American comics: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

"Sir, it's almost time."

When Colin handed over the weekend serialization of "Superman" comics to Old John, Little John made sure to remind him of the time.

Since half an hour ago, Little John's mood in the newspaper office began to become absent-minded, and he frequently glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Turn on the radio."

After hearing Little John's reminder, Colin glanced at the people in the newspaper office, saw the expectant expressions on their faces, and nodded immediately.

"Okay, sir."

After receiving Colin's approval, Little John immediately ran to the radio in the newspaper office, pressed the switch and turned the knob on the radio, and carefully tuned to the CBS broadcast channel.

As Little John's fingers turned, announcer Kang's passionate announcement suddenly sounded in the Courier newspaper office: "...Boys and girls, please pay attention, a new and exciting radio program has come out!"

Announcer: "He has incredible adventure characteristics. He is faster than a flying bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and even exploding bombs cannot penetrate his tough skin."

Passerby A: "Look at the sky!"

Passerby B: "Is that a bird? (Is that a bird?)"

Passerby C: "Is that a plane? (Is that a plane?)"

Passerby: "That's Superman! (That's - Superman!)"

"...That's Superman!"

Along with the shouts coming from the radio, Little John couldn't help shouting and read out this classic slogan created by Colin.

After a period of negotiations, Colin signed a radio drama contract with CBS' "Superman."

CBS also officially started the production of radio dramas internally, inviting Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater to serve as the dubbing work for the "Superman" radio drama.

At the same time, after discussing and confirming with Colin, CBS also confirmed the name of the radio drama - "The Adventures of Superman (Superman Adventures)"

At the moment, what Little John and the others heard.

It is the content of the first episode of the radio drama "The Baby from Krypton" adapted by Colin based on the "Superman" comics.

Announcer: "Superman looks no taller than ordinary people, but he has unprecedented strength and ability. He can leap into the air one-eighth of a mile in one jump, easily cross a twenty-story building, and Racing high-powered bullets toward the target, lifting the staggering weight of solid round steel with your bare hands as if it were as light as a piece of paper.”

Announcer: "Superman..."

Announcer: "A visitor from a distant planet, a protector of the oppressed. A man who marveled at his extraordinary body. This hero vowed to use his power to help those in need."

Announcer: "Now our story begins. Please follow the broadcast on a distant journey to the distant unknown universe - the planet Krypton!"

Announcer: "It is like a glowing green star in the sky. The civilization here is the most advanced. It has created a superhuman race. The men and women are just like us on earth, but this is just the appearance. In fact, they have Evolved to the absolute pinnacle of human perfection.”

Announcer: "As we approach Krypton, we see its tall walls and gleaming turrets. We approach the magnificent Temple of Wisdom, and in a hall there, Jor-El, Krypton's most famous scientist , is about to deal with a meeting of the Kryptonian Science Council..."

In the quarterly magazine "Superman" published by The Courier Newspaper, the details of the explosion of Krypton have been revealed for the first time.

In the radio drama "Adventures of Superman", Colin further improved this part of the plot.

Including the appearance of the Kryptonian Science Council, which was just a one-frame plot description in the comics, but was expanded into a discussion meeting in the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama.

From a certain perspective, the plot of the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama is actually a more complete process of setting up the comic book story.

Considering the differences between radio and comics, words can carry deeper information and thoughts better than pictures, while radio dramas add changes in tone and sound effects to the text.

For example, when the voice actor describes the scene of Superman flying, the radio will think of the sound of birds chirping and the sound of aircraft flying, creating a sense of presence for the listeners in front of the radio.

At the same time, when the plot enters the Krypton Science Council, there will be rustling chatter in the background of the broadcast, giving people the feeling that there are many members participating in the meeting.

President: "Attention, attention, gentlemen."

President: "Jor-El, please speak."

Jor-El: "Members of the Council... I have completed my solar calculations, and despite my fear of speaking the words, I have concluded that Krypton is doomed."

Council Member: “Did I hear that right?”

In the radio drama, as Jor-El's voice actor speculated about the destruction of Krypton, the rustling in the background became a little louder, and the entire Krypton Science Council seemed to become confused because of this speculation.

President: "Gentlemen."

President: "Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, hear him out."

The voice actor in charge of the president repeated a few words before the originally chaotic Krypton Science Council became quiet again.

Jor-El: "We've been experiencing internal earthquakes these days... these volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, gas leaks from giant craters, all of which point to one thing, gentlemen, Krypton is completely and ultimately doomed to destruction!"

Council member: "Why is this man crazy?"

Just like in the comics, the Kryptonian Science Council does not agree with Jor-El's speculation, and the president of the council refutes this conjecture.

President: "Wait a minute, gentlemen, wait a minute."

President: "There is no reason to be anxious. I am sure that Jor-El made a mistake. It is true that we have had several minor earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but nothing is very serious. Your calculation must be wrong..."

Jor-El: "No, there is no mistake here, Rozan, I hope it is a mistake, but the sun gradually pulls Krypton towards it. Within a month... maybe only a week... the gravitational force will be so great that Krypton cannot withstand it. Then, our planet will be like a huge bursting bubble, destroying every living thing on it..."

