The Mahoning Drive-In Theatre between routes 443 and 902 recently observed the 45th anniversary of the hit film Superman starring the late Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.

The Times News co-sponsored the re-showing of the popular movie, which had a budget of $55 million. Until that time, it was the most expensive film made, and the investment paid off, because it was deemed a financial and critical success, earning more than $300 million, the second-highest-grossing film of 1978 next only to Grease.

According to reports from the drive-in, there were a lot of super hero-wannabees who showed up in costume for the event but, thankfully, no flyover attempts by any of them.

This year also marks the 85th anniversary since Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 published by DC Comics. There were 200,000 copies printed in 1938, but collector companies estimate that fewer than 100 copies have survived. There is no known mint copy in existence. An almost-mint edition sold early this year for $3.55 million. It is estimated by collector experts that if a mint condition is ever found, it could be worth almost $10 million, so check your attic and basement.

During my 62-year journalistic career, many people have asked me about the accuracy of life at The Daily Planet, the “great metropolitan newspaper” in the fictional city of Metropolis where Clark Kent landed his first job as a reporter. As editor of the papers I worked for, some staff members jokingly called me “Perry,” as in “Perry White,” the “great-Caesar’s-ghost” editor of The Daily Planet.

The Superman TV show of the 1950s was the epitome of exaggeration. I am so relieved that Kent finally left his reporting job at The Daily Planet in 2012 to go into web-based journalism.

Make no mistake about it. When I was the editor, I often fantasized about what it would be like to have mild-manner Kent working for me. Wouldn’t any editor yearn for a Superman at deadline, someone who could fly off to Harrisburg to get a quick quote from a sometimes closed-mouth governor or other top official? Could you imagine the governor telling Superman “no comment?”

Would Superman use his super hearing to listen in on executive sessions or other private meetings? What’s that you say? Superman is too ethical to violate such a sacred trust and would do his utmost to uphold the ideals of truth, justice and the American way.

Truth? Get serious. Clark Kent is a pathological liar. He flat out lies about who he is. Can this guy be trusted with accuracy and truth in a news story? Not in any newsroom I’ve worked in. And that doesn’t even begin to address his conflict-of-interest problems. Reporters must avoid and report all conflicts of interest in fact and appearance to their editors. Kent never did, and, boy, did he have big conflicts! He got intimately involved with news stories. As Superman, he collared the crooks and gave exclusives to his girlfriend and sidekick, Lois Lane, while Jimmy Olson snapped the photos of the year. Sometimes Kent even wrote the stories himself, never disclosing that he is Superman, the central figure in many of those articles.

“Where were you, Kent?” barked exasperated Editor White when the always disappearing Kent showed up after the fact. “Oh, I was tying up some loose ends,” (wink, wink) said Kent while uncomfortably fumbling with his glasses and straightening his tie.

Tell me, would you hire Lois Lane as a reporter or feel comfortable with Perry White as the editor of your community newspaper? After all those years, they still could not see the resemblance between Kent and Superman. Aren’t reporters and editors supposed to have keen powers of observation?

I always got depressed when I would see the fearsome foursome - Kent, Lane, Olson and White - single-handedly put out The Daily Planet.

No wonder, when I was editor my boss kept asking me why I needed so many reporters, editors and photographers in the newsroom to publish a mid-sized daily newspaper when he saw The Daily Planet doing it with two reporters, a photographer and a grumpy editor.

Aside from changing jobs, Kent had to make other adjustments. He had to find a new, favored place for making a quick change into his Superman costume. After all, where can a person find a phone booth these days?

If he is environmentally cool, as Superman should be, the legendary man of steel must take care when breaking through walls to get to the bad guys - asbestos liability, you know.

Ever wonder how Kent handles the decennial U.S. census form? There is no box to check that says “Kryptonian-American.”

Of course, in our politically correct age, we are obliged to refer to him not as “Superman” anymore but as “Superperson.”

By BRUCE FRASSINELLI|tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.