Abstract
When Superman was created in 1938, there had never been a character quite like him.1 His arrival marked the first appearance of a superhero, setting off a trend that would come to dominate the comic book medium, one of the few distinctly American art forms, for the next seven decades.2 As befitting his larger than life adventures, the fictional character Superman spread across all communicative media, from the comic page to the radio serial, animation, live action television and motion pictures.3