Editing Joe Shuster

{{Short description|Comic book artist, co-creator of Superman (1914–1992)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox comics creator
| image         = Joe Shuster.jpg
| caption       = Shuster in 1939
| birth_name    = Joseph Shuster
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1914|07|10}}
| birth_place   = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1992|07|30|1914|07|10}}
| death_place   = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
| relatives        = [[Frank Shuster]] (cousin)
| artist        = y
| pencil        = y
| alias         = Reuths<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine|last1=Wolk|first1=Douglas|title=75 Years of the First Comic Book Superhero (It's Not Who You Think)|url=https://techland.time.com/2010/07/05/75-years-of-the-first-comic-book-superhero-its-not-who-you-think/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=5 July 2010 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref>
| notable works = [[Superman]], [[Action Comics 1|''Action Comics'' #1]]
| awards        = [[Inkpot Award]] (1975)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inkpot Awards |url=https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot/ |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=Comic-Con International |language=en-US}}</ref><br />[[Eisner Award|Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame]], 1992<br />[[List of Harvey Award winners#The Jack Kirby Hall of Fame|Jack Kirby Hall of Fame]], 1993<br />[[Joe Shuster Awards|Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame]], 2005
| signature     = Signature of Joe Shuster.png
}}
'''Joseph Shuster''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|uː|s|t|ər}} {{respell|SHOO|stər}}; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992)<ref name=LATimesobit>{{cite news | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-03-me-4549-story.html | title=Joe Shuster, Co-Creator of Superman, Dead at 78|date=August 3, 1992|first=Burt A. |last=Folkart|work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=June 1, 2016 | archive-date= October 22, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131022124337/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-08-03/local/me-4549_1_joe-shuster | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=NewsWatch: Joseph Shuster Dies at 78 | journal =[[The Comics Journal]] | issue = 152 | date = August 1992 | page=9}}</ref><ref name=SundayClassics>{{cite book | author-link=Roger Stern | first=Roger | last=Stern | title = Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939 – 1943 | publisher = [[DC Comics]]/[[Kitchen Sink Press]]/[[Sterling Publishing]] | year = 2006 | page = xii}}</ref> was a Canadian-American [[comic book artist]] best known for co-creating the [[DC Comics]] character [[Superman]], with [[Jerry Siegel]], in [[Action Comics 1|''Action Comics'' #1]] ([[cover-date]]d June 1938).

Shuster was involved in a number of legal battles over ownership of the Superman character. His comic book career after Superman was relatively unsuccessful, and by the mid-1970s, Shuster had left the field completely due to partial blindness.

He and Siegel were inducted into both the comic book industry's [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]] in 1992 and the [[List of Harvey Award winners#The Jack Kirby Hall of Fame|Jack Kirby Hall of Fame]] in 1993. In 2005, the [[Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association]] instituted the [[Joe Shuster Awards]], named to honor the Canada-born artist.

