Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Weekly Panel of Steel #8

Wow, so we're graced with two weeks in a row where we had suitable contenders for the Weekly Panel Of Steel! I don't think that's happened since I started this blog.

This week's panel is a beautiful image, coming to us courtesy of the Flashpoint event. So far, we've been about six weeks into this story with nothing but a fleeting image of a cracked Superman logo on a bunker to keep us Superman fans properly teased.

All of that comes to an end today (well, almost) with the release of Flashpoint: Project Superman #1. This is the mini that sets out to tell us how there is no Superman in the Flashpoint universe. With the briefest of teases, and the few tidbits they've released in some creator interviews, it looked like we were going to get a Superman/Super Soldier type of story with Kal-El as a government guinea pig.

Well that's not quite what they delivered, as they managed to one up my expectations. The government super soldier angle is still there, front and center, but it appears that the Project Superman had their alien DNA long before Kal-El crashed to Earth! That's right, his ship comes crashing right into the heart of Metropolis, not long after the original Project Superman test subject has gone rogue.

All through the story we're led to believe that Kal-El was the origin of the alien DNA, but as we see in the last page of the story and in this weeks Panel of Steel...that's not quite how it happened.


I like the redesign by Gene Ha of the Kryptonian spaceship that brings Kal-El to Earth, as it has a nice Silver Age meets Superman movie feel to it.

All in all, this series has me excited to see how this plays out...and it's all because of that great last page!

Plot by Scott Snyder & Lowell Francis
Script by Lowell Francis
Artwork by Gene Ha
Colors by Art Lyon
Letters by Rob Leigh

Flashpoint: Project Superman #1
The Hero's Road
August 2011
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Characters Continuity Forgot #5

Quarmer
a.k.a. The Sand Superman


Once a major player in the de-powering of Superman in the early 70's, he/she/it hasn't been seen again since shuffling back off into the Quarmm Dimension after duking it out with Superman, Captain Marvel, and Black Adam in 1978.

Seeping into our universe through a dimensional crack that was left behind after the explosion that destroyed all Kryptonite on Earth, the shapeless being from Quarmm passed over Superman's unconscious body and was charged with his mental and physical vibrations. Slowly, over the next twelve issues, the doppelganger drained more and more of Superman's powers through a psychic link.

As it became more powerful, Superman weakened to such a point that his ability to protect the Earth was threatened. As is bound to happen in such situations, the two fight. Quarmer soon realized that there is only room for one Superman on Earth, and he departs back into his own dimension still possessing all of the abilities that he "borrowed" from Superman.

You'd think that an inter-dimensional being that contains half the power of Superman (and could destroy Superman himself with but a single touch) would have made more than one other appearance after his initial storyline wrapped up.

You'd think so, but it's just another case of a character continuity forgot.

Script by Denny O'Neil
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Murphy Anderson

Superman #241
The Shape Of Fear!
August 1971
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Gone Fishing...


...will resume regular posting when I get back from the old fishing hole.

Script by Gerry Conway
Pencils by Dick Dillin
Inks by Frank McLaughlin
Colors by Jerry Serpe
Letters by Ben Oda

Justice League Of America #1
While A World Lies Burning
September 1979
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Monday, June 27, 2011

The Russian Nesting Doll Theory Of Secret Identities

For those times when you need to be extra careful about your secret identity, nothing beats wearing a rubber mask of your secret identity, over your super hero costume, over your actual face.


Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Murphy Anderson

Action Comics #408
The Shocking Secret Of Super-X!
January 1972
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday versus #15

Superman vs. Dinosaur Robot


You're going to have to try a little bit harder than to try to surprise Superman with a robot dinosaur.

Script by Marv Wolfman
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Frank Chiaramonte
Colors by Gene D'Angelo
Letters by Ben Oda

Action Comics #514
Countdown Of The Killer Computer!
December 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Awesome Colan Cover!

So I'm sure by now, everyone has heard of the passing of Gene Colan on Thursday. He was a heckuva artist, and there has been no shortage of tributes all over the comic book blogosphere.

