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86-772: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster saw their creation, Superman (also known as Kal-El, originally Kal-L), launched in Action Comics #1 on April 18, 1938 ( cover dated June), an event which began the Golden Age of Comic Books . Siegel and Shuster had tried for years to find a publisher for their Superman character—conceived initially as a newspaper strip . Superman was originally a bald madman created by Siegel and Shuster who used his telepathic abilities to wreak havoc on humanity. He appeared in Siegel and Shuster's fanzine Science Fiction . Siegel then commented, "What if this Superman

172-590: A heart attack . He had been suffering from cardiac disease for years, and had a bypass operation . Congorilla Congorilla , originally a human character known as Congo Bill , is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and Vertigo Comics . Originally co-created by writer Whitney Ellsworth and artist George Papp , he was later transformed into Congorilla by Robert Bernstein and Howard Sherman. The character first appeared in More Fun Comics #56 (June 1940). Congo Bill

258-535: A mini-series of his own in 1992, where Congo Bill is betrayed by his (now corrupt) ward Janu, who usurps the Congorilla identity and Bill is forced to fight his adopted son to the death. Congo Bill became blind in his left eye, making it hard for him to see after fighting his son to the end. In 1999, DC Comics once again brought Congo Bill back for another four-issue limited series under the company's mature readership Vertigo Comics imprint. Congorilla returned in

344-545: A British comic book supervillain / superhero that appeared in anthology book Lion between 26 June 1965 and 26 April 1969 and was reprinted in Vulcan . Siegel took over the writing of the character with his third adventure, and would write the bulk of his adventures. His first work on the character was published in the 8 January 1966 issue, the start of the serial "The Spider v Doctor Mysterioso". He also created and wrote Gadgetman and Gimmick-Kid . When Siegel served in

430-727: A brief run as the backup in World's Finest Comics . Julius Schwartz became the editor of the series with issue #419 (December 1972) which also introduced the Human Target by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino in the backup feature. The Green Arrow and the Black Canary became a backup feature in #421 and ran through #458, initially rotating with the Human Target and the Atom . Between issues #423 (April 1973) and #424 (June 1973),

516-520: A copy of Action Comics #1 (June 1938) sold at auction for $ 3 million, besting the $ 317,000 record for a comic book set by a different copy, in lesser condition, the previous year. The sale, by an anonymous seller to an anonymous buyer, was through the Manhattan-based auction company ComicConnect.com. Although DC had initially announced Marc Guggenheim as writer of the title following the War of

602-488: A crossover arc with the Superman series, entitled " Up, Up and Away! " which told of Clark Kent attempting to protect Metropolis without his powers until eventually regaining them. The " Last Son " storyline was written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner , the director of the 1978 film Superman: The Movie , and was pencilled by Adam Kubert . This story introduces the original character, Christopher Kent , and adapts

688-554: A fatal heart attack, while Sarah died of a heart attack on August 17, 1941. Siegel's family moved to the Jewish neighborhood of Glenville in 1928. He attended Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio . At about age 16, while at Glenville, he befriended Joe Shuster . Siegel described his friendship with the similarly shy and bespectacled Shuster: "When Joe and I first met, it was like the right chemicals coming together." They shared

774-498: A globe-trotting adventurer, and for a time worked for the Worldwide Insurance Company, protecting policies they had written and saving the company from fraudulent payouts. Bill grew content to live in his adopted African home, swearing to protect it from harm. There he befriended a witch doctor known as Chief Kawolo. When Kawolo was mortally injured in a fall, he summoned Bill to his bedside and offered him

860-425: A gorilla and his strip was renamed Congorilla . The introduction of Supergirl by Otto Binder and Al Plastino occurred in issue #252 (May 1959). Following this debut appearance, Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee" and made Midvale Orphanage her base of operations. In Action Comics #261 (February 1960), her pet cat Streaky was introduced by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney . Supergirl joined

946-596: A love of science fiction, adventure fiction, and movies. Siegel graduated from high school in June 1934. Unable to afford college, he worked various delivery jobs, all the while courting publishers. In the summer of 1935, still living in Cleveland, he and Shuster began selling comic-book stories to National Allied Publications , the primary precursor of DC Comics , in New York. Siegel and Shuster had been developing