President Rozan: "Gentlemen, be quiet, if, I mean if, Jor-El, what you said is true, how can we avoid it? What can we do to stop it? "

Joel-El: "There is only one way. As you know, I have been working in the space factory, designing for interstellar travel. With time and united efforts, we can transport the entire population of Krypton to another world."

President Rozan: "Impossible! Where will we go?"

Joel-El: "Go... Earth? My research tells me that the atmosphere of the Earth is very close to that of Krypton."

...

Laura: "Is your spaceship model almost finished?"

Joel-El: "Yes... Yes, I just finished the last rivet, how does it look?"

Laura: "Great... But does it work?"

Joel-El: "Well... It remains to be seen. If it works, I will immediately start building another one like it. Like this, only much bigger, one big enough to take the three of us to another world."

Laura: "Jor-El, how long will it take? Every moment we spend waiting and wondering..."

Jor-El: "Yes, I know, I know, Laura, it's hard for both of us, especially for you. How's the child?"

Laura: "Asleep, the earthquake this afternoon scared him, but he's fine now, can't you come in and see him? You hardly see him these days, he's been making spaceship models all day."

Jor-El: "Honey, this can't help, I'm racing against time, and now I'm eager to know if the model will perform as I wish."

Laura: "How does it work?"

Jor-El: "Very simple, when everything is ready I mobilized this switch. The power was closed in the atomic engine. Then at the last moment, the pressure forced the spacecraft to separate from its carrier and accelerate it. "But where is it?" "Joe Al:" A planet is smaller than us, and the sun is located on the other side. Joe Al "Joe Al:" Put the child into the spacecraft. "Laura:" Joe-Al, the house is shaking ... "Joe Alle:" Laura, he is safe inside, now I want to open the switch, "Laura:" Oh, Joe Al, will he go to the earth? ”

Jor-El: “Only God knows, the spaceship has a chance, it’s the only plan, now stand back.”

Laura: “I’m going to press the switch!”

Laura: “Jor-El, it’s dark, I can’t see anything, what happened? !”

Jor-El: “Fire, smoke from the center of the planet, time is running out now.”

Announcer: “The spaceship roared away from the planet and flew into the vast universe.”

Announcer: “Krypton was blown into pieces of glowing fragments, scattered in the universe, and remained in the night sky forever. But our Superman, the spaceship he was riding flew out in the explosion at the last minute, it came to the earth, and the story of Superman also unfolded from then on…”

The entire radio drama, which often lasts nearly twelve minutes, ends with the explosion of the planet at the opening of the Krypton Science Council, and describes in detail the devastating disaster that Krypton encountered.

In the entire episode, Superman, as the protagonist, did not speak once, but everyone knew about Superman’s future growth.

Passerby A: “Look at the sky! ”

Pedestrian B: “Is that a bird?”

Pedestrian C: “Is that a plane?”

Pedestrian D: “That's Superman!”

Announcer: “Superman is a copyrighted work, serialized in newspapers and magazines published by the Courier-Newspaper Company.”

"I Have a Picture Book of Ghosts and Gods"

The broadcast ended with Superman's iconic slogan and the announcer's final copyright ad.

"it's over?"

In front of the radio, Little John listened to the announcer's final announcement with an unfinished expression on his face.

"It turns out that such a wonderful story happened before Superman came to Earth."

As a newspaper worker and the first reader to come into contact with "Superman", Little John thought he knew the story of Superman well, but when he heard the thrilling explosion scene of Krypton in the radio drama, he still couldn't help but exclaimed.

He once knew the background of Krypton from Colin, and also saw the scene of the planet exploding in the quarterly magazine "Superman". However, the sense of presence created by the radio drama made Little John almost forget about the Courier newspaper where he worked, and suddenly thought that He was at the scene of the explosion of Krypton. As the story developed, he finally left Krypton together with Superman, who was still just a baby.

"It's so exciting. It's the most exciting radio drama I've ever heard!"

After a while, Little John came back to his senses from the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama. An excited expression flashed across his dull face, and he spoke in an almost incoherent tone.

"I swear, sir, even listeners who have never read the "Superman" comic will fall in love with Superman after listening to the content of the radio drama!"

Mercury Theater paid great attention to the dubbing of "Adventures of Superman" and carefully grasped all the details. This also made the broadcast quality of the entire Superman radio drama unimaginably excellent.

Even Colin, the original author, couldn't help but sigh in his heart after listening to the dubbed radio drama.

Even Colin, the creator, was captivated by the plot of "The Adventures of Superman," not to mention the people listening on the radio.

CBS had done a lot of promotional work before broadcasting "Adventures of Superman", and the animated movie "Superman and Mickey" was still very popular, so the first episode of the broadcast had already generated a violent response.

Except for those listeners who already know the radio drama "The Adventures of Superman" and are looking forward to it in front of the radio.

Some listeners who were not aware of it and only heard it occasionally were also attracted by the ups and downs of the story.

Even later that day, the CBS station in New York received a large number of letters from listeners, requesting that the first episode of "The Adventures of Superman" "The Baby from Krypton" be re-sent to listeners who missed the beginning. Able to listen to the complete content of the radio drama.

The enthusiastic response to "Adventures of Superman" was somewhat beyond CBS' expectations.

Although CBS had anticipated that the Superman radio drama would be popular, it did not expect that the process would be so rapid.

In just the first episode, the radio drama's listening rate occupied the first place among all radio programs that day.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . Shuquge mobile version reading website:

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