Jerry Siegel

The real-life co-creator of Superman, Jerry Siegel appears as a fictionalized version of himself — alongside creative partner Joe Shuster — in a meta storyline that blurs the line between creator and creation, placing the legendary writer inside the world he helped build.

Jerry Siegel — yes, that Jerry Siegel — appearing as a character in his own right, most prominently in Siegel and Shuster: Dateline 1930s from Eclipse, a Golden Age-era publication that brought the legendary co-creator of Superman into the pages of comics himself. Debuting in Superman #[1] in 1939, this real-world figure shares the page with his creative partner Joe Shuster, as well as the iconic characters they gave the world — Superman, Clark Kent, and Lois Lane — making for a uniquely meta, historically charged reading experience. With two key-issue appearances and a presence that stretches across an extraordinary 86 years of publishing history, this is a collector's curiosity unlike almost anything else in the medium. For anyone who loves comics history as much as comics themselves, tracking down these appearances is a rewarding treasure hunt through the very origins of the superhero genre.