Books : Superman The Action Comics Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) (Archive Editions (Graphic Novels))

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Rating:

- The comic book that started it all with The Man Of Steel!
Superman made his debut in Action Comics #1 in June, 1938. He became an instant sensation with readers, and started the superhero trend.

Superman: The Action Comics Archives volume 1 reprints only the Superman stories from Action Comics #1, and #7-20 (issues 2 thru 6 were reprinted in early issues of Superman). These stories featured a Man of Steel who did anything to get justice done, including escaping from Police whenever they get on his trail! He didn't have all the superpowers that his modern version has today, or that modern version's sense of justice.

Superman fought normal criminals in his early years, before getting a regular rogues gallery like arch mastermind Lex Luthor, the alien Brainiac, Bizarro, The Prankster, etc. One villain who became Superman's first recurring foe in this book was the Ultra-Humanite. A sinister villain who was thwarted by the Man of Steel many times.

Read the classic stories from comics' Golden Age that started it all in Superman: The Action Comics Archives!

Rating:

- The Man of Tomorrow!
When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two teenage kids from the slums, first read Philip Wylie's Gladiator they were shocked. Its premise was that even a superhero couldn't really do much to correct the injustice within society. The Superman they created not only disproved Wylie's premise, but also took the fight to the bad guys in violent and irresistible ways. A bad guy wouldn't rat out his boss; Superman tossed him out a skyscraper window and played catch with him all the way down. Nobody said no to Superman for very long. This pre-World War II Superman is very different than his modern cousin. He was the culmination of the mythic hero (think Samson) set in an economically depressed society that had a powerful faith that the future would be better. (The modern Superman comes from a very different place: Jor-el the father gave Kal-el, his only begotten son (think Jesus), so the world might be a better place.) The stories in this book show the world's first and best superhero. I've been reading and collecting Superman since the fifties, and this book thrills me. There is no greater high in comics than the genesis of Superman!

Rating:

- This is not the Superman you expect.
This Superman isn't as powerful as the one we are use to, yet that makes him all the more amazing. He isn't buddy buddy with the police. In fact, he defies them. This Superman is not afraid to put Justice before the law. The stories are great. The art is great. I highly recommend it.

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