This week: Perry White!
Perry White is fascinating because most people don't realize he originated outside of comics. When Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 (April 1938), his editor didn't have a name. In Superman #2 (August 1939), we learn his name is George Taylor.
Around this same time, Superman gained his first adaptation, the Adventures of Superman radio show. In the second episode, "Clark Kent, Reporter" (February 1940), we meet Clark's editor, here named Perry White. This is not that out of the ordinary; adaptations trying to stay as faithful as possible to the comic books they're adapting is only a fairly recent phenomenon, and the farther back you go, the less they care. (For a particularly extreme example, check out the Captain America serial where he's a district attorney named Grant Gardner.) Of course, I should also mention that continuity was much less of a thing in comics in the early days, so basic details about characters could change on a whim from issue to issue.
Later that year, Perry White arrived in comics as the editor of the Daily Planet in Superman #7 (September 1940). There was no story about how or why he replaced George Taylor; he just did.
In the comics, George Taylor would not be forgotten, appearing on Earth-2 as that Superman's editor (at the Daily Star) and on the main earth as the Daily Planet's editor before Perry White and/or the editor of the Daily Star, the Planet's rival newspaper. As far as adaptations are concerned, however, Perry White is the only editor that matters. He has become a mainstay of Superman stories and has appeared in all adaptations (except for the Superboy tv show, though his son WAS in it).
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