The Adventures of Superman, adapted from the DC Comics character created in 1938, came to radio as a syndicated show on New York Citys WOR on February 12, 1940. On Mutual, it was broadcast from August 31, 1942, to January 28, 1949, as a 15-minute serial, running three or, usually, five times a week. From January 31 to June 17, 1949 it ran as a thrice-weekly half-hour show. The series shifted to ABC Saturday mornings on November 5, 1949, and then to twice-a-week in June 1950, continuing on ABC until March 1, 1951.
The character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster arrived on radio not long after the comic book and 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 Kelloggs Pep, was a huge success, with many listeners following the quest for truth, justice and the American way 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 opening:
Faster than a speeding bullet!
More powerful than a locomotive!
Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound!
Look ! Up in the sky!
Its a bird!
Its a plane!
Its Superman!
Because Supermans true identity was a secret, it is often believed that the identity of radio actor Collyer also remained a secret. But while it is true that Collyer was left off the programs credits, as early as September 14, 1942 Time ran an article identifying the actor and joshing him for his many Sunday school fans. In 1946, Collyers name was finally added to the radio credits.
Since there were no reruns at that time, the series often used plot devices and plot twists to allow Collyer to have vacation time. Kryptonite was the most famous of these, allowing Superman to be incapacitated and incoherent with pain while secondary characters took the focus instead. At other times, Batman and Robin appeared in Supermans absence.
The scripts by B.P. Freeman and Jack Johnstone were directed by Robert and Jessica Maxwell, George Lowther, Allen Ducovny and Mitchell Grayson. Sound effects were created by Jack Keane, Al Binnie, Keene Crockett and John Glennon.
The original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, first appeared in Fox Comics Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939), with art by Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski (as Charles Nicholas), though the Grand Comics Database tentatively credits Will Eisner as the scripter.[1] A rookie police officer, he utilized special equipment, a bulletproof costume (sometimes) and a superstrength-inducing vitamin, and the assistance of a neighborhood pharmacist to fight crime. He starred in a comic book series, comic strip and radio serial but, like most Golden Age superheroes, he fell into obscurity in the 1950s. The comic book series saw a number of anomalies in publication: 19 issues, #12 through #30, were published through Holyoke Publishing; no issue #43 was published; publication frequency varied through the run; and there were gaps where issues were not published, with large ones occurring in early 1947 and between mid-1948 and early 1950.
The Blue Beetle had a relatively short career on the radio, between May and September of 1940. Motion picture and radio actor Frank Lovejoy was the Blue Beetle for the first 13 episodes, while for the rest of the shows, the voice was provided by a different, uncredited actor. The Blue Beetle was a young police officer who saw the need for extra-ordinary crime fighting. He took the task on himself by secretly donning a superhero costume to create fear in the criminals who were to learn to fear the Blue Beetles wrath. The 13-minute segments were usually only two-parters, so the stories were often more simple than other popular programs, such as the Superman radio serial.
Colorado Free Radio Old Time Radio Presents
