Presenting Superman. Up in the sky. Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! And now, Superman. Strange and amazing figure from another world who has come to Earth as the champion of the weak and the oppressed. As our story opens today, Superman, in his character of Clark Kent, reporter, is just where we left him. In the laboratory of Dr. Dahlgren, bending over the reviving form of the scientist who has been stunned by the blowing open of his safe. Outside, a distant clock has just struck 5.30. Inside, Kent and the doctors stare at the empty safe, realizing that the steel cylinders necessary to operate the Dahlgren atomic beam have been stolen, and that the yellow mask can now make good his threat to blow the Daily Planet building to fragments on the dot of six. Lois Lane has been sent to bring the police and warn the paper. Sirens wail as squad cars race toward the scene of the explosion. Meanwhile, the yellow mask himself watches grimly from a secret hiding place, waiting for the uproar to die down. Listen. So the sound of the explosion has brought the police like bees to a honeypot. Very well, I shall wait until I am ready to leave, and then all of the police in the city will not stop me. Are both cars waiting? I'll ready when you give their word, Chief. Good. Who's this, Michael? Who's that with you? I got a visitor for you, Chief. You let me go. Put me down. That girl. Where did she come from? She belongs to the fellow from the newspaper. After the explosion, she went for the cops. I seen her coming down the stairs, and I thought maybe we'd better hang on to her. Oh, you beast. Let me go. Excellent, Michael. Well done indeed. Put her in the second car with the machine. I won't go. Bring her to the airport, Michael. Put her in the plane. You heard what he said. Come on. Take it, Joe. I won't. Stop. Put me down. Well, you do with it, Chief. That young man, Kent, has annoyed us before. I shall take no chances this time. If he hinders my plans in the next half hour, he signs this girl's death warrant. Start up the car. And meanwhile, back in the laboratory of Dr. Dahlgren... Oh, Kent, how did they know? Who told them when to come? To steal the cylinders? Yes. Dr. Dahlgren, you remember I asked you if there was anyone named Michael hereabouts? Yes, my servant. I've had him for years. Well, Michael betrayed you to the yellow mask. He had a dictaphone in every room of the laboratory and told them of every move you made. Michael did that? Where is he? I don't know. Probably following the mask. And that's where I'm going, too. No, Kent, don't leave me. Come back. Doctor, you'll be all right. The police are on the stairs right now. Sorry, I can't wait. Hey, what goes on in here? What's the trouble? Well, it can't go down. It's got to be up. Maybe the next landing. This will do it. Out of these clothes. Up for the window. What's the time? Where's that clock? Good thing I can see in the dark. 25 minutes to 6. 25 minutes to find the yellow mask or else... I don't know. Not much time, but here we go. Up! Up! One of two things. He's either going back to town or out to an airport. But first, I must warn White to clear the building just in case. Faster! Faster! 25 minutes. Order to 6. Oh, Lord, Lord. Where is Miss Lane? Where's Kent? City Rome? White? Mike? Miss Smith? Face this call. Don't trouble yourself, Mr. White. You cannot stop me now. What? Lois Lane? You've got Lois? Oh, Lord. That devil means to drop Lois out of an airplane. Oh, Kent. Is that you? Where have you been, Matt? Where have you been? Where have you been, Mr. White? Is Miss Lane here? Kent, just this second, a call came from the mask. He's got an airplane, and he's got Lois. What? It's true. What did you find out at Dalgren's? Mr. White, it's bad. The mask got away with the atomic beam machine. He can wipe us out in a second. What? Where are you going? Call the nearest flying field, the one on the point. I can be there in eight minutes. Have them warm up a plane. You can't fly. What are you going to do? Yes, I can and I will. So long, Mr. White. I'm not running out on you. Kent, wait. It's our only chance, and I'm taking it. If you don't hear from me by two minutes of, there's nothing we can do. All alone in the hall, out of these clothes. No time for opening windows. Last chance, mask. But Superman still has time. If you can fly, so can I. I'll get to the field and take a plane myself. Bastard! Bastard! What are you going to do with me? Just sit where you are, my dear Miss Lane, for the time being. What's the clock say, Michael? Five to six. Remove the cover from the atomic beam. Wait a minute. What's that behind us? Too dark to say for sure. Looks like another plane. Fools. Didn't believe me, eh? Well, they soon will. Look down, Michael, and tell me where we are. Over that Daily Planet building. Watch