Superman turns 80. The red trunks still fit
Superman, created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, was introduced on April 18, 1938, in Action Comics No. 1. The Man of Steel struck a chord with readers and, faster than a speeding bullet, he became a multimedia sensation, with his adventures chronicled on radio, stage, film and television, and his image on a kaleidoscope of merchandise and collectibles.
“If everybody doesn’t know by now who Clark Kent and who Lois Lane is, you’re not paying attention,” said Maggie Thompson, a senior editor of the Comic Buyer’s Guide, which covered the industry from 1971 to 2013.
Superman is now 80 years old and — great Caesar’s ghost! — DC Entertainment published Action Comics No. 1,000 in celebration. Here are some memorable issues on his journey to that milestone. Happy Birthday, KalEl!
Action Comics No. 1 (April 1938)
Superman’s 13-page adventure was just one of several stories featured in the first issue of Action Comics, which was conceived as an anthology. The hero’s breakout success took the company by surprise. “They honest-to-God did not know what they had,” said Michael E. Uslan, a comic book historian, writer and film producer. Superman did not grace another cover of Action until issue No. 7, and he took over cover duties consistently with No. 19. (Four issues later, the name of the newspaper Clark Kent works for is changed to The Daily Planet from The Daily Star.) Uslan said sales of Action jumped to 555,000 copies for issue No. 15 — from 130,000 copies of No. 1.
Action Comics No. 68 (November 1943)
“Superman was dead serious when Siegel and Shuster created him,” Uslan said. “He was a fighter of social injustice, taking on corrupt politicians and racketeers preying on the common man.” But there was a noticeable change in tone around this issue. The shift came thanks to competition from the more lighthearted Captain Marvel — whose adventures were in books published by Fawcett Comics. “Captain Marvel was the only character who surpassed Superman in sales in the Golden Age,” or first era, of comics publishing, Uslan said. A lawsuit claiming that Captain Marvel was a Superman copycat eventually put the Man of Steel back on top.
Action Comics No. 241 (April 1958)
After a decline in sales after the Second World War, superhero comics began to rebound in the mid-1950s in the period of comics known as the Silver Age. The period’s exact start has been up for debate among fans and historians. For Uslan, this issue marks the start of Superman’s Silver Age evolution with the debut of his Fortress of Solitude. Just ahead are the first appearances of Brainiac, a revamped Lex Luthor, Supergirl, Bizarro and some super-pets (Krypto, Streaky and Comet among them). Brainiac, whose hobbies include shrinking alien cities for his private collection, also brings an unexpected gift: a part of Superman’s home world, Krypton. “Superman is the story of an immigrant writ large,” said Peter Sanderson, a comics historian. “Krypton was a lost paradise, a wonderland of vast science, firefalls and jewel mountains. Superman was always longing to return to his home world.”
Action Comics No. 584 (October 1986)
In July 1986, DC began publishing the six-part series “Man of Steel,” by writer and artist John Byrne, which rebooted Superman, at least temporarily, as the sole survivor of Krypton. The theory was that the accumulated history of DC’s heroes had grown too convoluted to follow, which made it difficult for new readers to jump in. Whereas past writers had presented Clark Kent as the disguise and Superman as his true self, Byrne reversed that, making the hero the means to an end for Clark. Byrne also made clear that Clark was born on Earth. “It was no longer the story of the immigrant who comes to America and who is longing for the old country,” Sanderson said. “This is the immigrant who doesn’t care for the old country.”
Action Comics No. 662 (January 1991)
John Byrne’s reimagining of Clark as a more confident person resulted in a momentous occasion: He proposed to Lois (in Superman 50, October 1990) and she accepted! But could he marry her without revealing his secret? The answer: No. “Lois, for the past few years, I’ve lived a double life,” he said in this issue. Understandably, Lois asks for time to process. “When you go, don’t forget to lock the door — or, um, the window,” she tells him, still reeling from the news. After breaking off the engagement, she eventually came around and married Clark in October 1996
Action Comics No. 1 (September 2011)
In 2011, DC reset all its continuing series and reintroduced the heroes as if they were appearing for the first time. Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Rags Morales, this new Action Comics No. 1 retold the earliest days of this rebooted Superman, when the hero was raw: His personality was brash and his powers were developing. A companion series focused on his presentday adventures and introduced a new costume with a high collar, red piping and body armour. One of the elements missing from his classic look: no more red-shortsover-blue-pants. Fans were torn on what chagrined them more: the wardrobe change or the erasing of Lois and Clark’s marriage. (In this new continuity, they were not even dating.)
Action No. 1,000 (April 2018) DC’s reboot was initially a great sales success, but a few years in, fans were clamouring for the past. DC responded accordingly with a story written by Geoff Johns and drawn by several artists, with an aim to restoring some of what was lost, including a sense of optimism. The marriage of Lois and Clark has been restored and they have a son. But one of the biggest returns was saved for this issue. DC proudly promoted “The Red Trunks Return” in its news release. The issue, which has multiple covers and midnight release parties, topped 500,000 in preorders.