The Adventures of Superman (novel)
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| Author | George Lowther |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Joe Shuster |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Superhero fiction |
Publication date | 1942 |
| Publication place | USA |
The Adventures of Superman is a novel by George Lowther.[1] It was first published in 1942 with illustrations by Joe Shuster, the co-creator of Superman. Upon its release in 1942, it was advertised as being "approved by the children's book committee of the Child Study Association of America".[1] A facsimile edition was released in 1995 by Applewood Books, with a new introduction by Roger Stern.[2]
This book is the first novelization of a comic book character,[3] and also the first Superman story credited to someone other than Jerry Siegel.[2] It was Lowther who first provided many now-familiar details of Superman's birth and early life. The first two chapters provide the first detailed description of the planet Krypton, and renamed Kal-El's parents Jor-El and Lara who previously had been named Jor-L and Lora.[2] The next three chapters deal with Clark Kent's childhood on the farm of his adoptive parents, Eben and Sarah Kent (in the comics, the Kents went through many name changes before settling on Jonathan and Martha in 1952). In the sixth chapter, Clark arrives in Metropolis and gets a job with the Daily Planet, while the remaining eleven chapters deal with a mystery involving ghost ships and Nazi spies.[2]
The book is illustrated with four full-page color illustrations, six full-page black-and-white illustrations, and numerous sketches, all examples of Joe Shuster's work.[2] The book was published as Armed Services Edition #656 in May 1945.[4]