THE JERRY SIEGEL (and Joe Shuster) PROJECT
WHAT IS IT
What you are about to read, over a number of posts, is complete a bibliography of the works of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, as I have compiled over the past decade and half of pure research into the lives of both Siegel and his co-creator, Joe Shuster. What I have gathered here are letters that Siegel wrote to magazines, newspapers, companies and some private correspondence that has made its way into the public domain over the decades. Naturally the correspondence isn’t anywhere near complete – I doubt anyone would ever be able to get their hands on every single word that Jerry wrote to people and companies over the course of his life. He was a prolific letter writer and would send out missives asking for work, complaining about slights and, of course, the now infamous passive-aggressive attacks on people who he blamed for the situation he found himself in, in particular Jack Liebowitz, Mort Weisinger, Harry Donenfeld, Paul Sampliner, Murray Boltinoff and any number of people connected to the publication of Superman, both within DC Comics and without.
With most of the letters and articles, I have done a summary. Some letters I have reprinted their contents in full or extracted the most relevant portions.
Too many people have information about Siegel and Shuster, but they hold it closely and refuse to share it with others. Knowledge is power, but the sharing of that knowledge is even more powerful, and important. This information should not be suppressed; it deserves to be shared for historians and interested people to read. If nothing else, it helps us understand Siegel (and Shuster), why Superman happened and why things unraveled as they did. The more we know, the better we understand.
WHY DOES IT NEED TO EXIST
For decades it’s been widely known what Jerry Siegel wrote in the comic book field. Those credits are now well documented and easily tracked down for those who want to find them. There are surely more credits out there, as Jerry wasn’t always credited for his work and was known to use pen names when he felt the need.
Amongst the names that Jerry used over the years.
Jerry’s first pen name was Stiletto Vance. He used that name while writing for the Glenville Torch while still in high school. Stiletto Vance was a way for Jerry to write about others in school without exposing himself too much, especially when it came to sharing his feelings and desires for girls in school.
Jerry also used the name Lois I. Living for the Glenville Torch on at least one occasion. This was probably a tribute to fellow student Lois Amster, who Jerry was reportedly besotted with.
Other names used in his early years included Herbet S. Fine and Hugh Langley. In this authors collection are several original Siegel letters, written in the early 1970s, in which Siegel signs ‘Jerry Hugh Siegel’. It would appear that Jerry liked the name Hugh.
HOW HAS IT BEEN COMPILED
This has been a labor of love. In trying to find exactly what Jerry wrote, I have read as many issues of the Glenville Torch as I could locate, along with issues of Stars and Stripes and science fiction magazines and fanzines that Jerry was known to have collected, read and wrote to. It is not known what happened to Jerry’s magazines, or if he indeed kept them.
HOW IS IT PRESENTED
Each entry is presented as a table format. The first column, Date, is the date of the item. When the exact date has not been recorded, an approximate date is given. This will usually be the first of a month.
The second column is Event. This will tell you what the event was – a mention, an article, a letter or the like.
The third column, Title / Details, is a short description of the document. In the case of a letter, it will be who the letter is addressed to.
The fourth column, Publisher / Originator / Claimant, is a short description of who is responsible for the publication, or author of the document.
The fifth column, Notes, will give as much detail, either via a summary, extracted text or the full text of the document in question.
At the beginning end of each period, I will endeavor to give some context to the information presented. I will also give some extra information, such as Payments Received by Jerry and Joe, Copyrights Claimed, which will be the dates that copyrights relating to Jerry and Joe were registered and by whom, and Trademarks Filed which will do the same with Trademarks.
WHERE’S JOE?
There are some details relating to Joe Shuster, but not many. This is due to the sheer lack of documentation left behind by Shuster. Where I can find something pertaining to Shuster that is important, it has been recorded.
Joe Shuster’s life is certainly worth exploring and writing about. But that is for another day.
