It’s relatively common knowledge that in 1934 Jerry Siegel approached other artists besides Joe Shuster to be his collaborator on Superman. One of these artists was Russell Keaton, who had been ghosting the Buck Rogers Sunday pages. Siegel and Keaton maintained a brief correspondence over the character, with Keaton eventually deciding “not to gamble on such a young and inexperienced writer.” Instead, a few years later Keaton launched his own newspaper strip, Flyin’ Jenny.
And now, in the words of Paul Harvey, the rest of the story.
In preparing the termination notice to regain the Superman copyright, the Siegel family found a box of old Superman material, catalogued its contents–and then, in a move, lost track of it. Fortunately, the material was re-discovered in April of last year.
Among the documents: photostats of the scripts and artwork of Siegel and Keaton’s Superman.
That’s right, Siegel and Keaton.
As Jerry Siegel would later explain, in 1934 Joe Shuster had become discouraged with the Superman newspaper strip and decided to let it go. His departure prompted Siegel to look for a replacement, so he sent an inquiry to Keaton. Which we have in these rediscovered documents in Siegel’s follow-up letter outlining the origin story and touting the prospect of selling the strip to the Bell Syndicate.
Based on the surviving artwork, it would appear that Keaton did indeed prepare a set of sample daily strips for the syndicate to review. Had Siegel and Keaton succeeded in selling the strip, the history of comics would no doubt have been far different. At the very least Russell Keaton, not Joe Shuster, would most likely be remembered today as Superman’s co-creator.
The material also provides a decidedly different take on Superman’s origin. In this version, the infant Superman arrives here from the future via a time machine, sent to 1935 by “the last man on earth.” The couple that discovers him: Sam and Molly Kent.
The story then takes a series of fascinating turns in regard to Superman’s childhood, which is the subject of the first extended storyline. Most poignant: in a nod to Siegel’s own immigrant parents, the boy speaks a language that Sam and Molly don’t understand, leading them to speculate that he came from “a foreign country.” The secret of his origin appears to lie in a cryptic “Mystery Note” found in the time capsule, but–as is all too common in immigrant families–when Clark Kent grows up he can no longer read the words.
What this material might mean for the Superman and Superboy lawsuits we’ll discuss in a later post. For now, these historic documents deserve to be read in keeping with Siegel’s original intent–not as the subject of a legal dispute, but as an astounding adventure.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I think the time-travelling origin is more logical and poignant than the one they finally used.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:20 am
You’re blowing my mind. I consider myself a huge Superman fan and I never heard anything about this.
Mark Millar used the time-travel origin as the twist ending to Superman Red Son. There’s an even twistier twist involving Superman and Luthor’s shared lineage, too.
In 1938 the alien origin works but I think the time travel explanation is much more poignant today. Coming back in time to save everyone on Earth and not knowing that’s your mission provides a motivational device the current stories/origin lack.
Plus this would better explain why he looks so human.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Astro City’s Superman analogue, The Samaritan, has a similar time travel origin.
BUT he was sent as an adult, with artificially-created powers. Because if all future humans had Superman powers, well, the Earth blowing up would hardly be an issue, wouldn’t it?
Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)
August 20th, 2008 at 8:55 am
@johnny zito: Understandably mind blowing. It’s the missing link between Super-Man the villain and the Superman strips that Siegel & Shuster eventually sold to Detective Comics.
For folks who haven’t read the earlier Reign of the Super-Man story, the University of Florida has it online:
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/UFDC.aspx?c=psa1&m=hd4J&i=55836
August 20th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Wow!
I wish Rich Morrissey were around for this!
http://www.povonline.com/cols/COL346.htm
August 20th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
>> Mark Millar used the time-travel origin as the twist ending to Superman Red Son.>>
Mark apparently got that via a suggestion from Grant Morrison, who got it from ASTRO CITY.
>> Astro City’s Superman analogue, The Samaritan, has a similar time travel origin.>>
And I had no idea Siegel had ever done such a thing. This is really cool…!
kdb
August 20th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
>> Because if all future humans had Superman powers, well, the Earth blowing up would hardly be an issue, wouldn’t it? >>
Ah, but if you rigged it so that in the far future, under Earth’s weaker red sun, mankind had evolved to in certain ways to make fuller use of the dimmer solar energy bathing Earth, so they were comparatively normal — but once sent back in time, the rays of a stronger, younger yellow sun boosted his abilities…
kdb
August 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
jeff–great job!!! i think this fascinating material should be called “A” missing link, not “THE” missing link since shuster (and like you say, possibly other artists) did dif versions of supe between super-man the villain and what dc finally put what we’ve got in action 1. oh, so?–craig yoe
August 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
@Craig Yoe–I agree re the “a” for the reason you mention!
