Superman "Superman", and released in 1979 for the Atari 2600. The last game centered on Superman was "Superman Returns" (adapted from the movie) in 2006. Superman has, however, appeared in more recent games starring the Justice League, such as "Injustice 2" (2017). In a contract dated 1 March 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster released the copyright to Superman to their employer, DC Comics (then known as Detective Comics, Inc.) prior to Superman's first publication in April. This was normal practice in the comic magazine industry and they had done the same with their previous published works (Slam Bradley, Doctor Occult,
Superman in film Superman in film The fictional character Superman, an American comic book superhero in DC Comics publications, has appeared in movies almost since his inception. He debuted in cinemas in a series of animated shorts beginning in 1941, and then starred in two movie serials in 1948 and 1950. An independent studio, Lippert Pictures, released the first Superman feature film, "Superman and the Mole Men", starring George Reeves, in 1951. Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler purchased the "Superman" film rights in 1974. After numerous scripts, Richard Donner was hired to direct the film, filming "Superman" (1978) and "Superman II"