It would be next to impossible to find someone under 70 years old who did not grow up knowing and loving some version of Superman. For the oldest ‘kids’ out there it would’ve been the Kirk Alyn Superman serials from 1948 and 1950. They were chapter plays where a new installment would be shown each Saturday at the theater. In a way that format was the precursor to episodic television.
While the old serials were short on budget, like using an animated cartoon of Superman to do the flying, they were long on action and humor. And as with the radio show Jimmy Olsen provided a character kids could identify with and “girl reporter” Lois Lane was the type of girl that little boys wouldn’t mind hanging out with.