Speaker 1: a call and an invitation to meet the two most 731 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:05,080 Speaker 1: bizarre our characters of this entire story. The individual who 732 00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:07,919 Speaker 1: walked in behind me holding the Mandola folder is now 733 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:12,080 Speaker 1: sitting in this office, and the Minola folder is now open, 734 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:15,440 Speaker 1: and there's the book on like a little aprilic pedestal, 735 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:21,760 Speaker 1: and we sit down. Yeah, that's an original action one 736 00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:31,680 Speaker 1: that's next time on Stealing Superman. Stealing Superman is written 737 00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:35,840 Speaker 1: by Jake Rawson, sound design and score by Jonathan Washington, 738 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:41,640 Speaker 1: Additional production support by Josh Fisher. Original music by Aaron Kaufman, 739 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:46,560 Speaker 1: Mixing and mastering by Baheed Fraser. Research and fact checking 740 00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:50,719 Speaker 1: by Jake Rawson and Austin Thompson, with production support from 741 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:55,320 Speaker 1: Lulu Philip. Additional voices by Ruthie Stevens and Zarin Burnett. 742 00:46:56,000 --> 00:47:00,680 Speaker 1: Show logo by Lucy Quentinian. Our executive producer is Jason 743 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:04,720 Speaker 1: English and I'm your host Danish worts. If you're enjoying 744 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,759 Speaker 1: this show, check out Haileywood and Noble Blood and give 745 00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:12,240 Speaker 1: us a nice review. We'll see you next week. Stealing 746 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:14,800 Speaker 1: Superman is a production of I Heart Radio.