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92-556: Hercules first appears in All Star Comics #8 (January 1942) as part of a Wonder Woman story, and was created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter , in the first of several incarnations. Later versions appeared in Superman #28 (May 1966), created by Jerry Siegel and Ira Yarbrough, Wonder Woman #105 (April 1967) and Hercules Unbound #1 (October 1975) created by Gerry Conway and José Luis García-López . In

184-604: A "new" friend, helping her deal with such problems as a confrontation with a duplicate of the monstrous Doomsday . Heracles' identity was eventually revealed and he resumed his life on Olympus. In the Post- Crisis DC Universe, the Roman Gods existed separately from the Greek ones after Darkseid tricked them into splitting up so they could be worshipped by two different cultures at the same time; only after

276-404: A 100-year sleep with the pipe of Apollo , saying that he will only revive Superman if Lois marries him. However, Venus realizes what has happened and wakes Superman up. After this, Hercules is tricked into flying back in time with the sandals of Mercury, and loses his memory of the events. In 1975, DC produced a comic book series titled Hercules Unbound , featuring the adventures of Hercules in

368-521: 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

460-434: 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

552-461: A fellow agent of Olympus, who occasionally aids Diana and even replaces her in battle. He is referred to as " Wonder Man " by Cheetah and Nemesis . He temporarily sets up base in the Greek Embassy . Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #4 reveals that Hercules lied about his reasons for returning to Earth. As one of the inhabitants of Olympus who rejected Athena's decision to remove themselves from

644-429: 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

736-532: A hellish penal dimension opened using the Maelstrom, an extra-dimensional translocation gateway which enabled the Atlanteans of old to traverse the world as well as to other worlds. When accidentally released from their Tartaran prison by a misguided archaeologist, these fiends of old are intercepted by Aquaman and sent in their former jailer, whose mind had been corrupted by their torment and dark magics over

828-637: A history of the Superman canon as it existed at 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

920-573: 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

1012-580: A member of the Justice Society as their secretary. With issue #34 (April–May 1947), Gardner Fox left the series and a new super-villain, the Wizard , was introduced. The Injustice Society first battled the JSA in issue #37 in a tale written by Robert Kanigher . The Black Canary guest starred in issue #38 and joined the team three issues later in #41. All Star Comics increased its frequency from

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1104-677: A much smaller part of the cover; while the words "Justice Society" became much larger. The 1970s series introduced the new characters Power Girl and the Helena Wayne version of the Huntress . This series ran for seventeen issues before it was abruptly canceled with issue #74 as part of the DC Implosion and the JSA's adventures were folded into Adventure Comics . After 23-year-old Gerry Conway became an editor at DC Comics, long-time JSA-fan Roy Thomas suggested to Conway that

1196-498: 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

1288-461: A post-apocalyptic future. This Hercules looked different from the other DC interpretations - he had long black hair and no beard. The series lasted 12 issues. It made use of characters and concepts, such as The Atomic Knights and the intelligent animals from Jack Kirby 's Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth series as an attempt to tie in some of the future series. There, this version of Hercules

1380-561: A quarterly to a bimonthly publication schedule, and the JSA lasted through March 1951 with issue #57 in a story titled "The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives". Superhero comics slumped in the early 1950s, and All Star Comics was renamed All-Star Western in 1951 with issue #58. In this issue, the "Justice Society of America" feature was replaced by Western heroes. Artwork from an unpublished All Star Comics story titled "The Will of William Wilson" had survived and

1472-439: 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

1564-587: Is attacking the remaining Olympian gods. Soon into their search they are attacked by the Female Furies . Hercules stops the fight by explaining that he is allied with the Furies in hopes of rescuing the gods, or, failing that, starting a new pantheon with them. The Furies have their own plans, though, and are only using Hercules to get to Cassandra. The Furies soon betray Hercules, with Bloody Mary using her bite to gain power over Hercules, forcing him to do what

