Boys of steel : the creators of Superman

Boys of steel : the creators of Superman / by Marc Tyler Nobleman ; illustrated by Ross MacDonald.— New York : Knopf, 2008.
[40] p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm.
Bibliography: p. [39]
ISBN: 9780375938023 (reinforced)


1. Authors, American – Biography. 2. Cartoonists -- Canada -- Biography 3. Cartoonists -- United States -- Biography. 4. Shuster, Joe, 1914-1992. 5. Siegel, Jerry, 1914-1996.

741. 5092

It might be called the revenge of the nerds. One of Jerry Siegel’s teachers told the Cleveland teenager that the fantastic adventure stories he wrote were trash. His only friend in high school was Joe Shuster, who shared his love of science fiction and adventure. But while Jerry typed his stories, Joe drew his two-fisted heroes. Together they hoped they could create a comic strip and sell it to a newspaper.

One night Jerry had an idea. What if, instead of humans traveling to other planets and encountering aliens, an alien came to earth, not as an invader but as a friend? A hero who was strong and powerful who would right wrongs and fight for justice. The first thing in the morning he rushed over to his friend’s home to tell him about the idea and Joe began sketching. Although they weren’t able to sell their idea of a superman to the newspapers at first, they did find a publisher who was willing to buy their strips and take a chance at publishing them in a new format. The strips would be published together in a magazine of original strips, as a comic “book.”

Nobleman’s story is perfectly complemented by MacDonald’s illustrations, which evoke Shuster’s figures and style.