Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 42 Clues

It is not difficult to hear from Piero Siegel's words.

Before meeting Ke Lin, "Famous Comic" had already had contact with several cartoonists, and even discussed the matter of publication.

The reason why I went to the door specially to find him.

Naturally, it was for the "Superman" comic in Colin's hand.

The "Superman" serialized in the "Courier" is one of the most popular comics nowadays.

Since "Famous Comics" wants to make a name for itself through reprinted comics, it will naturally not miss the popularity of "Superman".

"For the "Superman" comics serialized in your hands, Mr. Colin Luper, we "Famous Comics" are very sincere. After internal discussions, we are willing to give a manuscript fee of 50 US dollars per issue..."

Inside the newspaper office, Old John's fingers on the typesetting machine trembled slightly when he heard the price Piero said.

$50 was a lot of money during the Great Depression.

You must know that during this period, the average wage of Americans was only $17 a week, and even poorer ones, even $7 a week, abounded.The salaries of Old John and Little John in the Courier newspaper are only $10 a week. Even doctors, who are a symbol of high-paying professions, are only about $60 a week in this era.

Of course, prices in this era are generally much lower, especially under the impact of the Great Depression.

But no matter what, "Famous Comics" is willing to spend 50 US dollars per issue to buy "Superman" comics and publish them in the magazine, which is obviously a very sincere move.

If I remember correctly, the first manuscript fee received by the two "Superman" creators was only 20 US dollars.

If Colin was just an ordinary comic writer, then he would have been moved by the generous remuneration proposed by "Famous Comics".

Just like the cartoonists of Dick Tracy.

It's just a pity that in addition to being the author of "Superman", he is also the boss of "The Courier".

And today's "Courier" has long since gotten rid of its initial predicament.

Therefore, after hearing the quotation of US$50 per issue from "Famous Comics", although Ke Lin felt a little moved in his heart, he didn't show anything.

And then, the conditions put forward by Piero, the editor of "Famous Comics", also made his change disappear without a trace in an instant.

"Of course, it is not without conditions that "Famous Comics" is willing to buy the reprint of "Superman" at such a fee. We hope to have the exclusive re-copyright of the comics. In addition to the comics of Superman, the comics of "Superman" can only be serialized in "Famous Comics" in the future."

Piero thought that the condition proposed by "Famous Comics" was not too harsh.

After all, they have allowed "Superman" to be serialized in newspapers and magazines at the same time, which means that Colin can make two copies of money through comics.

The reason for such a request was also influenced by the layout competition between the "World Journal" and "New York News". It was possible to poach all the members of the Sunday edition of the "World Journal", which led to the majestic appearance of the comics originally serialized in the "World Journal" on the page of the "New York News", which triggered fierce disputes between the two sides of the newspaper. fighting.

The newsboy strike in 1899 was also a social incident that occurred during the period when the competition between the two major newspapers was the most intense.

"Sorry, Piero Siegel."

After hearing Piero's follow-up request, Colin actually had a decision in his mind.

He shook his head, tactfully expressing his rejection to the other party.

"At present, I have no plans to serialize "Superman" in other magazines."

"Ok."

Hearing the meaning of rejection in Colin's words, the editor of "Famous Comics" Piero Siegel didn't bother.

From this point of view, he is obviously more polite than the people in "World Journal".

Putting on the peaked cap in his hand again, Piero helped the brim of the hat, and said to Colin in front of him: "Mr. Colin Luper, if you have plans to serialize comics in magazines, you can ask someone to inform you. Me, the publishing house of "Famous Comics" is located near Sixth Avenue not far from the newspaper office, and the conditions we gave are still valid."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

In this regard, Colin didn't say much, just smiled and nodded to show that he heard it.

……

In the next few days, publishing houses successively approached her.

Ask Colin if he would like to serialize "Superman" in the publisher's magazine.

The conditions they put forward are also different, some are comparable to "Famous Comics", while others are much worse.

Among them, the most sincere one, a company called Humor Publishing House, not only gave a "huge" manuscript fee of 60 US dollars per issue, but also didn't even have the exclusive reprint request like the previous "Famous Comics".

However, regardless of whether the conditions offered by the publishing house were good or bad, Ke Lin rejected them all.

He has already glimpsed a clue from the actions of these publishers.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before Colin rejected the proposals of these publishers to serialize "Superman" magazine.

News reports related to it were published in the newspapers.

"...the senator accepted the wish of the local religious groups, expressed concern about vulgar magazines, promised to actively promote relevant bills to ban the sale of these vulgar magazines, and said that these publishing houses that publish violent pornography in magazines for sale are all Will be punished as it should be, not even ruled out..."

It is not difficult to see from the reports that the federal government intends to take action against these so-called vulgar criminal magazines.

Religious groups have always been known for being conservative, and their opposition is not surprising. When the new wave of "yellow tabloids" reemerged, it was they who stood up and launched a boycott with serious newspapers and media, which made this type of newspapers The media gradually went into decline.

The senator's willingness to make a statement on this matter has obviously expressed some kind of official attitude. Due to the impact of the Great Depression, the situation of publishing houses is generally not ideal. Therefore, in order to increase sales, they have More or less, some vulgar content will be mixed in the magazine to attract readers to subscribe.

Today, this situation seems to have caused dissatisfaction and backlash from some people in society.

In order to avoid jail time, these publishers have turned, reorientated and set their sights on content other than vulgarity.

Under such a premise, comics entered their field of vision.

(End of this chapter)