Editing Joe Shuster (section)

==Creation of Superman==
Siegel and Shuster created a bald telepathic [[villain]], bent on dominating the world, as the title character in the short story "[[The Reign of the Superman]]", published in Siegel's 1933 [[fanzine]] ''Science Fiction'' #3.<ref name="TCS14">{{cite book | last=Daniels | first=Les | author-link=Les Daniels | year=1998| title=Superman: The Complete History: The Life and Times of the Man of Steel | publisher=[[Chronicle Books]] | isbn=978-0-8118-2162-9|page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=qdh86WRtzuUC&q=%22the%20reign%20of%20the%20superman%20is%20set%22&pg=PA14 14]}}</ref> The story was not successful, and the character was not used again.

The following year, Siegel re-used the name ''The Superman'' to develop a new character who became one of the most famous superheroes of all time. Shuster modelled the hero on [[Douglas Fairbanks Sr.]], and modelled his bespectacled alter ego, [[Clark Kent]], on a combination of [[Harold Lloyd]]<ref name=SundayClassics/><ref name=BookTimes>{{cite news | first=John | last=Gross | title=Books of the Times | date=December 15, 1987 | work=[[The New York Times]] | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DC1F38F936A25751C1A961948260 | access-date=January 29, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106142844/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DC1F38F936A25751C1A961948260 | archive-date=January 6, 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> and Shuster himself, with the name "Clark Kent" derived from movie stars [[Clark Gable]] and [[Kent Taylor]].<ref name=torontostar1992 /> [[Lois Lane]] was modeled on [[Joanne Siegel|Joanne Carter]], a model hired by Shuster. (She later married co-creator Jerry Siegel in 1948.)<ref name=torontostar1992 /> Siegel and Shuster's origins as children of Jewish immigrants is also thought to have influenced their work. Timothy Aaron Pevey argued that they crafted "an immigrant figure whose desire was to fit into American culture as an American", something which Pevey feels taps into an important aspect of American identity.<ref name="Pevey">Pevey, Timothy Aaron "{{cite web|url=http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04172007-133407/unrestricted/Pevey_Aaron_200705_MA.pdf |title=From Superman to Superbland: The Man of Steel's Popular Decline Among Postmodern Youth |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115004514/http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04172007-133407/unrestricted/Pevey_Aaron_200705_MA.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2009 }}&nbsp;(3.14 Mb). April 10, 2007, URN: etd-04172007-133407</ref>

Siegel and Shuster then began a four-year quest to find a publisher. Titling the character ''The Superman'', Siegel and Shuster offered it to Consolidated Book Publishing, who had published a 48-page [[black-and-white]] comic book entitled ''[[Dan Dunn|Detective Dan: Secret Operative]]'' #48. Siegel and Shuster each compared this character to [[Slam Bradley]], an adventurer the pair had created for ''[[Detective Comics]]'' #1 (March 1937).<ref name="TCS18">Daniels (1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qdh86WRtzuUC&q=%22superman%22%20%22slam%20bradley%22%20%22two-fisted%22&pg=PA18 p. 18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424073702/https://books.google.com/books?id=qdh86WRtzuUC&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q=%22superman%22%20%22slam%20bradley%22%20%22two-fisted%22 |date=April 24, 2016 }}.</ref> Although the duo received an encouraging letter, Consolidated never again published comic books. Shuster was distraught over the rejection, and, by varying accounts, either burned every page of the story, with the cover surviving only because Siegel saved it from the fire,<ref name="TCS17">Daniels (1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qdh86WRtzuUC&q=%22superman%22%20%22consolidated%22&pg=PA17 p. 17] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729073143/https://books.google.com/books?id=qdh86WRtzuUC&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q=%22superman%22%20%22consolidated%22 |date=July 29, 2016 }}</ref> or he tore the story to shreds, with only two cover sketches remaining.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hughes|first=Bob|title=Who Drew the Superman? Joe Shuster!|url=http://dccomicsartists.com/superart/JOE_SHUSTER.htm|publisher=DCComicsArtists.com (fan site)|access-date=February 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929194236/http://dccomicsartists.com/superart/JOE_SHUSTER.htm|archive-date=September 29, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>  

