A closer look
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two impoverished teenage creators of Superman, sold the complete rights to the iconic superhero to Detective Comics in 1938 for a grand total of $130, completely surrendering their ownership of a character that would go on to generate billions. While DC Comics built an empire on the back of the Man of Steel, plastering his "S" logo on every conceivable piece of merchandise on earth, the original creators spent decades fighting in court while struggling to pay for basic medical care. It wasn't until a massive public shaming campaign in the 1970s, spearheaded by prominent comic creators just before the release of the Richard Donner movie, that Warner Bros finally agreed to give them a modest yearly pension. The origin story of America's greatest symbol of truth and justice is ultimately just a grim lesson in predatory corporate copyright law, reminding us that the real villains wear business suits, not capes
