In 1933, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster created their first Superman comicbook, entitled The Superman. After it was rejected for publication, a distraught Jerry Siegel destroyed the entire work. All that survived was the finished cover and the above pencil sketch of an alternate cover design.
You can read more about that story here and here.
In 1998, this previously unused cover design finally saw publication. Artist Jon Bogdanove based his own cover for Man of Steel #80 on Shuster's drawing, with some minor modifications.
A GENIUS IN INTELLECT-
A HERCULES IN STRENGTH
A NEMESIS TO WRONG-
DOERS-
The SUPERMAN!
was adjusted to
A GENIUS IN INTELLECT!
A HERCULES IN STRENGTH!
A NEMESIS TO ALL WRONGDOERS!
The SUPERMAN!!
Minor background details were also added and/or changed. Note that the broken log in the lower right has become a pile of broken bricks in Bogdanove's finished cover.
In Shuster's original sketch, Superman's costume was not yet in evidence. It did not yet exist at the time of the drawing. 'The Superman' was dressed in a simple tank top, trowsers, and boots. Later in 1933 or early 1934, the first version of Superman's costume was created. Bogdanove incorporated Shuster's first pass at a costume, complete with lace-up boots, back into the earlier cover.
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Part One: The Superman vs. The Atomic Skull! Part Two: Superman in The Ghetto! Part Three: Superman Breaks the Wall! Postlude 60 year anniversary! |