Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound, look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman! Kellogg's Pep, P-E-P-P, Kellogg's Pep, the sunshine cereal presents the adventures of Superman. Today, Superman and Batman still baffled by mysterious notes and telephone calls from a man who has been authoritatively pronounced dead and buried, discover a more immediate danger. Hello there, gang. This is your pal Dan McCullough. You know, the busier you are at school, the smarter it is to go in for a real bang-up breakfast. Because if you don't eat right in the morning, how could you have fun at your work and take in more fun besides? So tomorrow morning, just get next to a bowl of Kellogg's Pep, the sunshine cereal. See how those crisp, tender flakes of whole wheat tickle your taste, put you in a mood to eat hearty. Take in that sunny, catchy Pep flavor, all golden toasted. Why, you'll say Pep's one prize dish. Or you might say Pep's a 49 prize dish. Because there are 49 different prizes you can get in packages of Pep. One in every single package. For instance, you can collect seven exciting colored cardboard models of fighting planes. Easy and fun to assemble. And you can collect a, get a great new series of 24 bird pictures. Each with a full description on the reverse side to, to help you recognize these birds every time. And then, there are those 18 bright colored comic buttons. Each with a famous comic strip character to pin on your beanie cap or your jacket. So, get busy collecting all three kinds of those wonderful prices. Ask mom to get you a package of Kellogg's Pep next time she goes shopping. Now, the adventures of Superman. Called upon for help by his good friend, Batman. The man of steel has found himself faced with a baffling mystery woven about a series of anonymous notes and phone calls. All threatening the life of Robin, youthful companion of Batman. The handwriting in the notes and the voice of the caller were both definitely and unmistakably identified as those of Eric Larson, a man who had been sent to prison by Batman for practicing extortion on Robin's late parents. Yet, prison records showed that Larson had died a convict two weeks before the threatening notes and phone calls had begun. As Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, Superman and Batman visited the state prison where they were shown Larson's grave. Then, when Kent, employing his X-ray vision, announced that the grave contained an empty coffin, the warden ordered it dug up. As the coffin lid was opened to prove Kent was right, both Wayne and the warden began gasping for breath and a moment later lost consciousness. As we continue now in the dark prison cemetery, Kent is quickly resuming his identity as Superman. Listen, you can pass out like that. They're beginning to breathe normally now, thank heaven. Ah, Bruce is starting to come around. What, what, what happened? Easy, Bruce, easy. Superman. That's right. Everything's under control. Yes, I'm sure of that, but, look, what happened? I'm not quite sure, except that just a minute after we opened the coffin lid, you and the warden passed out, so I brought you up here. Oh, yes, sorry, Miller. What's the... Hold it, Bruce, hold it. Warden's beginning to come, too, so I'd better take you down and change back to Kent. It'll save answering a lot of embarrassing questions. Sure, go ahead. Okay, here we go to the prison grounds. Down! All right, you stay here with Warden Hobbs, will you, Bruce? Yes, I'll change behind that tree. Check. Kent. Wayne. Oh, right here, Warden. What happened? We passed out, both of us. Oh, yes. Now I remember. We got dizzy. I couldn't breathe. Then out like a light. If it weren't for super... I mean, if it weren't for Kent, I don't know what we would have done. Kent, where's Mr. Kent? Oh, right here, Warden. How do you feel? Oh, much better now, thank you, but... Here, wait a minute. Let me help you out. Thanks. Okay? I can manage all right. Say, how did we get here from the center? Oh, never mind that. What's more important is what hit us. It's a gas of some kind, I think. A gas, yes. Kent said he detected a peculiar odor when we opened Larson's empty coffin. Oh, good heavens. I almost forgot about that. Coffin is empty, isn't it? Empty as old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. Now I recall. You said that before we dug it up. Hey. How did you know it, Kent? Uh, how? Yeah, that's right. How? Well, you see, I... Why, that's easy, Warden. You see, if... If, uh, Larson has been sending