Superman #7
Superman #7 (cover-dated November–December 1940) holds a permanent place in comic-book history as the first comic-book appearance of Perry White, the irascible, fair-minded editor who would become one of the most enduring supporting characters in the Superman mythos and, by extension, one of the most recognizable newspaper bosses in all of popular fiction. White's introduction marked a pivotal moment in how the Superman radio serial and the comic books fed each other creatively: a character born on the airwaves migrated onto the printed page and eventually became inseparable from the Daily Planet's identity across eight decades of films, television, and comics. The issue also continued Jerry Siegel's early, socially conscious storytelling formula — crooked cops, framed prosecutors, and criminal kingpins — at a moment when the series was being hailed on its own covers as the 'World's Greatest Adventure Strip Character.' By funneling a radio-born character into print, this issue helped establish the cross-media feedback loop that would define superhero franchising for generations.
Find on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was published on September 6, 1940, with a cover date of November–December 1940, and was edited by Whitney Ellsworth, who had been hired that same year and was simultaneously instituting the conduct codes that would soften Superman's earlier rougher edges. Writing was handled primarily by Jerry Siegel, with art credited to Joe Shuster but substantially penciled and inked by Wayne Boring, who had joined Shuster's Cleveland studio in 1940 as one of the assistants the creators needed to keep pace with the franchise's explosive output demands. Perry White himself had originated just months earlier on the radio serial The Adventures of Superman — voiced by Julian Noa — debuting in the second episode, 'Clark Kent, Reporter,' which aired on February 14, 1940; the radio serial had replaced the comics' original editor George Taylor with White and given him the paper's name change from the Daily Star to the Daily Planet, changes the comics were only now catching up with.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First comic-book appearance of Perry White, who had originated on The Adventures of Superman radio serial in February 1940 (voiced by Julian Noa) before transitioning to print.
- Perry White appears in all four of the issue's stories, though he is not yet named by his full name in the issue — his first name is not confirmed in the comics until Superman #10.
- Cover date is November–December 1940; actual publication date was September 6, 1940. The issue runs 68 full-color pages and carried a ten-cent cover price.
- Written by Jerry Siegel; interior art primarily by Joe Shuster and Wayne Boring (credited as Shuster); cover pencils by Joe Shuster, cover inks by Wayne Boring.
- Editor was Whitney Ellsworth, the same editor who was then codifying rules barring Superman from killing — placing this issue at the transitional hinge between the rougher Golden Age characterization and the more sanitized version to follow.
- The issue contains four Superman stories: 'Three Kingpins of Crime' (Perry White's debut story), 'The Gay City Plague,' 'Bert Runyan's Campaign,' and 'The Black Gang.' The latter story is noted as Lois Lane's eighth comic-book kidnapping.
- The cover depicts a World War II-era anti-aircraft scene, making it one of the earliest Superman covers to visually invoke the war before the United States had formally entered the conflict.
- The entire issue has been reprinted in Superman Archives Vol. 2 (1990), The Superman Chronicles Vol. 4 (2008), Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (2013), and Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 2 (2017).
Key issues in Superman
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.