Pre-Crisis (1938-1958) When Superman debuted, he was a vigilante: he took the law into his own hands and wasn't afraid to smack around child abusers and the like. He was a child of the pulps, which had their hayday in the Great Depression, when Americans were distrustful of government. In the happy post-war years, however, as Americans were celebrating and buying houses, Superman alligned himself increasingly with the establishment. Superman took to other media almost immediately. He received an afternoon radio show, entitled The Adventures of Superman and starring Bud Collyer, in 1940. It would run an astounding eleven years and would introduce several elements to the Superman mythos -- including Kryptonite, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Superman's relationship with Batman (allowing Collyer to take a few days off, with Batman filling in), and even the notion that Superman flew rather than leapt really well. The celebrated Superman animated shorts, made by Fleischer studios, debuted in 1941. With a budget lavish for the time, the animation was often stunning and remains so to this day. Later cartoons, produced by Paramount and not Fleischer, saw a disappointing drop in quality -- and those episodes, particularly given some of their content (one episode was entitled "Japoteurs"), are not widely remembered today. Although Superman's first story had shown him first donning his costume as an adult, 1945 saw the introduction of Superboy, who starred in "untold adventures" from Superman's childhood. For many years, Superboy's existence would be ignored in the other Superman books, but eventually a new unified mythos came into being. In 1950, Lana Lang was created as Superboy's love interest, the Smallville equivalent to Metropolis's Lois Lane. Superman appeared in two live-action 15-episode theatrical serials, 1948's Superman and 1950's Atom Man Vs. Superman. These merely satisfactory series starred Kirk Alyn as Superman and Noel Neill as Lois Lane; the second also starred Lyle Talbot as Lex Luthor. For budget reasons, Alyn would be replaced by an animated Superman for flying sequences. Following his two serials, Superman got his own movie -- albeit a short one -- with Superman and the Mole Men. George Reeves played Clark Kent / Superman, while Noel Neill reprised her role as Lois Lane. Television was replacing radio, and this could be seen in the case of Superman as well. Superman's celebrated radio show had lost popularity and aired its final broadcast in March 1951. Almost at the same time, The Adventures of Superman debuted on TV with the cast from the film, with Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen and John Hamilton as Perry White. The show ran for 104 episodes, with Phyllis Coates replacing Neill as Lois Lane. The series would define Superman for a generation, making him a household word, and would remain one of the most fondly remembered shows from the 1950s. Because of budget issues, Reeves would appear as Clark Kent far more than Superman. The show similarly didn't have the budget for world-class super-villains, instead focusing on gangsters and the like -- as well as the staff of The Daily Planet. The comics generally followed, focusing more on street-level villains -- despite frequent appearances by the obligatory Lex Luthor. Several episodes were loosely adapted into comics, often under different titles. In 1954, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen was launched to capitalize on the importance and popularity of Jimmy Olsen on TV. But everything gets old. Reeves would be found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1959, though many suspected murder. As time went on, the general pedestrian feeling to Superman's adventures needed a jolt. After the TV series concluded in 1957, the comics would take another direction: unappologetically towards the cosmic and the bizarrely eccentric. These elements were not completely new, however. Jimmy Olsen's ultrasonic signal watch -- used to summon Superman -- was introduced in his 1954 first issue, despite him not having one in the TV series that had spurred DC to create the comic. In a forerunner of the more bizarre era that would follow, 1955 saw the introduction of red Kryptonite, the first of many bizarre hues to follow. It also featured -- in the March 1955 issue of Adventure Comics -- the introduction of Krypto, Superboy's dog. Lori Lemaris made her debut in Showcase #9 (cover-dated June-July 1957): a mermaid from Atlantis whose legs were disguised in a wheelchair, she served as a love interest for Superman.