August 20th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
@Rockin’ Rich - Seconded, Mr. Pachter.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
This explains the “Man of Tomorrow” tag that Superman originally had. That was probably how they still thought of the character.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Two of the other artists were Tony Strobl! of Donald Duck fame, and (I hope my memory is correct) Charles Raab.
And Rich Morrissery knew about it. He heard about the other artists from Siegel himself, but didnt know who some of the artists were until we talked about it (I forget if the discussion was over steaks or over his looking at some of my mile high comics - folks who know Rich well, will appreciate him reading some “pristine mint” comics).
August 21st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I’m the one who sent the Russell Keaton Superman material to Jerry & Joanne Siegel years ago in an effort to produce a book about the “secret origin of Superman.” Some of you may recall that I published “The Aviation Art of Russell Keaton” in the 90s (Kitchen Sink Press) and in the process discovered this amazing connection. The unpublished material is co-owned by the Keatons & Siegels under © law) but the Siegel’s lawyers at the time would not allow this to go forward (because of the then-pending litigation against DC). It’s a little dismaying to see this material suddenly “rediscovered” without full context but now it’s out there and the “5th Beatle” comparison is an amusing one. I’m in touch with the Keaton family and a major publisher and so perhaps this article will jump-start the project after many years on the back burner. The horrible Xeroxes linked here do not do justice to the actual Keaton original art (and BTW there’s LOTS more correspondence and scripts). –Denis
(I’m BTW leaving on vacation in a few hours and thus will be unlikely to respond to any follow-ups here or elsewhere until September 1.)
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 am
Congrats on the post and documents attached, even if they do look like tenth generation Xeroxes. I hope the new book Denis Kitchen talks about will come out soon. Gerald Jones in his “Men of Tomorrow” also mentions Keaton, plus other two artists Siegel contacted before him for the Superman strip, i.e. Tony Strobl and Mel Graff, but there’s no reference to any artwork ever having been done by those two. We also know from the Nemo #2 interview that Siegel corresponded around the same time with J. Allen St. John re. another project (novel or strip?) called “Rex Carson of the Ether Patrol”, could he have submitted Supes to him?
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:09 am
“Ah, but if you rigged it so that in the far future, under Earth’s weaker red sun, mankind had evolved to in certain ways to make fuller use of the dimmer solar energy bathing Earth, so they were comparatively normal — but once sent back in time, the rays of a stronger, younger yellow sun boosted his abilities…”
Kurt Busiek replied to me! Cool!!! Love your work, man.
But anyway, that explanation doesn’t make sense because stars tend to burn HOTTER when they get old - until they burn out. The Earth probably won’t survive until then (some BILLIONS of years in the future, so humanity will probably be evolved to a very different species), because the Sun will swallow the Earth well before that.
Here are some details:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1997-03/853714295.Ph.r.html
The Samaritan origin makes much more sense.
Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 am
I’ll tell you, the more I think about it the more resonate the ‘future’ origin is today. Especially with our almost constant media obsession with the end of the world.
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:57 am
@Denis Kitchen–I look forward to the whole collection! More thoughts, and documents, here.
@Leonard de Sa: The Siegel/Keaton docs contain at least one additional clue about possible submissions. At the bottom of one of the pages–IIRC p.13 in the PDF–there’s a reference to formatting the strips with an explanatory panel to mirror other strips from John Dille. The Dille Company also distributed Buck Rogers, which suggests that Siegel was being doubly strategic in his choice of Keaton as artist.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
THE SUPERBOY/SUPERMAN COPYRIGHT BATTLES IS TURNING INTO A LIFETIME MOVIES. THE SIEGEL FAMILY FORGOT ONE THING ON THE FIRST PAGE IN EVERY SUPERBOY AND SUPERMAN STORY,IT CLAIM THAT JERRY SIEGEL AND JERRY SCHUSTER ARE THE CREATOR OF SUPERBOY AND SUPERMAN. IT WILL BE INTERESTED TO SEE HOW LONG THIS COPYRIGHT BATTLES WILL LAST. I WOULDN”T SHOCK OR SUPRISED IF DC DON’T CHANGE THE NAMED OF SUPERBOY AND SUPERMAN TO SOMETHING ELSE. GOOD LUCK TO THE FUTURE
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I posted some of this on one of the other threads on this, but it looks like it fits better in this discussion, so a little edited:
Keaton’s one of my big influences (especially his Flyin’ Jenny work), and so while I’ve known about this fact of Keaton’s involvement for a number of years, it’s really thrilling to actually get to see this lost Keaton art, even with poor reproduction.
