Tag: Jerry Siegel

The Selling of Superman: Correspondence between Jack Liebowitz and Jerry Siegel

I've been doing a deep dive of late into the early days of Superman, researching everything that is known or can be established about the development, purchase and evolution of the Man of Steel across his first decade, when he became virtually immediately a Pop Culture Phenomenon that conquered all forms of mass media simultaneously. … Continue reading The Selling of Superman: Correspondence between Jack Liebowitz and Jerry Siegel →

WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #75

It's maybe difficult to believe looking back on events from fifty years on, but the title above was one of the best-selling series of the 1960s. It handily outsold even the most popular Marvel books by far, and left more storied titles such as JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and GREEN LANTERN in the dust. Such … Continue reading WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #75 →

WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #70

Here's another issue of SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN that I got as part of my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988, where I bought a box of around 150 Silver Age comics from a guy I met at my local Post Office for the measly sum of just $50.00. There were proportionately more Mort Weisinger Superman … Continue reading WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #70 →

WC: ADVENTURE COMICS #304

Now this was a bit of a seminal issue in DC Comics history, though you really couldn't tell so by looking at this cover. But it represents one of the very few times that a super hero legitimately was killed off during the Silver Age of Comics. And even though that character would be revived … Continue reading WC: ADVENTURE COMICS #304 →

Forgotten Masterpiece: FUNNYMAN #1

The basics are a familiar story to anybody who studies the history of comics. Young creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster sell the rights to their creation Superman to what would become DC/National Comics. As their ten-year contract to produce the strip was reaching its end and fearing that National wouldn't re-up it, the pair … Continue reading Forgotten Masterpiece: FUNNYMAN #1 →

ZIP COMICS #28 and the Origin of the Web

A week ago, I posted a feature in which writer Jerry Siegel and artist Paul Reinman revealed the secret origin of the Web, that 1960s-era costumed crusader who was "hen-pecked" by his wife Rosie and her mother to give up the super hero business and settle down to a regular life. https://tombrevoort.com/2022/12/17/brand-echh-mighty-comics-45/ I mentioned that … Continue reading ZIP COMICS #28 and the Origin of the Web →

Brand Echh: Mighty Comics #45

It's time once again for another dive into MIGHTY COMICS, Archie's attempt to reverse-engineer the appeal of the Marvel books of the era without understanding them a whit. As before, we're going to be focusing on my favorite of the Mighty creations, the Web. The Web wasn't cast as a Spider-Man knock-off as you might … Continue reading Brand Echh: Mighty Comics #45 →

WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #56

I remember this issue of SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN as being pretty good, even though it's been likely decades since I last read it. It headlined another Imaginary Story, editor Mort Weisinger's way of allowing his writers to work outside of the confines of the tight continuity that he'd established across all of the Superman … Continue reading WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #56 →

WC: ADVENTURE COMICS #295

Much as with its sister title ACTION COMICS, ADVENTURE COMICS had adjusted to shrinking page counts by reducing the number of features that it ran from three to two. That second feature position eventually wound up handed over to the Legion of Super Heroes, who promptly took over the entire magazine. But before that, it … Continue reading WC: ADVENTURE COMICS #295 →