ACTION COMICS

:Action Comics ''should not be confused with'' Action, ''the controversial British comic of the 1970s.''

'''Action Comics''' is the comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics, Inc., and later as National Comics and as National Periodical Publications, before taking on its current name of DC Comics, a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Contents

Publication History

Superman

Hiatus, name changes, and odd numbering

Early Anthology

''Action Comics Weekly''

Collections

Awards

Issue #1 Cover

External links

References

Publication History

Superman

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster saw their creation, Superman, AKA Kal-El (originally Kal-L), launched in Action Comics #1 in April 1938 (cover-dated June). (Approximate present-day value (In "near mint" condition):
$1,380,000 USD.) Siegel and Shuster had tried for years to find a publisher for their Superman character (originally conceived as a newspaper strip) without success. Superman was originally a bald madman created by Siegel and Shuster who used his telepathic abilities to wreak havoc on mankind. He appeared in Siegel and Shuster's book ''Science Fiction''.^[1] Siegel then commented, "What if this Superman was a force for good instead of evil?" The writer and artist had worked on several features for National Periodical Publications' other titles (Slam Bradley in Detective Comics, for example^[2]) and were asked to contribute a feature for National's newest publication. They submitted Superman for consideration, and after re-pasting the sample newspaper strips they had prepared into comic book page format, National decided to make Superman the cover feature of their new magazine^[3]. The dynamic "Man of Tomorrow" was an instant hit, and he permanently changed the medium of comic books and comic strips by formalizing a new fantasy subgenre. ''Action Comics'' was soon followed by the ''Superman'' comic book series in 1939, along with a wealth of other comics starring numerous costumed superheroes.
As of 2007, ''Action Comics'' is still in publication, surpassing a milestone of 850 issues. This makes it the second-highest-number American comic book series, after Dell Comics' ''Four Color''.

Hiatus, name changes, and odd numbering

''Action Comics'' is the second-longest running DC Comics series after ''Detective Comics''; however, it cannot claim to have had an uninterrupted run, as it went on hiatus for three months twice, once in 1986 (when the regular Superman books were suspended during the publication of John Byrne's ''The Man of Steel'' six-issue limited series, and again in 1992 (when the Superman books went on a 3-month hiatus following the "Death of Superman" and "Funeral for a Friend" stories).
In 1988, DC Comics tried unsuccessfully to return the format of the comic to an anthology and publish it on a weekly basis, but it returned to a monthly format less than a year later. (However, the temporarily increased frequency of issues allowed ''Action'' to further surpass the older ''Detective Comics'' in the number of individual issues published. It originally passed ''Detective Comics'' in the 1970s when that series was bi-monthly for a number of years.) Another departure from a strict monthly schedule were the giant-size Supergirl reprint issues of the 1960s and very early 1970s (published as a 13th issue annually).
An issue #0 (October 1994) was published between issues #703 and #704 during the Zero Hour crossover event and issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the DC One Million crossover event. This was an almost company wide sales devices in both cases with Zero Hour and the #0 issues used as a "jumping on point" for new readers, and the #1,000,000 issues substituting for the issue number of the titles involved in the crossover.

Early Anthology

Originally, ''Action Comics'' was an anthology title featuring a number of other stories in addition to the Superman story. Zatara, a magician, was one of the other characters who had their own stories in early issues. (Zatanna, a heroine introduced in the 1960s, is Zatara's daughter.) There was also the hero Tex Thomson, who eventually became Mr. America and later the Americommando. Vigilante also enjoyed a lengthy run in this series. Sometimes stories of a more humorous nature were included, such as those of Hayfoot Henry, a policeman who talked in rhyme. Gradually the size of the issues was decreased as the publisher was reluctant to raise the cover price from the original 10 cents, so there were fewer stories. For a while, Congo Bill and Tommy Tomorrow were the two features in addition to Superman (Congo Bill eventually gained the ability to swap bodies with a gorilla and his strip was renamed Congorilla), but soon after the introduction of Supergirl in issue #252 (May 1959) the non-Superman-related strips were crowded out of ''Action'' altogether. Since then, it has generally been an all-Superman comic, though other backup stories such as The Human Target occasionally appear.

