Author of 68 books, former lawyer-turned-legal thriller novelist, William Bernhardt had a rough road to publishing. Resilience serves him well, as he never gave up and achieved his dream of becoming a writer. Bill’s latest book is an accurate nonfiction account of Jerry Siegel, the creator of Superman, who spent decades fighting to get credit for his beloved, iconic character. Bill is also the founder of WriterCon, a popular conference that is held over Labor Day weekend every year in Oklahoma City.
THE SUPERMAN WARS: A BATTLE FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND AN AMERICAN ICON, from Simon & Schuster, officially releases April 28, 2026, and is available for pre-order on Amazon and everywhere you buy books.
WILLIAM BERNHARDT
KARA KAVENSKY
Website: Kara Kavensky
@karakavensky on Substack, FB, IG, LinkedIn and Threads
Receive updates on Kara's new memoir release, TELL ME ABOUT JOY
Sponsored by: Adam Gibson Design and Remain Relevant, a corporate storytelling masterclass
Produced by: Marilou Marosz
Original music written and performed by: Adam W. Gibson
[01:08] Introduction: William Bernhardt
[01:57] A love of reading and libraries
[03:41] Becoming a lawyer
[04:44] Submissions and rejections
[06:05] The Ben Kincaid series
[07:41] Leaving the law to write full time
[09:01] Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Superman
[10:53] Early precedent for Intellectual property [IP]
[15:05] The original sin of comics
[16:36] Superboy and another precedent
[18:31] Struggling yet still fighting for credit
[19:32] Adult comic culture and a Hollywood blockbuster
[23:00] Founding WriterCon
[26:59] ComicCon, GenCom, and Kurt Vonnegut
