Men of Tomorrow: A Book Review

Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book.
by Gerard Jones
Published by Basic Books (2004)

I still think of Gerard Jones as a comic book writer. He wrote Green Lantern just before Ron Marz introduced Kyle Rayner. Now, he’s gone from writing comic books to books about comics.

His most recent work gives a broad overview of the American comic book with a nod to the historical context for its creation and development. Much of the material comes from new interviews that Jones conducted with people associated with the early years of comic books. The book’s focus is on the careers of Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Harry Donenfeld, and Jack Leibowitz. The first two were the writer and artist team that created Superman. The later two were the publishers responsible for bringing Superman to a mass audience.

Attention is also given to other figures such as Mort Weisinger, Will Eisner, Julie Schwartz, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, Bill Gaines and others. There are interesting anecdotes about their lives, but this is mainly a book about Jerry, Joe, Harry, and Jack. As a result, the book becomes a de facto history of National Comics (the original name for DC Comics).

Joe and Jerry appear as a pair of idealistic young men from Cleveland, Ohio. Before hitting it big with Superman, Harry dabbled in distributing pornography, among other ventures. Jack was a hard-working accountant who was responsible for turning National into a media giant. It was these two street-smart capitalists who made their fortune off of Superman.

The book gives a balanced look at the legal dispute that Jerry and Joe had with National over the rights to Superman and a larger share of the profits. Both viewpoints are presented, the enormous revenue generated by Superman contrasted with what were the common business practices of the time.

Because of their lawsuit, Jerry and Joe lost their jobs with National. They faced some hard times ahead. Joe’s failing vision severely damaged his employment prospects. Jerry bounced around from one company to the next. He eventually returned to writing Superman for a time.

The book also goes into some delicate matters involving the main subjects. Jerry’s abandonment of his first wife and son. The murder of Jerry’s father. Joanne Siegel (the original model for Lois Lane) being wooed by both Joe and Jerry. Harry’s connections to the mob and his unhappy marriage. Jack losing his first wife to cancer. Joe’s vision problems.

The book contains other interesting historical tidbits. Frederic Wertham’s claim that Superman was a fascist, quite an insult to the sons of immigrant Jews who created him. The brief stint that Jerry had on the Human Torch for Stan Lee. The effect that National’s control over distribution had on the content of Marvel’s superhero line (an incentive to create characters that wouldn’t necessarily compete with National’s characters). How Mad Magazine was an inspiration to underground cartoonists like Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb, much like Amazing Stories was to an earlier generation.

One really negative depiction is that of Bob Kane, the artist who helped to create Batman. Arguably among the least talented of the Golden Age legends, he was able to negotiate a great deal with National over the rights to Batman. Later on, he minimized the contributions that collaborators like Jerry Robinson and Bill Finger made to the Batman mythos. While taking sole credit for the creation of Batman, Kane relied largely on more talented ghost-artists to produce his Batman comics.

Like Kane, Mort Weisinger comes across as someone who had more ambition than creative talent. Part of the generation of science fiction fans that helped pave the way for comic books, Mort used his capacity for BS to become an influential science fiction editor and later the guy in charge of Superman. He appears as an enthusiastic marketer who was very tough on his subordinates. Among these were a Jerry Siegel who had returned to writing Superman in order to make ends meet. His management skills were one of the reasons that Jerry Siegel made a second try at regaining the rights to Superman.

It’s nice to read a full account of Jerry’s legal battles, first in the 40s and later in the 60s. It sheds some light on Jerry and Joe’s legal position when they worked out a deal with DC Comics in the 70s.

One of the interesting aspects of U.S copyright law is the right of reversion. This is basically the idea that the rights to copyrighted material can return to the creator when the copyright comes up for renewal. This is an attempt to balance the rights of creators who might sell the rights to their creations without knowing the full value of what they gave up. Reversion gives them a second chance to profit from their work. Under the law of the time, the period of renewal for Superman' s copyright came up in the 60s. Jerry risked his employment with DC to assert his rights. This legal dispute continued until they reached a compensation deal in the 70s. Changes in the copyright law since then have allowed the Siegel family to pursue a new claim for reversion, the dispute continues.

One heroic figure that emerges from the settlement is Jerry Robinson. The successful political cartoonist helped to rally support, along with other distinguished figures, for the rights of Jerry and Joe, two of his pals from when he still worked in comic books. He even participated in the negotiations that gave Siegel and Shuster a lifetime stipend and put their names back into every Superman comic that DC published.

A good read. By no means a complete history of the comic book, but still very interesting. Even if you don’t like comic books, it worth reading as an exploration of America’s cultural history.

Read More