Superhuman milestones
DAVID CLARKSON
By
The video release of “Superman IV” marks the fiftieth anniversary of the super hero’s appearance.
Some American landmarks from the Superman halLof fame:
June, 1938: Superman, the creation of two teenagers, Jerry Siegal and Joseph Shuster, premieres in Action Comics and becomes an immediate hit. Eventually it appears in eight comics in 30 countries and 15 languages.
1939: The Man of Steel earns his own comic magazine as well as a syndicated newspaper cartoon strip, which runs until 1967.
1940: Superman makes his debut on radio, and a new phrase enters the language, “It’s a bird, it's
a plane ... No! It’s Superman.”
1941-43: Seventeen animated Superman cartoons are produced.
1948: Columbia Pictures produces the 15-chapter, live-action movie serial, “Superman,” starring George Reeves. 1950: 15 more chapters, “Atom Man vs. Superman.”
1951: Reeves stars in Superman’s first fulllength feature, the 67minute black-and-white film, “Superman and the Mole Men.”
1952: A Half-hour-epi-sode television series, "The Adventures of Superman,” begins. An immediate hit, it lasts for six seasons.
1954: Five “Superman” films are released in the cinemas. Each is a compi-
lation of three television episodes.
1966-70: Animated “Superman” series on television.
1978: “Superman: The Movie” is released, starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder. It wins an Academy Award for special effects and earns more than $3OO million at the box office.
1981 The sequel, “Superman II,” breaks the American cinema attendance record for a oneweek period. 1983: “Superman III,” with the comedian, Richard Pryor, and Robert Vaughan added to the cast as a villain.
1987: “Superman IV” has its cinema release.
1988: “Superman IV” has its video release.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19881230.2.113.11
Bibliographic details
Press, 30 December 1988, Page 23
Word Count
273Superhuman milestones Press, 30 December 1988, Page 23
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