Superman may be viewed as cinematic damaged goods these days, but the same can't be said about his co-creator, Joe Shuster - His mob-funded bondage art past is about to become the subject of a major motion picture.

The Gotham Group has picked up the movie rights to Craig Yoe's wonderful Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster, which reveals Shuster's work on the controversial BDSM underground comic series The Nights of Terror from the 1950s, during a time where he had become estranged from Superman's publisher DC Comics. The comics - which feature lookalikes of Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor in various scenes of S&M play - were named as an inspiration behind a crime spree of the era that involved murder, torture and humiliation of victims.

The Gotham Group is currently trying to find writers for the project; no date for release has been announced.

Gotham to reveal Shuster's 'Secret' [Variety]