Cover to Cover: Action Comics #1

"It's always best to start at the beginning."

-- Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz

In the Beginning...

Following Glinda's sage advice, I will indeed be starting Superman@70 month at the very beginning...all the way back to Action Comics #1!

Featuring the debut of Superman, the cover of Action Comics #1 was utterly unlike anything else on the newsstand, as you can see from the photo below (courtesy of Dial B for Blog). Note the sea of celebrity, detective, and women's magazines surrounding the spectacle of a costumed man hoisting a car over his head!

As everyone knows, the instant and enduring popularity of Superman made Action Comics #1 the most important comic book ever published...which naturally made it one of the most homaged covers as well.

Members of the Superman family were natural choices to star in tributes to their patriarch's debut, as seen here on the covers of Action Comics #685 (1993) and Superboy & Risk Double Shot #1 (1998).

(Click on the cover images for a larger view)

On the cover of Superman #136 (1998), a super-descendant in the year 2999 smashes a futuristic car as robots and aliens stand in for the original fleeing criminals.

Even the monstrous Bizarro and Scorn (a 90's pal of Superman's) offered their respective takes on the covers of Tales of the Bizarro World (2000) and Superman #124 (1997).

Some early superheroes of the Golden Age proved that homage covers are by no means an exclusively modern practice.

Only two years after Superman's debut, Whiz Comics #2 (1940) finds Captain Marvel throwing down the "anything you can do, I can do better" gauntlet by not only picking up a bulky Studebaker, but also hurling it (as well as its passengers) straight into a brick wall. Ironically, this cover and other (much more vague) similarities to Superman would bring an almost immediate lawsuit from DC Comics, ultimately resulting in Cap's demise.

Although I'm not entirely sure what's happening on that 1946 cover of Sensation Comics #51 (as is often the case with the wonky Golden Age Wonder Woman), the nod to Action Comics #1 is obvious. Despite the car's somewhat goofy perspective and diminutive size, note its similarity to the original model from Action Comics.

Back in the Modern Age, DC rival Marvel Comics got into the spirit of Superman's (then) 50^th anniversary with this cover from Amazing Spider-Man #306 (1988). A Superman analog named Mr. Majestic also "assumed the position" on the cover of Superman #201 (2004).

A few of the "Indies" have offered a more humorous interpretation of Action Comics #1, including Mike Allred's Madman and FYI's Fuzzy Bunnies from Hell.

 

Finally, the Man of Steel himself appeared on covers that weren't so much homages of Action Comics #1 as they were alternate perspectives of that famous scene.

For years, DC Comics assigned the divergent Golden Age (1940's) adventures of Superman to an alternate world named Earth-2. On the cover of Secret Origins #1 (1986), this version of Superman and his fellow Earth-2 oldsters relive his Studebaker-smashing debut via a magic crystal ball. A sharp eye will note that the crystal ball scene (as well as the issue's interior artwork) was drawn by the legendary Wayne Boring, the definitive Superman artist for much of the 1950's.

Action Comics #800 (2003) featured a cinematic shift in camera angle courtesy of renowned movie poster illustrator Drew Struzan (which was unfortunately the highlight of the entire double-sized issue).

Speaking of things cinematic, the movie Superman Returns (2006) featured its own tribute to Action Comics #1, causing fanboy heads to collectively explode with glee on opening night.

Of course, what's a milestone like the 70^th anniversary of Action Comics #1 without Legos?  A guy named Julian Fong cleverly captures the famous scene with the ubiquitous plastic blocks...right down to the broken front tire and terrified crooks!

Are there more Action #1 homage covers? Considering its age and influence...probably. If you know of any I've missed, please mention them in the comments section below or, better yet, email me a link or an image so I can post it as an update to this post.

UPDATE: Sure enough, here's another one (click on the image for a larger view). Paolo Bassotti from Italy alerted me to a cover of Leo Ortolani's Rat-Man. Paolo writes, "This brilliant superhero spoof/homage is probably the most successful Italian comic book of the last ten years. Its covers are very often tributes to the classics." Thanks, Paolo!  I wonder how many other international comics have done an Action Comics #1 homage?

UPDATE: Blake sent me a link to the limited edition hologram cover of Prime #1 (1993).  Doesn't that bring back memories of the early 90's and its glut of special-effect printing?  

