Posted in: Comics | Tagged: action comics, Comics, dc, dc comics, entertainment, keith champagne, superman

Champagne Supernova: That Coward Joe Cleveland From Action Comics #1

Comic book creator Keith Champagne writes for Bleeding Cool,

See that middle-aged fellow in the lower left hand corner there? The one holding his head and running away in fear? From the time I first saw the cover to Action Comics #1, I was always interested in that guy. Who was he? Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Did he even have a name?

When I was about ten, I came up with the idea that he had telepathic powers. It kind of looks like he's projecting his thoughts, doesn't it? Eyes all bulgy, clutching his temples. Maybe Superman only existed in his imagination and he was using his crazy mind mojo to brainwash the world into believing there really was a Man Of Steel.

Whoever he was, there was a story behind him.

As I got older, I saw that guy pop up on countless homage covers. Always in the lower left hand corner. Always clutching his head and running away in fear. "Joe Cleveland," I nicknamed him to myself. Sometimes, he even showed up on the covers of non-DC books. One time, he even showed up on the cover to an issue of Young Heroes In Love that I inked.

By the time I was about fifteen, I had figured out my own story for Joe and I carried that little germ of an idea in the back of my mind through high school, my brief pit stop into 'real' college, my adventure at the Kubert school, as I broke into the comics biz, and for the first fifteen-or-so years of my career working with DC until I finally reached the point where I was able to pitch it to Matt Idelson, the editor of the Superman books at that time.

The basic pitch was this: Joe Cleveland, always in the wrong place at the wrong time, is the biggest coward in the DCU. Every time we've ever seen the guy, on countless covers and over how many years, he's running away in fear.

Now on old man near the end of his life, Joe is full of self loathing and regret. He can't look at himself in the mirror; all he can see is a giant coward and, as he explains to Superman:

PAGE SIX/PANEL FIVE

Angle on Joe, sad yet serious, laying it on the line with Superman.

9- JOE CLEVELAND: I keep asking myself–how did I end up in the EXACT SAME SITUATION, over and over and over again?

10- JOE CLEVELAND: Why was I always so SCARED?

11- JOE CLEVELAND: It's the riddle of my life.

Together, he and Superman have one final adventure (for Joe) where he comes to terms with the life he's had, the choices he's made, and even gets to finally overcome his fear and save Superman when the two run into the Parasite (my personal favorite Superman Villain).

Obviously, you may have noticed by my cutting and pasting the script above that Idelson bought the pitch on the spot and sent me home to write it. He didn't have an immediate place for it but it was the kind of story they could keep in a drawer and slot it in to give the regular team a little breathing room.

For a kid like me, who grew up loving Superman more than anything else, being hired to write an issue of Action Comics was a dream come true and remains the single greatest highlight of my career in comics. I don't think anything will ever top the joy of not only writing my favorite character but also getting to tell a story I had carried with me for two-thirds of my life.

To make things even better, Rick Leonardi and Dan Green were assigned art duties:

And just when I thought life couldn't get any better, I got this cover sketch by Alex Ross in my email:

Instead of sitting in a drawer for years, the book was solicited as SUPERMAN #636 and I quickly popped out some solicit copy:

Superman embarks on a journey with a dying man who has been in the background of the Man Of Steel's life from the very beginning. As they search for answers to the strange riddle of the man's life, they find themselves ambushed by…The Parasite!" Written by Keith Champagne with art by Rick Leonardi and Dan Green.

Maybe you remember seeing it. Maybe you even ordered a copy.

Like many things that seem too good to be true, eventually the wheels fell off this speeding locomotive. Legal issues cropped up because of the lawsuit against DC over the copyright of Action Comics #1 (which, just my luck, was the first appearance of my beloved Joe Cleveland) and the issue was pulled off the schedule, never to be seen again (so far).

My tiny little heart shattered into many tiny pieces. But don't worry; I'm a big boy. I got over it.

I wrote a ton of stuff for DC around the time The Mighty was being published (Joker: Year One and Green Lantern: Corpse being the two most well-known) that, for one reason or another, never got to see the light of day. This one was special and remains by far the nearest and dearest to my heart. Because I love you all, I wanted to share a little peek of it with you.

The world of comics is eternally shifting and changing so who knows? Maybe someday, Superman and Joe Cleveland will live out their last adventure. I've got my fingers crossed; it would make a great flip book with Kurt Busiek's lost Krypto story.

Thanks for reading. Take care!

Keith Champagne is a writer and artist. Follow him on twitter @keithchampagne or touch base at keithchampagne@gmail.com.

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