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1032-404: A magic ring. Kawolo told the skeptical Congo Bill that, by rubbing the ring, he could transfer his consciousness into the body of the legendary golden gorilla . He accepted the ring to humor his friend's dying wish. Several weeks later, an earthquake trapped Bill in a deep cave. With no possible escape, Congo Bill hopelessly rubbed the magic ring. Instantly, his mind was transported into the body of

1118-687: A major artist on Superman. Under editor Mort Weisinger , the Action Comics title saw a further expansion of the Superman mythology. Writer Jerry Coleman and Wayne Boring created the Fortress of Solitude in issue #241 (June 1958) and Otto Binder and Al Plastino debuted the villain Brainiac and the Bottle City of Kandor in the next issue the following month. Gradually, the size of

1204-494: A policeman who talked in rhyme. The series saw the introduction of several characters and themes that would become longstanding elements of the Superman mythos. Lois Lane made her debut in the first issue with Superman. An unnamed "office boy" with a bow tie makes a brief appearance in the story "Superman's Phony Manager" published in Action Comics #6 (November 1938), which is claimed to be Jimmy Olsen 's first appearance by several reference sources. New superpowers depicted for

1290-624: A son named Michael (January 27, 1944 – January 17, 2006). The couple divorced in 1948. In November 1948, Siegel married Joanne Carter . She and Siegel first met in January 1935, when she worked with his colleague Joe Shuster as the model for Lois Lane . They reacquainted at a costume ball in New York on April 1, 1948. On March 1, 1951, Joanne gave birth to their daughter, Laura. The couple settled on Long Island , before moving to California in 1968. Siegel and Joanne remained married until his death in 1996. Siegel died on January 28, 1996, of

1376-588: A splinter faction of the Justice League. After Prometheus's death, Congorilla becomes a full-time member of the Justice League. During his time with the League, Bill faces off against such foes as the rogue Starheart and Eclipso , and becomes close friends with Starman and Supergirl . He is also part of a much larger makeshift Justice League squad when the return of Batman from a seeming death threatens to destroy time and space. After Batman Inc. appoints

1462-640: A story written by Byrne and drawn by Arthur Adams . A DC Comics Bonus Book was included in issue #599 (April 1988). From May 24, 1988 – March 14, 1989, the publication frequency was changed to weekly, the title changed to Action Comics Weekly , and the series became an anthology. Prior to its launch, DC cancelled its ongoing Green Lantern Corps title and made Green Lantern and his adventures exclusive to Action Comics Weekly . The rest of these issues featured rotating serialized stories of other DC heroes, sometimes as try-outs that led to their own limited or ongoing series. Characters with featured stories in

1548-438: A three-month hiatus on two separate occasions. The first of these occurred during the summer of 1986, with issue #583 bearing a cover date of September, and issue #584 listing January 1987. The regular Superman titles were suspended during this period to allow for the publication of John Byrne's six-issue The Man of Steel limited series. Publication was again suspended between issues #686 and #687 (February and June 1993) following

1634-463: Is about a vagrant named Bill Dunn who gains vast psychic powers after taking an experimental drug. Dunn then calls himself "the Superman" and proceeds to use his powers maliciously. In 1933, Siegel and Shuster began making amateur comic strips together. They self-published their work in a fanzine titled Popular Comics . Siegel and Shuster began working for DC Comics (then known as National Allied Publications ) in 1935. Siegel's writing career there

1720-538: Is not yet trusted by Metropolis citizens and wears a basic costume consisting of a caped T-shirt, jeans and work boots. The first issue has had five printings as of March 2012. The first story arc of the relaunched series, entitled Superman and the Men of Steel for the collected edition, begins very early in Superman's career as he starts making a name for himself as a champion of the oppressed in Metropolis. He captures

1806-474: The DC Rebirth relaunch, he is the warden of Monster Rock and Damage's mentor. Before becoming Congorilla, Bill is a skilled hunter, explorer, and marksman. As Congorilla, Bill's simian body granted him supernatural strength, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and senses, self-healing capabilities, the ability to grow in size, and virtual immortality. In order to become Congorilla, he originally rubs

