Superman (comic book)

Infobox comic book title
title=Superman


caption=Cover of "Superman" #1 (June 1939)
schedule=Monthly, with some bi-weekly and bi-monthly runs.
ongoing=y
publisher=DC Comics
date=June 1939 - Present
issues=678
Superhero=y
main_char_team=Superman
writers=Current:
James Robinson
artists=Renato Guedes
pencillers=
inkers=
letterers=
colorists=
creative_team_month=
creative_team_year=
creators= Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
subcat=Superman
altcat=
sort= PAGENAME

Superman (sometimes called Superman (volume 1) and for a time published as Adventures of Superman) is a comic book published by DC Comics. The character Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book "Action Comics" #1 (June 1938). The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with cover-date June 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled Adventures of Superman while a new comic book used the title Superman. As of June 25, 2008, the series has reached issue #677.

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Whereas "Action Comics" at the time was an anthology featuring stories of several different characters in addition to Superman such as Zatara and Tex Thompson, the "Superman" comic only contained Superman stories.

The "Superman" comic book began being published quarterly, soon going bimonthly and in the late 1950s turning monthly. Twelve Annual issues were published between 1960-1986, and three Special issues were published between 1983-1985. This initial "Superman" series went on a three-month hiatus with issue #423 (Sept. 1986), as did sister title "Action Comics", while the new "Man of Steel" limited series was published, introducing the post-"Crisis on Infinite Earths" Superman.

Issue #1 Cover

* The cover of "Superman #1" (1939) is one of the most referenced comic covers, including:
** The cover to "Action Comics" #643 (July 1989) by artist George Pérez, in homage to Joe Shuster's classic image.
** The cover to "Supreme" #41 by Jerry Ordway, a homage to "Superman" # 1.
** References in "Superman Returns".
** A panel in "Kingdom Come"
** A panel in "Superman: For Tomorrow", with art by Jim Lee.

Awards

The creators who have worked on Superman over the years have received a number of awards and nominations, including the 1969 Alley Award for Strip Most Needing Improvement, the 1970 Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division), for Dennis O'Neil for his work on Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, and a 1986 Jack Kirby Award nomination for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons for "Superman Annual" #11 (1985).

Adventures of Superman

After the "Man of Steel" limited series, "Action Comics" returned and "Superman" (Volume 2), #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 Wolfman and artist Jerry Ordway.

"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 Hour crossover event and issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the DC One Million 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, ' and '. 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 homage to the Golden Age Superman in the wake of events in the limited series "Infinite Crisis".

For its last few years, Adventures of Superman was written by Greg Rucka. Notable plots included the villain Ruin, the attempted assassination of Lois Lane 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" which won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story for 1993.Fact|date=March 2008

uperman returns

"Superman (Volume 2)" reached issue #226 (April 2006) and was then cancelled as part of the companywide "Infinite Crisis" 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 Busiek and Pacheco.

The book also participated in the weekly series "Countdown to Final Crisis", giving a different perspective on certain happenings that are shown in the weekly title, such as the events preceding the death of New God Lightray.

As of summer 2008, the current creative team on "Superman" is James Robinson and Renato Guedes, replacing writer Kurt Busiek after his 25-issue run on the title. The most recent issue of "Superman" to reach publication (as of June 2008) was #677. Geoff Johns, the writer of "Action Comics", and Robinson have stated that his title and "Superman" as well as "Supergirl" will cross over frequently.cite journal| last = Spiegel| first = D| title=(none given)| journal = Wizard| issue = 201| pages = 70] "Superman"-line editor Matt Idelson also proclaimed that the character's origin story will be retold in an arc crossing over between "Superman" and "Action", written by Johns and Robinson respectively. [http://www.supermanhomepage.com/inter-action/inter-action.php?topic=ask-editor/ask-matt-0508]

ee also

*List of Superman comics
*List of DC Comics publications

References