Here at Superman 101, we'll fondly remember his great talents by using one of his covers for our semi-regular Saturday awesome cover posts. And since this is a Superman blog, we'll pick one with Superman in it.

Over the years, Gene was known as the Marvel horror guy during the 70's, and even though he worked for DC in the 80's quite a bit, he tended to stay in the Batman corner of things and didn't do too much Superman stuff. In fact, I could only find one cover that he ever did where he actually drew Superman.

So without further ado, the world's greatest Gene Colan Superman cover (by virtue of being the only Gene Colan Superman cover)...World's Finest Comics #297


Rest in peace.

Pencils by Gene Colan
Inks by Klaus Janson

World's Finest Comics #297
November 1983
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Friday, June 24, 2011

Adventures in product placement

The recent addition of the Subway Famous Fans advertising insert in this past week's comics got me thinking about some similar moves in the past. One of my favorites is when Superman has to team up with two schoolkids using a TRS-80 computer to help bring down Major Disaster!

Now, for all you kids spoiled with terabyte drives and cloud computing, there used to be a time when you stored your data on a cassette tape! Talk about blazing fast.

How fast, you ask?


Fast enough to show up Superman (for at least as long as TRS was paying the advertising bills).

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Jim Starlin
Inks by Dick Giordano

Action Comics #509
The Computers That Saved Metropolis!
July 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Weekly Panel of Steel #7

So there was a bit of intrigue with the Superman books this week, as the solicited story for Superman #712 was suddenly changed at the last minute with an in-continuity story, circa 2006, that never saw print.

I don't really care if it was muslims, kittens, or both that led to the last minute change-- I'm just thankful that the intolerable Grounded storyline is now only a ponderous thirteen issue part storyline, instead of fourteen.

And as elated as I was to read something other than walking Supes, imagine my surprise when it was the long delayed Krypto story from Kurt Busiek's post-Infinite Crisis run, that was originally promised to us 54 issues ago!

Kurt Busiek, in my opinion, got a bum deal on the Superman titles. His run suffered so much from trying to tap dance around the Kubert delays on Action and Pacheco's slowness on Superman, that he never got a chance to get a straight narrative going with any sort of momentum. And then to see his obvious frustration with the delay and eventual shelving of his Krypto story, I was almost relieved to see him move on as the Superman editorial team wasn't doing him any favors.

So as you can probably imagine, there's no way that I'm not making a panel from this issue of Superman the Weekly Panel of Steel.

This issue takes place after the events of Infinite Crisis, with Krypto coming to terms with the death of Superboy. It's a touching tale that's wonderfully illustrated by Rick Leonardi, and even though it's 5 years out of continuity, it still makes a great read and I'm glad that I finally got the opportunity.

I couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Krypto, as seeing him mope around for the whole issue, looking around in all of the familiar places where Conner always was, only to come up empty is what it's felt like to be a Superman fan these last two years. Month after month I'd dutifully check the Superman books for Superman, only to come up empty as well.


Take heart Krypto, as we only have to wait another three months.

Script by Kurt Busiek
Pencils by Rick Leonardi
Inks by Jonathan Sibal
Colors by Brad Anderson
Letters by Comicraft

Superman #712
Lost Boy
August 2011
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Ultimate Spidey R.I.P.

So if you believe everything that the polybags tell you, today's the day that Peter Parker, a.k.a. The Ultimate Spider-Man, dies.


I'm of two minds on this one, as Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty much the end-all, be-all of comic book perfection for the first decade of this millennium. But then again, the four dollar price point killed my reading of this book two years ago, so I've long since made my peace with his demise.

Still, it'll definitely put a nice cap on Peter's story and provide me with a finite number of books I need to go back and find on ebay (for hopefully less than $4 a book).

Script by Jerry Siegel
Artwork by Joe Shuster

Superman Sunday Newspaper Strip #81
May 18, 1941
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

First day of summer


Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away

Sea World advertisement
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Monday, June 20, 2011

Welcome sports readers!