1656-506: Is chained to a rock outcropping in the Mediterranean. He escapes and learns that in the centuries he had been chained by Ares , humans had not only made great scientific progress but also used that same science to destroy the human world by means of nuclear weapons. He wanders the world making friends along the way and battling monsters, mad gods, and warlords that threatened the remaining humans. It climaxed with him saving Olympus from

1748-402: Is confronted by Darkseid 's daughter Grail , who kills him and steals his life force in order to feed it to an adolescent Darkseid. As the son of Zeus and Wonder Woman's half-brother, Hercules is the one who provides Shazam's grand superpower and is therefore, one of DC's most physically powerful characters for having a level of strength equivalent to that of the aforementioned hero (and Shazam

1840-867: Is deconstructed as a treacherous act to enslave the Amazons under Queen Hippolyte. "In the days of Ancient Greece", relates Hyppolyte to her daughter, "we Amazons were the foremost nation in the world. In Amazonia, women ruled and all was not well. Then one day, Hercules, the strongest man in the world, stung by taunts that he couldn't conquer the Amazon women, selected his strongest and fiercest warriors and landed on our shores. I challenged him to personal combat -- because I knew that with my MAGIC GIRDLE, given me by Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, I could not lose. And win I did! But Hercules, by deceit and trickery, managed to escape my evil clutches--and soon we Amazons were taken into slavery. And Aphrodite, angry at me for having succumbed to

1932-539: 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

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2024-565: Is one of the Lords of Magic and possesses superhuman strength. In the newest continuity, Hercules is reintroduced in the pages of Aquaman as a maddened prisoner alongside the monstrous children descended from the Titans called the Giant Born. It was revealed that, thousands of years ago, the son of Zeus sacrificed himself so that Atlan, King of Atlantis of the bygone era, could trap them within

2116-511: Is said to be "A Modern Day Hercules"; while in Sensation Comics #2, cover-dated February 1967) he is mentioned to compare Wonder Woman's strength, along with other gods and goddesses from Greek Mythology: "As lovely as Aphrodite -- as wise as Athena -- with the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules, WONDER WOMAN brings to America a new hope and salvation from Old World evils, conquest, and aggression!" In other comics, Hercules

2208-510: Is used as a foil to Superman . In these Silver Age books, Hercules usually appears as a giant , and frequently tests his strength with the Bible character Samson and another giant named Zha-Vam , to whom he granted strength, as well as with Superman. In one story, he is transported to the 20th century by Lex Luthor , and, in the guise of reporter Roger Tate, falls in love with Lois Lane . He gains power from other gods and puts Superman into

2300-604: The Millennium Edition series. All Star Comics #3 and #8 were reprinted in this format. Action Comics Action Comics is an American comic book / magazine series that introduced Superman , one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc. , which later merged into National Comics Publications (later National Periodical Publications), before taking on its current name of DC Comics . Its original incarnation ran from 1938 to 2011 and stands as one of

2392-462: The Atom from All-American's flagship title All-American Comics . The Justice Society of America (JSA) was originally a frame story used to present an anthology of solo stories about the individual characters, with each story handled by a different artist. Comic historian Les Daniels noted that "this was obviously a great notion, since it offered readers a lot of headliners for a dime, and also

2484-558: The Atom . Between issues #423 (April 1973) and #424 (June 1973), 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

2576-517: 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

2668-461: 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

2760-949: 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

2852-406: 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

Hercules (DC Comics) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2944-579: The " War of the Gods " did the two versions merge again. So in effect, both Heracles and Hercules existed, and they merged into one being during John Byrne 's run on the comic. A revamped Hercules reappears during the events of One Year Later . Now shaven and bearing an updated version of the armor worn in the Hercules Unbound series, his place in the Wonder Woman comic has been renewed as

3036-637: 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

3128-527: 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

3220-476: 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

3312-583: The Amazons for forgiveness. Though some of the Amazons still harbored hatred for their past rapes and humiliation, most of them were moved by Heracles' newfound humility, and Queen Hippolyta asked her people to search their hearts for the strength to forgive, which they eventually did. Doing so herself, Hippolyta not only forgave Heracles, but shared a brief romance with him before he left the mortal realm to return to his father in Olympus. Later, John Byrne did an inconclusive storyline in which Heracles appeared in

