After the Daily Planet receives a letter from a mad scientist threatening to wreak destruction with his "Electrothanasia Ray", Lois Lane heads out in the hopes of getting more information for a news story. The scientist captures her and then makes good on his threats, leading Superman to intervene to save the city and rescue Lois.
While a mechanical robot is robbing an exhibit of precious gems and jewelry, Lois Lane sneaks into the robot's storage bin and is taken back to the hideout of the inventor, who in turn quickly captures her. When Superman arrives to rescue Lois, the inventor sets his small army of robots loose in an effort to stop him.
Lois Lane is aboard a train that is carrying a shipment of gold to the Mint, when masked bandits hijack the train in an attempt to steal the gold. When an alert reaches the Daily Planet that the train is out of control, Clark Kent sneaks off to head out as Superman to save Lois and the train.
Lois Lane is covering an exhibit at a museum featuring a giant monster found frozen but preserved in ice by an expedition in the Arctic. When the refrigeration system keeping the monster frozen fails, the ice thaws and the monster wakens. When Clark Kent learns that the monster is running amuck in the city, he heads out as Superman to rescue Lois and stop the monster.
After destroying police headquarters with their flying "bullet car", the saboteurs demand the city turn over its treasury funds to avoid further acts of sabotage. When the city refuses to cede to their demands, Superman is forced to intervene as the "bulleteers" renew their attacks and take Lois Lane hostage.
When a professor's experiments with his "magnetic telescope" endangers the city by pulling in a flaming comet from space, the mayor orders a stop to the experiments. Believing in the importance of his research and confident he can exert greater control of his device, he ignores the order and proceeds with plans to pull a larger comet in for a closer look. When the city police disable the telescope, the incoming comet descends out of control, forcing Superman to intervene to save the city from certain destruction.
Believing that Manhattan rightfully belongs to his people, a scientist of native American heritage insists that the Daily Planet publish "the truth" in a story and have the island vacated. When Perry White balks at his demands and calls them ridiculous, the scientist storms out in anger. Lois Lane follows him but is discovered and held captive in his underwater laboratory. The scientist then uses his equipment to unleash an earthquake on Manhattan Island using electricity, forcing Superman to seek out the source of the havoc and rescue Lois.
Lois Lane and Clark Kent arrive on Monokoa to report on efforts being taken to divert the flow of lava away from a city at the base of a previously-dormant volcano that is expected to erupt soon. When the volcano does erupt, falling debris damages the blasting equipment and endangers the workers and Lois Lane, forcing Superman to come to the rescue.
Lois Lane and Clark Kent are at a circus covering the events underway when one of the star attractions, a giant gorilla, is accidentally set loose. The gorilla goes on a rampage and chases after Lois, and in the process sets loose yet more circus animals. With the situation out of control and lives at stake, Clark is forced to step in as Superman.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane are covering an event surrounding the test flight of the world's largest bomber when Lois seizes an opportunity to stow away on the plane to witness the flight first-hand. Shortly into the flight, Japanese spies who also had stowed away take control of the plane with plans to fly it back to Tokyo. Lois Lane secretly alerts the base, but when the military's attempt to intercept the plane is thwarted, Superman steps in.
A thief, acting on the orders of a crime boss, commits a series of crimes dressed like Superman. Although the police have been fooled and are searching for Superman, Lois Lane believes he is innocent. While covering an opera with Clark Kent, Lois encounters the impostor and tears off the 'S' logo off his costume, leading her to believe Superman had indeed gone rogue. When Clark catches on to what happened, he chases down the impostor as Superman to bring him and his boss to justice.
While in Japan with Lois Lane and the pair under guard by the Japanese military, Clark has been sneaking out at night as Superman to sabotage the Japanese naval fleet. The military, irate at the damage being caused, take Lois hostage and post a public notice of their intent to execute her if he commits any further acts of sabotage. After sinking yet another naval vessel, Superman discovers the notice and must act quickly before the Japanese can make good on their threat.
When the body of the night watchman from the Metropolis Munitions Plant is found dead in a swamp, a ring of saboteurs is believed to be responsible. Lois heads off to the plant in search of a story and takes on a job as a plant worker. While undercover, Lois is caught by the saboteurs as she is spying on them and they force her into a torpedo in a bid to dispose of her before they act on their plans to destroy the plant.
When a scientist is found dead in the Egyptian museum, his assistant is accused, and later found guilty, of poisoning him. When a colleague of the scientist uncovers evidence that may clear the assistant, he contacts Clark Kent to show him a tablet suggesting the scientist may have fallen victim to a curse of the tomb of King Tush. While investigating the burial vault, the men discover that the tomb was rigged with poisonous needles, but also unwittingly unleash one of the king's giant guards that was buried in the vault with him.
Deep in Africa, a German captain is masquerading as the religious leader of the natives as a cover for his anti-aircraft post, which is disguised as their temple. After shooting down a plane on which Lois Lane was a passenger, the Germans take her captive and demand she turn over secret papers that the plane's pilot was believed to have been carrying. Later, as Clark Kent is aboard another plane following the same path to rendezvous with their convoy, he spots her wreckage and parachutes down to rescue her.
An explorer convinces Perry White to have the Daily Planet finance his expedition to caverns original discovered by his father, who disappeared over 40 years earlier while further exploring them. As part of the deal, he takes Lois Lane and Clark Kent with him to guarantee exclusive rights to the story. As the group ventures deep into the caverns, they come across an underground world inhabited by men with heads and wings resembling those of hawks.
When he spots a woman being chased and shot at by what turn out to be German saboteurs. Clark Kent jumps on the back of their car to stop them. When the police give chase, the saboteurs end their pursuit and head back to their hideout, taking Clark hostage. The woman, a double agent who possesses the plans of the saboteurs, convinces the police to escort her to the airport so she can get them to Washington. While en route to the airport, she and her escorts are ambushed by the saboteurs. Clark, who had been laying possum as their hostage, eventually intervenes as Superman once he's learned enough of the ongoing events.
Featurette created for the Superman 1941-1943 Warner Archive Blu-Ray
A discussion of the Fleischer Superman cartoons featuring Richard Fleischer, Leslie Cabarga, Jerry Beck, Myron Waldman, Dan Riba, Leonard Grossman, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Allen Asherman and Roger Stern
A look at how the Fleischer brothers pushed the limits of animation to create the definitive Superman.