==Early life and career==
Joseph Shuster was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], to a [[Jew]]ish family.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Blair Kramer|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/superman.html|title=Superman|encyclopedia=[[Jewish Virtual Library]]|access-date=August 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714191351/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/superman.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Rafael Medoff|url=http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/6/10/superman-saving-his-jewish-creators|title=Superman: Saving his Jewish creators|date=June 10, 2013|access-date=August 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907103124/http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/6/10/superman-saving-his-jewish-creators|archive-date=September 7, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=oil>{{cite book|last=Norwood|first=Stephen Harlan|author2=Eunice G. Pollack|title=Encyclopedia of American Jewish history, Volume 1|publisher=[[ABC-Clio|ABC-CLIO]]|year=2008|pages=471|isbn=978-1-85109-638-1}}</ref> His father, Julius Shuster (originally [[Schuster|Shuster]][[Slavic name suffixes|owich]]), an immigrant from [[Rotterdam]], had a tailor shop in Toronto's garment district. His mother, Ida (Katharske), had come from Kiev, [[Russian Empire]] (now [[Kyiv]], Ukraine).<ref name=torontostar1992>{{cite news | url = http://joeshusterawards.com/hof/hall-of-fame-joe-shuster/superman-at-the-star-joe-shusters-last-interview/ | title = Great Krypton! Superman was the Star's Ace Reporter (Joe Shuster's final interview) | publisher =[[Toronto Star]] via JoeShusterAwards.com | date = April 26, 1992 | first=Henry | last = Mietkiewicz | access-date = June 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100805030634/http://joeshusterawards.com/hof/hall-of-fame-joe-shuster/superman-at-the-star-joe-shusters-last-interview/ | archive-date=August 5, 2010| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ricca |first=Brad |title=Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—the Creators of Superman |publisher=Macmillan }}</ref> His family, including his sister, Jean, lived on Bathurst, Oxford, and Borden Streets. In 1922 Julius Shuster was listed as living at 48 Major Street,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Might Directories Ltd. |url=http://archive.org/details/torontodirec192200midiuoft |title=The Toronto City Directory 1922 |date=1922 |publisher=Toronto: Might Directories Ltd. |others=Toronto Public Library : Toronto Reference Library |language=English}}</ref> and in 1923 and 1924 at 101 Oxford Street.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Might Directories Ltd. |url=http://archive.org/details/torontocitydirectory1923 |title=Might's Greater Toronto city directory, 1923 |date=1923 |publisher=Toronto, Might Directories [etc.] |others=Toronto Public Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Might Directories Ltd. |url=http://archive.org/details/torontocitydirectory1924 |title=Might's Greater Toronto city directory, 1924 |date=1924 |publisher=Toronto, Might Directories [etc.] |others=Toronto Public Library}}</ref> Joe attended Ryerson and Lansdowne Public Schools (now [[List of Toronto District School Board elementary schools|Ryerson Community School and Lord Lansdowne Junior Public School]] with the [[Toronto District School Board]]).<ref name=torontostar1992 /> One of his cousins was comedian [[Frank Shuster]] of the Canadian comedy team [[Wayne and Shuster]].<ref>{{cite news | last =Mietkiewicz | first= Henry | title = Superman at 'The Star' | work = [[The Toronto Star]] | date =April 26, 1992}}</ref><ref name=canadianencyclopedia>{{cite web |first=Alan |last=Hustak |url=http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007380 |title=''The Canadian Encyclopedia'': Shuster, Joe |publisher=[[The Historica Dominion Institute]] |access-date=June 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607231233/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007380 |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |url-status=dead }}. .</ref> He also had a brother named Frank.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vidal |first=David |date=December 24, 1975 |title=Superman's Creators Get Lifetime Pay |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/24/archives/supermans-creators-get-lifetime-pay.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=December 12, 2016}}</ref>

As a youngster, Shuster worked as a [[Paperboy (newspaper delivery)|newspaper boy]] for the ''[[Toronto Star|Toronto Daily Star]]''.<ref name=torontostar1992 /> The family barely made ends meet, and the budding young artist would scrounge for paper, which the family could not afford. He recalled in 1992,

{{blockquote|I would go from store to store in Toronto and pick up whatever they threw out. One day, I was lucky enough to find a bunch of wallpaper rolls that were unused and left over from some job. The backs were blank, naturally. So it was a goldmine for me, and I went home with every roll I could carry. I kept using that wallpaper for a long time.<ref name=torontostar1992 />}}

Sometime in 1924,<ref name=torontostar1992 /> when Shuster was 9<ref name=canadianencyclopedia /> or 10,<ref name=humble /> his family moved to [[Cleveland, Ohio]].<ref name=canadianencyclopedia /> There Shuster attended [[Glenville High School]] and befriended his later collaborator, writer [[Jerry Siegel]], with whom he began publishing a [[science fiction fanzine]] called ''Science Fiction''. Siegel described his friendship with the similarly shy and bespectacled Shuster: "When Joe and I first met, it was like the right chemicals coming together."<ref name=SundayClassics/>

The duo broke into comics at Major [[Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson]]'s [[National Allied Publications]], the future [[DC Comics]], working on the landmark ''[[New Fun]]''—the first comic-book series to consist solely of original material rather than using any reprinted newspaper [[comic strips]]—debuting with the [[musketeer]] [[swashbuckler]] "Henri Duval" and the [[Occult detective fiction|occult detective]] [[Doctor Occult]], both in ''New Fun'' #6 (Oct. 1935).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=McAvennie |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |title=DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle |date=2010 |publisher=DK Publishing |page=13 |isbn=978-0-7566-6742-9}}</ref> In a 1992 interview, in which he used the fledgling publisher's future name, he said the two sample strips were not the ones eventually published:

{{blockquote|One was drawn on brown wrapping paper and the other was drawn on the back of wallpaper from Toronto. And DC approved them, just like that! It's incredible! But DC did say, 'We like your ideas, we like your scripts and we like your drawings. But please, copy over the stories in pen and ink on good paper.' So I got my mother and father to lend me the money to go out and buy some decent paper, the first drawing paper I ever had, in order to submit these stories properly to DC Comics.<ref name=torontostar1992 />}}