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1892-458: The Legion of Super-Heroes in issue #276. She acted for three years as Superman's "secret weapon", until her existence was revealed in Action Comics #285 (January 1962). In the view of comics historian Les Daniels , artist Curt Swan became the definitive artist of Superman in the early 1960s with a "new look" to the character that replaced Wayne Boring's version. Bizarro World first appeared in

1978-524: The Legion of Super-Villains . During his second tenure as writer at DC Comics, Siegel did not receive any byline for his stories, which was the normal policy of DC Comics at the time. Siegel and Shuster conceived Funnyman , a clownish superhero, while they were still working for DC Comics. They anticipated a decline in the popularity of conventional superheroes, and thought a comedy hybrid character would have sustainable appeal. Unlike other characters they created, Siegel and Shuster were determined to retain

2064-1002: The New Teen Titans . Other costars during this period included the Phantom Stranger , the New Gods , the Demon , Hawkman and Hawkwoman , the Green Lantern Corps , the Metal Men , Superboy , Big Barda , Mister Miracle , Booster Gold , the Martian Manhunter , the Spectre , Lois Lane and Lana Lang , Checkmate , Wonder Woman , and the Man-Bat . The first Action Comics Annual was published in 1987 and featured Superman teaming with Batman in

2150-515: The Russian Empire . His father was born Mikhel Iankel Segalovich and his mother was born Sora Meita Khaikels, but they changed their names to Michael and Sarah Siegel after moving to the US. Jerry was the last of six children (Isabel, Leo, Minerva, Roslyn, and Harry). His father was a tailor and owned a clothing store. On June 2, 1932, Michael was assaulted in his store by a shoplifter and suffered

2236-561: The United States Army on June 28, 1943. His service number was 35067731. He was trained at Fort George G. Meade, where he was trained as an "Airplane Engine Mechanic, a Film Editor, Motion Picture Cutter, Public Relations Man or Playwright (Motion Picture Writer) or Reporter". He was posted in Honolulu, where he was assigned a writing job at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes . He focused mainly on comedy columns. Siegel

2322-404: The " Reign of Doomsday " storyline. The final issue of the original series was Action Comics #904. The title was relaunched from issue #1, as part of 2011's The New 52 by the creative team of writer Grant Morrison and artist Rags Morales . As with all of the books associated with the relaunch, Clark Kent appears younger than the previous incarnation of the character. Action Comics focus on

2408-584: The "Death of Superman" and "Funeral for a Friend" storylines, before Action Comics returned in June 1993 with the "Reign of the Supermen" arc. The series was published weekly from May 24, 1988, to March 14, 1989. (See detail in The Modern Age section above.) The temporarily increased frequency of issues allowed Action Comics to further surpass the older Detective Comics in the number of individual issues published. It surpassed Detective Comics in

2494-527: The 1970s when that series was bimonthly for a number of years. This change lasted from issue #601 to issue #642. During this time, Superman appeared only in a two-page story per issue; he was still the only character to appear in every issue of the series. An issue #0 (October 1994) was published between issues #703 and #704 as part of the Zero Month after the "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time" crossover event. There

2580-423: The 1980s, Siegel wrote for the comics publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim . Siegel remained somewhat active in science fiction fandom after starting work for DC. He attended Chicon , the 1940 2nd World Science Fiction Convention , and appeared in the convention's masquerade as Clark Kent . Siegel married Bella Lifshitz on June 10, 1939. She was a Jewish woman from his neighborhood of Glenville. With Bella, he had

2666-472: The 1991 story wherein Clark Kent finally revealed his identity as Superman to Lois Lane . Several major Superman storylines crossed over with Action Comics including "Emperor Joker" in 2000 and " Our Worlds at War " in 2001. John Byrne returned to Action Comics for issues #827–835 working with writer Gail Simone in 2005–2006. After the " One Year Later " company-wide storyline, Action Comics had

Action Comics - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-598: The 2009 series Cry for Justice , joining a proactive splinter faction of the Justice League . Following that series, Congorilla became a main character in Justice League of America as a full-time member of the Justice League. He also starred in the Starman/Congorilla one-shot (March 2011) alongside close friend and teammate Starman (Mikaal Tomas) . Congo Bill appears in the Rebirth continuity as