3404-615: 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

3496-513: The Furies want. The Furies then kidnap Cassandra's mother to lure her into a trap. Aided by the Olympian, Cassandra goes into battle, being forced to fight her own brother. The Teen Titans and Wonder Woman herself show up to help out, which evens the odds. After Bloody Mary is murdered by the New God killer, Hercules is freed from her spell and immediately saves his sister from being kidnapped by

3588-563: The God of Strength with black hair and a beard. In the universe of DC Comics , Hercules was used on several occasions before Crisis on Infinite Earths . One of his first appearances is in January 1942 in the pages of All-Star Comics #8, where he appears alongside several characters from Greek mythology in the first appearance of Wonder Woman. Hercules is depicted as a brutish 'hero' who represented masculine violence, and one of his 12 labors

3680-486: The God of War "inspired Hercules, strongest man in the world, to make war on the Amazons". This Hercules is portrayed as a drunken, brutish warrior in his lion-skin, as mentioned above, who is determined to "take the magic girdle" of Hippolyte, challenging the Queen of the Amazons in personal combat. Upon being defeated by Hippolyte, he is given the chance "to return home and leave" but he conspires to "make love to her and steal

3772-526: The Gods storyline, she discovered that Heracles was transformed into a colossal stone pillar within Doom's Doorway, and was supporting Themyscira's weight for several millennia. In this stone state, he was tormented and scarred by various mythological creatures, feeling the pain inflicted by them but not being able to do anything about it. This was the punishment given to him by his Olympian family for his past transgressions. Gaining his original form back, he begged

Hercules (DC Comics) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3864-588: The Golden Age, he was mentioned in the origin of the Amazons as a slave to them, and he was able to escape by tricking Hippolyta (spelled 'Hippolyte' in the original issue) into giving him her golden girdle on the bequest of Ares (referred to as 'Mars', the Roman versión of the war god) who hated the Amazons. Hercules was shown as an archetypal muscle-bound man wearing a lion-skin, and only appeared in flashbacks. A picture of him, during Wonder Woman's time, shows him as

3956-550: The JSA be given their own title again. Conway offered Thomas a chance to ghostwrite an issue of the revived All-Star Comics , but he declined as Thomas was under an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics at the time. However, in 1981 Thomas moved to DC and was able to work with the characters. A two-issue All-Star Comics series was published as a part of the " Justice Society Returns " storyline in May 1999. In 2000 and 2001, DC Comics reprinted several of its most notable issues in

4048-687: The Summer 1940 cover date . Issue #3 (Winter 1940–1941) depicted the first meeting of the Justice Society of America, with its members swapping stories of their exploits which were subsequently illustrated in the comic's array of solo adventures. In addition to the Flash, Hawkman, Hour-Man, the Spectre, and the Sandman were Doctor Fate from National's More Fun Comics and the Green Lantern and

4140-410: 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

4232-416: 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

4324-442: The brutish 'hero' of Man's World. She takes her Amazons and leaves the world of men to form Paradise Island. Thus, this original appearance of Hercules subverts the heroic archetype, whose machoism is used to deconstruct traditional stories about heroism. 'Hercules' is also used several times in allusion in both Superman and Wonder Woman comics to allude to feats of strength. In Action Comics #7, cover-dated December 1938, Superman

4416-631: The character had 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

4508-541: 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,

4600-463: The contemporary world and schemed to take revenge on the Amazons by seducing Wonder Woman. He did this by making an agreement with a mortal Golden Age superhero named Harold Champion. In exchange for his identity, Heracles gave Champion admission into Olympus. Once this was agreed upon, Heracles used the Mirror of Circe to alter his appearance into that of Champion. He proceeded to befriend Wonder Woman as

4692-451: 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

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4784-464: 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

