Boys and girls, your attention, please. Presenting a new exciting radio program featuring the thrilling adventures of an amazing and incredible personality. Faster than an airplane. More powerful than a locomotive. Impervious to bullets. Up in the sky, look. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman. And now, Superman. A being no larger than an ordinary man, but possessed of powers and abilities never before realized on Earth. Able to leap into the air an eighth of a mile at a single bound. Hurdle a 20-story building with ease. Race a high-powered bullet to its target. Lift tremendous weights and rend solid steel in his bare hands as though it were paper. Superman. A strange visitor from a distant planet. Champion of the oppressed. First, physical marvel extraordinary, who has sworn to devote his existence on Earth to helping those in need. As our story begins, we ask you to come with us on a far journey. A journey that takes us millions of miles from the Earth, where the planet Krypton burns like a green star in the endless heavens. Here, civilization is far advanced. It has brought forth a race of supermen, men and women like ourselves, but advanced to the absolute peak of human perfection. As we near Krypton, we see high walls and gleaming turrets. We approach the magnificent Temple of Wisdom. And there, in a great hall, Jor-El, Krypton's foremost man of science, is about to address a meeting of the planet's governing council. Attention! Attention, gentlemen! Jor-El speaks. Members of the council, I have completed my solar calculations. And much as I dread uttering these words, I have come to the conclusion Krypton is doomed. Did I hear him right? Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Gentlemen, hear him out! These internal quakes we've been experiencing, these volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, gas escaping from giant craters, all point to only one thing, gentlemen. Krypton is utterly and finally doomed. By the man's man. One moment, gentlemen. One moment. There is no cause for anxiety. I am certain Jor-El has made a mistake. True, we have had a few minor quakes and eruptions, but nothing very serious. There must be some error in your calculations, Jor-El. No, no, there is no error, Rosanne. I only wish there were. The sun is gradually drawing Krypton closer to it. Within a month, possibly only a week, the gravitational pull will be so tremendous that Krypton will not be able to weather the strain. And then, then our planet will explode like a giant bubble, destroying every living thing on it. Gentlemen, I'm proving for the moment, Jor-El, that what you say is true. How are we to avoid it? What can we do to stop it? There is only one way. As you all know, I have been working on a spaceship designed for interplanetary travel. With time and united effort, we might transport the entire population of Krypton to another world. Impossible. Where would we go? To the Earth. My studies tell me the atmosphere of the Earth is very nearly the same as our own. You have been working too hard, Jor-El. You need a rest. Believe me, we have the utmost respect for your knowledge and integrity. But this is carrying it too far. Planets as large as Krypton do not explode, Jor-El. Wait! Do you hear that, gentlemen? It's the forewarning of doom! Every moment is precious now! Planets like that are souring the death knell of Krypton! It will happen, gentlemen, and happen soon! When the last great eruption comes... When it comes, Jor-El, it shall find all of us ready. If Krypton is to die, we shall die with it. The parting would be much too severe, yes. Very well! Laugh if you like, Roseanne, and you members of the Council. I have no time to laugh. My wife, Lara, and my infant son are dear to me. It is not my wish to stand by and see them destroyed. Laugh, all of you! But a time will come, and that time is perhaps very close at hand, when you will wish you had heeded the words of Jor-El. Now you think me a fool. But remember what I have said, gentlemen, when Krypton is shattered into a thousand million stars, when the glorious civilization we have built is no more, when you and your families are swept from the face of Krypton like dust! Order, gentlemen! Order! You have heard Jor-El speak. Is it your wish that we devote time and money to the building of spaceships for the transportation of Krypton's population to another planet? Oh, no! No! No! I am sorry, Jor-El. The Council has spoken. Yes, and signed the death warrants of every living thing on Krypton. Well, I have done my best to convince you. Now all that remains for me is to proceed with my own means of salvation, my own spaceship, to save the lives of those near and dear to me. As for the rest of you, may the gods have mercy on your souls. Well, Jor-El is mad. He is absolutely mad. Ah, Lara, I didn't see you. I came out to take the air on the terrace. Yes. It's been terribly hot all day. Is that because we're being drawn to the sun, Jor-El? Yes. What did the Council have to say about that? I... I didn't mention it. Is the model of your spaceship almost finished? Yes, yes, I just drove the last rivet. How does it look? Splendid. But