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 Pep. Kellogg's Pep, the sunshine cereal presents, The Adventures of Superman. Today, Superman learns through his horror that Apollo has plunged from its orbit and is now being destroyed by the powerful burning rays of the sun. Hello there, gang. This is your pal Dan McCullough. You know, the news that Kellogg's Pep is putting out a brand new series of comic buttons is spreading, as they say, like wildfire. All the fellows and girls in the gang are talking about these new comic buttons and making plans to collect all 18 in the series. And no wonder the Pep comic buttons you've been collecting right along are so doggone smart looking and such fun to collect that, well, who wouldn't be excited about this new series? They're brand new funny paper characters, you know, like Goofy and Beezy from Harold Teen and Flash Gordon and Toots and Casper and, of course, Superman himself. Why, every single one of them looks just as real as in the comic strips, done up in full comic strip colors, too. Look mighty sharp, thin on your jacket or your dress or beanie cap. And how do you get these new Pep comic buttons? Why, it's easy. Just ask Mom to get you a package or two of Kellogg's Pep and look inside the package for your prize. That's right, a button in each package. You don't have to send in any money, not even a box stop, and you can't buy them anywhere. All you do is to stock up on the sunshine cereal, Kellogg's Pep. The whole wheat flakes with a catchy, sunny flavor that makes breakfast so much fun and so good for you, too. That's it, gang. For a sunshine breakfast dish and for exciting prizes, get P-E-P, the sunshine cereal, Kellogg's Pep. And now, the adventures of Superman. Unable to preserve his strength on the doomed planet Apollo, where he had come in an effort to save the inhabitants from destruction, Superman was forced to return to Earth to consult with Dr. John Millicent, the famous scientist. Millicent analyzed a sample of the atmosphere of Apollo Superman had brought back with him and discovered that it contained a high content of krypton gas, which accounted for Superman's loss of strength. He was about to discuss a device which he believed would sustain the Man of Steel on Apollo for a limited time when he received a phone call from the observatory on Mount Arthur. After listening for a moment, Dr. Millicent replaced the phone. And as we continue now, he turns and says solemnly, I'm afraid you'll never return to the planet Apollo, Superman. Why? Because it's no longer visible. What happened? Apollo is lost in space, and all of its people are doomed. Not even you, Superman, can help them now. But I must help them, Dr. Millicent. I must save them. It's impossible now to do anything for them, Superman. You see, for three days since Apollo left its orbit, it's been revolving around its own moon. I know that, but I... Explained. As it lost energy, it became subject to the gravitational pull of the sun. Until now, it's somewhere in space, so close to that ball of fire, that nothing can save the planet and everyone on it from being consumed. Great. Got it. Is it really that bad? Unbelievably bad. Matter of fact, we don't even know where the planet is now. It may already have come so close to the sun that the direct rays have consumed Apollo's atmosphere. On the other hand, there is still at least an outside chance that I may be able to find it in time to do something about saving Thane and Lalo and all those other millions of helpless human beings up there. Look, Dr. Millicent, you said you had an idea how I could save them. What did you have in mind? Well, I thought that perhaps by driving deeply into the very core of the planet and releasing the gases and other energizing matters penned up there... Yes, yes. It's just possible that the tremendous energy so released in a form of jets might speed up the revolutions of Apollo enough to, well, to give it added centrifugal force and thus reestablish its orbit. I think I see what you mean. But that's impossible now. The planet is lost, irrevocably lost. I'll find it. Now, look, you said you could prepare something, a mask and tank or whatever, that would neutralize the high content of krypton gas in Apollo's atmosphere and permit me to preserve my strength up there for a limited time. Yes, but... How long will it take you to fix it? Well, I... not more than a couple of hours. However... Then get busy on it at once, please. Every second counts. No, Superman, I can't let you do it. You must. After all, those