Siegel, Jerry (1914–1996)

US cartoonist. Siegel and Joe Shuster, his childhood friend, created cartoons and comic strips while at high school. They had their first professional success in 1935 with ‘Slam Bradley’ for Detective Comics, but it was not until 1938 that their first Superman cartoon strip appeared. Siegel, who wrote the stories for the cartoons, sold the rights to this hugely successful character early on in his career, and did not profit from television and film adaptations or the spin-off merchandise. He was eventually granted a $20,000 annual pension by Warner Bros.