EXTRACTS: Illustrators Crime Comics Special © 2020 Book Palace Books (144 pages in full edition)

13 Batman © 1935-2020 DC Comics Batman © 1935-2020 DC Comics Batman © 1935-2020 DC Comics Batman © 1935-2020 DC Comics two visionary but hopelessly un-worldly young men. Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster had spent the best part of six years hawking around a strip centred on the adventures of an earth-dwelling alien humanoid who is possessed of super-powers. The concept was a powerful one, but in common with every other great idea, lacked a precedent. ‘The Superman’ had initially been envisioned as a syndicated newspaper strip, but had evolved, with much to- ing and fro-ing, through a succession of publishers and syndicates with changes of emphasis and refinements of costume. Both Siegel and Schuster were already working for Detective Comics on a character called Slam Bradley when they received word that yet another pitch had failed to connect. The bearer of these tidings was Max Gaines (father of EC publisher Bill Gaines) who suggested that he could present their idea to Donenfeld and Liebowitz. The story of the subsequent success of Superman, as well as the impoverishment of his creators, is well known, but what is often overlooked is the extent to which crime was a recurring motif in many of the adventures