The True real life Origin of Superman
Venkman here and I read this incredible article today over at USA Today that discusses how our hero Superman, The Man of Steel came to be.
Past accounts suggest Siegel and Shuster, both 17, awkward and unpopular in high school, invented the meek Clark Kent and his powerful alter-ego, Superman, to attract girls and rise above their humble Cleveland beginnings.
Turns out he was developed out of a tragedy that went down in the streets of Cleveland Ohio.
It was Thursday night, about 8:10 p.m., and Mitchell Siegel, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania, was in his secondhand clothing store on the near East Side. According to a police report, three men entered. One asked to see a suit of clothes and walked out without paying for it. In the commotion of the robbery, Siegel, 60, fell to the ground and died.
The police report said that gun shots were heard, the coroner and Siegels wife said that he had died of a heart attack. No wound on his body was found. No one was ever arrested for this crime.
Superman was given to the world June 2, 1932 a year after the robbery by two 17 year old boys by the name of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Jerry Siegle is the son of the man that was killed that night.
it was the death of Jerry Siegel's father that pushed the devastated teen to come up with the idea of a "Superman" to right all wrongs.
For 50 years Jerry siegle never once mentioned in an interview that his dad had died in a robbery. But it makes complete sense as to why he and his buddy developed this Superman that could not be hurt to help serve and protect people.
"America did not get Superman from our greatest legends, but because a boy lost his father," Meltzer says. "Superman came not out of our strength but out of our vulnerability."
Lets look at what Superman is. he is invulnerable to bullets, he lost his family, destruction of his homeland, his adopted earth father Kent died of a heart attack. It all seems to overlap with Jerry's personal experience. This is just an amazing and sad story but look what is found here:
A letter published in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on June 3, 1932, the day after the robbery, denounces the need for vigilantes in the harsh days of the Depression. The letter is signed by an A.L. Luther.
Wow. Look at that. A guy comes out and denounces the need for vigilantes. His name A.L. Luther. Could this person be the inspiration for Lex Luther? Most likely.
This is an incredible story and for me it only gives more power and meaning to who Superman really is. This article is amazing and you must read it. it goes on to talk about what happened with these boy, how they sold off the character Superman to DC Comic for $130 and how the were repeatedly screwed over by DC throughout their lives.
Check out the Article RIGHT HERE
Notice one of the first comic book covers Superman flying in to save a man from being robbed.