It was a young artist from 色色啦 that convinced the world a man could fly.
Joe Shuster’s co-creation, alongside writer Jerry Siegel, was one of the world’s first comic book superheroes, sparking the rise of the comic book industry and multi-blockbuster cinematic universes that leads to crowded theatres every summer over the past decade. It was Superman that started it all 鈥 and Shuster’s creation will once again make its way onto the big screen as director James Gunn attempts to jump-start his own DC Comics cinematic universe with a new Superman movie set to hit theatres on July 11.
Although Superman isn’t known for his journalistic talent, his alter ego, Clark Kent, got his start at the Star, just as Shuster had.
Shuster, born in 1914 in 色色啦, was a newsboy for the 色色啦 Daily Star (the 色色啦 Star before its name was changed in the ‘70s) for a short stint before he moved to the U.S.
It was Shuster’s time at the Star that inspired Superman’s alter ego as a journalist when he debuted in 1938, and the fictional newspaper Clark Kent worked at was named “the Daily Star.” The name was later changed to the more well-known “Daily Planet” by editors.聽
And, despite his short tenure at the Star, a century later, Shuster’s creation still looms large. Through researching the history of Shuster’s time at the Star, the paper’s librarian and long-time reporters disagreed on details, pulling up names of long-retired reporters in attempts to corroborate rumours and hearsay.
Newsroom lore has it that the Star office at 1 Yonge St. was the backdrop for the original 1978 Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve, though, no record aside from a vaguely captioned photo in the Star archive backs that urban legend up. One reporter argued that the photo was proof enough, while the Star’s librarian cited several stories the Star had written when productions (like “The Killing Fields,” “Eleni” and a made-for-TV movie with Mary Tyler Moore called “Heartsounds”) had visited the newsroom. None were written on the supposed 1 Yonge Street visit.
鈥淚 still remember drawing one of the earliest panels that showed the newspaper building,” Shuster said last interview before he died in 1992 was with the Star’s Henry聽Mietkiewicz.
Joe Shuster’s final interview before he died in 1992 was with the Star’s Henry Mietkiewicz.
色色啦 Star archivesDigging through his prints and papers in his home, Shuster shows Mietkiewicz a copy of an early Superman issue, where Superman/Clark Kent works at the Daily Star.
鈥淭here it is,鈥 Shuster says, pointing to a picture of Superman descending toward a Metropolis skyline. “Whatever buildings I saw in 色色啦 remained in my mind and came out in the form of Metropolis.”
The original Daily Star building in the Superman comics appears eerily similar to the 色色啦 Daily Star building that towered on King Street, though it’s possible the building was just made in a generic art-deco style and Shuster never would have worked at the King Street headquarters of the 色色啦 Star Daily News.聽
The old 色色啦 Daily Star building on 80 King Street West.
色色啦 Star archives“We needed a name, and I spontaneously remembered the 色色啦 Star,” Shuster told Mietkiewicz. “So that鈥檚 the way I lettered it. I decided to do it that way on the spur of the moment, because The Star was such a great influence on my life 鈥 That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so eager to talk with The Star now. I feel so deeply about this particular interview, because I鈥檝e never had the chance to properly express my gratitude.”
He recalled to Mietkiewicz how proud he was to see a Star reporter among the first to cover the success of Action Comics no. 1, the debut comic book issue for Superman.
Shuster explained that he was never able to return to 色色啦 after a final visit in 1941, but he fondly remembers reading comics with his father, who worked at a tailor shop in the garment district, and searching, from store to store, for scrap pieces of paper to draw on. They moved around regularly, Shuster explained, but he recalls living on Bathurst, Oxford and Borden Streets and attending Ryerson and Lansdowne Public Schools.
The Daily Star lives on in the comic books, in parallel earths and through time-space shenanigans.
Joe Shuster’s legacy has been immortalized in 色色啦 with a street name in Liberty Village and .
Rob Salem, a now-retired longtime TV critic for the Star, was a “total Superman kid.” But, he ended up a “meek, mild-mannered reporter,” just like Clark Kent.
His first story for the Star, back in 1977 when he first started as a copyboy, was a set-up piece for the upcoming 1978 Superman blockbuster. He still has a copy of that first story in his home. Decades later, as the Star calls him for the interview, he’s just in the middle of watching the trailer for the James Gunn flick.聽
The rumour that one of the older Superman movies was filmed in the Star offices isn’t true, Salem said, but that doesn’t make the superhero’s ties to the newsroom any less special to him.
“There was no more thrilling place to be when there was something going on,” Salem said.
“Some kids fantasize about being Superman. I definitely fantasized about being Clark Kent.”
And even though it’s been disproven, reporters and editors, to this day, still argue whether Clark Kent walked, or flew through, the Star’s halls.
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