Dr Hermes Reviews Back to our Home Page

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

"Look -- up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's SUPERMAN!

"Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands... and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way!" - Classic prose poetry from the Fleischer cartoons and the radio series, crystallized into its final form. How many of you could recite it by heart?

Hi there! We're starting a new series of reviews here. I'm likely to concentrate almost entirely on the first season of ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. Produced by Robert Maxwell (who had also produced the radio series), the 1951 season was dark and violent, featuring a two-fisted hardnosed Superman who meant business when he waged war on crime. With the second season, the shows started becoming much softer and kiddie-oriented, to the point where they were often fluffy and embarassing. But the first twenty-six episodes were in the spirit of the early Golden Age comics, the radio shows and the serials. Seen today, they are just as dramatic and exciting as they were when first viewed on tiny black-and-white screens in millions of households across America.

SPOILERS ahead! More than usual, in fact. Even though it's likely we've all seen these episodes more than once, it's only fair to warn you that I will often be totally giving away the endings so I can discuss a nifty scene or nitpicking moment.

CONTENTS Page One "The Mind Machine" "The Stolen Costume" "The Evil Three" "Ghost Wolf" Page Two "Crime Wave" "Superman In Exile" "Panic In the Sky" "Jungle Devil" Page Three "Lady In Black" "The Big Freeze" "The Mysterious Cube"