notes and calling me, why... Yeah, that's right. If he's been doing all that, he couldn't be dead and buried. Isn't that what you mean, Bruce? Why, yes. Yeah, sure, that's right. Ah? I mean, that's... Well, that's what I think prompted you to say. The coffin was empty, wasn't it? Uh, why... Oh, stop trying to kid me and yourselves, too. I know Larson's dead. I saw him before he was buried. I saw him buried in the prison cemetery. There can be no mistake about that. Well, then where's his body? That's right. You saw the empty coffin. Well, I don't know. This whole thing is so mixed up. Not to me. Personally, I'm sold that Larson's alive, that he escaped through some trick. And I still say he's dead, despite the empty coffin. I don't agree with you, Mark. Well, this seesawing is getting a snowplace. Look, Warden, the prison doctor who pronounced Larson dead, where is he? Well, let's see. It's just after 11 o'clock. He's probably making his last rounds into the infirmary now. Well, can we see him? Of course. Good. There's some questions I'd like to ask him. Come on. No question about it, Mr. Kent. Eric Larson died here in prison. Yeah, you see Kent? Now, just a moment, please, Warden. Uh, Dr. Marsh, the last time you saw Eric Larson, were you feeling all right? What's that? What are you getting at? Just a minute, Bruce. I asked were you feeling entirely well, doctor. Of course I was. Why do you ask? One other question, doctor. When you examined Larson, did you notice any, uh, unusual odor in the room? Oh, now I see what you're talking about. Uh, why, no, not that I remember. Why? What are you driving at, Mr. Kent? Well, maybe something, maybe nothing. How about the undertaker who handled Larson's body, Warden? He was buried from here. Oh, I see. Now, I can't waste any more time on your ridiculous notions. As far as I'm concerned, Larson is dead. And my only responsibility is to contact the police to investigate the disappearance of his body. Yes, you're quite right. Thank you for your time and trouble, Warden. Thank you, too, Dr. Marsh. You're welcome. Let's go, Bruce. Well, that's that, Clark. Now what do we do? Well, we've still got to determine whether Eric Larson is dead or alive. Well, he's dead, of course. He must be. I admit I thought he might not be, but you heard what Warden Hobbs said and the prison doctor. Yes, but... Me, I'll buy your theory that Larson wrote the threatening notes and recorded his voice before he died. Oh? He turned them over to an accomplice who exhumed his body and is now using the notes and records to try and scare the wits out of Robin and me. Or perhaps lead us into some trap. Well, it could be. I still think it's a good possibility, but what puzzles me now is that curious odor that came out of the coffin and knocked out you and Warden Hobbs. What is it? Who put it there? Yes, that is a puzzler. But I don't see what it has to do with whether Larson is dead or alive. Well, it just might have everything to do with it. How do you mean? Well, I'll tell you after I make another test, which ought to tell the story. I'll just strip down to my Superman costume and we'll zip back to your house and have another listen to that record of your conversation with your mysterious caller. Okay. There we are. All set. You ready? Anytime you are. And up with you. Right. Here we go. Bruce, and please don't talk while the record is on, huh? I'll tell you we're just wasting time. I don't think so. What do you expect to tell from the record? Half a dozen people who knew Larson swear it's his voice. Now you're wasting time. Start the record, will you? Okay. That's it, Clark. Are you satisfied? Yes. Yes, I'm satisfied that Eric Larson is alive. What? I said Eric Larson is alive. I thought Batman stares at the Man of Steel. We'll return in a moment for the exciting climax of today's episode. So stand by. Say, here's an idea to help you with your collection of pep prizes. Whether it's the model planes or the bird pictures or the comic buttons. Sometimes it may happen that the prize you get in your package of Kellogg's Pep is a duplicate of one that you already have. For instance, you may collect two Curtis Helldiver model planes when you're trying to collect pep's seven different model planes. Well, then, just swap duplicates with the gang. And you can swap duplicates of those slick, full-color bird pictures, too, to help you round out your collection of bird pictures. Or if in your next package of pep you find a comic button picturing, oh, say, Moon Mullins when you were hoping for