Celebrating the 40th anniversary of a comics landmark…
DC Comics in April will be publishing six Facsimile Editions, some of which deserve their own headlines, like the one below. Click here and here for more on the others.
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John Byrne’s Man of Steel was one of many reasons 1986 was a banner year for comics. So in tandem with the landmark miniseries’ 40th anniversary, DC will be publishing the first issue as a Facsimile Edition.
Dig the solicitation info, which will be formally released later Friday:
MAN OF STEEL #1 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by JOHN BYRNE
Art and cover by JOHN BYRNE
Foil variant cover by JOHN BYRNE ($6.99 US)
Blank sketch cover ($4.99 US)
Superman enters the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths age with this limited series by superstar John Byrne, introducing an all-new origin tale that gives a completely different take on the early days of the Man of Steel and his home planet of Krypton!
$3.99 US | 32 pages
ON SALE 4/15/26
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Several thoughts:
— Unlike The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year Two, DC doesn’t appear to be re-publishing all six issues of the series. If that changes, we’ll certainly let you know.
— I’m halfway surprised DC didn’t opt to go with the more iconic Man of Steel #1 variant cover, but hey.
— Don’t forget — this is one of only six DC Facsimiles coming in April. Links below!
— Obligatory Price Comparison: An unslabbed original in good shape recently sold on eBay for just under $7. Most of the time, the series is sold in complete sets. So this is really just a nice opportunity to celebrate a great story.
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MORE
— BATMAN: DC Sets Dates for April DARK KNIGHT and YEAR TWO Facsimiles. Click here.
— DC to Publish SIX Facsimile Editions in April — With an Emphasis on the Wacky. Click here.
January 23, 2026
Well, this adds to my disappointment that “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” part 2 isn’t being released this month, since that was the “handoff” point to Byrne’s reboot.
I’ll cross fingers for the full six issue MOS run to be released, but yeah, I won’t be surprised if it’s this issue only. (Although #3 has the “first” modern meeting of Superman and Batman and it’d make a nice connection to all the other 1986 stuff this year.) I can only assume this is based on sales confidence and DC doesn’t think a run of Superman facsimilies would sell as well as Batman. That, and Byrne’s popularity is iffy right now (modern young angry readers *really* don’t like Byrne and they’ll be happy to let you know it).
January 23, 2026
I believe they’re publishing part 1 and 2 in the same month?
January 23, 2026
Nope. Per Dan’s last article on the topic, they’re doing a facsimile of Part 1 but not Part 2. https://13thdimension.com/action-comics-419-featuring-neal-adams-classic-cover-to-get-facsimile-edition/
January 24, 2026
I kind of assumed part 2 would release either June or August. June since it’s closer to DC’s Superman Day. August if DC is trying to release it closer to the anniversary of when the original was printed.