4876-522: 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

4968-410: The events of Wonder Girl , but after the events of "Who Is Wonder Woman?", Hercules encounters and battles Gog (who is killing gods and those who claim to be gods). After suffering a blast from Gog's staff, Hercules is incapacitated and encounters Superman and his Earth-22 counterpart. He enters into combat with the two of them, but is ultimately defeated. Hercules' physical appearance here is closer to

5060-429: 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

5152-690: The first six issues and Walt Simonson drew the remainder of the series. Wally Wood inked several issues. After the reboot of the DC universe in Crisis , Heracles — the Greek spelling — appeared in the pages of Wonder Woman . George Pérez , putting Greek mythology at the center of Wonder Woman's world, relates the tale of Heracles' and his men's conquest of the Amazons and his rape of Queen Hippolyta , and their revenge upon him. During Diana's Challenge of

5244-492: 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

5336-466: The fleeing Furies. After being questioned by Wonder Woman, Hercules tells her he was freed by Zeus and sought his closest relative—Cassandra—for help. He explains that Zeus freed him to help stop "the Great Disaster", which Hercules does not know much about. There were two conditions for his release: he must always wear his gauntlets to remind him of his punishment (similar to the punishment that

5428-419: The fun of watching fan favorites interact". The anthology format was dropped in 1947 and replaced with full issue stories featuring the heroes teaming up to fight crime. All Star Comics #8 ( cover dated January 1942) featured the first appearance of Wonder Woman in an eight-page story written by William Moulton Marston , under the pen name of "Charles Moulton" with art by H. G. Peter . The insert story

5520-466: The gods placed on the Amazons) and he must give up his godhood, becoming a demigod again. Rather than being upset, Hercules is happy to be human again and having his mother's blood flowing through his veins. Although Wonder Woman is initially skeptical, Cassandra vouches for Hercules, telling Diana that he has saved her life twice. Hercules is allowed to remain free, to complete his "labors" and make up for

5612-492: The gods' evil duplicates and, having been deceived by Zeus, deciding to stay in the human world. It closed with him walking away into the night with his girlfriend Jenny. It was later hinted that this version of Hercules was actually part of a dream suffered by Gardner Grayle, but was later shown to have existed somewhere in the Multiverse and was eliminated during the Crisis on Infinite Earths . José Luis García-López drew

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5704-428: 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

5796-484: 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

5888-503: The longest-running comic books with consecutively numbered issues. The second volume of Action Comics beginning with issue #1 ran from 2011 to 2016. Action Comics returned to its original numbering beginning with issue #957 (Aug. 2016). 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

5980-480: The magic girdle" instead. Hercules feigns surrender and woos Hippolyte with his promise of "eternal friendship", while his comrades make merry with the Amazons. Once he seduces Hippolyte to remove the magic girdle, he and his men proceed to bind the prisoners, loot Amazonia and enslave the Amazons. It is not until the intervention of the Goddess Aphrodite that Hippolyte is able to recover her girdle and best

6072-402: The mortal realm, Hercules journeyed to Tartarus in hopes of recruiting Ares to aid him in returning to Earth. Instead, he found Circe who, upon hearing Hercules' story and not wanting to spend eternity in limbo with Athena, decided to partner with Hercules instead. This did not last long, as Circe betrayed him. The two part as enemies once Circe magically binds him to a rock. Some time before

6164-440: The most popular series from the other anthology titles published by both All-American Publications and National Comics. All Star Comics #1 ( cover-dated Summer 1940) contained superhero stories that included All-American's Golden Age Flash , Hawkman , Ultra-Man , as well as National's Hour-Man , Spectre , and Sandman . The adventure strip "Biff Bronson" and the comedy-adventure "Red, White, and Blue" also premiered with

6256-408: 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 ,

6348-487: The one seen in "Who Is Wonder Woman?". In addition, he is described as a "god" (and not a demigod, as in Wonder Girl ) and wears gold bracelets instead of the gray shackles Zeus will place on him as punishment. A being claiming to be Hercules' father Zeus eventually frees Hercules from his prison and informs him that he must partner with his half sister Cassie Sandsmark . Together Hercules and Cassie try to discover who

