When the subject of men riding rockets ever comes up (and when doesn't it?), most of us think of Slim Pickens at the end of “Dr. Stangelove,” whooping it up Texas-style as he and the world are about to end forever.

But Slim was sloppy seconds in the nuke-missle riding category by nearly 15 years. The Man of Steel beat him to it.

The above screenshots are taken from the 1950 serial “Atom Man vs. Superman,” chapter 14. Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot) has just shot a missile at Metropolis, and Superman (Kirk Alyn) soars to the rescue and stradles it, then guides it out to sea, where it explodes harmlessly. Well, “harmlessly.” It was a nuke, after all.

Supes, by the way, is sloppy seconds to all of the superheroes below, who all rode rockets during World War II: When men were men, and rockets were made for riding:

Anyone know of other examples?