Mayo Kaan

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Mayo Kaan (March 2, 1914 - July 9, 2002) was a bodybuilder who claimed to be the original model for Superman. Mayo is also the father of millionaire Valerie Kaan. ^[1]

[edit] Superman Controversy

In November of 1997 Mayo Kaan placed advertisements in several newspapers and magazines claiming that he was the first person to don the Superman costume and was the model for the Superman character. He offered people the opportunity, for a nominal fee, to view reproductions of the original photographs taken of Kaan modeling for Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of the Superman series, in 1936. His claims occurred after the death of both Shuster and Siegel, so there was no opportunity for either of the original creators to either confirm or deny these claims. The publishers of the Superman comic, DC Comics, stated that Shuster and Siegel were the sole creators of Superman and that this was established years before Kaan's claims.

With all the members of this supposed photoshoot having died, the truth may never be fully discovered. There is, however, one inconsistency in Kaan's story that is often looked at as the defying photograph. In one of photographs, Kaan is seen posing on the steps of the Hatch Shell, which was built in 1940, Kaan claimed that the photoshoot took place in 1936. So unless a second series of photographs were taken, Kaan's story seems to be critcally flawed. Despite this inconsistency and several threats of a lawsuit by DC Comics, the Kaan family maintains that the photographs are genuine.