IMAGE	TITLE	DESCRIPTION	STATUS
Action Comics #1-240: no data entered
	Action Comics #1	contains the first appearance of Superman / Clark Kent, as well as the first appearance of Lois Lane; featured the Daily Star instead of the Daily Planet; had a run of approximately 200,000 copies and cost 10 cents; cover-dated June 1938	0
	Action Comics #2		0
	Action Comics #3		0
	Action Comics #4		0
	Action Comics #5		0
	Action Comics #6	contains the first appearance of Jimmy Olsen	0
	Action Comics #7	by this issue, circulation was up to 500,000	0
	Action Comics #8		0
	Action Comics #9		0
	Action Comics #10		0
	Action Comics #11		0
	Action Comics #12		0
	Action Comics #13		0
	Action Comics #14		0
	Action Comics #15		0
	Action Comics #16	first identifies Superman's home town as "Metropolis"	0
	Action Comics #17		0
	Action Comics #18		0
	Action Comics #19		0
	Action Comics #20		0
	Superman: Action Comics Archives Volume 1	collects Action Comics #1 and #7-20; hardcover	0
	Action Comics #21		0
	Action Comics #22		0
	Action Comics #23	contains the first appearance of Luthor (who has red hair but whose assistant, used prominently in the story, is bald and looks like the Luthor of every subsequent appearance); Luthor was not given a first name and was purely a stereotypical mad scientist	0
	Action Comics #24		0
	Action Comics #25		0
	Action Comics #26		0
	Action Comics #27		0
	Action Comics #28		0
	Action Comics #29		0
	Action Comics #30		0
	Action Comics #31		0
	Action Comics #32		0
	Action Comics #33		0
	Action Comics #34		0
	Action Comics #35		0
	Action Comics #36		0
	Superman: Action Comics Archives Volume 2	collects stories from Action Comics #21-36; hardcover	0
	Action Comics #37		0
	Action Comics #38		0
	Action Comics #39		0
	Action Comics #40		0
	Action Comics #41		0
	Action Comics #42		0
	Action Comics #43		0
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	Action Comics #45		0
	Action Comics #46		0
	Action Comics #47		0
	Action Comics #48		0
	Action Comics #49		0
	Action Comics #50		0
	Action Comics #51	contains the first appearance of the villainous Prankster (Oswald Loomis)	0
	Action Comics #52		0
	Superman: Action Comics Archives Volume 3	collects stories from Action Comics #37-53; hardcover	0
	Action Comics #53		0
	Action Comics #54		0
	Action Comics #55		0
	Action Comics #56		0
	Action Comics #57		0
	Action Comics #58		0
	Action Comics #59		0
	Action Comics #60		0
	Action Comics #61		0
	Action Comics #62		0
	Action Comics #63		0
	Action Comics #64	contains the first appearance of the villainous Toyman (Winslow P. Schott), a former toymaker who now uses toys for crime	0
	Action Comics #65		0
	Action Comics #66		0
	Action Comics #67		0
	Action Comics #68		0
	Action Comics #69		0
	Action Comics #70		0
	Action Comics #71		0
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	Action Comics #73		0
	Action Comics #74		0
	Action Comics #75		0
	Action Comics #76		0
	Action Comics #77		0
	Action Comics #78		0
	Action Comics #79		0
	Action Comics #80		0
	Action Comics #81		0
	Action Comics #82		0
	Action Comics #83		0
	Action Comics #84		0
	Action Comics #85		0
	Action Comics #86		0
	Action Comics #87		0
	Action Comics #88		0
	Action Comics #89		0
	Action Comics #90		0
	Action Comics #91		0
	Action Comics #92		0
	Action Comics #93		0
	Action Comics #94		0
	Action Comics #95		0
	Action Comics #96		0
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	Action Comics #98		0
	Action Comics #99		0
	Action Comics #100		0
	Action Comics #101		0
	Action Comics #102		0
	Action Comics #103		0
	Action Comics #104		0
	Action Comics #105		0
	Action Comics #106		0
	Action Comics #107		0
	Action Comics #108		0
	Action Comics #109		0
	Action Comics #110		0
	Action Comics #111		0
	Action Comics #112		0
	Action Comics #113		0
	Action Comics #114		0
	Action Comics #115		0
	Action Comics #116		0
	Action Comics #117		0
	Action Comics #118		0
	Action Comics #119		0
	Action Comics #120		0
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	Action Comics #122		0
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	Action Comics #154		0
	Action Comics #155		0
	Action Comics #156		0
	Action Comics #157		0
	Action Comics #158	includes the first origin of Superman that includes Superboy and uses the names Jonathan & Martha for Kents	0
	Action Comics #159		0
	Action Comics #160		0
	Action Comics #161		0
	Action Comics #162		0
	Action Comics #163		0
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	Action Comics #240		0
SUPERMAN
Superman (first series) #1-124: no data entered
	Superman (first series) #1		0
	Superman (first series) #2		0
	Superman (first series) #3		0
	Superman (first series) #4	Clark and Lois's newspaper is refered to as The Daily Planet for the first time (the name was previously used in the radio show)	0
	Superman Archives Volume 1	collects Superman (first series) #1-4; hardcover	0
	Superman (first series) #5		0
	Superman (first series) #6		0
	Superman (first series) #7		0
	Superman (first series) #8		0
	Superman Archives Volume 2	collects Superman (first series) #5-8; hardcover	0
	Superman (first series) #9		0
	Superman (first series) #10		0
	Superman (first series) #11		0
	Superman (first series) #12		0
	Superman Archives Volume 3	collects Superman (first series) #9-12; hardcover	0
	Superman (first series) #13		0
	Superman (first series) #14		0
	Superman (first series) #15		0
	Superman (first series) #16		0
	Superman Archives Volume 4	collects Superman (first series) #13-16; hardcover; published in 1994	0
	Superman (first series) #17		0
	Superman (first series) #18		0
	Superman (first series) #19		0
	Superman (first series) #20		0
	Superman Archives Volume 5	collects Superman (first series) #17-20; hardcover	0
	Superman (first series) #21		0
	Superman (first series) #22		0