2838-549: The Army (1943–1946), he was posted in Honolulu, Hawaii and wrote for Stars and Stripes , Midpacifican , and Yank, the Army Weekly , all military publications written by soldiers. In Stars and Stripes , he had a small humor column titled "Take a Break wit T/5 Jerry Siegel". In Midpacifican , he wrote the comic strip Super Sam , in which an Army private gains superpowers after receiving a blood transfusion from Superman. This

2924-614: The Blackhawks (in flashback), Deadman, and the Phantom Stranger. The story ran counter to DC editorial policy at the time as it portrayed Hal Jordan and Clark Kent as old friends who knew each other's secret identities. This was not considered canon in 1989 and Gaiman was unwilling to change this aspect of the story (as each serial in ACW was edited by different editors, continuity was not being maintained by DC editorial). The story

3010-482: The Golden Gorilla. Racing to the cave-in, he used his massive strength to clear the blocked entrance and wondering what had become of his body without him being "home". He realized that when his consciousness entered the body of the golden gorilla, the creature's consciousness entered his own body. Bill decides to use his new powers to fight crime in the jungle. He is later assisted by Janu, a young boy raised in

3096-500: The Superman stories from the given issues. Action Comics #684 was part of " The Death of Superman " storyline which won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for "Favorite Comic Book Story" for 1992. Action Comics #687–691 were part of "The Reign of the Supermen" storyline, which won the same award for 1993. Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( / ˈ s iː ɡ əl / SEE -gəl ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)

3182-526: The Superman story and character since 1933, hoping to sell it as a syndicated newspaper comic-strip. But after years of fruitless soliciting to the syndicates, Siegel and Shuster agreed to publish Superman in a comic book. In March 1938, they sold all rights to Superman to the comic-book publisher Detective Comics, Inc., another forerunner of DC, for $ 130 ($ 2,814 when adjusted for inflation). Siegel and Shuster later regretted their decision to sell Superman after he became an astonishing success. DC Comics now owned

3268-406: The Supermen limited series, he was replaced by Paul Cornell . Cornell featured Lex Luthor as the main character in Action Comics from issues #890–900 and Death appeared in issue #894, with the agreement of the character's creator, Neil Gaiman . In April 2011, the 900th issue of Action Comics was released. It served as a conclusion for Luthor's "Black Ring" storyline and a continuation for

3354-416: The attention of the military and scientist Lex Luthor, who are both interested in testing his capabilities as well as discovering what kind of threat he represents. Following the completion of Morrison's storyline, writer Andy Diggle and artist Tony Daniel became the new creative team on the title with issue #19. Unlike the previous issues, the setting for the Action Comics series would now take place in

3440-470: The character and reaped the royalties. Nevertheless, DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster as the principal writer and artist for the Superman comics, and they were well-paid because they were popular with the readers. For instance, in 1942 they together earned $ 63,776.46 (equivalent to $ 1,200,000 in 2023). Siegel bought a house in University Heights and a car. Siegel was conscripted into

3526-538: The classic Superman film villains, General Zod , Ursa and Non into the regular DC Universe continuity. Issue #851 (August 2007) was presented in 3-D . Starting with issue #875 (May 2009), written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Eddy Barrows , Thara Ak-Var and Chris Kent, took Superman's place as the main protagonists of the comic, while Superman left Earth to live on New Krypton. A Captain Atom backup feature began in issue #879 (September 2009). On February 22, 2010,

Action Comics - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-512: The copyright to Funnyman. This was unacceptable to DC Comics, so they instead made a deal with Magazine Enterprises , a comic-book publishing company owned by Vin Sullivan . The series Funnyman lasted six issues, and a subsequent newspaper strip also was unsuccessful. It was the last collaboration of Siegel and Shuster. By this time, Shuster's vision had deteriorated to the point he could not work. Siegel first worked for Marvel in 1963, under

3698-516: The copyright to Superman. During his first tenure at DC Comics (1935–1943), Siegel created the following characters: During his second tenure at DC Comics (1959–1966), Siegel created several characters relating to the Legion of Super-Heroes, including members Bouncing Boy , Brainiac 5 , Triplicate Girl , Invisible Kid , Matter-Eater Lad , Phantom Girl , and Chameleon Boy ; and enemies Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, and Saturn Queen, who are part of

