Episode 43 – The Superman Man Wars: An Interview With William Bernhardt

This time out I sit down with writer William Bernhardt, author of The Daniel Pike Series, The Splitsville Legal Thriller Series, and the Ben Kincaid novels, to talk about his newest book The Superman Wars: A Battle for Truth, Justice, and an American Icon. The official description of the book is…

Up in the sky! Look! It’s Superman!

Almost everyone knows about the man from Krypton who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent working with the fearless Lois Lane, fights for the vulnerable and the oppressed. But few know the truth about this indelible character’s creation. From mobster tactics to decades-long courtroom drama, a beloved American myth was born, betrayed, and eventually reclaimed—almost eighty years after the character first appeared.

New witnesses, unpublished manuscripts, personal letters, and more reveal the complex and dramatic history of Superman and his creator, Jerry Siegel. This is a David and Goliath clash with twists, turns, and devastating upheavals. An underdog tale of a creator who fought for his rights and finally found redemption in his battle for truth, justice, and the American Way. A story that has never been fully told…

Until now.

There have been a number of books written about the history of Superman and what happened to Jerry Siegel, but this book shines a new light on the lives of Jerry, his wife Joanne and his daughter Laura. William humanizes Jerry and his family in a way that I have rarely seen and he also delves into the lives of Major Malcom Wheeler-Nicholson, Joe Shuster, Harry Donenfeld, Jerry’s first wife Bella, his son Michael, and Jack Liebowitz.

During the course of this interview, William goes into who Jerry was as a person, who Joanne was, the argument of art versus commerce, commerce versus conscience, and how this might be a David versus Goliath story but it is not always a clear cut good versus evil tale. William talks about searching through the various court cases as well as talking with people who, for various reasons, haven’t gone on the record until very recently. It was not only an informative conversation, but a fun one as well.

I want to thank William for sitting down with me for this interview. If you want to find out more information on William, his writing, and WriterCon you can check out his website. And if you want to order a copy of The Superman Wars, you can follow this link.

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The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound.

Next time: Swear to God, the final chapter of Moving Kryptonian Images is coming. This interview came together kind of fast, but I will get to the massive feedback episode sooner rather than later.