2006 Comic Book News Archives
May 29, 2006: Gerard Jones Responds to Joanne Siegel
You'll recall that on May 23 we published an open letter from Joanne Siegel, wife of the late Jerry Siegel, regarding comments made by the late Michael Siegel, Jerry's son from a previous marriage. Mrs Siegel's letter addressed concerns she had with material published in the book Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones.Gerard Jones responded directly using the comments facility on this website on the open letter from Joanne Siegel. In case you missed it, click "Read More" below to see... here's what Gerard wrote:
- Dear Mrs. Siegel:
Thank you very much for your comments on my book, Men of Tomorrow, and the statements that Michael Siegel asked me to pass on to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I know my book would have benefitted tremendously from your knowledge, and I hope you can help me straighten out errors for future editions. I already have some corrections ready for the next revision supplied to me by Marlene Spanner Goodman, one of Jerry Siegel's nieces, and I am eager to hear from anyone who can help me make the book more accurate. Obviously no one knows more about the life and career of Jerry Siegel than you. (I do understand, though, that you and your daughter are at work on your own book, and that this prevents you from sharing too many details yet.)
Men of Tomorrow proved to be an extraordinarily difficult book to write; there are so many conflicting versions of every story, and so many of the people involved have either passed away or were unable to speak on the record for a variety of reasons. Throughout the writing I was motivated by my love of comics and my deep appreciation for your late husband's colossal contributions to them, but I'm sure I missed the mark in many places. I regret any pain I caused.
I do still believe that I did the right thing by passing on Michael Siegel's comments, whether they were founded in fact or only his and his mother's imagination. Michael seemed to me to be a sad man, very lonely and very angry about many things. For the last few decades of his life he felt that he'd been constrained from telling what he believed to the be the truth. It may be that that constraint was all in his head, just as it may be that none of his anger was justified. But when he wrote to me he was ill, already predicting that he would die soon, and he wanted to tell the story of his life as he understood it. Apparently it was my book that inspired enough anger in him to do that. I felt that I couldn't close the door on him.
My own conversations with Michael were complicated. He would sometimes make a statement and then insist that he hadn't made it, or hadn't meant it as I'd understood it. He seemed primed to believe that everyone was out to misrepresent him, and we had to go through the process of disentangling misunderstandings a few times. By the time of our last emails, late last year, he seemed to feel that I understood the story he wanted the world to hear. It may well be that everything he believed was untrue, and certainly everything he said was colored by anger and overstatement, but it wasn't just malice that made him want to say what he did. I truly believe he was trying to make sense of his life.
Again, thank you for your letter. I am currently writing an article noting errors and areas of disagreement in my book, as well as preparing changes for the next edition, and I will certainly make use of your letter. Any further comments will be enormously appreciated. And again, I regret any distress my book has caused.
Good luck to you in your ongoing battle for your family's rightful legacy.
Gerry Jones
2006 Comic News
Listed below are all the Comic News items archived for 2006.- January 10, 2006: Geoff Johns & Kurt Busiek Talk Superman One Year Later
- January 13, 2006: Gail Simone on Livewire's Comics Debut
- January 25, 2006: Dan Didio Talks Superman Comics
- January 25, 2006: Matt Haley on Superman Returns Comic Adaptation
- January 26, 2006: Kurt Busiek Talks About His Ideas for Superman
- January 28, 2006: DC Comics Announces Cover Price for 52
- January 31, 2006: Infinite Crisis #3 Sells Out, Second Printing Coming
- February 1, 2006: Superman - This is Your Life
- February 2, 2006: Infinite Crisis #4 Goes Back to Press for New Printing
- February 8, 2006: Supergirl #5 Gets Extra Pages and Two Covers
- February 15, 2006: Chuck Austen Talks About His Time Writing Superman
- February 15, 2006: DC Offers Superman/Batman #1 as Second FCBD Title
- February 17, 2006: Jeph Loeb on Sam and Superman/Batman #26
- February 24, 2006: Earth-2 Superman in Wizard Magazine #174
- February 25, 2006: Superman Comics Info From New York Comic-Con
- March 1, 2006: Matt Idelson Talks Superman Comics
- March 2, 2006: Supergirl #5 Goes Back to Press for New Printing
- March 8, 2006: Infinite Crisis #5 Goes Back to Press for 2nd Printing
- March 9, 2006: Exclusive Matt Idelson Interview
- March 15, 2006: Superman Returns Prequel Comics Announced
- March 19, 2006: Superman News from Wizard World L.A.
- March 28, 2006: Superman Featured in Wizard Magazine #175
- April 4, 2006: Olivetti Replacing Byrne on Superman Returns Prequel Comic
- April 5, 2006: Judge Says Siegels Own Superboy - Smallville in Question
- April 5, 2006: Superman Homepage Emerald City Comic Con Report!
- April 7, 2006: E! Online Report on Superboy Court Case
- April 14, 2006: New Team Back in Action
- April 19, 2006: Jim Krueger Talks Justice
- April 24, 2006: Exclusive Interview with Mark Verheiden
- April 26, 2006: History of Superman in Wizard Brazil
- April 27, 2006: Exclusive Interview with Geoff Johns
- May 9, 2006: DC Launches 52theComic.com
- May 10, 2006: Superman Returns Prequel Comics Now a Miniseries
- May 23, 2006: An Open Letter from Joanne Siegel
- May 26, 2006: Dan Jurgens Talks Superman/Doomsday Omnibus
- May 29, 2006: Gerard Jones Responds to Joanne Siegel
- May 31, 2006: Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con
- June 1, 2006: Jimmy Palmiotti Talks Superman Returns Comic Books
- June 3, 2006: DC to Unveil Superman Confidential Comic Series
- July 3, 2006: PodCast on Martha Kent Prequel Comic
- July 18, 2006: Brad Meltzer Answers Fan Questions on Justice League of America
- July 18, 2006: Superman at the San Diego Comic Con
- July 21, 2006: Donner Joins Johns on Action Comics
- July 25, 2006: Donner, Johns and Kubert on Action #844
- July 28, 2006: Superman Flying to the Middle East
- August 3, 2006: Wizard World 2006 - Superman Homepage Report - Day One
- August 4, 2006: Wizard World Chicago 2006 - Day Two
- August 6, 2006: Wizard World Chicago 2006 - Day Three
- August 7, 2006: Nicieza Talks Action Comics
- August 7, 2006: Wizard World Chicago Report
- August 9, 2006: Wizard World Chicago A Success
- August 10, 2006: Read 52 Issues 1 to 5 Online
- August 31, 2006: Superman in Wizard #180
- September 19, 2006: Exclusive Interview with Ethan Van Sciver
- September 26, 2006: Matt Haley Talks Superman Returns Comic Adaptation
- October 2, 2006: Geoff Johns Talks Action Comics
- October 4, 2006: Donner's Last Son Previewed at EW.com
- October 4, 2006: Kurt Busiek Talks Superman
- October 6, 2006: Adam Kubert Talks Action Comics
- October 18, 2006: Behind the Scenes of an Action Comics Cover
- October 23, 2006: Talking Superman with Kurt Busiek
- November 17, 2006: Action Comics #844 Gets Second Printing
- November 22, 2006: Exclusive Interview with Matt Haley
- December 6, 2006: Exclusive Jesse McCann Interview
- December 9, 2006: Action Comics Scheduling Changed
- December 21, 2006: Superman Artist Hardin Burnley Dies at 95
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