08/04/08 "I made steps to do the book when Jerry [Siegel] was still alive but I was told 'Jerry doesn't want to be reached. Don't even try,' "

Superman creation story is a lively read

Connecticut Post

With summer pop culture dominated by super-hero movies, Greenwich author Marc Tyler Nobleman has one of the most perfectly timed books of the year - "Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman"

Although the oversized volume is designed for young readers, the lively and deeply researched text and the beautiful illustrations by Ross McDonald should also attract older comic-book fans.

"Boys of Steel" traces the long and rocky journey taken by two Depression-era Cleveland "nerds" — Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — to create a new super-hero for one of the toughest periods in American history.

The two young men loved Flash Gordon and Tarzan, but wanted to create a fresh American hero.

"A brave, tough an who fought for truth and justice an alien who came from far away and now lived on Earth. The real Earth, the Great Depression Earth," Nobleman writes.

The most clever element in the character — the idea that separated Superman from Flash and Tarzan — was the fact that he had to keep his powers secret from human peers.

Young Siegel and Shuster saw Superman's alter ego of newspaperman Clark Kent to be someone like themselves.

" He would be meek and mild, like Joe and I are, and wear glasses, like we do," Jerry Siegel thought.

"No one would guess that such a hero was also someone like them," Nobleman explains.

"Boys of Steel" is the culmination of four years of work by Nobleman, who wanted to honor the creators......