Superhero film as action, horror, fantasy, comedy etc. Almost immediately after superheroes rose to prominence in comic books, they were adapted into Saturday film serials aimed at children, starting with "Mandrake The Magician" (1939). Serials such as "Adventures of Captain Marvel" (1941), "Batman" (1943), "The Phantom" (1943), "Captain America" (1944), and "Superman" (1948) followed. In the following decades, the decline of Saturday serials and turmoil in the comic book industry put an end to superhero motion pictures, with the exception of "Superman and the Mole Men", starring George Reeves, which was a trial balloon for the television series "Adventures of Superman", compilations
American comic book to receive his own title, and "Showcase" itself was only a bimonthly title, though one that was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined the bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics. With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, "The Fantastic Four" #1 initiated a naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the