Shuster, Joe (Joseph) (1914-1992)

Canadian-born US cartoonist who, with the writer Jerry Siegel, created the world's first comic-strip superhero, Superman, 1938. It spawned 44 different comic-book series, radio shows, film serials, animated cartoons, television shows, and four of the highest-grossing films in cinema history.

Early life Born in Toronto, Shuster grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where as a boy he discovered strip cartoons, especially the Little Nemo fantasy series. Equally influenced by early science-fiction magazines, Shuster drew rocket ships and interplanetary cityscapes. When he was 15, his first strip was published in his school magazine.

At 17, Shuster met Siegel, who was to become his lifelong partner. Together, they designed strips of all kinds, most of which were rejected. Their first successes came in 1936, when Major Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson began publishing the first modern US comic books. Their dream, however, was to create a newspaper comic strip.

Superman Superman was rejected by every syndicate in the business before it was finally recast and issued as Action Comics number 1. The book was an instant sell-out. In January 1939, Superman became a daily newspaper strip. Since then, Superman has become one of the most widely known characters on Earth. Shuster and Siegel, however, reaped none of the benefits; they had signed away the rights to Superman to the publisher for the $130 they were paid for that first comic book.

Shuster and Siegel sued the publisher, now known as Superman DC, for a share of the profits as early as 1947. Eventually, younger artists took up the cause and when Warner Brothers, which had taken over Superman DC, launched the first Superman movie 1977, it settled with Shuster and Siegel, paying them an annual income of $20,000. With his wife, said to be the model for Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane, Shuster moved from New York to Los Angeles, where he spent the rest of his life.