3784-449: The cover feature of their new magazine. After seeing the published first issue, publisher Harry Donenfeld dismissed the featured strip as ridiculous. He ordered it never to be on the cover of the series. Subsequent reports of the first issue's strong sales and follow up investigations revealed that Superman was the reason. Thus, the character returned to the covers, becoming a permanent presence in issue 19 onward. Initially, Action Comics

3870-463: The early days of Superman's career, while the Superman series focus on Superman's present. Superheroes at large have appeared only in the past five years, and are viewed with at best, suspicion, and at worst, outright hostility. The storyline in Action Comics takes place about a year before the events of Justice League #1, and was referred to by DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio as "DC Universe Year Zero" while JL operates as "Year One." The Man of Steel

3956-520: The end of its initial run, Action Comics was no exception, and the first issue of the new series was released on September 7, 2011. In February 2016, it was announced that as part of the DC Rebirth relaunch, Action Comics would resume its original numbering system, starting with issue #957 (Aug. 2016) and ship on a twice-monthly schedule. The Action Comics series is included in many trade paperbacks and hardcovers. These generally reprint only

4042-424: The familiar green-skinned android to the metal skeletal-like robot in the story "Rebirth!". Keith Giffen 's Ambush Bug character made appearances in issues #560, #563, and #565. Action Comics #579, written by Jean-Marc Lofficier and drawn by Giffen, featured an homage to Asterix where Superman and Jimmy Olsen are drawn back in time to a small village of indomitable Gauls. Schwartz ended his run as editor of

4128-488: The first time for the character included X-ray vision and super-hearing in issue #11 (April 1939) and telescopic vision and super-breath in issue #20 (January 1940). Luthor , a villain who would later become Superman's arch-enemy , was introduced in issue #23 (April 1940). The original Toyman was created by writer Don Cameron and artist Ed Dobrotka in issue #64 (September 1943). By 1942, artist Wayne Boring , who had previously been one of Shuster's assistants, had become

4214-428: The issues was decreased. The publisher was reluctant to raise the cover price from the original 10 cents and reduced the number of stories. For a while, Congo Bill and Tommy Tomorrow were the two features in addition to Superman. Writer Robert Bernstein and artist Howard Sherman revamped the "Congo Bill" backup feature in issue #248 (January 1959) in a story wherein the character gained the ability to swap bodies with

4300-436: The jungle after his father had been killed by a tiger. In 1954, DC gave Congo Bill a solo series, published on a bi-monthly schedule, which lasted for seven issues (August/September 1954 – August/September 1955). Congo Bill encountered the legendary golden gorilla in Action Comics #224 (January 1957). He also encountered the similarly named Kongorilla in Action Comics #228 (May 1957). In issue #248 (January 1959), Bill

4386-542: The jungle. Years later, Bill (now known as Congorilla) is trapped in his golden gorilla form upon the death of his human body and becomes the protector of a band of gorillas, and friend of the South African hero Freedom Beast . When the gorillas and Freedom Beast are slaughtered by hunters, Congorilla decides to seek justice. After the trail leads to the villain Prometheus , Congorilla works with Starman and

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4472-482: The lead writer on the series, as well as its companion series Superman . Action Comics is the longest-running DC Comics series by number of issues, followed by Detective Comics . A departure from a strict monthly schedule was four giant-size Supergirl reprint issues published as a 13th issue annually: issues #334 (March 1966), #347 (March–April 1967), #360 (March–April 1968), and #373 (March–April 1969). Action Comics has not had an uninterrupted run, having been on

4558-496: The long-running DC character The Spectre . Siegel created ten of the earliest members of the Legion of Super-Heroes , one of DC's most popular team books, which is set in the 30th Century. Siegel also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter and Jerry Ess . Jerry Siegel was born on October 17, 1914, in Cleveland , Ohio , to a Jewish family. His parents were both Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York in 1900, having fled antisemitism in their native Lithuania , then part of