We interrupt our regular blog postings to bring you this special sports update!

So apparently two divergent worlds collided over the weekend, as a sports blog linked to a comic book blog! No, the resulting matter/anti-matter collision didn't end up breaking the internet, in fact there was no downside at all. What did happen, was that there was a whole slew of new people checking out Superman 101.

And to throw a bone to whatever new readers decided to stick around for another day, here's a sports themed post for today.


It's time to test your sports trivia against the man of steel! Can you help settle the bet between Jimmy and Steve before Superman!

Have fun. I'll post the answers in the comment section tomorrow if no one pipes up with the right answer.

Script by Gerry Conway
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Frank Chiaramonte
Colors by Gene D'Angelo
Letters by Todd Klein

Action Comics #518
Treasure Hunt On A Small Planet!
April 1981
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Sunday versus #14

Superman vs. Kryptonian Dinosaur


So far we've had dinosaurs of several species, dinosaur skeletons, imaginary dinosaurs, super-smart dinosaurs...but we've yet to have a Kryptonian Dinosaur.

Beware the Octosaur!

Script by Len Wein
Pencils by Dick Dillin
Inks by Dick Giordano
Colors by Anthony Tollin
Letters by Ben Oda

Justice League Of America #111
Balance Of Power!
May/June 1974
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Awesome Shuster Pin-Up

With all the recent talk and attention devoted to new beginnings, let's use the opportunity today to divert our attention back towards the original.

Today's pin-up features work by none other than the co-creator of Superman, Joe Shuster!


Artwork by Joe Shuster

Action Comics #544
June 1983
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Friday, June 17, 2011

Green Lantern Week - The Oath!


Script by Ron Marz
Pencils and Inks by Tom Grindberg
Colors by Glenn Whitmore
Letters by Gaspar Saladino

Superman (Vol. 2) #147
Secret Origins Part 1: The Knight
August 1999
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Green Lantern Week - The Brushoff!


I guess there's a good reason why the World's Finest remained a duo and not a trio.

Script by Elliot S! Maggin
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Bob Oksner

Action Comics #429
The Man Who Wrote Superman's Obituary!
November 1973
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Green Lantern Week - The Big Green Fist!


No celebration would be complete without it.

Script by Marv Wolfman
Plot & Pencils by Jim Starlin
Inks by Steve Mitchell
Colors by Jerry Serpe
Letters by Ben Oda

DC Comics Presents #26
Between Friend and Foe!
October 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Green Lantern Week - The Impulsive One!


Nothing demonstrates the difference between the "impulsive" Green Lantern and the "cool-headed" Superman quite like the temptation of alien fruit!

Script by John Byrne
Pencils by John Byrne
Inks by Karl Kesel
Colors by Tom Ziuko
Letters by John Costanza

Superman (Vol. 2) #14
Last Stand!
February 1988
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Monday, June 13, 2011

Green Lantern Week - The Offer!

I guess we unofficially started this with yesterday's post of Superman vs. a Green Lantern dinosaur construct, but all this week it's Green Lantern themed posts!

Count down to the release of the Green Lantern movie on Friday by coming back every day this week for some Green Lantern goodness. And to kick things off, here's Hal Jordan in a rather benevolent mood.

"Thanks for the offer, GL, but I have my own movie franchise being rebooted for a Christmas 2012 release."

Script by Geoff Johns & Kurt Busiek
Artwork by Pete Woods
Colors by Brad Anderson
Letters by Nick J. Napolitano

Action Comics #837 Up, Up, And Away! Chapter Two
Mild-Mannered Reporter

May 2006
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sunday versus #13

Superman vs. Green Lantern Dinosaur Construct


Our weekly experiment to see how many different stories of Superman fighting Dinosaurs we can highlight, continues apace...Green Lantern style!