Gotta admit, though...it looks pretty cool. Thanks, Blake!

UPDATE: Like I said in the comment section: AAAARRGGGHH! I can't believe I forgot about Fantastic Four #291 (1986)!  I remember it coming out only a few months before John Byrne was scheduled to take over the Superman titles...but apparently I didn't remember it enough to include it here. Thanks to my pal Paul for bringing it to my attention!

UPDATE: A couple more from Allen, one featuring Peter David's Fallen Angel and the other a print by Disney Duck artist Don Rosa (which is now officially my favorite Action Comics #1 homage cover). 

Thanks, Allen!

Comments

[suedenim]

The photo of the newsstand with Action Comics #1 for sale is apparently doctored, according to this blog post:

http://lastshortbox.blogspot.com/2008/06/comics-blog-comics.html

[Mark Engblom]

Yeah, I was made aware it was a doctored photo as I was creating the post. I wrote Robby at Dial B for Blog asking permission to use the photo. He said that he had Photoshopped it...and since it was such a great visual of what a 1938 newsstand might have look like with Action #1 on sale, I didn't think it was a big deal running with it. I mean, it's not like there was a copy of, say, Thundercats #1 sitting on the stands.

Still, if the doctored photo offended, I apologize.

[suedenim]

Oh, no, no offense, it's just one of those photoshops that, after escaping "to the wild," appears to be widely viewed as authentic.

[MMFK]

I don't think it was used for a cover, but I really liked Alex Ross's version.

http://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/44000/43734/118244-homage-covers_400.jpg

[Mark Engblom]

Yeah, that's a fantastic version of that scene, MMFK. I was torn whether or not to include it...and I probably should have.

I like how Ross changed it to a night time setting...and how the light of the car's headlights make Superman look even more intimidating and mysterious. The wide open, blank spaces of the original cover allow the eye to wander...but Ross's reinterpretation keep the attention squarely on Superman.

[Blake]

Here's another one -- the hologram cover of Prime #1.

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/645/prime1aiv8.jpg

[PAUL SAETHER]

And there's F.F. #291.
Possibly a Simpson's comic too?.
Action #33 is also quite close, don't you think?

[Mark. Engblom]

Aaaarrgghh! How could I overlook F.F. #291? Thanks for the reminder, Paul. I'll post it right away.

(It's in my COLLECTION! How could I forget it? Grrrr!)

You're right...Action #33 IS really close!

[Allen]

Cool! I had most of these listed when I did a similar topic for the DC Archives Message board at the Masterworks site. Unfortunately, that topic was lost in the great hacker attack a couple of years ago.

There's also a newer one: Fallen Angel (2nd series) #15 (March? 2007): http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/15120/400/15120_4_015.jpg

And given the Legion of Super-Heroes 50th anniversary, here's a similar look at the homages to Adventure Comics #247:
http://www.legionworld.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003135#000000

[Mark Engblom]

Thanks, Allen! Now THAT'S one I never would have seen (since I don't follow Fallen Angel). I'll post it as an update later on tonight when I get home. You guys are great...keep 'em coming!

[Allen]

Fallen Angel #14 and 15 apparently contain Peter David's response to DC retconning his Linda Lee Danvers Supergirl out of continuity. I picked up #14 recently, but haven't read it yet (I don't have 15). Before that, I only read the first DC issue.

Don Rosa also sells prints of the Disney Ducks that are homages of various covers, including Action #1. But I don't have an image of that.

[Mark Engblom]

Man...Allen comes through again! The Rosa homage is HILARIOUS. I can't wait to post it tonight, as well. Thanks again, Allen!

[Allen]

Here's a link to the original art for that Prime cover: http://bp3.blogger.com/_kvv3fcoXqVE/SFrF4khFq-I/AAAAAAAACk8/XI4AHse0Auc/s1600-h/cover_lowrescopy.jpg
That cover is actually a clay sculpture that was modeled based on this original art, as described here: http://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2008/06/original-art-stories-breyfogles-prime_20.html

[Weird]

Other: http://thisisnthappiness.com/post/241651567/covered-tom-addison-covers-action-comics-1

[Billy Tackett]

From the Shameless Self Promotion files: How about a zombie version?

http://www.billytackett.com/piczombiecomics.html

Great article!