麻豆传媒

News — The very people Superman could not save were his own creators鈥擩erry Siegel, the writer, and Joe Shuster, the comic artist.

Superman was unable to fly into action to rescue the na茂ve and idealistic teens, eager for fame and fortune. He couldn鈥檛 stop them from selling rights to their creation for a mere $130鈥攚hat seemed like a windfall during the Great Depression for two young and inexperienced kids from Cleveland鈥檚 Glenville neighborhood.

Now, Case Western Reserve University English instructor Brad Ricca gives Superman鈥檚 creators their due, bringing them from near obscurity in the first comprehensive (448 pages) biography of the artists, Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster鈥擳he Creators of Superman.

St. Martin鈥檚 Press released Super Boys to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Superman鈥檚 creation and the release of a major motion picture this summer.

鈥淪uperman鈥檚 lasting appeal is that it is a story about the American myth of goodness overpowering evil. It鈥檚 one kids around the world know without reading the comics,鈥� Ricca says. 鈥淪uperman is a character from the comics that flies around in a cape and bodybuilding suit, yet everyone acts like he is real. You don鈥檛 see that with Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderful.鈥�

It took seven years after Superman鈥檚 creation before DC Comics bought the rights to him. Lone Ranger and Tarzan were popular on the radio, but the superhero concept was too new for comic publishers to embrace. As Hitler came to power, people needed a savior like Superman.

So did his creators, who suffered poor self-images, Ricca says. They created this good looking character with a bodybuilder鈥檚 physique that would attract the Lois Lanes of the world.

鈥淪uper Boys is also about living the American dream for the creators, who had it and then lost it just as fast,鈥� adds Rica.

Ricca鈥檚 book title is a takeoff on Michael Chabon鈥檚 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a fictional account of a couple of superhero creators.

鈥淭his is the real-life version,鈥� Ricca says. 鈥淐habon鈥檚 is obviously fiction, but in many ways, the real story of Siegel and Shuster is even crazier.鈥�

Ricca invested years of research, during which he also produced the award-winning documentary, 鈥淟ast Son,鈥� in 2010. His curiosity to learn more about Superman鈥檚 creators sent him searching library archives in Cleveland and New York. He read old Glenville High newspapers and yearbooks, police records, legal documents and other sources. He discovered some of the creators鈥� first collaborations were filled with teenage angst about looks, girls and the desire to be popular. 鈥淎s nerdy as it sounds,鈥� Ricca says, 鈥淚 even sat in Siegel鈥檚 old bedroom thinking about him and imagining him writing the Superman story.鈥�

Along the way, Ricca made several discoveries. One was a letter from an apparent third partner in Superman鈥檚 creation. He also found evidence of an unrequited high school crush on a Lois Amster, who helped inspire the Lois Lane character. (The actual model for Lane would later become Siegel鈥檚 wife). He also found police records that identify suspected robbers (never found) of the family鈥檚 clothing store on Central Avenue, during which Siegel鈥檚 father died of heart failure.

鈥淪iegel and Shuster used what they knew鈥擟leveland,鈥� Ricca says.

Today鈥檚 Cleveland is far different from the days of Cleveland Police Chief Eliot Ness, who would become the head of the Untouchables (team of law enforcement agents) that took down mobster Al Capone in Chicago. Ness chased street crime that inspired the Superman stories.

Both Siegel and Shuster died in the 1990s. They kept alive their hope and determination that someday they could reclaim national attention for Superman, according to Ricca. Super Boys, then, gives them another chance at fame.