Let’s face it. There are a lot of Superman podcasts. Heck, there’s an entire network of ’em. But for all the love given to the Man of Steel in podcast land, his teenage incarnation doesn’t get near enough attention — particularly in his Golden Age form.
In 2011, one man, even if only for a brief, shining moment, sought to rectify that.
After his Superman podcast Superman Forever Radio went on hiatus, J. David Weter launched The Smallville Chronicles, a (far too) short-lived podcast whose original mission was to document the Boy of Steel’s stories, beginning with his very first appearance.
Unfortunately, after the show’s third episode, it, too, came to an end and the episodes soon vanished from the Internet. But in September, like a Kryptonian flame-dragon rising from the ashes, Superman Forever Radio was resurrected. And now in episode 52, David has also resurrected the lost Smallville Chronicles episodes, repackaging them into one great episode.
Over the course of the three episodes (now one), David looks at the first three Superboy stories: the character’s debut from MORE FUN COMICS #101, “The Cruise of the Jolly Roger!” from #102 and “A Modern Cave Man!” from #103.
All three stories were penciled by Joe Shuster, and the first was written by Jerry Siegel, his only true Superboy story in the Golden Age. The first story also bears the distinction of Siegel’s most extensive telling in the comic books of the origin of Superboy/Superman until the Silver Age.
While I don’t think David has any plans to bring back The Smallville Chronicles, not only is Superman Forever Radio a worthy listen for Superman fans, it’s made all the better by taking the “lost” from the Smallville Chronicle’s “lost episodes” and giving a fan’s look at some rarely seen Siegel and Shuster material a new home.
