New York -- Superman and Wonder Woman are leaping off the pages of their comic books to rescue real-life children living in countries where danger from anti-personnel landmines lurks in fields, yards, and roads.

The creator of the two internationally-known comic book superheroes, DC Comics, has worked with officers of a U.S. Southern Command Mine Awarenesss Team stationed in Central America and UNICEF (The UN Children's Fund) to produce a special edition comic book in Spanish to teach children in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica about the dangers of landmines.

The book, entitled Superman y la Mujer Marvilla: Al Asesino Escondido (Superman and Wonder Woman: The Hidden Killer) is the second effort of the partners. A similar comic was created in 1996 for the children of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cyrillic and Latin. A third edition in Portuguese is under way for Angola and Mozambique.

The book tells the story of brothers Miguel and Diego and their sister Gabriella who, while doing their chores, encounter landmines and meet the superduo. They get practical experience keeping themselves safe from landmines and learn landmine "rights and wrongs" on the way.

The comic book also includes games and a page of stickers featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, and landmine warning signs. It ends with a 10-point quiz and the warning: "Spread the word -- Mines Kill Kids!" (Corre La Voz: Las Minas matan a los ninos!)

DC Comics, a New York-based division of media giant Time-Warner, has printed 560,000 books in Spanish and 90,000 in English.

The comic book was unveiled during a June 11 ceremony at the landmine exhibit at UNICEF House in New York. Attending were DC Comics President Jenette Kahn, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Brian Sheridan, and UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy.

"We are here to celebrate the publication of a comic book, but our subject is no laughing matter," Annan said.

"Landmines are killers. A plague. And more than anyone else, children pay the price," the secretary general said.

Kahn said that the effect of the comic book in Bosnia "was more than ever expected." Soldiers who worked with the children on landmine awareness said that "the landmine comics in Bosnia have been the most effective tool in reducing casualties among young people," she said.

"Nothing could be more gratifying" for the artists, writers, and staff at DC Comics than "to know that our characters have leapt off the printed page to save real lives," Kahn said.

Kahn said she just returned from Mozambique and Angola where she saw "how the problem of landmines has such a stranglehold on these countries, especially Angola, and on the quality of life."

"We are anxious to get these comics out as quickly as we can" to those African countries, she said.

"Superman and Wonder Woman have never looked better nor been on a mission of greater importance than their real-world response to the global landmine problem," Sheridan said.

He said the Department of Defense "views demining as one of the most important humanitarian missions for the United States in the post Cold War era."

In Bosnia-Herzegovina nearly 400,000 books and posters were disseminated throughout the country and they were warmly received by the population there, Sheridan said.

"Mine awareness is an important component of the demining training program and we have found it to be the most effective means of immediately reducing the number of injuries caused by landmines," he said.

The comic book, Sheridan said, is a part of the Defense Department's broader approach to anti-personnel landmines that includes an aggressive program to search for alternatives to anti-personnel landmines, improving demining technology to make the work of deminers safer and quicker, and a demining training program.

In 1998 the United States will spend over $34 million on training deminers and will spend similar amounts over the next few years. U.S. Special Forces provide training and equipment to 19 countries.

Richardson pointed out that "there are still an estimated 60 million unexploded landmines on the ground across the globe waiting to claim a victim."

"Efforts are being made to discover and lift these silent menaces. In the meantime women and children, farmers and shepherds need to be taught how to recognize and avoid this danger," the ambassador said.

Richardson said that the comic book for Bosnia, "Superman: Deadly Legacy," has saved countless lives "by educating children and their families about the dangers of these hidden killers. We expect this new comic book...to accomplish no less."

Nicaraguan Ambassador Enrique Paguaga Fernandez noted that his country, which has more than 100,000 landmines remaining from its 11-year civil war, is the most affected country in the region.

"For the children who have to live with the hidden dangers that continue to cause so much permanent damage...nothing is better than a comic book with characters that have been admired by the young for several generations to attract the attention of our children in rural areas so that in a practical manner they can learn to avoid minefields and other dangerous places," Paguaga Fernandez said.

Every year about 8,000 to 10,000 children are killed or permanently disabled by landmines, UNICEF says. Such incidents are more likely to be fatal to children than to adults and their injuries more severe. Because of their shorter stature, children are more vulnerable to death and severe injury because their vital organs are closer to the point of the blast -- usually a few feet above the ground.

Injured children may require repeated amputations of a limb because their bones grow faster than the surrounding tissue. A growing child also needs a new artificial limb as often as every six months. With costs at $3,000 per amputee, only about 10 to 20 percent of injured children get orthopedic appliances and rehabilitation therapy, UNICEF says.