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1945 BCE
A newspaper comic strip story where Luthor attacks Superman with radiation is pulled from publication by the War Department.
Jerry Siegel introduces an adolescent version of Superman, named Superboy, in More Fun Comics #101. Superboy and his adventures in a town called Smallville are considered to exist outside of the official Superman canon. In the Superman radio show, the hero has his very first team-up story with Batman and Robin. The dynamic duo become recurring characters, taking over focus whenever Superman is out of town because Collyer needs a break. -
1944 BCE
Luthor the mad scientist becomes the first comic book character ever to use a weapon specifically identified as an atomic bomb.
The US Department of War (now known as the Department of Defense) has the story’s publication delayed by two years. -
1943 BCE
The Superman radio show takes the idea of “K-metal” and uses it for a story called “The Meteor from Krypton.”
The adventure introduces kryptonite (a word that combines “meteorite” and “Krypton”), a strange glowing ore that causes illness in the hero. The same story revises Superman’s radio origin so that it now matches the comic book version. -
1942 BCE
the Secret Citadel
Superman constructs the Secret Citadel, a hidden base located in the mountains outside of Metropolis. -
1941 BCE
the radio series "The Adventures of Superman".
On February 12, Bud Collyer becomes the first actor to play Superman, starring in the radio series The Adventures of Superman. Collyer’s identity as the voice of Superman is kept secret from the general public until 1946.In the same program, Rolly Bester becomes the first actor to play Lois Lane. She leaves after three episodes, succeeded by Helen Choate. -
1940 BCE
The Superman cartoon serials, developed by Fleischer Studios, debut in movie theaters.
Lois and Clark are voiced by Joan Alexander and Bud Collyer respectively. Like the radio show, the cartoon Superman has the ability to fly. Fill-in artist Leo Nowak, who worked on the Superman daily comic strips, gets confused who Luthor is (mistaking him either for Ultra or for a bald henchman seen in one Luthor story). In Superman #10, Nowak depicts the villain as heavier, with a fuller face, and bald rather than with a full head of hair. From that point forward, Luthor is bald. -
1939 BCE
Superman gets his own self-titled anthology magazine and starts appearing in newspaper strips across America.
The newspaper strips and Superman #1 expand on Superman’s origin, introducing Jor-L and his wife Lora (later spelled “Lara”), as well as the Kents, and revealing that the hero’s power is partly due to Earth having less mass and gravity than Krypton. By this time, he’s started to display enhanced senses and will develop even more abilities over the years. His strength, resistance to injury, and speed will also increase. -
1938 BCE
After being rejected by 17 different publishers, Superman finds a home in Action Comics #1 because the anthology comic needs extra content to fill out its pages.
Since many rejections regarded Superman’s abilities as impossible, the very first page of Action Comics explains the hero’s powers as being no stranger than the proportional abilities of insects. Lois Lane, also makes her debut in Action Comics #1, predating the official debuts of Lex Luthor, the Daily Planet and the Kent family. Lois is inspired by real life journalist Nelly Blye, while her appearance is based on model Joanne Carter (who later marries Jerry Siegel). -
1937 BCE
In New Comics #12, Siegel and Shuster’s story “The Federal Men of Tomorrow” introduce a heroic scientist from the year 3000 named Jor-L. This story turns out to be a dream.
This same year, pulp magazine readers learn that Doc Savage AKA the Man of Bronze has a lab hidden in the Arctic Circle which he calls the Fortress of Solitude. Years later, Superman will use the same name for his own Arctic retreat. -
1936 BCE
In New Fun Comics #16, Siegel and Shuster have Dr. Occult don a red cape and a magic belt that lets him fly, making him a precursor to Superman.
Lee Falk’s masked hero the Phantom debuts in newspaper strips.Unlike previous masked vigilantes in comic strips and radio shows,the Phantom wears a skintight outfit.Shuster redesigns Superman so that he now wears a skin-tight costume loosely resembling a circus strongman outfit.That same year,Siegel and Shuster create a team of super-scientist comic book heroes called the Federal Men. -
1935 BCE
Siegel and Shuster debut the comic book mystic detective Dr. Occult in New Fun Comics #6.
Although their Superman story keeps getting rejected, Siegel and Shuster debut the comic book mystic detective Dr. Occult in New Fun Comics #6. -
1934 BCE
Shuster loses confidence that Superman will be published and steps away from the project.
Jerry Siegel teams with artist Russell Keaton and they revise and redraw the comic strip.In this version, Clark Kent is born in the future and is the son of the last man alive on Earth,a scientist who sends the boy back in time where he is adopted by “Sam and Molly Kent.”This version is also rejected and Keaton decides “not to gamble on such a young and inexperienced writer” as Siegel and they part ways.Keaton goes on to create the comic strip Flyin’ Jenny and Siegel teams up again with Shuster. -
1933 BCE
the short story “Reign of the Super-Man” in Science Fiction magazine
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster publish the short story “Reign of the Super-Man” in Science Fiction magazine. In the story, the title character is a bald homeless man named Bill Dunn who gains telepathic powers from a bald scientist’s experiment. Dunn intends to take over Earth, but then his powers wear off and he returns to being a face in the crowd.