one of Orphan Annie or Superman, somebody in the gang sure to want to make a trade. Now, that way you'll have fun getting together your collection of all three kinds of pep prizes. And all the while, every morning at breakfast, you can be piling in those crisp, delicious flakes of pep. Think of the keen, catchy flavor, that fresh, full-wheat flavor, that terrific pep flavor. Yes, sir, a bowl of pep is strictly on the beam. So ask Mom for Kellogg's Pep, the sunshine cereal, and look for your prize inside the package. After listening to the record which Bruce Wayne made of a telephone conversation, Kent said, Eric Larson is alive, Bruce. You're wrong, Kent. He can't be. He died in prison. He's alive. If his voice had been recorded before his death and played over the telephone on a phonograph, I would have detected the scratching of the needle, slight as it might be. I have pretty sharp ears. Yes, I know. Although his replies dovetail too closely with your questions to be on a record. Even if he figured out what you might say and planned his answers accordingly, there would have been a slight pause when the needle was lifted to the next groove and a slight sound when it was set down again. But there was neither pause nor sound. We did not hear a record. Oh, wait a minute. Warden Hobbs said Larson died, and so did the prison doctor. Right. Now, Hobbs has a fine reputation, and besides, I've known him for years. He wouldn't take part in a hoax like this. I know that, and I didn't say he took part in it. Well, then how... I don't get it. Remember that strange odor like bitter perfume when Larson's empty coffin was opened? Yes. The stuff that knocked you out? Well, what about it? I'm quite sure it was from a drug which had been in Larson's body. A drug? Yes. You've heard of curious drugs used in India and in certain islands in the Caribbean, and as so-called witch medicine in portions of Africa, haven't you? Oh, certainly. I've heard of many such doings, but what has that... The stuff causes a complete suspension of organic activities in the human body. Even paralyzes the heart for a certain period. Well, yes, I've heard of that, but... Great Jupiter. I'm beginning to see now what you're driving at. Good. Your angle is that Larson put himself in a sort of state of suspended animation which made him appear dead. Exactly. But he must have had a confederate. Someone in on his plan who stood by to exhume him after he was buried in that bronze coffin. Well, certainly. Probably the same one who procured and slipped the drug to him. Then if we can find out from Warden Hobbs who visited Larson, we could trace him or them and... That's just what I have in mind, Bruce. So let's... Wait. Listen, what's that? Sounds like pounding on your front door. Come on, let's see who it is. Okay. God! What's the matter? Wait till you see who it is. Go on, open the door. Good Jupiter, it's Alfred, my butler. Alfred! Alfred! He's unconscious and bleeding from a head wound. Poor old fellow. Clark! I just remembered something. Alfred was to stay with Robin tonight at Jim Olsen's house. Uh-oh. This looks bad, Bruce. Plenty bad. Their faces drained of color, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne stare at each other over the unconscious form of Alfred, Batman's trusted butler, each of them fearful of expressing the worried thoughts that raced through his mind. What has happened? Does Alfred's condition indicate that Jim Olsen and Robin have fallen into danger, perhaps even into the hands of Eric Larson, who, according to Superman, is still very much alive? We'll know more tomorrow, gang, so don't fail to be with us again. Same time, same station. And remember, for breakfast, it's Kellogg's Pep. For excitement, the adventures of Superman. Superman is a copyrighted feature appearing in Superman D.C. comic magazines and is brought to you Monday through Friday at the same time by Kellogg's Pep, the sunshine cereal. Say, gang, what makes a famous name famous? Well, Kellogg is famous as the greatest name in cereals. And one reason is Kellogg's Shredded Wheat. Those are the plump, tender biscuits made to fit your breakfast bowl. Fifteen. Fifteen of them in every package. Each biscuit toasted just right and full up with natural nut-sweet flavor. Mom knows Kellogg's Shredded Wheat is good for you, too. This is whole wheat, so remember Kellogg, gang. Ask Mom for Kellogg's Shredded Wheat. And be sure to be with us on Monday for the thrilling adventures of Superman. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.