==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>

==Later career==
In 1947, the team rejoined editor Sullivan, by then the founder and publisher of the comic-book company [[Magazine Enterprises]] where they created the short-lived comical crime-fighter [[Funnyman (comics)|Funnyman]]. Shuster continued to draw comics after the failure of ''Funnyman'', although exactly what he drew is uncertain. Comic historian Ted White wrote that Shuster continued to draw horror stories into the 1950s.<ref>White, Ted. "The Spawn of M.C. Gaines" in Lupoff, Dick & Don Thompson, eds., ''All in Color For a Dime'' (Ace Books, 1970)</ref> 

Shuster was also the anonymous illustrator for ''[[Nights of Horror]]'', an underground [[BDSM|sadomasochistic]] [[Fetish art|fetish]] paperback book series. In 1954, ''Nights of Horror'' garnered controversy because of its involvement in the trial of the [[Brooklyn Thrill Killers]], where it was alleged by psychiatric expert and anti-comics crusader [[Fredric Wertham]] that the gang's leader had read the books and that they were responsible for his crimes. The ''Nights of Horror'' series was seized and banned in the [[State of New York]], and the case eventually [[Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown|went to the Supreme Court]]. However, the books' artist was never identified at the time.<ref name="cbldf">[http://cbldf.org/2012/10/the-incredible-true-story-of-joe-shusters-nights-of-horror/ The Incredible True Story of Joe Shuster's NIGHTS OF HORROR], ''Comic book legal defense'', October 3, 2012</ref> In 2004, [[Gerard Jones]] revealed that Shuster had drawn the books.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Gerard |url=https://archive.org/details/menoftomorrowgee0000jone |title=Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book |date=2004 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0465036570 |page=[https://archive.org/details/menoftomorrowgee0000jone_s3s6/page/270/mode/2up?q=%22new+mexico%22 270] |pages= |access-date=February 9, 2017 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The claim was backed in 2009 by comics historian Craig Yoe. This was based on character similarities, and comparison of the artistic style between the illustrations and those of the cast of the Superman comics.<ref name="M1">{{cite news|url=http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/scene/article/203662 |title=Book Unveils Superman Co-creator's Dark Side |work=[[Metro (Associated Metro Limited)|Metro Halifax]] |date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919111707/http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/scene/article/203662 |archive-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Yoe| first= Craig | title =Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster | publisher= [[Harry N. Abrams]] | year= 2009 | isbn= 978-0-8109-9634-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/shuster_j.htm |title=lambiek.net "Siegel & Shuster" on Lambiek Comiclopedia |access-date=July 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713202052/https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/shuster_j.htm |archive-date=July 13, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Joe shuster 1975.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Shuster in a DC Comics press photo, 1975]]
In 1964, when Shuster was living on [[Long Island]] with his elderly mother, he was reported to be earning his living as a [[freelance]] cartoonist; he was also "trying to paint [[pop art]]—serious comic strips—and hope[d] eventually to promote a one-man show in some chic Manhattan gallery".<ref>Richler, Mordecai. "The Great Comic Book Heroes", ''Encounter'', 1965; reprinted in Richler collections ''Hunting Tigers Under Glass: Essays & Notes'' (McClelland & Stewart, 1968), ''Notes on an Endangered Species'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 1974), and ''The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays'' (McClelland and Stewart, 1978) {{ISBN|978-0-7710-9268-8}}</ref> At one point, his worsening eyesight prevented him from drawing, and he worked as a [[deliveryman]] in order to earn a living.<ref>{{cite news|last=Heer |first=Jeet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/05/theinjusticeofsuperman |title=The Injustice of Superman |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 5, 2008 |location=UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213004512/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/05/theinjusticeofsuperman |archive-date=February 13, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Graham|first=Victoria| title=Originators of ''Superman'' Destitute: Sold Rights in 1938 for $130| work=[[Lansing State Journal|State Journal]]|location= [[Lansing, Michigan]]|date= November 25, 1975| page = D-3}}</ref> [[Jerry Robinson]] claimed Shuster had delivered a package to the DC building, embarrassing the employees. He was summoned to the CEO, given one hundred dollars, and told to buy a new coat and find another job.<ref>{{cite book|last=Simon|first=Joe|title=Joe Simon: My Life in Comics|publisher=[[Titan Books]]|year= 2011|location= London, UK| isbn = 978-1-84576-930-7|page=188}}</ref> 

