Superman is a comic book published by DC Comics. The character
SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
Action ComicsAction Comics is an American comic book series which introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#1Action Comics 1 is a comic book that was published in April 1938 by National Allied Publications, a corporate predecessor of DC Comics...
(June 1938). The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any
superheroA superhero is "a fictional character of unprecedented powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest"...
, premiering with cover-date June 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled
Adventures of Superman while a new comic book used the title
SupermanSuperman or Superman was published from January 1987 to April 2006. 228 issues were printed: 226 monthly issues, plus issue #0 and issue #1,000,000...
.
Superman is a comic book published by DC Comics. The character
SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
Action ComicsAction Comics is an American comic book series which introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#1Action Comics 1 is a comic book that was published in April 1938 by National Allied Publications, a corporate predecessor of DC Comics...
(June 1938). The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any
superheroA superhero is "a fictional character of unprecedented powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest"...
, premiering with cover-date June 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled
Adventures of Superman while a new comic book used the title
SupermanSuperman or Superman was published from January 1987 to April 2006. 228 issues were printed: 226 monthly issues, plus issue #0 and issue #1,000,000...
. As of September 5, 2009, the series has reached issue #690.
Adventures of Superman
After the
Man of Steel limited series,
Action Comics returned and
Superman (Volume 2)Superman or Superman was published from January 1987 to April 2006. 228 issues were printed: 226 monthly issues, plus issue #0 and issue #1,000,000...
, #1 was published. A new title,
Adventures of Superman premiered with #424, continuing the numbering of the original
Superman series. The initial team working on the renamed title was writer
Marv WolfmanMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
and artist
Jerry OrdwayJeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.He is best known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths , his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986-1993,...
.
Adventures of Superman was numbered from issue #424 (January 1987) to issue #649 (April 2006), for a total of 228 monthly issues (including issue #0 (October 1994) published between issues #516 and #517 during the
Zero HourZero Hour: Crisis in Time is a five-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by DC Comics in 1994. In it, the one-time hero Hal Jordan, who had until then been a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps, mad with grief after the destruction...
crossover event and issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the
DC One Million"DC One Million" was a crossover storyline that ran through a self titled, weekly limited series and special issues of almost all "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998...
crossover event) and nine Annuals published between 1987 to 1997.
The plots of the Superman books were often linked during the first few years of the series run. To coordinate the storyline and sequence of event, from January 1991 to January 2002, "triangle numbers" (or "shield numbers") appeared on the cover of each Superman comic book. During these years the Superman story lines ran with the story continuing through the titles
Superman,
Action Comics and later in two further series,
Superman: The Man of SteelSuperman: The Man of Steel is the title of a monthly American comic book series that ran 136 issues from 1991 to 2003. published by DC Comics, featuring Superman. As a consequence of introducing this series alongside its already existing titles, DC Comics was able to publish a new Superman comic...
and
Superman: The Man of TomorrowSuperman: The Man of Tomorrow is the title of a comic book series published by DC Comics which ran for 16 issues from 1996 to 1999 featuring the adventures of Superman. At the time, the four Superman titles, Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Superman and Superman: The Man of Steel were...
. After February 2002, the integration between the Superman titles became less frequent, and the remaining issues of
Adventures of Superman commonly carried self-contained stories. The final issue (#649), however, was part of a three-part crossover with
Superman and
Action Comics, an
homageHomage is pronounced variously as , , or . The last reflects the modern French pronunciation, although the word entered Middle English many centuries ago. In traditional usage it is analogous to praise; one properly speaks of homage or the homage, rather than a homage or an homage...
to the Golden Age Superman in the wake of events in the
limited seriesA limited series is a series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Infinite CrisisInfinite Crisis is a seven-issue limited series of comic books written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway. The series was published by DC Comics, beginning in October of 2005...
.
For its last few years, Adventures of Superman was written by
Greg RuckaGregory "Greg" Rucka is an American comic book writer and novelist. He is married to fellow comic writer Jennnifer Van Meter...
. Notable plots included the villain
RuinProfessor Emil Hamilton is a fictional character in DC Comics' Superman titles. He is generally portrayed as a stereotypical absent-minded professor, with a gray beard and thick glasses and, at times, a "Mr...
, the attempted assassination of
Lois LaneLois Joanne Lane-Kent is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
and a number of well-regarded Mxyzptlk appearances.
Awards
Issues #501 through #503 of the series were a part of the story
The Reign of the Supermen"The Death of Superman" is a 1992 comic book storyline that occurred in DC Comics's Superman titles. The completed multi-issue story arc was given the title The Death and Return of Superman....
which won the
Comics Buyer's GuideComics Buyer's Guide is the second longest-running periodical reporting on the comic book industry. Only the Dutch monthly Stripschrift, first published in February 1968, has been running longer.-History:...
Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story for 1993.
Superman returns
Superman (Volume 2) reached issue #226 (April 2006) and was then cancelled as part of the companywide
Infinite CrisisInfinite Crisis is a seven-issue limited series of comic books written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway. The series was published by DC Comics, beginning in October of 2005...
storyline.
Adventures of Superman was returned to its original title,
Superman, with issue #650 (May 2006).
Action Comics had continued publication normally.
The annual editions after the retitling back to
Superman (Volume 1) continued starting with Annual #13 released November 28, 2007 (cover dated Jan. 2008, the last annual issue prior to the 1987 retitling was Annual #12 in 1986). The Annual issue's lead story was the finale to the "Camelot Falls" arc by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco.
The book also participated in the weekly series
Countdown to Final CrisisCountdown to Final Crisis, known as Countdown for its first 25 issues, is a comic book limited series published by DC Comics. It debuted on May 9, 2007, directly following the conclusion of the last issue of 52...
, giving a different perspective on certain happenings that are shown in the weekly title, such as the events preceding the death of
New GodThe New Gods are a fictional race appearing in publications by DC Comics, as well as the title for four series of comics about those characters. They first appeared in New Gods #1 , and were created and designed by Jack Kirby....
LightrayLightray is a DC Comics superhero. Created by Jack Kirby for the "Jack Kirby's Fourth World" meta-series, he first appeared in New Gods #1 .- Fictional character biography :...
.
Superman without a Superman
As of summer 2009, the current creative team on
Superman is
James RobinsonJames Dale Robinson is a British writer of comic books and screenplays who is also known for his interest in vintage collectibles and memorabilia. His style is described as smart and energetic, built upon his vast knowledge of obscure continuity from the period known to fans and historians as the...
and
Renato GuedesRenato Guedes is a comic book artist, currently under contract for DC Comics. Guedes is slated to be the ongoing artist for Superman.-Personal life:...
, replacing writer
Kurt BusiekKurt Busiek is a comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Biography and early career:...
after his 25-issue run on the title. Robinson's run on the title focuses on Mon-El and the
GuardianGuardian is a comic book fictional character, a DC Comics superhero, created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. He first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #7...
while Superman himself has gone to live on the planet
New KryptonSuperman: World of New Krypton is a twelve-issue American comic book limited series produced by DC Comics. It is written by the team of James Robinson and Greg Rucka, who at the time of this publication are the current writers of the Superman and Action Comics titles, and illustrated by artist Pete...
.