it, Michael. It will not be there long. You beast. You fiend. What are you going to do? Pay off a few scores, Miss Lane. All right, Michael. It works. The machine works. Now then, Michael. Back over the planet building. Any news from Kent? What's the time? Kent hasn't called in so far, Mr. White. Wait a minute. Hey, anybody got a call from Kent? No, nothing here. Not so far, Mr. White. All right, never mind that. What's the time? Why, you asked me that just a minute ago. I know I did. What's the time now? Miss Smith, what's the time? Three minutes of six. No time left now. There they are. Got to scare them off. All right, Mask. Here I come. Hey, Chief, that other plane's right behind us. Never mind the other plane. It's two minutes of six. Swing down over the Daily Planet building. All right. I got to bank and head back again. Here we go. Please observe, Miss Lane. Once again, the whine of the atomic generators. Oh, stop. You can't mean to do it. You won't. Hey, look, Chief. The other plane's right on our tail. I'll take care of that. Come here, Miss Lane. Oh, let me go. I told your friends what would happen if they got in my way now. Michael, release the door. It's open. Just roll the cap. Stop. Stop. I said if they came too close, I warned them. Come here, girl. No. No. Hey, Chief, watch out. He's going to crash. Too late. Out you go, Miss Lane. Out that door. There. Look out. Look out. Michael, down, down. Dive on the building. I'm throwing the switch of the atomic beam. I crashed the planes. Jumped clear. That'll take care of the mask. The Lord, she's falling. Plunging down 2,000 feet. Got to catch her. Down. Down. Down. 1,500. 1,000. 800. 500. 200. There she is. Now she's safe. Now up. Whooping down, Superman saves Lois in the nick of time and bears her away to safety. Next morning, in the offices of the Daily Planet... Well, well, Lois. Come in. Sit down. That was quite an experience you had last night. I tell you, Mr. White, I don't understand it. They threw me out of the plane. I remember falling. That's all I do remember, clearly. Well, that's almost enough. I imagine we all owe our lives to your friend, Clark Kent. Clark Kent? What did he do? Most amazing. At the very last minute, he went up in a plane, rammed the mask just as he was about to touch off that infernal machine, and came down by parachute, just as you did. As I did? Well, I don't remember any parachute. You don't think you swam down, do you? I don't know. I'm not sure. It's all very hazy, but at the last minute, I seem to recall that a man appeared out of nowhere, just flying in the air. You probably saw the mask falling out of his plane. Oh, no, this wasn't that kind of a man. He wore a long red cape, and he just took me in his arms and carried me away. Oh, you're dreaming, Lois. Well, well, look who's here. Come in, Kent. Good morning, Mr. White. Good morning, Miss Lane. Oh, good morning. If you'll excuse me, Mr. White. I don't know what Miss Lane has against me. Oh, you mustn't mind her. Kent, I can't thank you enough for what you did. You saved all our lives. Oh, I was just lucky, Mr. White. Crashed the planes and came down by parachute. Oh, by the way, was anything left of the mask's plane? Nothing left of either the plane or the mask. Dr. Dahlgren's machine was ruined, too. Incidentally, he called earlier this morning to thank you and tell you that he's destroyed the duplicate of that machine and the plans for building it. He thought you'd approve. Oh, I do. It was much too dangerous a device in the hands of the wrong person. Oh, say, Kent, there's something been bothering me. Yes? Lois seems to think she was rescued by a man in a red cape. A superman who flew through the air. Now, you remember that Western story you covered? There were rumors about such a man, a red cape, flying through the air. Now, do you think... Oh, it's too silly to talk about, Mr. White. I know, but, uh... Hey, Mr. White, about that fire in the Sterling building. Yeah, what about it? Don't go, Kent. Just got a phone call. They think there's a girl trapped on the 20th floor. What? A girl trapped? Can't they get her out? Can't reach her. Mr. White, let me cover that story. Maybe... Maybe what? Well, maybe I... Maybe I can do something. Can I cover it? Sure. But if the fire department can't reach her, what do you think you can do? What does Clark Kent mean to do? Does he intend to assume the blue costume and red cape of Superman and attempt a daring rescue of the trapped girl in broad daylight? Does he dare reveal himself as Superman before the thousands of people watching the fire in the street below? What will happen? Tune in next time and find out. And remember, don't miss the next installment of Superman. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman. Superman is a copyrighted feature appearing in Action Comics Magazine.