For anyone looking to see why Keaton was so special, try to find a copy of “The Aviation Art of Russell Keaton,” published by Kitchen Sink in the ’90’s, which Dennis Kitchen mentions above. A great book about Keaton, who died while still very young in 1945 (another story with some controversy there). The book is mostly reprints of Sundays of “Flyin’ Jenny”, his aviatrix adventure strip and best work, printed from originals, so the quality is tops, but there also FJ dalies and examples of his work on “Buck Rogers” and “Skyroads”, plus other drawings. “Jenny” never really had a chance to prosper after the first few years with others having to do much of the work while Keaton was busy with WWII and didn’t survive too long after his death. Marc Swayze, who had been Keaton’s assistant (and the original Mary Marvel artsist), took it over but it was too late at that point. Swayze currently writes a column for “Alter Ego” magazine. You have to wonder, as good as he was in 1945, what Keaton might have gone on to do.
With all the comic strip reprints these days, I sure hope someone might reprint the entire run of “Flyin’ Jenny.” It only lasted a little more than 7 years, so not that much to cover the whole thing. Dennis mentions something about publishing plans, so I can maybe build up my hopes a little.
-Andrew Pepoy
PS Craig’s mention of the somewhat-mysterious Charles Raab will also likely get a few of his rabid admirerers excited about more info or even art.
Fun, new tales of “The Adventures of Simone & Ajax” now in full-color at http://www.ComicMix.com. Watch http://www.pepoy.com for news or go to http://www.simoneandajax.com for direct links to all the comics.
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I think Craig was thinking of Graff when he wrote Raab.
I’ve heard Raab did samples for Terry and the Pirates in ‘46 but obviously he didn’t get the job.
And those samples has yet to surface. I’d love to see them. (I’ve posted some of George Wunders try-out dailies on my blog.)
But I’ve never heard Raabs name connected with the early Superman strips.
August 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
A group effort to clean up the images is underway at the Collectors Society.
August 24th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Wow a real time capsule - time bomb…
Ok the Man of Tomorrow title makes more sense with this origin, as does Superman’s human appearance.
Superman’s powers in Action Comics No.1 were as result of his “physical structure was millions of years more advanced than our own”
To be honest the questions around the origin story work both ways - whether it’s future earth or Krypton, why does a race of supermen, be that physically powerful and or technologically powerful let themselves be destroyed.
Personally I find the time travel origin more satisfactory, because the character is after all a super man. Also 80 years later we no longer expect alien life to look like us - actually quite the opposite.
Taking the Fermi paradox, that tells us that a technological civilization could at sub light speeds colonize the galaxy in 5 - 50 million years it would be sensible to assume differing environments would result in extremely divergent life forms over this time.
Equally we shouldn’t assume evolution will necessarily change us dramatically. Look at the coelacanth and other living fossils. In the nearer future change is more likely to be engineered. Look at the Methuselah Mouse Prize where science is looking to radically extend human lifespan. I can forsee a future where we retain human appearance for social and societal reasons - but have radically altered “physical Structure”
So it is possible to imagine Siegal’s race of Supermen, in the distant future, living here, and or on some distant planet.
I can with little effort imagine scenarios where only the last son of Krypton could arrive on earth, close to the Kent Farm.
He would still be an illegal alien. Still look human, and still have a physiology that was charged by solar energy.
As for how this physiology allows him to fly etc. as Arthur C Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
September 4th, 2008 at 3:50 am
I can very much relate with the origin of Superman coming from the future. I always imagined a “Twilight Zone/Planet of the Apes”-esque ending to the Superman story, where the reader discovers that infact Superman is not an alien but a “refugee” from the doomed future Earth.
Check out Gore-AL at http://www.supermanofsteel.com/2008/07/31/gor-el-revisted/ for a comical story about a doomed Earth.