A few months ago, we told you about the new book, “Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster,” a book by Craig Yoe. The book details Shuster’s work on other comic series including “The Nights of Horror,” a 16-volume series of mob-financed underground comics depicting scenes that range from S&M to brutal torture.
Variety reports that Gotham Group has optioned screen rights to the book.
The news comes a couple of days after a judge ruled that Shuster’s estate wasn’t owed any residuals from Warner Brothers creation of “Smallville” and “Superman Returns.”
Yoe, a comics archivist who stumbled across a cache of the underground comic at an estate sale and recognized Shuster’s stylistic signature, doesn’t reveal in the book how the late artist felt about the scandal. The film will use the crime spree and the artist to paint a period drama.
“Some people felt that when I discovered these books, I should have buried them in the back yard,” Yoe said. “To me, it’s part of his legacy, the idea that in addition to the great character of Superman, he had this whole different side to him, and did brilliant work, in secret.”
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