people... You told me you were caught in the direct rays of the sun on the way back from Apollo, and we're almost finished. Isn't that so? Yes, but this... Well, this time you'll have to approach even closer to the sun. You may very well be destroyed, and I can't let you risk almost certain death when you're so valuable to us on Earth. Look, Dr. Millison, get this and get it straight. Whatever you say or do cannot stop me from making a try, because I gave Thane and Lalo my word that I'd be back to try to help them. But... And I always keep my word. I may be valuable here on Earth, but I'm not indispensable. No one man is in a democracy. So Earth can get along very well without me, as it did for so long. But Apollo is doomed unless I can save it. And I'm going to try even if you refuse to make me the defense I need against its atmosphere. Very well. I guess you win. Good. I'll get started on that anti-crypton device at once. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to construct it. All right, but hurry, Doctor. For heaven's sake, hurry. As Superman anxiously paces the floor of Dr. Millison's laboratory, impatient to be off on his perilous mission, millions of miles away in space on the doomed planet Apollo, another scientist, the elderly white-bearded Thane and his daughter, Lalo, sit in the mouth of a cave on a hillside above the Sea of Mercury. Sunlight, stronger and brighter than any of the inhabitants of Apollo have ever known, bakes the land. And the dry wind blowing down through a pass in the mountains seems to come from a raging oven. All in this tiny village of Thane's birth have been driven from the heat of the valley into caves in the hills. And even the strange tika birds, which ordinarily nest in the black and silver leaf trees by day and swim in the Sea of Mercury only at night, now have left the heat of the trees to stand on the edge of the strange sea and complain in their weird calls against the unaccustomed warmth of the liquid. Mopping her perspiring face, Lalo fans her weakened father with a small branch of leaves as they await what seems to be certain destruction by the sun. You are kind, Lalo, but the fanning stirs only the hot air. I thought it might help a big father. Nay, sit quietly. That is best. Does water still remain in the wells? No, not much. And that fills people's hearts with fear. What is to happen to them and to us, father? I fear the worst, Lalo, for I know now that this tower we live on has left the orbit in which it revolved and is being drawn closer into the merciless naked heat of the sun. But what will happen as we approach closer to the sun? That is simple. We and all else on this poor doomed star will be destroyed, consumed by the power and heat of the sun's rays. Oh, whoa. And nothing be done to avert this catastrophe? Nothing. Unless, perhaps... Perhaps what, father? Unless the stranger from Earth, he who calls himself Superman, returns. Aye, he is possessed of great powers and he flies through the air. He seems also to have the strength of full twenty of our giant slings. And he has also great wisdom. Father, he promised to return. Perhaps... Aye, but I know not if he can discover us now in the great space void. Perhaps even now he seeks for our star and seeks in vain. Oh, say not that, father, please. I fear it is the truth, my child. Oh, no. Oh, if only the Ra's had listened to me and to Superman instead of to his own cruel heart and to his ignorant astrologers. But now I fear it is too late. Perhaps not, father. Perhaps Superman will find us. He is our only hope. Wait. What is that distant rumbling? Thunder? No. It sounds somewhat different from thunder. But what else can it be, father? I know not, but I fear... Sire! Mr. Slalom! Who calls? Oh, it is Ord, the slave giant of the princess whom Superman brought here with us. Oh, yes, I had forgotten. Sire! Sire! Oh, why is it... What is it, Ord? The far... The far snow-capped mountains from where I and the other giants came. What of them? They... They... There is no snow-capped mountain now, Ord. I saw this morning how the great sun had melted the snow. Aye. Aye, but no, sire. The great sun melts the mountains themselves. What? What is this you say? Come. Look beyond this ridge for yourselves. All in the village stand now and shake with fear at what they see. And at the strange thunder which is not the thunder of a storm. Come, let us see, Lalo. If this be true... Father, behold, the distant mountain peaks collapse and disappear before our very eyes. Oh, whoa! It is as I feared. The great being have mercy