The Adventures of Superman was a long running
radio serial that originally aired from 1940 to 1951, adapted from the
DC Comics character. (See
Superman).
The serial came to
radio as a
syndicated show on
New York City's
WOR on February 12, 1940. On
Mutual, it was broadcast from August 31, 1942, to February 4, 1949, as a 15-minute serial, running three or, usually, five times a week. From February 7 to June 24, 1949 it ran as a thrice-weekly half-hour show. The series shifted to
ABC Saturday evenings on October 29, 1949, and then returned to afternoons, twice-a-week on June 5, 1950, continuing on ABC until March 1, 1951.
History
Created by
Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster, the Man of Tomorrow first appeared in
Action Comics #1 in 1938. The following year, the
newspaper comic strip began and four audition radio programs were prepared to sell
Superman as a radio series. When Superman was first heard on radio less than two years after the comic book appearance, the character took on an added dimension with
Bud Collyer in the title role. During
World War II and the post-war years, the juvenile adventure radio serial, sponsored by
Kellogg's Pep, was a huge success, with many listeners following the quest for "truth and justice" in the daily radio broadcasts, the comic book stories and the newspaper comic strip. Airing in the late afternoon (variously at 5:15pm, 5:30pm and 5:45pm), the radio serial engaged its young after-school audience with its exciting and distinctive...
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