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Lost Siegel And Shuster Superman Story To Be Published in New Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman Hardcover Book

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A new hardcover book, Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman, is being published by DC Entertainment as part of its celebration of the one-thousandth issue of Action Comics—the longest continually published comic book of its kind in history, the series that introduced Superman to the world and the title that launched the superhero genre. The collection features a series of essays and iconic Superman stories edited by former DC Publisher Paul Levitz. Most notably, the book includes a never before published 12-page story from original Superman writer Jerry Siegel with art by the Joe Shuster Studio titled “Too Many Heroes.”

The 384-page hardcover book will cost $29.99 and hit store shelves on April 19. Highlights and key Superman stories in this collection include:

  • A new cover by legendary artist and DC Publisher Jim Lee
  • Text pieces including: an editor’s note by Paul Levitz, a tribute to Action Comics by Laura Siegel Larson (daughter of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel), an introduction by Jules Feiffer, plus essays by Tom DeHaven (“It’s Superman!”), David Hajdu (“The Ten-Cent Plague”), Larry Tye (“Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero”) and Gene Luen Yang (Superman, New Super-Man and the National Book Award finalist “American Born Chinese”)
  • “The Coming of Superman,” from Action Comics #1, written by Jerry Siegel with art by Joe Shuster
  • “Revolution in San Monte,” from Action Comics #2, written by Jerry Siegel with art by Joe Shuster
  • “The Terrible Toyman!,” from Action Comics #64, written by Don Cameron with art by Ed Dobrotka and George Roussos, featuring the debut of Toyman
  • “The Super-Key to Fort Superman,” from Action Comics #241, written by Jerry Coleman with art by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye, featuring the first appearance of the Fortress of Solitude
  • “The Super-Duel in Space,” from Action Comics #242, written by Otto Binder with art by Al Plastino, featuring the debut of Brainiac
  • “The Supergirl from Krypton!,” from Action Comics #252, written by Otto Binder with art by Al Plastino, featuring the debut of Supergirl
  • “The World’s Greatest Heroine!,” from Action Comics #285, written by Jerry Siegel with art by Jim Mooney
  • “The Superman Super-Spectacular!,” from Action Comics #309, written by Edmond Hamilton with art by Curt Swan and George Klein, featuring an appearance by President John F. Kennedy
  • “Superman Takes a Wife,” from Action Comics #484, written by Cary Bates with art by Curt Swan and Joe Giella
  • “If Superman Didn’t Exist…” from Action Comics #554, written by Marv Wolfman with art by Gil Kane
  • “The Game,” a new original story written by Paul Levitz with art by Neal Adams
  • “Squatter,” from Action Comics #584, written by John Byrne with art by Byrne and Dick Giordano
  • “Ma Kent’s Photo Album,” from Action Comics #655, written by Roger Stern with art by Kerry Gammill and Dennis Janke
  • “Secrets in the Night,” from Action Comics #662, written by Roger Stern with art by Bob McLeod
  • “A Hero’s Journey,” from Action Comics #800, written by Joe Kelly with art by Pasqual Ferry, Duncan Rouleau, Lee Bermejo and others
  • “The Boy Who Stole Superman’s Cape,” from Action Comics #0, written by Grant Morrison with art by Ben Oliver
  • “The Mystery of the Freight Train Robberies,” from Action Comics #1, written by Fred Guardineer with art by Guardineer, featuring the debut of Zatara
  • “The Origin of the Vigilante,” from Action Comics #42, written by Mort Weisinger with art by Mort Meskin, featuring the debut of the Vigilante
  • “The Assassin-Express Contract!,” from Action Comics #419, written by Len Wein with art by Carmine Infantino and Dick Giordano, featuring the debut of the Human Target

Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman is just part of DC’s Superman celebration, with the seminal Action Comics #1000 also released in April and a series of Superman-themed variant covers and even more to come.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman Come to The Library of American Comics!

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IDW’s Library of American Comics and DC Entertainment have announced the beginning of a new partnership to reprint some of the rarest DC Comics stories — the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman newspaper strips.

At the same time that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman became the world’s most famous and recognizable superheroes in comic books in the 1940s and beyond, they also starred in runs of newspaper comic strips, most of which have not been seen since they first appeared.

The Man of Steel’s newspaper adventures ran for more than 25 years, from 1939 until 1966. Only about 10% of these strips have ever been reprinted. The complete comics will be released in three sub-sets, starting with The Silver Age, then The Atomic Age, and finally, The Golden Age. The black-and-white daily and color Sunday strips contained distinct storylines and will be released in separate, concurrent, series of deluxe hardcovers.

The line kicks off this July with Superman: The Silver Age Newspaper Dailies, Vol. 1: 1958-1961. Fans can look forward to nearly 800 strips featuring classic artwork by Curt Swan, Wayne Boring, and Stan Kaye. While most of the stories from the Atomic Age and Golden Age were original and completely different from the comic books, under Mort Weisinger’s editorship in the late 1950s Silver Age stories, Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel was brought in to script adaptations of then-current comic book tales.

Covers for each book are being specially created by Pete Poplaski to evoke the look and style of the times; Volume One is an homage to Curt Swan’s art and Ira Schnapp’s lettering design. Tom DeHaven, author of the novel It’s Superman!, is writing the foreword, and the introductions are by Sidney Friedfertig.

Additional details on the Sunday strip books as well as the Batman and Wonder Woman collections will follow, but eager fans should begin watching the skies in July!

Superman: The Silver Age Newspaper Dailies, Vol. 1: 1958-1961
(HC, B&W, $49.99, 288 pages, 11” x 8.5”)
ISBN: 978-1-61377-666-7