on us. You cannot be, Father. I... I must be dreaming. You dream not, my daughter. As our star draws closer to the sun and rotates more slowly, it loses energy and matter. The disintegration of our star has begun. Our end is near. Ashen White, Thane puts a comforting arm around his trembling daughter. As together with the giant Ord, they watch in awe as the far distant mountain peaks crumble like stacks of children's blocks. Thane disappears. Is Superman too late? We'll know more in a moment. So stand by for the tense climax of today's episode. Say, gang, if you haven't joined up in the Junior Red Cross membership drive, don't put it off another day. Ask your teacher about it tomorrow at school. Find out what a wonderful way it is to lend a helping hand to children who need it, both here and overseas, and to help keep the Red Cross' many activities going, like those swell Red Cross life-saving courses, for instance. Yes, sir. The Junior Red Cross is one organization you want to be part of. So, get your membership tomorrow. Helplessly, Thane and Lalo, on Apollo, can only watch the disintegration of their doomed planet. As millions of miles away on the terrace before the observatory on Mount Arthur, Superman, a pair of metal cylinders strapped to his back, stands once more with Dr. Millicent and his colleague, Dr. Bloomfield. For the last time, Superman, I beg you to give up this trip. I tell you, you're practically committing suicide. Let's hope not, Dr. Millicent. Anyhow, I'm going to make a try at saving Apollo. But Dr. Millicent is right, Superman. Even if you do find Apollo, which I doubt, it will be so close to the sun that you'll almost certainly lose your life. I'm afraid I've got to risk that, Dr. Bloomfield. But look here, how can you... Now, I have the mask. You say there's enough nitrogen and oxygen in the containers for 24 hours, Dr. Millicent? Yes, but no longer. That should be long enough. I won't need it until I get on the planet. Oh, yes, there's no danger of the containers bursting in the stratospheric pressure, is there? No, I've taken precautions against that. Good. But there are no precautions we can take against the power of the direct rays of the sun in space. I know. And the cosmic rays, and sunspark. So I still think you... Oh, come, come, cheer up. This trip may not be nearly as tough as you think. No? Well, I can assure you it'll be tougher than you think. Yes. Please, Superman, won't you reconsider? Save your breath, Dr. Bloomfield. I'm going. Now, just one more thing. I want to leave this envelope with you. As you see, it's addressed to Perry White. If I'm not back before the week is up, I'd like you to give it to him. Of course. Is it your will? It's something far more important than that. So please guard it carefully. Don't let it out of your hands until I get back to claim it, or until you give it to Mr. White. I'll guard it with my life. Thank you. Well, I guess that's all, then. Goodbye, Dr. Millicent, and thank you for all you've done. If only I could make you change your mind. Don't bother. You can't. Goodbye, then. And good luck. Thank you, sir. Goodbye, Dr. Bloomfield. Goodbye, and Godspeed, Superman. I'll be seeing you both soon, I hope. Leaping high from the terrace, Superman rockets away toward the sun. Red capes streaming in the wind. And back on the observatory terrace, certain they are seeing him for the last time. Dr. Millicent and Dr. Bloomfield watch until he is but a tiny speck in the sky. And then, nothing. Will Superman live through this most perilous of all his adventures? And will he find the doomed planet Apollo before it, Cain, Lalo, and all the other human beings there are destroyed? We'll learn more in tomorrow's thrilling episode. So be sure to be with us, same time, same station. And remember, for breakfast, it's Kellogg's Pep. For excitement, the adventures of Superman. Superman is the 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, when you wake up in the morning and you can see your breath on the frosty air, gang, that's Crumbles Weather. Just calls for a toasty kind of cereal with zip and go. Calls for toasty words like crisp, crunchy, crinkly. Crumbles, sure, just fits, doesn't it? Kellogg's Crumbles, sort of sweet and mellow rich. The only cereal in the whole wide world made in those little crinkly shreds of good whole wheat. It's Crumbles Weather, gang. Time for a crisp, crunchy, crinkly. Kellogg's Crumbles. And be sure to be with us tomorrow for the thrilling adventures of Superman. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.
