The Adventures of Superman, The Flying Train
date: label: Date made
content: 1947
name: label: publisher
content: National Comics Publications Inc.
label: maker
content: National Comics Publications Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: Intended for children, the book <i>The Adventures of Superman, the Flying Train </i> corresponds with a phonograph recording of the similarly titled radio program.
label: Description
content: Starring the voice of future television game show host Bud Collyer as the titular hero for every season but its last, "The Adventures of Superman" ran on U.S. airwaves from 1940-1951. Over 2,000 episodes of the adventures of the "Man of Steel" were produced, most featuring actress Joan Alexander in the role of journalist Lois Lane. The show was the first to expand Superman's audience beyond comic books and is responsible for introducing characters and storylines that have become canonical elements of the character's mythos. Elements of the program, such as the phrase "It's a Bird/ It's a Plane/ It's Superman!" remain closely connected with the hero in today's popular imagination.
label: Description
content: The character of Superman first flew into action in 1938. The costumed superhero was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland Ohio, who used, among other things, classical mythology and the era's popular science fiction and adventure writing for inspiration.
label: Description
content: With his debut in Action Comics #1, Superman became an instant sensation with audiences, inspired by the "Man of Tomorrow's" virtue and heroics at time when the Nation was slowly emerging from the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression and moving closer to World War.
label: Description
content: Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Superman was sent to Earth as a child, where our world's yellow sun granted him extraordinary powers such as flight, super-strength, near-invulnerability, as well as other extraordinary abilities including heat and X-Ray vision. As an adult living in the city of Metropolis, the alien, born Kal-El, protects his identity by assuming the persona of Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered" journalist.
label: Description
content: Fighting for "Truth and Justice," Superman birthed a cultural fascination with superheroes, and has become one of the most recognizable and influential fictional characters in history. In addition to comic books, the character has been explored in all forms of media, including radio, television, and film, and has been used to promote a variety of successful consumer products, educational initiatives and public service campaigns.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Superman
label: Subject
content: Literature
label: Subject
content: Radio broadcasts
label: Subject
content: Radio
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Alan J. Goldstein and Sheila G. Small
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1992.0018.02
label: catalog number
content: 1992.0018.02
label: accession number
content: 1992.0018
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Book
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 7 1/4 in; 20.32 cm x 18.415 cm