Any corrections are most welcome, and if anyone has any Siegel or Shuster documents, or anything related, get in touch. Let’s talk. This will be out there for people to refer to. A pure repository of Siegel (and Shuster) for all time.
Now, let’s begin.
1926 - 1929
NOTES
As the 1920s unfolded, Seigel was an avid reader and collector of science fiction magazines. By his own admission, he was buying as many as he could afford. His letters to Amazing Stories and Science Wonder Stories show a level of intelligence and articulation that belied his young age.
In 1929, Jerry produced a science fiction fanzine titled Cosmic Stories. As Jerry was entering competitions and not winning, he decided to publish his work on his own. The fanzine was mentioned in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Siegel mentioned it in his 1983 interview in Nemo #2. The fanzine was typewritten and then hectographed (an early form of photocopying). The contents contained stories by Siegel along with new works by Walter Dennis and Clare Winger Harris. Siegel then sold copies through via mail order to fellow science fiction fans in the Cleveland area. He recalled that he used the pen names Hugh Langley and Charles MacEvoy in the fanzine. No copies are known to exist.
THE DATABASE
Date: 10 July 1914
Event: Birth
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Details: Joseph Shuster is bornDate: 17 October 1914
Event: Birth
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Details: Jerome Siegel is bornDate: 12 July 1926
Event: Mention
Title/Details: Hundreds Will See 101 Circus Free of Charge
Publisher: The Cleveland Press
Details: Siegel was a winner of a competition for free tickets to the circus. This is the first appearance of his name in print.Date: 29 August 1926
Event: Mention
Title/Details: Ohioans Lead In Hawkins Contest
Publisher: The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
Details: Siegel, aged 11, joins the Seckatary Hawkins Club. The club motto is ‘Fair and Square’ and the club colors are blue and white.Date: 12 September 1926
Event: Letter
Title/Details: Jerome Siegel asks for a correspondent
Publisher: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Details: Dear Sec:My name is Jerome Siegel and I wish some member would correspond with me.
I have a tube set but sorry to say I don’t think I can tune in on WLW.
Yours fair and square,
Jerome Siegel
Date: 5 July 1929
Event: Letter
Title/Details: A Request for More Reprints
Publisher: Amazing Stories Vol 4, No. 5 (cover dated August)
Details: Siegel requests reprints of specific science fiction stories, including A. Merritt’s “Through the Dragon Glass,” Fred McIssac’s “The Vanishing Professor,” and “The Blind Spot.” Siegel advocates reprints of older but still relevant stories and defends the quality of fiction in other magazines like Weird Tales, Argosy, and Amazing Stories, noting that they share many of the same authors. He also requests a cover story contest and mentions aspiring writers, including himself and his friends, who are eager to contribute to the magazine.
Date: 1 November 1929
Event: Letter
Title/Details: Tribute to Mr. Repp
Publisher: Science Wonder Stories Vol 1, No. 6 (cover dated November)
Details: Siegel writes a letter praising Ed Earl Repp and eagerly anticipates more of his work. He express his admiration for various authors, including Stanton Coblentz, Edmond Hamilton, A. Merritt, and Jack Williamson, and request more stories from them, and inquires about a cover contest, which the editor confirms is included in the current issue. Jerry had just turned 15 years old when this letter was published.
Next: 1930 – 1934. The Glenville Torch years, Jerry meets Joe, they create Superman. Plus, Goober the Mighty, The Reign of Superman, Russell Keaton and more.
Thanks for doing this, Daniel.
Hoping that my question re Siegel is answered to some degree or another: Why was everything else he did in the comics a failure? Funnyman, the Ziff-Davis editorship (which, in a sense, anticipated Goodman’s 1970s Atlas endeavor), Archie’s Marvel pastiche, his Marvel work… (Props to Stan Lee for employing Siegel.) The only exception is some of his Superman work in the early 1960s but no doubt Weisinger had some responsibility there.
To be clearer, the above is not to be taken as any sort of personal attack. I have respect for Siegel’s drive, but at the end of the day, an artist gets judged by their art.