will it work? Ah, that remains to be seen. If it does work, I shall immediately begin construction of another just like it, only much larger. One big enough to carry all three of us to another world. Jor-El, when will that be? Every moment that we spend waiting and wondering... Yes, I know, I know, Lara. It's been hard on all of us, and particularly hard on you. How is the boy? Sleeping, Jor-El. That quake this afternoon frightened him. But he's all right now. Can't you come in and look at him? You scarcely see him these days, what with working all hours on the spaceship model. It can't be helped, dear. I'm racing against time. Right now, I'm anxious to know whether the model will behave as I hope. How does it operate? Very simply. When all is ready, I throw this switch. That closes the circuit, and electric energy builds up pressure in the atomic generators. Then, at the final moment, the pressure forces the ship from its carrier and speeds it on its way. But where does it go? Wherever it's pointed. This one, I'm directing to the planet Earth. Earth? What is that, Jor-El? A planet smaller than our own, situated on the other side of the sun. It's inhabited by a race of people similar to ourselves. Like ourselves? Well, only partly, of course, my dear. They're about the same size, but nowhere nearly as developed. Very weak and helpless, and with all their faculties, extremely limited. How do you mean? Something like this. You know how far you step when you want to go somewhere? Practically as far as I want. Why, one step takes me to Brata's house near the fountain. Exactly. Well, down where I'm sending this spaceship, it's quite different. An Earth man steps only three feet at a time at most, and everything else is in proportion. And that's where we're going? Oh, how dreadful. My dear, which would you rather do? Go to Earth and live, or stay on Krypton and die? I'll do anything you say, Jor-El, anything. It doesn't matter to me whether we live or die, as long as we're together. It's only the boy I worry about. Yes, I know. Oh, Lara, darling, don't worry. He'll be saved. When are you testing the spaceship model? In the morning. Just as dawn breaks, I'll send it on its way, watching its flight through a high-powered telescope to see whether it lands safely on Earth. Is Earth the only planet place we can go to, Jor-El? We couldn't breathe on any other planet but the Earth. It happens to have an atmosphere similar to Krypton's. I suppose you know best, Jor-El. Are you coming in? It seems to have gotten oppressively hot. Yes, it has, I wonder. Lara, do you hear that? Yes, Jor-El. What is it? Subterranean explosions. Do you feel the ground trembling? Yes, I do. Jor-El, do you think? Lara, Lara, I'm afraid it's come. Where is the boy, Kal-El? What do you mean? Get him, quickly. This is the end. Jor-El, what can we do? Nothing, nothing. I'm not ready. Oh, what a fool I've been to delay. It isn't your fault, Jor-El. You did all you could. If only this model were large enough, we could take a chance. Jor-El, would it carry one of us safely to Earth? Oh, I think so, but Lara, where are you going? Stay here with me. I'm getting Kal-El. If one of us can be saved, Jor-El, it should be the boy. No, no, Lara, come back. If one must go, it should be you. Lara, I said come back. Come back. Here he is, Jor-El, still asleep. Goodbye, Kal-El. Please, Lara. No, Jor-El, listen to me. We both stay here. Kal-El goes in the spaceship. If there is a chance, Jor-El, it's one little chance I want it for my son. Maybe you're right, Lara. Jor-El, look. The sky. It's fiery red. The mountains. Look, the mountains are falling in. Jor-El, what's happening? The end of Krypton, Lara. Just as I foretold. This is the last great quake. Jor-El, listen. Explosions. Here, quick, quick. Give me the boy. Kal-El. Kal-El. What are you doing, Jor-El? Opening the door. Putting him inside. Jor-El. The house, it's swayed. It's breaking apart. Look, Jor-El. There. There, he's safe inside. Now for the switch. Stand back, Lara. Oh, Jor-El, will he reach the earth? Only the gods know. But there's a chance. The only chance. Stand back now, Lara. I'm going to throw the switch. Jor-El. It's getting dark. I can't see. What happened? Fire. Smoke from the center of the planet. Not much time now. Hold me, Jor-El. Is the spaceship gone? No. No, not yet. Waiting for pressure. We may have been too late. If it doesn't work up soon... Wait! It's off. It's on its way. Jor-El, where are you? Here, here, beside you, Lara. Listen, can you hear me? Our boy, Kal-El. Our son, Lara. He's on his way. On his way to earth. Kal-El! So the tiny rocket ship roars into the uncharted heavens as the mighty planet of Krypton explodes into millions of glowing fragments, glittering stars to remain forever in the night sky. Jor-El and Lara, devoted parents of the tiny boy, perish in the giant quake that destroys Krypton, but what of the rocket ship? Does it reach the earth? Does it find its mark in all the far-flung darkness of space? Remember, don't miss the next installment of Superman. Up in the sky! Look! It's a giant bird! Superman! Superman is a copyrighted feature appearing in Action Comics Magazine.