A Superman art mystery
The hero's first novel features drawings both by the comic book's co-creator and by some unnamed artist
Topics: Imprint, Design, Life News, Entertainment News
I used to spend a lot of time as a kid visiting antique (actually, “junk”) shops. It was like visiting a museum, except you pick up stuff and hold it. One of the things I found (probably around 1972) was a book by author George Lowther from 1942 about Superman. I’d never heard about this novel and considering the amount of time I spent obsessing about comic books, I was surprised and puzzled by it all of a sudden popping up! It would take quite a few years and the availability of the Internet before I could find out anything substantial about it. Basically, it was a rare book but unless it was in beautiful condition with a dust jacket it didn’t command an outrageous price. It’s interesting to note that Lowther, in this, Superman’s first novelization and first story credited to someone besides Jerry Siegel, was responsible for defining Superman’s birth, early life, and the first detailed description of life on doomed Krypton. He also officially named Superman/Kal-El’s parents Jor-El and Lara ― who’d previously been known as Jor-L and Lora…
The original edition of the book with dust-jacket.
As much as I’d hoped that I’d stumbled across a priceless gem, I wasn’t disappointed because of the great illustrations by Joe Shuster! Let me correct that – I wasn’t disappointed because of MOST of the great illustrations by Joe Shuster. Each opening chapter page in “Superman” includes a black-and-white pen/brush and ink illustration. These tasty, gestural pieces of inspiration seemed out of place to me. They are so immediate and almost impulsive – also, not what I would expect from a book produced in 1942. I would imagine that this must have been a rare “behind the scenes” sort of approach to take back then. It also puts a focus on the artist as opposed to the character – another rarity. I’m aware that both of Superman’s creators, Jerry (Jerome) Siegel and Joe Shuster received credit on early splash pages of their comic stories, as did Bob Kane with Batman, but this seems different to me. This artwork is daring in its loose expression and vitality, and I can’t think of another (can’t wait to see what THIS comment garners…) similar circumstance.
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