In 1967, when the Superman copyright came up for renewal, Siegel launched a second lawsuit, which also proved unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lambert |first=Chris |date=May 11, 2013 |title=Superman at 75: Were Cleveland's Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster really that innocent? |url=https://www.news-herald.com/2013/05/11/superman-at-75-were-clevelands-jerry-siegel-and-joe-shuster-really-that-innocent/ |work=[[The News-Herald (Ohio)|The News-Herald]] |access-date=December 12, 2016}}</ref> 

In 1975, Siegel launched a publicity campaign, in which Shuster participated, protesting [[DC Comics]]' treatment of him and Shuster. The [[Association of American Editorial Cartoonists]]' president, [[Jerry Robinson]], was involved in the campaign along with comic-book artist [[Neal Adams]]. By 1976, Shuster was almost blind and living in a California nursing home.<ref>[[Maurice Horn|Horn, Maurice]]. ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'': Shuster, Joe. (Scribner, 1976) {{ISBN|978-0-87754-030-4}}</ref> Due to a great deal of negative publicity over their handling of the affair, and the upcoming [[Superman (1978 film)|''Superman'' movie]], DC's parent company [[Warner Communications]] reinstated the byline dropped more than thirty years earlier and granted the pair a lifetime pension of $20,000 a year, later increased to $30,000, plus health benefits.<ref name=humble>{{cite news|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060628/superman_returns_cdn_060628/20060628?hub=Entertainment|title=Superman co-creator has humble Canadian roots|last=Associated Press|publisher=CTV|date=June 28, 2006|access-date=August 12, 2008 | archive-date=June 4, 2011|url-status=dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604145745/http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20060628/superman_returns_cdn_060628/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6D71330F930A3575BC0A964958260 |title=Joseph Shuster, Cartoonist, Dies; Co-Creator of 'Superman' Was 78 |last=Lambert |first=Bruce |date=August 3, 1992 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204215714/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6D71330F930A3575BC0A964958260 |archive-date=February 4, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947632,00.html |title=Man and Superman |date=January 5, 1976 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=August 12, 2008 |archive-date=October 23, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023075925/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C947632%2C00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first issue with the restored credit was ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #302 (Aug. 1976).<ref>{{cite book|chapter= 1970s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2010 |isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 170 |quote = For the first time since 1947, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's names were back in ''Superman'' comics, and listed as the Man of Steel's co-creators.}}</ref>

Although Shuster was now supported by a lifetime stipend from DC Comics, he fell into debt—close to $20,000 by the time of his death. After he died, DC Comics agreed to pay off his unpaid debts in exchange for an agreement from his heirs to not challenge ownership over Superman.<ref>From a 2010 lawsuit filed by DC Comics against Shuster's heirs (''DC Comics v. Pacific Pictures Corp. et al.'').</ref>

==Death==
Shuster died on July 30, 1992, at his West Los Angeles home of [[congestive heart failure]] and [[hypertension]]. He was 78.<ref name=LATimesobit /><ref name=BiographyChannel>McGasko, Joe (June 18, 2013). [http://www.biography.com/blog/the-superman-curse-21259185 "The Superman Curse"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315202516/http://www.biography.com/blog/the-superman-curse-21259185 |date=March 15, 2014 }}. [[The Biography Channel]].</ref>

