Jerry and Joe Episode 6 – I Will Smash Superman

After losing their battle for the rights to Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster watched their lives begin to unravel. Their next venture, Funnyman, arrived with great fanfare… but was cancelled within a year. Jerry briefly became editorial director for Ziff-Davis’ comics line, but he was unprepared for the role and was dismissed quickly. By the end of 1951, he was in dire straits. Claiming he had been blackballed from the industry and unable to find work, Jerry spiraled, firing off angry letters to Superman’s owners… and his anger and desperation nearly landed him in serious legal trouble.

Joe fared no better. Work was scarce, and at one point he resorted to illustrating the fetish magazine Nights of Horror. Eventually, he was barely scraping by, reduced to menial jobs. Jerry, meanwhile, found a lifeline thanks to the intervention of his wife, Joanne, who convinced DC Comics to bring him back as an uncredited writer in the late 1950s. There, Jerry helped shape one of the first modern super-teams, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and penned some of the most memorable Superman stories ever written, including “Superman’s Return to Krypton” and “The Death of Superman.”

Featuring interviews with Brad Ricca, Mark Millar, Brian Cronin, Elliot S. Maggin and Bonnie Siegler

Historical readings were by Jason Miller (Jerry Siegel), Warren Frey (Joe Shuster) Andy Hicks (Jack Liebowitz), Shannon Dohar (Joanne Siegel), Joy Piedmont (Virginia Sheward) and Drew Meyer (Joe Simon)

Special thanks to our supporters: David Matthewman, Francis Bradley, Julie Hopkins, Jim Sangster, William Hopkins, Martin Hajovsky and Tom Dickinson