4644-406: The new creative team on the series with issue #25 (Jan. 2014). This series concluded with issue #52 (July 2016), which was part of the "Final Days of Superman" storyline which depicted the death of the "New 52" version of Superman. As part of DC Comics' DC Rebirth relaunch in June 2016, Action Comics reverted to its original numbering beginning with Action Comics #957. Written by Dan Jurgens ,

4730-473: The present. Diggle announced his resignation as the writer of the series shortly before his first issue went on sale. Diggle left the title with only one issue completed (he would be co-writer for #20 and co-plot issue #21), with Daniel taking on full scripting and art duties for the two following issues completing the three-part story arc "Hybrid". Scott Lobdell wrote the series after Diggle and Daniel's departure. Writer Greg Pak and artist Aaron Kuder became

4816-446: The prompting of his second wife. Although he did write some Superman stories, he no longer had any creative control, but instead answered to the direction of his editor. During this time, he wrote extensively about the team the Legion of Super-Heroes , adding many enduring characters to its cast. Siegel's contributions during this time are difficult to determine because DC Comics did not generally give creator bylines. His last work for DC

4902-723: The pseudonym "Joe Carter". With Stan Lee, he co-created the villain Plantman ( Strange Tales #113). He also scripted the " Human Torch " feature in Strange Tales #112–113 (Sept.–Oct. 1963), introducing the teenaged Torch's high school girlfriend, Doris Evans; and, under his own name, a backup feature starring the X-Men member Angel , which ran in Marvel Tales and Ka-Zar . According to then-Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee , Siegel "was down on his luck" and in ill health at

4988-578: The regular cover, blank variant cover, eight covers spanning eight decades from the 1930s-2000s, nineteen other variant covers from variant artists, and a hardcover Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition . Brian Michael Bendis became the new writer for the Action Comics series starting with issue #1001. Starting with issue #1029, the title became a part of the Infinite Frontier relaunch in March 2021. Phillip Kennedy Johnson became

5074-453: The rights. A second claim they had was that DC had cheated them out of royalties from the Superman radio show and the merchandise. Siegel and Shuster simultaneously sued for the rights to Superman as well. At the conclusion of the trial, Siegel and Shuster agreed to relinquish the copyrights of both Superman and Superboy in exchange for a settlement of just over $ 94,000 (equivalent to $ 1,200,000 in 2023). Siegel's 1948 divorce papers suggest he

5160-653: The run included the Black Canary , Blackhawk , Captain Marvel , Catwoman , Deadman , Nightwing , the Phantom Lady , the Phantom Stranger , the Secret Six , Speedy , and Wild Dog . Titles spun off from Action Comics at this time included a Catwoman miniseries and a Blackhawk ongoing, in both cases by the same creative teams that worked on the weekly serials. During and after Action Comics Weekly' s run, two Green Lantern Special s were published in late 1988 and

5246-748: The second in spring 1989, the latter special wrapping up the storylines from the Green Lantern serials in Action Comics Weekly . Each issue featured a two-page Superman serial, a feature that, according to an editorial in the first weekly issue, was intended as a homage to the Superman newspaper strips of the past. The final issue of the weekly was originally intended to feature a book-length encounter between Clark Kent and Hal Jordan by writer Neil Gaiman . While Gaiman's story primarily teamed up Green Lantern and Superman, it also featured other characters from Action Comics Weekly , including

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5332-536: The series jumped ahead by one month due to DC's decision to change the cover dates of its publishing line. A new version of the Toyman was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan in issue #432 (February 1974). Issues #437 (July 1974) and #443 (Jan. 1975) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format. Martin Pasko wrote issue #500 (October 1979) which featured a history of the Superman canon as it existed at

5418-437: The series ships twice-monthly and serves as a continuation of the comic book series Superman: Lois and Clark , which featured the pre- Flashpoint Superman alongside his wife, Lois Lane, and their son, Jon Kent . For the series' 1000th issue —released on April 18, 2018, the 80th anniversary of the premiere issue—DC returned Superman to his traditional costume with the red trunks and yellow belt. Action Comics #1000 collects

5504-528: The series with issue #583 (September 1986) which featured the second part of the " Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? " story by Alan Moore and Curt Swan. Following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths , writer/artist John Byrne relaunched the Superman franchise in The Man of Steel limited series in 1986. Action Comics became a team-up title with issue #584 (January 1987) featuring Superman and

