Joseph Shuster (/ˈʃuːstər/ SHOO-stər; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in Action Comics #1 (cover-dated 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.
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, first appearing in issue #1 of Action Comics, published in the United States on April 18, 1938. Superman has been regularly published in American comic books since then, and has been adapted to other media including radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games. Superman is the archetypal superhero: he wears an outlandish costume, uses a codename, and fights evil and averts disasters with the aid of extraordinary abilities. Although there are earlier characters who arguably fit this definition, it was Superman who popularized the superhero genre and established its conventions. He was the best-selling superhero in American comic books up until the 1980s; it is also the best-selling comic book series in the world with 600 million copies sold.
Superman was born Kal-El, on the fictional planet Krypton. As a baby, his parents Jor-El and Lara sent him to Earth in a small spaceship shortly before Krypton was destroyed in an apocalyptic cataclysm. His ship landed in the American countryside near the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, where he was found and adopted by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who named him Clark Kent. The Kents quickly realized he was superhuman; due to the Earth's yellow sun, all of his physical and sensory abilities are far beyond those of a human, and he is nearly impervious to harm and capable of unassisted flight. His adoptive parents having instilled him with strong morals, he chooses to use his powers to benefit humanity, and to fight crime as a vigilante. To protect his personal life, he changes into a primary-colored costume and uses the alias "Superman" when fighting crime. Clark resides in the fictional American city of Metropolis, where he works as a journalist for the Daily Planet alongside supporting characters including his love interest and fellow journalist Lois Lane, photographer Jimmy Olsen, and editor-in-chief Perry White. His enemies include Brainiac, General Zod, and archenemy Lex Luthor.
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel (/ˈsiːɡəl/ SEE-gəl; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of Superman, in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster, published by DC Comics. They also created Doctor Occult, who was later featured in The Books of Magic. Siegel and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. With Bernard Baily, Siegel also co-created the long-running DC character The Spectre. Siegel created ten of the earliest members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, one of DC's most popular team books, which is set in the 30th Century. Siegel also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter and Jerry Ess.
Action Comics #1 (cover dated June 1938) is the first issue of the original run of the comic book/magazine series Action Comics. It features the first appearance of several comic-book heroes—most notably the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster creation, Superman—and sold for 10 cents (equivalent to $2 in 2024). It is widely considered to be both the beginning of the superhero genre and the most valuable comic book in the world. Action Comics ran for 904 numbered issues (plus additional out-of-sequence special issues) before it restarted its numbering in the fall of 2011. It returned to its original numbering with issue #957, published on June 8, 2016 (cover-dated August) and reached its 1,000th issue in 2018.
On August 24, 2014, a copy graded 9.0 by CGC was sold on eBay for $3,207,852 USD (equivalent to $4,260,000 in 2024); it was the first comic book to have sold for more than $3 million for a single original copy.
Krypton is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly appearing or mentioned in stories starring the superhero Superman as the world from which he came. The planet was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and was named after the chemical element krypton. It was first mentioned in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and made its first appearance in Superman #1 (June 1939). Krypton is destroyed immediately after Superman, as the baby Kal-El, is sent from the planet in a spacecraft by his parents, although the exact details of its destruction have varied over publication history.
The planet is portrayed as having been far more technologically advanced than Earth, and having orbited a red sun. Kryptonians were the dominant species on Krypton, and its inhabitants included Kara Zor-El, Krypto, Beppo, Kara Zor-L (in her case, an alternate-universe version designated "Krypton-Two"), and the supervillain General Zod.
Jor-El is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Jor-El first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939.
Jor-El is Superman's biological father, the husband of Lara, and a leading scientist on the planet Krypton before its destruction. He foresees his planet's fate but is unable to convince his colleagues in time to rescue most of Krypton's inhabitants. Jor-El is able to save his infant son Kal-El (Superman) by launching him towards Earth in a homemade spaceship just moments before Krypton explodes. When Superman later constructs his headquarters, the Fortress of Solitude, he honors his biological parents with the inclusion of a statue of Jor-El and Lara holding up a globe of Krypton. The fortress also holds a holographic copy of Jor-El's consciousnesses, letting Superman interact with his father for advice and knowledge.
Lara Lor-Van is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Lara first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939. Lara is the biological mother of Superman, and the wife of scientist Jor-El. Lara Lor-Van is Lara's full maiden name, as "Lor-Van" is the name of Lara's father. Most depictions of Kryptonian culture show that Kryptonian women use their father's full name as their last names before marriage. After marriage, they usually are known simply by their first names, though various versions show they use their husband's full name or last name as their married last name.
Lara's role in the Superman mythos has varied over the years, with her treatment and emphasis often depending on the decade in which she was written. Golden Age and early Silver Age stories treated Lara in a lesser role compared to her husband. However, stories from the 1970s onwards depict Lara in more prominent roles; one such example is the 2004 miniseries Superman: Birthright. After constructing his Fortress of Solitude, Superman honored his deceased biological parents with a statue of Jor-El and Lara holding up a globe of Krypton.
Metropolis is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Superman and his closest allies and some of his foes. First appearing by name in Action Comics #16 (Sept. 1939), Metropolis is depicted as a prosperous and massive city in the Northeastern United States, in close proximity to Gotham City. In recent years, it has been stated to be located in New York.
The co-creator and original artist of Superman, Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline after Toronto, where he was born and lived until he was ten. Since then, however, the look and feel of Metropolis has been greatly influenced by New York City.
The Daily Planet is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in Action Comics #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics, War on Crime. The Daily Planet building's distinguishing feature is the enormous globe that sits on top of the building.
Based in the fictional city of Metropolis, the paper employs Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White as its editor-in-chief. The building's original features were inspired by the Old Toronto Star Building where Superman's co-creator, Joe Shuster, was a newsboy when the Toronto Star was still called the Daily Star. Shuster has claimed that Metropolis was visually inspired by Toronto. Over the years, however, Metropolis has come to serve as an analogue to New York City.
Superman and Lois Lane are a fictional couple. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, both characters, including Superman's alter ego Clark Kent, first appeared in DC Comics' Action Comics #1 in 1938. They have remained in a complicated relationship ever since. A supercouple and the first superhero comic book romance, they are among the best-known fictional couples and have appeared in multiple media adaptations.
The characters' relationship was based for a long time in a love triangle in which Clark was interested in Lois who was smitten with the superhero Superman. Clark, unable to reveal to Lois that his mild-mannered demeanor was a ruse, was unable to compete for Lois's affection. The irony being he was his own rival in that Clark and Superman are, in fact, the same person. This love triangle and the dual identity were originally conceived in 1934. Following John Byrne's 1986 reboot, The Man of Steel, Clark's character became the more dominant personality of the Clark Kent/Superman character and more outgoing, aggressive, and assertive. This allowed a more natural romance to develop between Lois and Clark.