Notes on Jerry and Joe – Episode 5
The main sources for the episode included:
- Brad Ricca, Super Boys – The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Creators of Superman (2013, St. Martin’s Press)
- Gerard Jones, Men of Tomorrow – Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book (2004, Basic Books)
- Helene Stapinski and Bonnie Siegler, The American Way – A True Story of Nazi Escape, Superman and Marilyn Monroe (2023, Simon & Schuster)
- Jerry Siegel, Creation of a Superhero (unpublished autobiography, circa 1980)
- John Kobler, “Up, up, and awa-ay! The Rise of Superman Inc.”, Saturday Evening Post, June 21, 1941
- Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster vs. National Comics Publications Inc. et al. (New York Supreme Court 1947)
- Les Daniels, Superman: The Complete History (1998, Chronicle Books)
- Roy Thomas, “‘K’ is for ‘Krypton’: Continuing the Saga of the Fabled Lost ‘K-Metal’ Story” in Alter Ego 79 (July 2008)
- Will Murray, “The Kryptonite Crisis: The Secret Origin of the 1940 ‘K-Metal’ Story” in Alter Ego 37 (June 2004)
- Richard Pachter, “An Interview with Wayne Boring”, Amazing Heroes 41 (February 15, 1984)
All of the court documents for the original case can be found online… though hopefully some future Siegel and Shuster scholar might take the time to go to Westchester County and get the court transcript!
The full name of the court case, in case you’re wondering, is Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster v. National Comics Publications Inc., Independent News Co. Inc., The McClure Newspaper Syndicate, Harry Donenfeld, Jacob Liebowitz, Paul H. Sampliner and Wayne Boring. That’s a mouthful!
All of the correspondence from Whit Ellsworth and Jack Liebowitz came to light when they were included in the copyright case between the Siegel estate and DC comics around 2009.