5590-471: The story "The World of Bizarros!" in issue #262 (April 1960). Writer Jim Shooter created the villain the Parasite in Action Comics #340 (Aug. 1966). Mort Weisinger retired from DC in 1970 and his final issue of Action Comics was issue #392 (September 1970). Murray Boltinoff became the title's editor until issue #418. Metamorpho was the backup feature in issues #413–418 after which the character had

5676-466: The time and was published in the Dollar Comics format. The superheroine Vixen made her first appearance in Action Comics #521 (July 1981). To mark the 45th anniversary of the series, Lex Luthor and Brainiac were both given an updated appearance in issue #544 (June 1983). Lex Luthor dons his war suit for the first time in the story "Luthor Unleashed!" and Brainiac's appearance changes from

5762-461: The time, so he gave him a job at Marvel as a proofreader, during which time Siegel wrote the Angel story. Siegel worked for Archie Comics in 1966, on series including The Fly , The Mighty Crusaders , The Web , and Steel Sterling , all starring characters revived from the 1940s. Archie canceled its superhero line later that year, and Siegel was let go. Siegel became the main writer on The Spider

5848-786: The title and was joined by scripter Roger Stern the following month. As writer of the series, Stern contributed to such storylines as "Panic in the Sky" and " The Death of Superman ". He created the Eradicator in Action Comics Annual #2 and later incorporated the character into the "Reign of the Supermen" story arc beginning in The Adventures of Superman #500. The Eradicator then took over Action Comics as "the Last Son of Krypton" in issue #687 (June 1993). Stern wrote

5934-457: The vigilante Batwing as the official Batman of Africa, Congorilla realizes that the continent is too big for one hero to handle. He ultimately chooses to resign from the JLA to organize the superheroes of Africa into a more efficient team and find a worthy successor for Freedom Beast. In The New 52 continuity reboot, Congorilla appears as a potential member of Justice League International . In

6020-749: The warden of Monster Rock, where he trains the hero Damage in controlling his abilities. William "Congo Bill" Glenmorgan was born in 1898, the son of a Scottish gamekeeper. At one point he was a member of the IRA , and during World War I he served as soldier in the Battle of the Somme in France 1916 and also Battle of Flanders Field in Passendale, Belgium. He worked his way up as a spy in Austria . He later became

6106-492: Was Goober the Mighty , a parody of Tarzan. Joseph Shuster provided illustrations for some of Siegel's Goober stories. This was their first known collaboration as writer and artist. Siegel also self-published a fanzine called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization . In the third issue of this fanzine, he published a short story titled " The Reign of the Superman " under the pseudonym "Herbert S. Fine". The story

6192-495: Was a force for good instead of evil?" The writer and artist had worked on several features for National Allied Publications' other titles such as Slam Bradley in Detective Comics . They were asked to contribute a feature for National's newest publication. They submitted Superman for consideration. After re-pasting the sample newspaper strips they had prepared into comic book page format, National decided to make Superman

6278-527: Was a long-running DC Comics adventure comic strip , often reminiscent of Alex Raymond 's Jungle Jim newspaper strip. Originating in More Fun Comics #56, the strip was a moderate success and ran there until issue #67 (May 1941), after which it moved to Action Comics from issue #37 (June 1941). Action Comics #191 (April 1954) introduced Janu the Jungle Boy , a young boy brought up in

6364-491: Was an anthology title featuring several other stories in addition to the Superman story. Zatara , a magician, was one of the other characters who had his own stories in early issues. There was the hero Tex Thompson , who eventually became Mr. America and later the Americommando . Vigilante enjoyed a lengthy run in this series. Sometimes stories of a more humorous nature were included, such as those of Hayfoot Henry ,

6450-548: Was an American comic book writer . He is the co-creator of Superman , in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster , published by DC Comics . They also created Doctor Occult , who was later featured in The Books of Magic . Siegel and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. With Bernard Baily , Siegel also co-created

6536-548: Was an issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the " DC One Million " crossover event in October 1998 between issues #748 and #749. On June 1, 2011, it was announced that all series taking place within the shared DC Universe would be either canceled or relaunched with new #1 issues, after a new continuity was created in the wake of the Flashpoint event. Although being DC's longest running series, having reached issue #904 at

