Lacking the wherewithal of Hollywood's prestigious Big Five studios (MGM, Paramount, 20th Century-Fox, RKO and Warner Bros.), who could afford to option the latest bestsellers and Broadway hits, and to hire the biggest box office stars to bring them to life, smaller outfits such as Universal, Columbia and Republic had to look elsewhere for material to attract audiences. Inspiration came from daily newspaper comic strips as the exploits of interstellar do-gooder Flash Gordon, super cop Dick Tracy, and G-man aviator Ace Drummond were adapted as Saturday morning serials, beginning in 1936. American moviegoers soon developed a taste for superhero adventures on the big screen, with Batman, Superman, The Phantom, Captain Marvel and The Green Hornet all making the leap from the comics panels to star in their own chapter plays. To commemorate the March 25 release of Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder's eagerly-anticipated Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), TCM will devote an entire evening to these early comics crossovers. Hosted by Michael Uslan, executive producer of Batman V. Superman and of every Batman movie made since 1989, "From Comics to Film" kicks off at 8pm (EST) on March 23 with two chapters each from Columbia's Batman (1943), Batman and Robin (1949), The Phantom (1943), Superman (1948), and Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950), Universal's Ace Drummond, Buck Rogers (1939), The Green Hornet, and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940), and Republic's Dick Tracy (1937), plus RKO's Dick Tracy (1945), an early attempt at a feature-length comics adaptation.

By Richard Harland Smith

With this "From Comics to Film" festival, TCM celebrates the March 25 release of Warner Bros.' Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. To learn more about the film,click here

To download the full schedule for the night of programming click here