The Adventures of Superman (radio) twice a week on June 5, 1950, continuing on ABC until March 1, 1951. In all, 2,088 original episodes of "The Adventures of Superman" aired on American radio. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Man of Steel first appeared in "Action Comics" #1 in 1938. The following year, the newspaper comic strip began and four audition radio programs were prepared to sell "Superman" as a radio series. When Superman was first heard on radio less than two years after the comic book appearance, the character took on an added dimension with Bud Collyer in the title role. During
Superman beyond the comic books. Superman, Inc. merged with DC Comics in October 1946. After DC Comics merged with Warner Communications in 1967, licensing for Superman was handled by the Licensing Corporation of America. The Licensing Letter (an American market research firm) estimated that Superman licensed merchandise made $722 million in sales globally in 2017. 44.7% of this revenue came from the North American market. For comparison, in the same year, Spider-Man merchandise made $1.4 billion and Star Wars merchandise made $2.4 billion globally. The earliest paraphernalia appeared in 1939: a button proclaiming membership in the Supermen of America club. The