Script by James D. Hudnall
Pencils by Ed Hannigan
Inks by Willie Blyberg
Colors by Glenn Whitmore
Letters by Bill Oakley

Adventures of Superman #479
Red Glass Part Two Falling Apart
June 1991
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Future of Superman

So we're going to take a break from our daily grind of exploring Superman's varied history to take a trip to the future.

The future?

Yes dear readers, the future!

Now, unless your internet has been living under a rock for the last week, you've undoubtedly heard about DC relaunching their entire universe in a little over three months time. For the first time in 25 years we'll be getting a Superman #1, and for the first time in 73 years we'll be getting an Action Comics #1!

DC has finally graced us with some official announcements, so let's take a look and see what we've got.


ACTION COMICS #1

Written by GRANT MORRISON

Art by RAGS MORALES and RICK BRYANT

Cover by RAGS MORALES

Variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS

On sale SEPTEMBER 7 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T

The one and only Grant Morrison (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN) returns to Superman, joined by sensational artist Rags Morales (IDENTITY CRISIS), to bring you tales of The Man of Steel unlike any you’ve ever read! This extra-sized debut issue is the cornerstone of the entire DC Universe! This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn’t trust their first Super Hero.

So all week long there was a couple of rumors floating around, one of which was Grant Morrison taking control of the original and longest running superhero title. I tried not to get my hopes up, but to actually see the rumor pan out makes me pleased to no end. He's one of the true modern masters who isn't afraid to tell a challenging and complicated story, and I welcome someone with his vision to dig a little deeper into the character of Superman. His ambition sometimes outweighs the execution (or, to be fair, the audience's patience), but his reverence for the character is well known, and I look forward to reading his Action Comics.

His partner in crime for the relaunch is Rags Morales, and I've been a big fan of his since I saw his work on Black Condor for DC. It's one of my favorite books from the 90's, and I've gladly followed him from series to series. His run on Hawkman and Identity Crisis were a couple of exceptionally strong showings. Unfortunately, I've been slightly underwhelmed with his sporadic work since then. Looking at the promotional image above, however, has put any fears to rest. The man's an artist of the highest caliber, and I truly hope we're looking at a new high-point for him.

Now, the promotional copy released is not 100% specific, but it looks like this title will (at least initially) be covering the history/origin of Superman. Between Birthright, One Year Later, Secret Origin, and Earth One...that's probably the last thing I wanted to see revisited. But it's a new world, so I guess it's inevitable and it has to start somewhere. The fact that they're making Superman the first super-hero again makes me happy. After Grant Morrison's wonderful four panel origin story for Superman back in All-Star Superman, I actually find myself intrigued to see what he can do when he expands upon that idea a little.

Hideout X-1, we barely got a chance to know you.

SUPERMAN #1

Written by GEORGE PEREZ

Breakdowns and cover by GEORGE PEREZ

Art by JESUS MERINO

On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The new adventures of Superman begin here! What is The Man of Steel’s startling new status quo? How does it affect Lois Lane and The Daily Planet? There’s no time for answers now, because Superman must stop a monstrous threat to Metropolis – one that he somehow is the cause of!

There was another rumor floating around that George Perez was coming back to the Superman titles, both writing and drawing. This one was about 3/5 right, as Perez is writing and providing breakdowns for Superman #1. Now this guy's a major talent whose been building on his legacy since the mid 70's. That's not to say that this particular announcement didn't give me a little pause, but let me explain.

I'll take an artist of Perez' talent on the Superman books all day long, but I worry about the consistency. To say that Superman fans have been getting the short shrift for the last four or five years is an understatement. If we haven't been waiting months on end for creators to tell a story in a monthly book, we've had to endure years (yes, years) of Superman books without Superman in it! It's gotten to the point now that I just want a Superman book with Superman in it...consistently.

Perez has definitely had his issues over the last decade with being able to turn out a monthly product. To see that he's only providing breakdowns is a big sigh of relief. I'm looking forward to reading his stories, as his run on Wonder Woman was epic in it's scope. Will lightning strike twice? We shall see.