	Superman (first series) #23		0
	Superman (first series) #24		0
	Superman Archives Volume 6	collects Superman (first series) #21-24; Joe Shuster cover; Steve Geppi introduction; 216 pages; hardcover; published in June 2003	0
	Superman (first series) #25		0
	Superman (first series) #26		0
	Superman (first series) #27		0
	Superman (first series) #28		0
	Superman (first series) #29		0
	Superman (first series) #30		0
	Superman (first series) #31		0
	Superman (first series) #32		0
	Superman (first series) #33		0
	Superman (first series) #34		0
	Superman (first series) #35		0
	Superman (first series) #36		0
	Superman (first series) #37		0
	Superman (first series) #38		0
	Superman (first series) #39		0
	Superman (first series) #40		0
	Superman (first series) #41		0
	Superman (first series) #42		0
	Superman (first series) #43		0
	Superman (first series) #44		0
	Superman (first series) #45		0
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	Superman (first series) #47		0
	Superman (first series) #48		0
	Superman (first series) #49		0
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	Superman (first series) #51		0
	Superman (first series) #52		0
	Superman (first series) #53		0
	Superman (first series) #54		0
	Superman (first series) #55		0
	Superman (first series) #56		0
	Superman (first series) #57		0
	Superman (first series) #58		0
	Superman (first series) #59		0
	Superman (first series) #60		0
	Superman (first series) #61		0
	Superman (first series) #62		0
	Superman (first series) #63		0
	Superman (first series) #64		0
	Superman (first series) #65		0
	Superman (first series) #66		0
	Superman (first series) #67		0
	Superman (first series) #68		0
	Superman (first series) #69		0
	Superman (first series) #70		0
	Superman (first series) #71		0
	Superman (first series) #72		0
	Superman (first series) #73		0
	Superman (first series) #74		0
	Superman (first series) #75		0
	Superman (first series) #76		0
	Superman (first series) #77		0
	Superman (first series) #78		0
	Superman (first series) #79		0
	Superman (first series) #80		0
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	Superman (first series) #113		0
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	Superman (first series) #123		0
	Superman (first series) #124		0
COMIC STRIPS
	Superman: The Sunday Classics -- 1939-1943	collects the classic Sunday comic strips from 1939 to 1943, plus the classic "How Superman Would End War War II" (first published in Look magazine), all written by Jerry Siegel with art by Joe Shuster; Roger Stern introduction; Pepe Poplaski cover; hardcover	0
SUPERBOY
Superboy (first series) #1-74: no data entered
	Superboy (first series) #1	published in 1949?	0
	Superboy (first series) #2		0
	Superboy (first series) #3		0
	Superboy (first series) #4		0
	Superboy (first series) #5		0
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	Superboy (first series) #11		0
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	Superboy (first series) #13		0
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	Superboy (first series) #46		0
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	Superboy (first series) #52		0
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	Superboy (first series) #54		0
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	Superboy (first series) #62		0
	Superboy (first series) #63		0
	Superboy (first series) #64		0
	Superboy (first series) #65		0
	Superboy (first series) #66		0
	Superboy (first series) #67		0
	Superboy (first series) #68	contains the first appearance of Bizarro; cover-dated October-November 1958	0
	Superboy (first series) #69		0
	Superboy (first series) #70		0
	Superboy (first series) #71		0
	Superboy (first series) #72	Lana Lang gets super-powers	0
	Superboy (first series) #73		0
	Superboy (first series) #74		0
JIMMY OLSEN
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1-30: no data entered
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1	contains the first appearance of Jimmy's signal watch; published in response to the popularity Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen on the TV show The Adventures of Superman; published in 1954?	0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #2		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #3		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #4		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #5		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #6		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #7		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #8		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #9		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #10		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #11		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #12		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #13		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #14		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #15		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #16		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #17		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #18		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #19		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #20		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #21		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #22		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #23		0
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	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #27		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #28		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #29		0
	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #30		0

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