Superman (comic book)

Superman volume 1[edit]

Due to the Superman character's popularity after his premiere in Action Comics #1, National Allied Publications decided to launch an entirely new magazine featuring a single character, which at that time was unprecedented.^[1] Superman #1 appeared on the shelves in the summer of 1939. Superman now also had the distinction of being the first ever hero-character featured in more than one comic magazine. By issue #7, Superman was being hailed on the covers as the "World's Greatest Adventure Strip Character". Perry White, a supporting character who had originated on the Superman radio program was introduced into the comic book in issue #7 (October 1940).^[2] Editor Mort Weisinger began his long association with the title with issue #11 (July–August 1941).^[3] Jimmy Olsen first appeared as a named character in the story "Superman versus The Archer" in Superman #13 (Nov.–Dec. 1941).^[4][5] In the early 1940s, Superman was selling over a million copies per month.^[6] By 1942, artist Wayne Boring, who had previously been one of Shuster's assistants, had become a major artist on Superman.^[7] Superman #23 (July–August 1943) featured the first Superman comic book story written by someone other than Jerry Siegel.^[8] The story "America's Secret Weapon!" was written by Don Cameron despite bearing Siegel's signature.^[9] Siegel introduced Mister Mxyzptlk in issue #30 (September 1944).^[10] A more detailed origin story for Superman was presented in issue #53 (July 1948) to mark the character's tenth anniversary.^[11] Another part of the Superman mythos which had originated on the radio program made its way into the comic books when kryptonite was featured in a story by Bill Finger and Al Plastino.^[12]


Superman was the first DC title with a letters column as a regular feature beginning with issue #124 (September 1958).^[13] 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.^[14] Writer Jim Shooter and Swan crafted the story "Superman's Race With the Flash!" in Superman #199 (Aug. 1967) which featured the first race between the Flash and Superman, two characters known for their super-speed powers.^[15]


Julius Schwartz became the title's editor with issue #233 (January 1971)^[16] and together with writer Denny O'Neil and artist Curt Swan streamlined the Superman mythos, starting with the elimination of Kryptonite.^[17] Elliot S. Maggin began his long association with the title with the story "Must There Be a Superman?" in issue #247 (Jan. 1972).^[18][19] Writer Cary Bates, in collaboration with Swan, introduced such characters as the supervillain Terra-Man in issue #249 (March 1972)^[20] and the superhero Vartox in issue #281 (Nov. 1974).^[21] Issues #272 (Feb. 1974), #278 (Aug. 1974), and #284 (Feb. 1975) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format.^[22] Superman #300 (June 1976) featured an out-of-continuity story by Bates and Maggin which imagined the infant Superman landing on Earth in 1976 and becoming a superhero in 2001. The tale was an inspiration for Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son limited series published in 2003.^[23] DC's parent company Warner Communications reinstated the byline for Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster which had been dropped decades earlier^[24][25][26] and the first issue with the restored credit was Superman #301 (August 1976).^[27] Martin Pasko and Swan created the Master Jailer character in issue #331 (January 1979).^[28] The bottle city of Kandor, which had been introduced in 1958, was restored to normal size in a story by Len Wein and Swan in Superman #338 (August 1979).^[29]


The series reached issue #400 in October 1984. That issue featured work by several popular comics artists including the only major DC work by Jim Steranko as well as an introduction by noted science-fiction author Ray Bradbury.^[30][31] Superman ran uninterrupted until the mid-1980s, when DC Comics instituted a line-wide relaunch with the 1985 event maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths. Folding their vast multiverse into a single shared universe, Superman and his supporting cast would receive a massive overhaul at the hands of writer/artist John Byrne. One last story, which also marked the end of Schwartz's tenure as editor of the series,^[16] was published to give a send-off to the former status quo: Alan Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?^[32] The story's first part saw publication in Superman #423, which would be the last issue before the title was relaunched with its legacy numbering as The Adventures of Superman.^[33] Superman was relaunched with a new #1 issue in a second volume in 1986,^[34] and was published concurrently with The Adventures of Superman.