It’s a Metropolis landmark, a symbol that has stood proudly in the skies of the City of Tomorrow for decades. The Daily Planet globe is 80 this year, and we have a classic Superman cartoon to thank for this iconic token.
The first appearance of the epochal Daily Planet building with its distinct ringed golden globe was in “The Arctic Giant,” the fourth episode of the Superman cartoon created by Fleischer Studios which originally aired Feb. 26, 1942.
It was a simple scene that established a setting for the episode, but it was so iconic that comics soon took inspiration and adapted it to Superman titles. The episode also featured the first appearance of the Daily Planet globe over the main entrance and the Fleischer series established the globe logo on the newspaper masthead.
In November 1942 Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster and John Sikela featured the first comic appearance of the globe in “Superman, Matinee Idol” in “Superman no.19.” It was a simple introduction that most probably missed, but those ink stained pages helped establish a symbol that is now synonymous with Superman.
The first cover appearance of the Daily Planet globe comes years later in “Superman no.138,” a July 1960 issue that features the super-ape Titano tearing the symbol of journalistic excellency from its rooftop perch.
Over the next few years the Daily Planet globe would be used to establish location shots to readers, movie goers and television watchers. If a Superman fan saw that enormous ringed sphere in the skyline, they would know Metropolis is the setting for what’s about to take place.
“The Daily Planet Building. How could anyone gaze at its familiar ringed globe and not be moved?”
Metropolis Mayor Rob Morrisroe (Superman no.1, Vol. 2)
There is something extraordinarily super behind an enormous sculpture standing resiliently above journalists that strive to report the truth every single day. The Globe has become a symbol of security, of strength, and of Superman. We are striving to see it in real life one day.