6622-500: Was discharged on January 21, 1946, at the rank of Technician 4th Grade. During his military service in Hawaii , Siegel learned from his friend Shuster that DC Comics had published a story featuring a child version of Superman called "Superboy", which was based on a story that Siegel had submitted to DC Comics, but which DC Comics had not bought. Because DC Comics never bought the copyright to Superboy from Siegel, Siegel sued DC Comics for

6708-401: Was interrupted in June 1943 when he was conscripted into the Army, though he continued to receive credit for stories written by ghostwriters. After his discharge, he sued DC Comics for the rights to Superman and Superboy, and was consequently given no more freelance work from the publisher. In 1959, he returned to DC as a writer, and was dropped again in 1967 when he again attempted to take back

6794-464: Was left with $ 29,000 after paying his court fees but prior to settling his divorce. After the war, Siegel moved to New York. Between 1937 and 1947 (i.e., during the span of their contract), Siegel and Shuster had together earned more than $ 400,000 (roughly equivalent to $ 7,500,000 in 2023) while working at DC Comics. After leaving DC Comics in late 1947, Siegel and Shuster created the comedic superhero Funnyman , which proved unsuccessful. This

6880-429: Was listed in the mastheads of the period as a scriptwriter ("soggettista e sceneggiatore"). In the 1980s, he worked with Val Mayerik on the feature "The Starling", which appeared in the comic book Destroyer Duck . A projected series, The Starling , about a woman struggling to raise her half-alien, shapeshifting son after his deadbeat alien father abandoned them, went unfinished due to Siegel's death in 1996. Also in

6966-678: Was not authorized by DC Comics. In 1956, Siegel created two superheroes for Charlton Comics : Mr. Muscles and Nature Boy . The series Mr. Muscles ran two issues, and Nature Boy three. In 1968, he worked for Western Publishing , for which he wrote (along with Carl Barks ) stories in the Junior Woodchucks comic book. He subsequently worked for the Italian comic Topolino published by Mondadori Editore (the Italian Disney comics licensee) from 1972 to 1979. He

7052-631: Was producing a Superman film, Siegel alerted the press to his condition. In response, Warner Bros, agreed to give Siegel and Shuster a lifetime stipend of $ 20,000 a year (later increased to $ 30,000) in exchange for not contesting ownership of the copyright to Superman. After leaving DC Comics, Siegel wrote The Spider for the British comic Lion , published by Fleetway Publications . His episodes were published from January 1966 to February 1969. Siegel wrote for his school's weekly newspaper, The Glenville Torch . One of his known works for that newspaper

7138-620: Was pulled and a different story, written by Elliot S. Maggin , was run. Gaiman's story was finally published as a one-shot in Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame in November 2000. The Action Comics Weekly experiment lasted only until the beginning of March 1989 and after a short break, issue #643 (July 1989) brought the title back onto a monthly schedule. Writer/artist George Pérez took over

7224-472: Was the lead story in Adventure Comics #341 (February 1966). DC Comics ceased giving him work in 1966, when the company learned Siegel and Shuster were planning a second lawsuit to reclaim the copyright to Superman. He lost that lawsuit. Siegel again fell into hard financial times after this second dismissal, as he was unable to find regular writing work. In 1975, upon hearing that Warner Bros.

7310-584: Was their last collaboration. Siegel then took freelance writing jobs. Some of them include the newspaper strip Tallulah , Lars of Mars , and G.I. Joe . The publisher Ziff-Davis hired him as a comic-book editor in 1951, but its comics division closed after less than a year in business. Siegel never found steady work, and fell upon hard times. By 1959, he and his family were living in a one-bedroom apartment in Great Neck, Long Island , and struggling to pay their bills. Siegel returned to DC Comics in 1959 at

7396-515: Was transformed into Congorilla and the title of the strip was likewise changed. The Congorilla series ran in Action Comics until issue #261 (February 1960), after which it was transferred to Adventure Comics from issues #270 (March 1960) to #283 (April 1961). Since the demise of its own series, Congorilla has mainly been seen as a guest star in other titles, including as part of the Forgotten Heroes . The character finally received

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