Jerry and Joe Episode 1: Secret Origins
The Comics Code
This season, we’re kicking off our deep dive into the hidden history of comics with an epic seven-part story about Superman’s forgotten origins... and the two young creators who changed pop culture forever. In this opening episode, we first encounter Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as history remembers them: the kids fresh out of high school who invented Superman, who signed away the rights to the character for just $130, and who spent decades afterward fighting for recognition, ultimately living in near-poverty by the mid-1970s. From there, we go back to Jerry and Joe's beginnings: two shy,...
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Coming Soon: The Comics Code
The Comics Code
From author and podcaster Graeme Burk comes a podcast that dives deep into the stories behind the stories of the first hundred years of comics — the creators, the controversies, and the cultural impact of a medium that shaped modern mythology. Using spoken word, interviews, archival audio, dramatic readings, and original soundscapes, The Comics Code uncovers the hidden history of comics — including tales that have never been fully told. Season One launches with “Jerry and Joe,” a seven-part saga about the creators of Superman. Discover how two teenage dreamers from Cleveland, Jerry...
info_outlineThis season, we’re kicking off our deep dive into the hidden history of comics with an epic seven-part story about Superman’s forgotten origins... and the two young creators who changed pop culture forever. In this opening episode, we first encounter Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as history remembers them: the kids fresh out of high school who invented Superman, who signed away the rights to the character for just $130, and who spent decades afterward fighting for recognition, ultimately living in near-poverty by the mid-1970s.
From there, we go back to Jerry and Joe's beginnings: two shy, sci-fi-obsessed teenagers meeting at Glenville High School in Cleveland in the early 1930s, bonding over pulp magazines, early comics, and a shared dream of making their own. That dream led to their homemade fanzine Science Fiction, produced on the school mimeograph machine. Its third issue featured their story “The Reign of the Super-Man,” about a destitute who is briefly transformed into a godlike figure... called "The Superman" This starts Jerry and Joe on the road to their greatest creation... and everything that followed.
Featuring interviews with Mark Millar, Brad Ricca, and Bonnie Siegler.
Historical readings were by Jason Miller (Jerry Siegel), Warren Frey (Joe Shuster), Drew Meyer and Francis Bradley.
Special thanks to our supporters: David Matthewman, Francis Bradley, Julie Hopkins, Jim Sangster, William Hopkins, Martin Hajovsky and Tom Dickinson.
You can read the sources for today's episode on our website.