What really made me smile about this announcement was with who was handling the other half of the art, Jesus Merino! He's obviously no stranger to Superman, as he's been doing the odd fill-in on Action Comics over the last couple of months. His time with Superman actually spans back farther than that, as he was Carlos Pacheco's inker when the pair did stories in Superman Batman and Superman. I've been a fan of these two since Avengers Forever, but I never realized how much influence he had on their collaboration until Pacheco left for Marvel and Merino stayed with DC. Pacheco's pencils, in my opinion, have suffered under different inkers, while Merino has really impressed me doing both pencils and inks. To see that he's been rewarded with relaunching Superman's titular series has me tickled. This was actually what I was hoping would happen, but I figured it never would. It's always nice to be proven wrong every once in a while.

Rounding out the Superman Family of books are another relaunch of a Superboy and Supergirl title. By my count, this is the fifth go-around for each of these characters.


SUPERBOY #1

Written by SCOTT LOBDELL

Art by RB SILVA and ROB LEAN

Cover by ERIC CANETE

On sale SEPTEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

They thought he was just an experiment – and a failed one at that! Grown from a combination of Kryptonian and human DNA, the Clone was no more than a set of data to the scientists of Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. But when the scope of his stunning powers was revealed, he became a deadly weapon! Now the question is: Can a clone develop a conscience?


SUPERGIRL #1

Written by MICHAEL GREEN and MIKE JOHNSON

Art and cover by MAHMUD ASRAR

On sale SEPTEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Meet Supergirl. She’s got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman – and none of his affection for the people of Earth. So don’t piss her off!

Since I basically just got two Superman books, both written with my personal tastes in mind, I'm ready to roll with the punches on these two. And with these final two solicits, there's some good and bad so let's break it down.

THE GOOD
  • R.B. Silva! This guy blew me away on the Jimmy Olsen co-feature. To see that he's still with DC and still in the Superman stable is great, and definitely makes the loss of Nick Spencer sting a little less.

  • Likewise, Mahmud Asrar on Supergirl is a great score. He's a rising star and it's good to see DC trusting him with a major relaunch title.

  • Eric Canete on anything makes me happy. Even if it's just one Superboy cover, I'll take it. At least we know the DC editors have his number, let's hope they keep utilizing him.

THE BAD
  • Are we really getting angry/indifferent Supergirl back again? I'm not sure how I feel about that, but the solicit is vague enough that I'm not that worried yet.

  • Scott Lobdell. I read enough of his work for Marvel during the 90's that I could probably live without ever reading another. Alas, he's got three titles in the reboot, so that's not going to happen.

  • Green & Johnson wrote some average stories for Superman Batman, so I'll give 'em another chance, but I'm not initially wowed.

  • Supergirl's costume I generally like, except for the bare knees. Unfortunately, they are what draws my eye every time I look at it.

A little more bad than good, but like I said, as long as they can get the books out consistently they're going to get a lot of slack from me.

Copyright (c) DC Comics

Friday, June 10, 2011

Things I had no idea existed...

So I've been reading Superman comic books monthly since 1992, and have been avidly collecting his back issues for the past 14 years or so, but every once in a while I come across something I've never heard about before in the Superman mythos.

Something like Hideout X-1!


That's right, it's a secret conference room hidden inside the Daily Planet globe. Apparently, it's a meeting place for Superman and Batman to get together every once in a while?

In this particular story, Superman is double-crossing a thief by pretending that this is a good place to hole up and wait for the heat to die down, knowing full well that Batman is due to show up soon!

So has Hideout X-1 ever shown up again?

A quick, cursory google search came up empty, but someone out there knows for sure one way or the other.

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by George Roussos

Action Comics #384
The Forbidden Costume!
January 1970
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Superman Sketchbook #5

Today's sketch is a beautiful piece featuring the Golden Age Superman, from the talented hand of Ronald Salas!

Currently making his home over at Boom! doing some cover work, Ron broke into the business along with super-hot writer Nick Spencer, doing the pencils for Existence 2.0. With talent in abundance and friends in high places, it's only a matter of time before we start seeing a lot more of his work.

