Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman the Deluxe Edition

[Johnny Thunders!]

Did anyone pick this up? I reserved a copy from the LCS and it covers a fair amount of familiar territory. I was happy the book included a Zatara story as well as a Vigilante short.

[KC]

I picked up a copy the day it came out. It had a good selection of stories and I liked the new stories that were printed on it. When I read that it would feature "essays", I expected more than what we got, which are really a bunch of book forewords. but I still liked it.

[titansupes]

Picked it up, haven't had a chance to read it yet. Looks great upon flip-through though, and I'm glad to see I haven't read most of the stories in there.

[JAK]

Got it, and really liked what I saw so far. Not through it all the way, yet.

[Kirby Krackle]

Yup. The day it came out. Loved reading through it in preparation before #1000.

[Soubhagya]

I have got it. But i haven't read it in full. I must say the placement of Toyman's first story surprised me. Was Dan Jurgens involved in selecting the stories? He has spoken about his affection for Toyman in that Google talk. Or was it Bendis? He also mentioned that guy in the same place. There has to be something here. Braniac makes sense. But Toyman? I never thought he was popular.

Personally, i haven't read much of Toyman. But he was really creepy in Superman TAS.

[Truman Burbank]

Got it, loved it. Though, I think I would have preferred a slightly different selection of stories. First appearances of characters like Lex Luthor and the Prankster matter more to me than the first John Byrne issue; I get wanting to represent the whole history, but run something like the first Silver Banshee story for Byrne instead of a filler issue that just happened to be the relaunch issue. I also would have included more of Action 252, since the introduction of John Corben/Metallo is also another major moment.

Still, a nicely-done collection of some classic stories.

[MajorHoy]

Here's what amazon.com has for what's included in this:

Highlights of this collection include:
-A new cover by legendary artist and DC Publisher Jim Lee
-A never-before-published twelve-page Golden Age Superman story believed to have been written by Jerry Siegel with art by the Joe Shuster Studio
-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 Hadju ("The Ten-Cent Plague"), Larry Tye ("Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most EnduringHero") and Gene Luen Yang (SUPERMAN, NEW SUPER-MAN and the National Book Award finalist "American Born Chinese")!
-The new five-page story "The Game," written by Paul Levitz with art by Neal Adams

The Superman stories from this collection include:
-"The Coming of Superman," from ACTION COMICS #1, written by Jerry Siegel with art by Joe Shuster
-"Revolution in San Monte," from 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 #262, 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
-"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

Other key ACTION COMICS stories in this title include:
-"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

[adkal]

I was disappointed with the essay on Clark.


(The 'hero'-story, to me, tied in well with Ascended's thread re Superman moments in our lives, as a flipside to what we've been sharing with each other)

[Johnny Thunders!]

I picked it up and the Jim Lee cover makes me feel okay for skipping his cover in the 1,000 issue. The Deluxe Edition format, the size of the pages, make this a fun read. Even the stories that have been reprinted before. I think this is the first time that the Silver Age stuff has been reprinted in an oversized format.

I haven't read that Golden Age Toyman story or the Silver Age story, "The Superman Super Spectacular." No Elliot S. Maggin Action Comics? I know he wrote some Green Arrow backups. I really liked the Joe Kelly story, I hadn't read that. I am trying to think what Action Comics I would have put in but I need to double check if some of the stories I like were actually in the Superman book. I am convinced I want more Bronze and Silver Age Deluxe Edition Superman Books.