Articles

A brief history of Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Superman

June 2nd, 1932, was a typical evening in Cleveland, Ohio. Jerry Siegel was hard at work on the next issue of his science fiction fanzine. Across town, his father, Mitchell, was busy closing up his men’s clothing store when the front bell rang.

Later that evening, a neighboring shop owner noticed the door to Mitchell’s shop was ajar. The light was still on long after closing time, but no sign of the store owner. He poked his head in only to find Mitchell’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood from two bullet holes and an empty cash register on the counter. This is the catalyst that would make young Jerry Siegel dream of a hero that bullets would bounce off of. With the help of his friend, Joe Shuster, and a lot of science fiction stories, their creation would change the face of modern entertainment forever.

Continue reading “Men of Steel”

A brief history of MLJ Magazines and Archie

It was just another summer day at the beach for the Goldwater and Silberkleit families. The only thing that set it apart was that today John Goldwater, forever the salesman and creative, would convince Louis Silberkleit to go into the comic book business with him. Both men were already in the “pulp” business, dealing in cheap, fiction magazines who got their name from the low quality wood pulp paper they were printed on. Their jump to comics didn’t seem that tremendous, yet it was impossible for either of them to know that what they were discussing would eventually end up changing the face of pop culture and birth characters that would charm readers for the next 80 years.

Continue reading “The Mirth of a Nation”