2. Superman first demonstrated the ability to fly in the radio serial
Shuster and Siegel had not yet given their creation the power of flight when The Adventures of Superman began broadcasting in 1940. Superman used his great running speed to generate momentum sufficient to allow him to leap over tall buildings, or travel by jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper. In the second episode of The Adventures of Superman radio program, Superman acquired the ability of flight. Audiences knew their hero was airborne from a whistling sound effect, as if exposed to high winds. The radio program ignored the backstory of Clark Kent’s youth in the Midwest, identifying Superman as a “…strange visitor from a distant planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men…” Flight was not the only change the program made to the Superman tale.
In the earliest issues, Clark Kent worked as a reporter for the Daily Star, a Metropolis newspaper. He worked for editor George Taylor, alongside reporter Lois Lane. The Adventures of Superman put Clark under Perry White, editor-in-chief of the Metropolis Daily Planet, again with Lois Lane. After the episode aired in February, 1940, Siegel altered Clark Kent’s employment in the comic books to reflect that of radio, the change taking place in November, 1940. In April, 1940, The Adventures of Superman introduced another character, Jimmy Olsen. Olsen had appeared as an unnamed character in the comics, but following his appearance on radio, Siegel and Shuster introduced him on the printed page of the comics in Superman #13, which hit newsstands in November, 1941.