Check out his website and his deviantART page for more awesome sketches, and for the details on commissioning your own piece of work. Get it while it's still reasonably priced!

Artwork by Ronald Salas

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Corporal Punishment of the Golden Age

If he's worried about the lad slipping, giving him a spanking hardly seems the appropriate response.

Script by Jerry Siegel
Pencils by Joe Sikela
Inks by George Roussos

Superman #46
High Man On A Flagpole!
May/June 1947
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Once around the old rumor mill


So the word is someone may be coming back?

I'll see how the rumor plays out before I put any official comments into writing, but I will say my first reaction was "Whoa!"

Script by George Perez
Breakdowns by George Perez
Finished Art by Brett Breeding
Colors by Glenn Whitmore
Letters by Bill Oakley

Action Comics #643
Superman On Earth
July 1989
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Monday, June 6, 2011

The benefits of lead-based paint

Luckily for us, Superman hasn't come across any more Kryptonite fire hydrants since the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead-based paint.


I'm also wondering if this wasn't a trap for Krypto that Superman just sort of blundered into.

Script by Gardner Fox
Pencils by Mike Sekowsky
Inks by Bernard Sachs
Letters by Gaspar Saladino

Justice League of America #21
Crisis On Earth-One!
August 1963
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Sunday versus #12

Superman Streaky Krypto? vs. Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton


Superman is taking this Sunday off, so filling in for him on his never-ending quest to battle dinosaurs is some sort of amalgam of Krypto and Streaky!

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by George Roussos

Action Comics #388
Puzzle Of The Wild World!
May 1970
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Awesome Johnson Cover

Today's Awesome Cover Gallery post is from an artist who left a singular stamp on Superman in the Elseworlds corner of the universe...Dave Johnson!

I probably could've picked any of his covers for Superman: Red Son and called it a day. Instead, let's take a look at one of his few in-continuity pieces of Superman work. This cover is from an awesome two-part story that crosses over from Superman (Vol. 2) #168 to Detective Comics #756, and had their respective leads star on the opposite cover.

That's just a long-winded way of saying enjoy this cover from Detective Comics, featuring Superman!


Artwork by Dave Johnson

Detective Comics #756
May 2001
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Friday, June 3, 2011

Sgt. Rock Redux

After yesterday's bit of silliness, here's a panel from the story where Superman really met Sgt. Rock.


Barking orders to a grunt...that's more like it!

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Joe Staton
Inks by Jack Abel
Colors by Adrienne Roy
Letters by Ben Oda

DC Comics Presents #10
The Miracle Man Of Easy Company
June 1979
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Panels that defy explanation...


Yes, that's Sgt. Rock throwing garbage at Superman while being nagged by Lois Lane! I think it's the Peeping Tom, however, that adds just the right amount of WTF to this panel.

This whole story is actually filled with panels as crazy as this one, so make sure you come back on Sunday and I'll feature another.

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by George Roussos

Action Comics #388
Puzzle Of The Wild World!
May 1970
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Famous' Firsts - Alan Moore

It's the first day of the month, and that means Famous' Firsts!

Today's entry features a writer who hasn't written a ton of Superman work, but what he has written definitely stands out in Superman history...Alan Moore!

That's right, before he would go on to write The Man Who Has Everything... and Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?, Superman showed up with the Justice League in the pages of Moore's breakout hit The Saga Of The Swamp Thing.

Here's Superman's first panel from that issue.


Everything old is new again, as The Search For Swamp Thing is set to be released this month, with both Superman and Hawkman on the cover of the first issue!

And as a bonus first, I suppose this is Stephen Bissette's first published Superman as well!

Script by Alan Moore
Pencils by Stephen Bissette
Inks by John Totleben
Colors by Tatjana Wood
Letters by John Costanza

The Saga Of The Swamp Thing
Roots
May 1984
Copyright (c) DC Comics