Jerome Siegel was born on October 17, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio, into a family of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. An introverted teenager with a passion for science fiction, he met Joe Shuster at Glenville High School in 1932. Together, they developed the concept of a superhuman being from another planet — a revolutionary idea that would change the entertainment industry forever. After years of rejections from publishers, their creation finally found a home at National Allied Publications. Action Comics #1, published in June 1938 with Superman on the cover, launched the superhero age and gave birth to an entirely new literary genre.
That landmark issue is today the most valuable comic book in the world, with high-grade copies selling for over three million dollars. In it, Siegel established all the character's core elements: Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Metropolis, the dual identity. He went on to script Superman in Action Comics and Superman (launched in 1939), building a rich universe complete with villains like Lex Luthor (Action Comics #23, 1940) and concepts such as Kryptonite, first introduced on radio and later woven into the comics.
Siegel's career was, however, defined by one of the greatest injustices in comics history. In 1938, he and Shuster had signed away all rights to Superman to National Comics for $130 — a pittance even by the standards of the day. A legal battle that would drag on for decades followed. Fired by DC in 1947 after filing an initial lawsuit, Siegel and Shuster spent the 1950s and 1960s in relative obscurity. Siegel worked briefly for other publishers and even returned to DC under a pseudonym to write Superman and Legion of Super-Heroes stories during the 1960s.
It was only in 1975, on the eve of the Superman film starring Christopher Reeve, that a public campaign led by Neal Adams and Jerry Robinson pressured Warner Bros into granting Siegel and Shuster an annual pension and restoring their credit on all Superman publications. Siegel died on January 28, 1996. For collectors, his Golden Age scripts represent the very foundations of the hobby. Beyond Action Comics #1, key issues include Superman #1 (1939), Action Comics #23, and Superman #76 (1952, the first Superman/Batman team-up). His legacy — a blend of creative genius and personal tragedy — embodies the contradictions at the heart of the comic book industry.
Founding father of the modern superhero genre through the creation of Superman. His narrative legacy continues to define the archetypes of the selfless hero in comics.
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