Jerome Siegel was the writer of the original "Superman" comics that based the man of steel's love interest Lois Lane on his own. Sadly, Joanne Siegel died Tuesday, February 15th at 93 years of age.
Joanne was originally a model of about 15 or 16 years old during the Depression. In the year 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster contacted her and she met with the two men to pose for sketches drawn by Schuster for the character Lois Lane. She was the basis for not only Lois Lane's physical appearance, but some of her character traits as well. Joanne and Siegel were married ten years after their first meeting when Siegel's divorce from his wife was finalized.
Most of Siegel's work went unaccredited, but after Siegel's death, he began getting the fan recognition he deserved. In 2009, fans raised money to build a Superman shield in front of his former house and just last week, they named the streets surrounding his old house after him and "Lois Lane."
Before her death, Mrs. Siegel was in the middle of legal battles to get the rights and money for the original Superman creators and their families. She would constantly fight for her husband to receive the recognition for his creation of Superman, but sadly has passed away before the legal battles could reach their conclusion. She was a beautiful woman inspiring one of, if not the greatest damsel in distress with a backbone that we all cannot help but love. Rest in peace Joanne Siegel, but know you'll live on in comics as the Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane.
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.
