Mary Ernest's 1939 Superman Sketch

This is the famous, or infamous, Superman sketch given by Joe Shuster while on a date in 1939. Harlan Ellison said that he contemplated making an offer on the drawing until he realized that Mary Ernest, the very young lady involved, did not know how close she came to true greatness. Ellison said he would not pay $1 for this drawing because of its past. I paid a good deal more in February 2001...!

Harlan Ellison felt that since she did not recognize she was in the presence of greatness, she ought not profit from the experience: "this crone still seems not to have even the faintest awareness, the vaguest scintilla of a glimmering, that for one moment in her (most likely) uneventful existence, she touched Posterity, that she shared a moment with someone Who Really Did Matter and who altered society's awareness of Art and itself." (Harlan Ellison in "Tony's Tips" published in Comics Buyer's Guide #1417, January 12, 2001)