6440-475: 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

6532-580: 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

6624-653: 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

6716-749: 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

6808-441: 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

6900-530: 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

6992-494: The series' cover-logo trademark reads All Star Comics , its copyrighted title as indicated by postal indicia is All-Star Comics , with a hyphen. With the exception of the first two issues, All Star Comics told stories about the adventures of the Justice Society of America , the first team of superheroes. It also introduced Wonder Woman . The original concept for All Star Comics was an anthology title containing

7084-431: The standard Amazon level). He is able to combine his martial techniques and tactics with his incredible strength, revealing himself as a complicated and dangerous opponent to anyone facing him. All Star Comics All Star Comics is an American comic book series from All-American Publications , one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics . While

7176-456: 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

7268-520: The things that he has done. The series mentions several important facts about Hercules, including his cycle of crime, punishment, and redemption; gods and other beings (Hera and Circe being mentioned by name) using him to commit great evil (such as the death of his family); and his uneasy relationship with the Amazons and Wonder Woman in particular. The Hercules that empowers the Marvels is apparently different from this Hercules, sharing only his name. He

7360-793: 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

7452-624: The wiles of men, would do naught to help us! Finally our submission to men became unbearable -- we could stand it no longer -- and I appealed to the Goddess Aphrodite again. This time not in vain, for she relented and with her help, I secured the MAGIC GIRDLE from Hercules. With the Magic Girdle in my possession, it didn't take us long to overcome our masters, the MEN -- and taking from them their entire fleet, we set sail for another shore, for it

7544-542: The years to do battle with him while they made their escape. After a lengthy battle between him and the Sea King, Hercules was bested when he tried to drown Arthur, who dragged him into the sea, beating him into unconsciousness, before sending him back through the Maelstrom into a maze of the Minotaur-like dimension. Hercules is later seen living a quiet, peaceful life as a human in the mountains outside Oregon . He

7636-496: Was Aphrodite's condition that we leave the man-made world and establish a new world of our own!" Subsequently, in Wonder Woman (first series) #1, cover-dated summer 1967, the episode is recapped. Hercules is written as "The God of Strength" who "was half-mortal and half-God! When a mere child, he strangled two fierce serpents sent to slay him. He performed twelve labors requiring prodigious strength and upon his earthly death,

7728-496: 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

7820-475: Was already able to injure Kryptonians without major difficulties). As an Olympian demigod, he has other standard characteristics for all members of the race; superhuman speed, agility, reflexes, senses, endurance, durability, healing factor and immortality. He still has some degree of shape change. Hercules is also an advanced level martial fighter. Though easily dominated by Hippolyta, the Queen noted and congratulated him on his excellent combat skills (though below

7912-491: 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 ,

8004-548: 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

8096-480: Was included to test reader interest in the Wonder Woman concept. It generated enough positive fan response that Wonder Woman would be awarded the lead feature in the Sensation Comics anthology title starting from issue #1. That same issue saw the induction of Doctor Mid-Nite and Starman as members of the Justice Society as well. Starting with issue #11, Wonder Woman would appear in All Star Comics as

8188-420: Was printed in various publications from TwoMorrows Publishing . In 1976, the name All Star Comics was resurrected for a series portraying the modern-day adventures of the JSA. The new series dismissed the numbering from All-Star Western and continued the original numbering, premiering with All-Star Comics #58. Starting with issue #66, a hyphen was added to the title and the words "All-Star Comics" became

8280-713: Was published in 1987 and featured Superman teaming with Batman in 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

8372-621: 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

8464-548: Was taken to Mount Olympus to dwell among the Gods ever after" ( Wonder Woman #1, 1968). Thus, in his first appearance, Hercules has already finished his heroic deeds and has ascended to the status of a god. The same issue reiterates Hercules' deception and subsequent enslavement of the Amazons, this time being said to have been spurred on by the God of War, Mars, whose swordsmen "slew their weaker brothers and plundered them" and sold women as slaves "cheaper than cattle". When Aphrodite creates her race of Amazons to overcome Mars' slaves,

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