==Awards and honors==
*In 1985, DC Comics named Shuster as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication ''[[Fifty Who Made DC Great]]''.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Marx, Barry| cowriters = [[Joey Cavalieri|Cavalieri, Joey]] and Hill, Thomas| artist = Petruccio, Steven | editor = Marx, Barry| story = Joe Shuster A Legend Takes Shape| title = Fifty Who Made DC Great| date = 1985| publisher = DC Comics| page = 9| panel = | id = }}</ref>
*In 1992, Shuster was inducted into the [[Eisner Award|Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame]].
*In 2005, Shuster was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame for his contributions to comic books.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/canadian-comic-book-awards-one-down-one-to-go-1.557469 |title=Canadian comic-book awards: one down, one to go |date=May 2, 2005 |publisher=CBC |access-date=August 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220163506/http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/05/02/Arts/comicawards050502.html |archive-date=December 20, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*The [[Joe Shuster Awards]], started in 2005, were named in honor of the Canadian-born Shuster, and honor achievements in the field of comic book publishing by Canadian creators, publishers and retailers.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stump |first=Greg |title=Shuster Awards to be given for Canadian comic-book excellence |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]] |issue=267 |page=47 |date=April 2005 |issn=0194-7869}}</ref>
*In Toronto, where Shuster was born, the street Joe Shuster Way is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/committees/te/te060404/it068.pdf |title=Transportation Services Toronto and East York District: Staff Report, March 13, 2006 |access-date=June 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607102648/http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/committees/te/te060404/it068.pdf |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*On September 10, 2013, [[Gary Dumm]] and Laura Dumm's "A Love Letter to Cleveland" murals were unveiled on the Orange Blossom Press building near the Cleveland [[West Side Market]], which includes an homage to Siegel and Shuster.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sangiacomo |first=Michael |date=June 4, 2018 |title=The Dumms' 'Love Letter to Cleveland' murals on W. 25th need some TLC |url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2018/06/the_dumms_love_letter_to_cleveland_murals_on_w_25th_need_some_tlcto_cleve.html |work=[[The Plain Dealer]] |access-date=June 4, 2018}}</ref>
*Amor Avenue in Cleveland's [[Glenville, Cleveland|Glenville]] neighborhood was renamed "Joe Shuster Lane".<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2009/09/supermans_birthplace_in_jerry.html | title= Superman's birthplace, in Jerry Siegel's Cleveland home, gets recognition | work= [[The Plain Dealer]] | location= Cleveland, Ohio | first= Marc | last= Bona | date= September 4, 2009 | access-date= December 12, 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161018014730/http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2009/09/supermans_birthplace_in_jerry.html | archive-date= October 18, 2016 | url-status= live }}</ref><!--cite appears non-archivable at Wayback Machine and Webcitation.org. For posterity, saving it at http://archive .is/sHelP until an allowable live-site archive link can be found--><ref>{{cite web| url = http://coolcleveland.com/2012/12/the-man-of-rust-belt-steel |title=The Man of Rust Belt Steel | publisher=CoolCleveland.com| first= Hollie |last= Gibbs| date=December 2012| access-date= December 12, 2016| archive-date= December 12, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161212232833/http://coolcleveland.com/2012/12/the-man-of-rust-belt-steel/| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5304037,-81.6099917,3a,30y,330.64h,77.66t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2V_rDuZcaopUOiXh3cXnlQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1| title=Amor Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio: Street View – Sep 2011| publisher=Google Maps|access-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Charlton Comics===
* ''Crime and Justice'' #19–21 (1954)
* ''Hot Rods and Racing Cars'' #20 (1955)
* ''[[Space Adventures (comics)|Space Adventures]]'' #11–13 (1954)
* ''[[Strange Suspense Stories]]'' #19, 21–22 (1954)
* ''[[This Magazine is Haunted]]'' #18–20 (1954)

===DC Comics===
* ''[[Action Comics]]'' #1–24 (1938–1940)
* ''[[Adventure Comics]]'' #32–41, 103–109 (1938–1946)
* ''[[Detective Comics]]'' #1–32 (1937–1939)
* ''[[More Fun Comics]]'' (diverse stories): #10–48; ([[Superboy (Kal-El)|Superboy]]): #101–105, 107 (1936–1946)
* ''[[New Comics]]'' (then, ''New Adventure Comics'') #2–31 (1936–1938)
* ''New York's World Fair'' #1–2 (1939)
* ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #1–4 (1939–1940)

==See also==
* ''[[Boys of Steel]]'', a picture book biography of Siegel and Shuster by [[Marc Tyler Nobleman]] and Ross MacDonald
* ''[[The Joe Shuster Story: The Artist Behind Superman]]'', a nonfiction graphic novel by Julian Voloj and Thomas Campi
* [[Copyright lawsuits by Superman's creators]]

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Joe Shuster}}
* {{isfdb name|id=9268|name=Joe Shuster}}
* [http://www.comic-art.com/biographies/shuster1.htm Comic Art & Graffix Gallery – Artist Biography]
* [http://www.drewfriedman.net/prints/siegel-and-shuster.html Portrait (2014) by illustrator Drew Friedman of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel creating Superman]
* {{cite web|url=http://joeshusterawards.com/content.asp?URL=4 |title=About Us |publisher=The Joe Shuster Awards |access-date=August 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508221727/http://joeshusterawards.com/content.asp?URL=4 |archive-date=May 8, 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown }} Additional [ WebCitation archive], August 13, 2008.

{{Superman}}
{{Canadian cartoonists}}
{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}

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