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By the mid-1950s, the comic-book industry was imperiled. Superheroes were passé, except for the Man of Steel, a media star thanks to The Adventures of Superman (1953–57), a syndicated program appearing on the medium that had robbed comics of much of its audience: television. To survive, comics had turned to other genres, including science fiction. Science and technology proved a popular theme. Technological advancements spawned during the atomic age piqued Americans’ imaginations, while the Red Scare (fear of communist states like the Soviet Union) fomented rampant paranoia. Science and Cold War mistrust melded in November 1955 when DC Comics introduced—with absolutely no fanfare—the first new superhero in roughly ten years: the Manhunter from Mars.