This podcast details true crime cases. It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.

It is not intended for children. Listener discretion is advised.

Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.

Last week I kicked off the new series, first Hollywood. When I told you the story of a hit television comedy whose young actors all experienced

hardship and tragedy after the curtain came down on their show. Hollywood being a superstitious place, rumors began to fly that the show was cursed.

The idea of curses plaguing Hollywood productions is nothing new. In this episode, all detail a case of an iconic Hollywood franchise that is still going

strong today, but rumors of its cursed status began as early as the 1930s. Some believe that the poor treatment of the original creators led to its long

history of bad blood, shattered careers, tragic accidents, untimely death, and even murder. This is the curse of Superman.

The character Superman predates even comic books, where most first heard of this cultural icon.

Two friends, a writer and an artist, both science fiction fans, dreamt up the man of steel together.

But it might surprise you to know that, at first, he wasn't a hero, but a villain.

Jerome Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster met in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924. Both were of Jewish descent. Siegel, the

son of Russian immigrants, and Schuster, born in Canada, held from Dutch Ukrainian roots. Schuster's

family moved to the US and landed in Cleveland, where the boys met in high school. The immediately

became fast friends, bonding over their love of science fiction stories. They were also fans of comic

strips, like book Rogers in the 25th century, Tarzan, and Popeye. Together, they began creating their own

comics for their high school newspaper. Their first collaboration was published in 1931.

Siegel and Schuster aspired to be science fiction writers, but when they couldn't get anyone to

publish their stories, they created their own magazine titled Science Fiction in 1932.

In the third issue, their story, the reign of Superman, featured the first appearance of the character.

In their original story, Superman is created as an experiment by a mad scientist who endeavors to

create a perfect human being. Superman has super strength as well as telepathic superpowers,

...