According to Bob Thomas' book King Cohn, studio chief Harry Cohn always placed a high priority on serials. Beginning in 1937, Columbia entered the lucrative serial market and kept making these weekly episodic adventures until 1956, after other studios had discontinued them. The most famous Columbia serials are based on comic-strip or radio characters: Mandrake the Magician (1939), The Shadow (1940), Terry and the Pirates (1940), Captain Midnight (1942), The Phantom (1943), Batman (1943), and the especially successful Superman (1948), among many others.
According to Bob Thomas' book King Cohn studio chief Harry Cohn always placed a high priority on serials Beginning in 1937 Columbia entered the lucrative serial market and kept making these weekly episodic adventures until 1956 after other studios had discontinued them The most famous Columbia serials are based on comic-strip or radio characters Mandrake the Magician (1939) The Shadow (1940) Terry and the Pirates (1940) Captain Midnight (1942) The Phantom (1943) Batman (1943) and the especially successful Superman (1948) among many others