13 COVERS: A John Byrne ACTION COMICS Modern Age Celebration

John Byrne’s Superman is “my” Superman.

Joe Shuster

Joe Shuster

Action Comics #1 — the most important comic book of all time — was published April 18, 1938. Probably. There seems to be some debate, so if you know for sure, let us know.

Anyway, it’s what I’m going with, so we’re going to celebrate the comic book that gave us Siegel and Shuster’s Superman with four sets of 13 COVERS: Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age and Modern Age. Because if there’s a specific comic-book title that deserves this over-the-top treatment, it’s this one.

I’ve long had a love/like/indifferent/hate relationship with Superman. It’s really a case of which version we’re talking about, as in who’s holding the reins and what medium we’re talking about. When it comes to comics, my all-time favorite is John Byrne, whose vision lines up most closely to my own. Which is to say, it cannibalizes the DNA produced by Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve. Even Geoff Johns and Gary Frank — as great as their run was — couldn’t match the simple beauty of Byrne’s Man of Steel miniseries and subsquent ongoings.

Byrne’s time on Superman was too short. It never got to go where it was going to go. But if I’m going to do a celebration like this one, Byrne has to be a part of it, even if his Action Comics was a team-up book.

Byrne didn’t do a huge number of Action covers but I’ve picked my fave 13 — and here they are in no particular order.

Oh, and definitely check out:

13 COVERS: An ACTION COMICS Golden Age Celebration. (Click here.)

13 COVERS: A Curt Swan ACTION COMICS Silver Age Celebration. (Click here.)

13 COVERS: A Neal Adams ACTION COMICS Bronze Age Celebration. (Click here.)

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With Kurt Schaffenberger, Dick Giordano, Curt Swan and Mike Mignola

With Kurt Schaffenberger, Dick Giordano, Curt Swan and Mike Mignola

Cover images and credits from the super Grand Comics Database.

13 COVERS: An ACTION COMICS Golden Age Celebration. (Click here.)

13 COVERS: A Curt Swan ACTION COMICS Silver Age Celebration. (Click here.)

13 COVERS: A Neal Adams ACTION COMICS Bronze Age Celebration. (Click here.)

Author: Dan Greenfield

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3 Comments

  1. Personally, I hated Byrne’s Super-Yuppie! His revisionist drivel defiled the character and trashed 48 years of a great mythos! I remember who sick it made me back when it came out; and it still makes my blood boil 30 years later! I’ve had a life long love/hate/hate/hate/like/indifference relationship with Byrne. He’s done some things I love. And, a lot of things I hate. What he did to Superman paved the way for all of the revisionism and horrid retconning that followed at DC.

    All of that said; I still love your Blog, Dan! It’s the best!

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