In 1938, the proposal was languishing among others at ''More Fun Comics'', published by [[National Allied Publications]], the primary precursor of [[DC Comics]]. Editor [[Vin Sullivan]] chose it as the cover feature for National's ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). The following year, Siegel & Shuster initiated the [[print syndication|syndicated]] [[Superman (comic strip)|''Superman'' comic strip]].<ref name=SundayClassics/>

[[File:Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.jpg|thumb|200px|Shuster (seated) with [[Jerry Siegel]] in 1942]]
When ''Superman'' first appeared, Superman's alter ego [[Clark Kent]] worked for the ''Daily Star'' newspaper, named by Shuster after the ''[[Toronto Star|Toronto Daily Star]]'', his old employer in Toronto. When the [[Superman (comic strip)|comic strip]] received international distribution, the company permanently changed the name to the ''[[Daily Planet]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-architecture-of-superman-a-brief-history-of-the-daily-planet-22037/ |title=The Architecture of Superman: A Brief History of The Daily Planet |last=Stamp |first=Jimmy |date=June 12, 2013 |website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=December 12, 2016}}</ref> Shuster said he modeled the cityscape of Superman's home city, Metropolis, on that of his old hometown.<ref name=canadianencyclopedia />

As part of the deal which saw Superman published in ''[[Action Comics]]'', Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the character in return for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/entertainment-us-usa-superman-idUSBRE83G02F20120417 | title=Check that bought Superman rights for $130 sells for $160,000 | work=Reuters | date=April 16, 2012 | access-date=June 29, 2012 | author=Goldberg, Barbara | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310210717/https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainment-us-usa-superman-idUSBRE83G02F20120417 | archive-date=March 10, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/supermanhighflyi00tyel_0 | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/supermanhighflyi00tyel_0/page/29 29] | quote=$130. | title=Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero | publisher=Random House Digital | year=2012 | access-date=June 29, 2012 | author=Tye, Larry | isbn=9781400068661 }}</ref><ref name="Heidi">{{cite news|author=MacDonald, Heidi |title=Inside the Superboy Copyright Decision |date=April 11, 2006 |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6323787.html |work=[[Publishers Weekly]] |access-date=December 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205095931/http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6323787.html |archive-date=February 5, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Due to financial difficulties, Wheeler-Nicholson had formed a corporation with [[Harry Donenfeld]] and [[Jack Liebowitz]] called Detective Comics, Inc. It was under the DC label that [[Action Comics 1|''Action Comics'' #1]] ([[cover-date]]d June 1938) was published. A series of mergers and name changes resulted in the publisher becoming National Periodical Publications, and then, in 1977, DC Comics (which had been its nickname since 1940).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/the-merger-that-rocked-the-comic-industry-seven-decades-ago/ |title=The merger that rocked the comic industry (seven decades ago) |last=Arrant |first=Chris |date=July 5, 2013 |website=[[Comic Book Resources]] |access-date=December 12, 2016}}</ref>

=== Legal issues ===
In 1946, near the end of their ten-year contract to produce Superman stories, Siegel and Shuster sued [[Detective Comics, Inc.]] to have their contract annulled and regain their rights to Superman. The following year, the [[New York Court of Appeals|New York State Supreme Court]] ruled the publisher had validly purchased the rights to Superman when it bought the first Superman story, saying the duo had "transferred to Detective Comics, Inc., all of their rights in and to the comic strip Superman, including the title, names, characters and conception...." 

A subsequent [[interlocutory]] judgment found that rights to [[Superboy]], however, belonged to Siegel. Detective Comics Inc. subsequently paid Siegel and Shuster $94,000 for the rights to Superboy and the duo's written agreement acknowledging the rights to Superman belonged to the publisher. 

Afterward, the company removed Shuster and Siegel's byline from Superman stories.<ref name=tcj263>{{cite news | url = http://www.tcj.com/263/n_marketable.html | title=An Extraordinarily Marketable Man: The Ongoing Struggle for Ownership of Superman and Superboy | publisher= (excerpt) [[The Comics Journal]]| issue= 263|date=November 2004|first= Michael |last=Dean | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080919180208/http://www.tcj.com/263/n_marketable.html | archive-date= September 19, 2008}}</ref><ref name="NYT2903">{{cite news|last=Ciepley| first= Michael| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/business/media/29comics.html| title=Ruling Gives Heirs a Share of Superman Copyright| work=[[The New York Times]]| date= March 29, 2008| access-date=March 29, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090309235008/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/business/media/29comics.html |archive-date = March 9, 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref>