Today is the seventieth anniversary of the 1938 release of Action Comics Number 1, which was the comic that introduced Superman, the Man of Steel.
Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster originally premiered Superman in a self-published fanzine story entitled, “The Reign of the Superman” in January of 1933. In that story, a man becomes a villain after being granted super-powers by a mad scientist who resembles the modern Lex Luthor. In 1933, the comic Detective Dan, one of the earliest comics inspired Siegal to rewrite Superman as a hero. Siegal and Shuster created a new comic and pitched it to the publisher of Detective Dan comics, but the comic was rejected and destroyed. Only the cover (pictured right) survived.
In 1934, the pair once again revise their character, this time giving him mythic proportions, such as those of Hercules. It was this version of the character who first donned the earliest version of modern-day Superman’s signature costume. They sold stories centered around this Superman to Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson’s National Allied Publishing in a comic strip format. It was a collection of these strips that the artists cut and paste together into Action Comics Number 1.
It’s interesting to note that Superman wasn’t, as is often believed, the first costumed superhero. That distinction belongs to The Phantom who appeared in a popular series of comic strips just a few months earlier. However, Superman was the first hero with “super” powers.
Aside from being the first comics to feature Superman, the world’s first super hero, Action No. 1 is also notable for:
Read more about the history of Superman.
Read the original fanzine story online.
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