''Action Comics Weekly''

For slightly less than a year in 1988-1989, the publication frequency was changed to weekly and the title became ''Action Comics Weekly''; this change lasted from issue #601 to issue #642. During this time, Superman appeared only in a two page story per issue; however, he was still the only character to appear in every issue of the run.
To boost the profile of ''Action Comics Weekly'', prior to its launch DC cancelled its ongoing Green Lantern title ''Green Lantern Corps'' and made Green Lantern and his adventures exclusive to ''Action Comics Weekly''. The move was largely a failure, as many fans felt the ''Action Comics Weekly'' stories were of extremely poor quality. Green Lantern was soon moved out of the title and relaunched with a new limited series in 1989 (''Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn''), followed up by a new series in spring 1990 (''Green Lantern vol. 3'').
The rest of these issues featured rotating serialized stories of other, mostly minor, DC heroes, as try-outs that led to their own limited series. Characters with featured stories in the run included Black Canary, Blackhawk, Catwoman, Deadman, Nightwing, Phantom Lady (Dee Tyler), Phantom Stranger, Secret Six, Speedy, and Wild Dog.

Collections

★ '''Superman Chronicles

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★ '''Volume 1''' reprints issues #1 - 13.

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★ '''Volume 2''' reprints issues #14 - 20.

★ '''Superman in the Forties''' reprints issues #1, 2, 14, 23, 64, 93 & 151.

★ '''Superman in Action Comics Archives'''

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★ '''Volume 3''' reprints issues #37 - 53.

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★ '''Volume 4''' reprints issues #54 - 68.

Awards

''Action Comics'' #687 through 689 were part of ''The Reign of the Supermen'' storyline, which won the 1993 ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story that year.

Issue #1 Cover

Main articles: Action Comics 1


★ The cover of ''Action Comics #1'' is one of the most referenced comic covers, including:

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★ The cover of ''Sensation Comics #51'' is among the earliest homages. It depicts ''Wonder Woman'' hoisting a car in the same manner.

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★ It is also recreated by Kal-L (the Golden-Age Superman) in ''Infinite Crisis #5'' in the setting of Earth-Two, the Golden Age DC Universe.

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★ A reenactment also appears in '''Kingdom Come'''

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★ The 2006 film ''Superman Returns'' also references the cover of issue 1 in two scenes.

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★ It is re-enacted in a full page spread in the Elseworlds ''Frankenstein'' pastiche ''The Superman-Monster'' in which the Monster lifts Eloise Edge's carriage when the horses bolt.

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★ The cover of ''Superman'' #136 shows the Superman of 2999 AD lifting a hovercar.

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★ The cover of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #306 shows ''Spider-Man'' hoisting a police car in the same manner as ''Superman'' on the cover of ''Action Comics #1''.

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★ Two episodes of ''The Simpsons'' feature the comic. In one, Krusty the Clown sets it on fire to light a cigar. In another, Homer finds it at a swap meet for 5 cents and dismisses it as "junk."

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★ Hiro Nakamura, a character of NBC's TV series Heroes, is given ''Action Comics #1'' from his grandfather in a graphic novel supplement to the series.

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★ In the beginning the ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' episode "Citizen Max", while Montana Max is furiously destroying his room, at one point there is an extreme close up of a comic book that Monty tears to shreds. Its cover appears to be a reproduction of that of ''Action Comics #1'', only under-detailed. The possible parody name is unknown, due to how tight the shot is on the comic. Only the word "Comics" is barely visible.

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★ Internet writer Maddox spoofed the cover for an announcement of his own comic book.

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★ Although not a parody of the issue itself, the comic was turned into ''Active Comics'' for the film ''Unbreakable'', a thriller where David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is told by a stranger (Samuel L. Jackson) who collects comic books, that he is in fact a superhero with the powers of invulnerability and to sense danger ala Spider-Man's spider sense.

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★ The cover was parodied on the cover of ''Fallen Angel'' #15.

External links

★ DC Comics official site

★ Gallery of Action Comics covers

★ Online exhibit of selected ''Action Comics'' from the University of Florida collection

References

1. Gerrard Jones, ''Men of Tomorrow'' pp82-84 Arrow Books ISBN 978 0 099 48706 7
2. Gerrard Jones, ''Men of Tomorrow'' pp120 Arrow Books ISBN 978 0 099 48706 7
3. Gerrard Jones, ''Men of Tomorrow'' pp124 Arrow Books ISBN 978 0 099 48706 7