The Comics Code

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe Episode 7 – Created By…

    It's our season finale. When Jerry issues a nine-page press release placing a “curse” on Superman and the upcoming Superman movie, the resulting publicity brings him to New York, where artists Neal Adams and Jerry Robinson launch a public campaign on behalf of Siegel and Shuster that leads to the restoration of their creator credit and a pension.

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe Episode 6 – I Will Smash Superman

    After losing their battle for the rights to Superman, Jerry Siegel's and Joe Shuster's lives began to unravel... and both found themselves separately at the brink of disaster. Joe was reduced to menial jobs and illustrating the fetish zine Nights of Horror, while Jerry lost a plum editorial job, and very nearly got into serious trouble harassing his former bosses. By the end of the 1950s, Jerry eventually found himself writing Superman uncredited.

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe Episode 5: Siegel and Shuster v National Comics et al.

    As the 1940s progress, Jerry and Joe face increased editorial pushback from Detective Comics. And then while Jerry was serving during World War II, Superman's owners take an idea of Jerry's called Superboy and publish it without his permission or compensation. The whole matter of ownership of Superboy, and Superman, goes to court... and the boys lose everything.

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe episode 4: “Superman Inc.”

    During 1939 and 1940, Superman made it onto the radio and was doing booming business being licensed as toys. Superman was a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, and a live-action Superman drew crowds at a Superman Day the New York World’s Fair... while creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster could only watch from the sidelines, having signed away their rights.

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe Episode 3: Detective Comics

    As Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster struggled to get Superman published, their first major work appeared in New Fun Comics. This set them on a path that led to publisher Harry Donenfeld and his business manager Jack Liebowitz. Through them Superman would be published... but at a hidden cost for Siegel and Shuster.

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe Episode 2: The Lost Supermen

    For decades, writer Jerry Siegel told the story of Superman’s birth as a flash of inspiration during one restless summer night. But the real story is far more complex—and far more fascinating. In this episode, we create a timeline outlining the untold history of Superman’s creation, tracing the hero’s evolution between 1933 and 1935 through four distinct versions.

  • Episodes, The Comics Code

    Jerry and Joe Episode 1: Secret Origins

    This season, we’re kicking off our deep dive into the hidden history of comics with an epic seven-part story about Superman’s forgotten origins... and the two young creators who changed pop culture forever.

  • Previews, The Comics Code

    Coming Soon: The Comics Code

    From author and podcaster Graeme Burk comes a podcast that dives deep into the stories behind the stories of the first hundred years of comics — the creators, the controversies, and the cultural impact of a medium that shaped modern mythology.