Line #17 ComicBook/ActionComics


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber1 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/action_comics_1_810.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} The one that started it all.]]]]
3	%%
4	''Action Comics'' first saw publication on April 18, 1938, though its first issue was cover dated June 1938. It's most famous for having the debut of ComicBook/{{Superman}} in its first issue. What many people do not realize, however, is that ''Action Comics'', like most ComicBooks of its day, was an [[AnthologyComic anthology]] containing multiple unrelated stories. As such, ''Action Comics'' #1 also marked the debut of Zatara the magician, perhaps better known today as the father of ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}.
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6	As times changed, comics began to drop the anthology format, and now ''Action Comics'' is mainly just another Superman title. The book returned to the anthology format for awhile in the 80s, becoming ''Action Comics Weekly'', but that was short-lived.
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8	The book reached issue 904 before being renumbered with a new #1 for DC's 2011 ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'' relaunch. As part of the ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' initiative, the old numbering was restored, with issue #52 followed by #957 (Vol. 2 0-52 counting as #905-956).
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10	In April 2018, just in time to celebrate its 80th anniversary, ''Action Comics'' reached its [[MilestoneCelebration 1000th issue]], officially making it [[LongRunners one of the longest-running continual comic series ever published]].
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12	For several decades now, ''Action Comics'' has held the honor of being the Holy Grail of comic book collecting: an original edition of a [[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber1 number 1 issue]] in good shape is worth ''well'' over a million dollars. Not bad considering that the [[RidiculousFutureInflation original cover price in 1938 was ten cents]].
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14	If you were looking for the [[BritishComics British comic serial]] ''named'' "Action!", see [[ComicBook/{{Action}} here]].
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16	----
17	!!''Action Comics'' story arcs with their own pages include:
18	[[index]]
19	* "[[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber1 Action Comics #1: Superman, Champion of the Oppressed]]"
20	* "[[ComicBook/RevolutionInSanMonte Action Comics #2: Revolution in San Monte]]"
21	* "[[ComicBook/TheBlakelyMineDisaster Action Comics #3: The Blakely Mine Disaster]]"
22	* "[[ComicBook/TheSuperDuelInSpace Action Comics #242: The Super-Duel in Space]]"
23	* "[[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton1959 Action Comics #252: The Supergirl from Krypton]]"
24	* "[[ComicBook/SupergirlsSuperPet Action Comics #261: Supergirl's Super Pet]]"
25	* "[[ComicBook/SupergirlsThreeSuperGirlfriends Action Comics #276: Supergirl's Three Super Girl-Friends!]]"
26	* "[[ComicBook/TheUnknownSupergirl Action Comics #278-285: The Unknown Supergirl]]"
27	* "[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfLuthor Action Comics #286: The Death of Luthor]]"
28	* "[[ComicBook/SupergirlsGreatestChallenge Action Comics #287: Supergirl's Greatest Challenge]]"
29	* "[[ComicBook/TheSuperSteedOfSteel Action Comics #292-294 and 300-302: The Super-Steed Of Steel]]"
30	* "[[ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind Action Comics #295-298: The Girl with the X-Ray Mind]]"
31	* "[[ComicBook/SupergirlsBigBrother Action Comics #303: Supergirl's Big Brother]]"
32	* "[[ComicBook/TheUntoldStoryOfArgoCity Action Comics #309-310 and 314-316: The Untold Story of Argo City]]"
33	* "[[ComicBook/TheSuperRevengeOfLexLuthor Action Comics #332-333 and 335: The Super-Revenge of Lex Luthor]]"
34	* "[[ComicBook/BrainiacsBlitz Action Comics #339: Brainiac's Blitz]]"
35	* "[[ComicBook/TheLeperFromKrypton Action Comics #363-366: The Leper from Krypton]]"
36	* "[[ComicBook/TheImmortalSuperman Action Comics #385-387: The Immortal Superman]]"
37	* "[[ComicBook/TheGreatPhantomPeril Action Comics #471-473: The Great Phantom Peril]]"
38	* "[[ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfSuperman Action Comics #500: The Life Story of Superman]]"
39	* "[[ComicBook/ThePlanetEaterTrilogy Action Comics #528-530: The Planet-Eater Trilogy]]"
40	* "[[ComicBook/TwoForTheDeathOfOne Action Comics #534-541: Two for the Death of One]]"
41	* "[[ComicBook/LuthorUnleashed Action Comics #544: Luthor Unleashed]]"
42	* "[[ComicBook/BrainiacRebirth Action Comics #544-546: Brainiac: Rebirth]]"
43	* "[[ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow Action Comics #583: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?]]"
44	* "[[ComicBook/TheCheshireContract Action Comics Weekly #613-618: The Cheshire Contract]]"
45	* "[[ComicBook/RocksAndHardPlaces Action Comics Weekly #627-634: Rocks and Hard Places]]"
46	* "[[ComicBook/ActionComicsExiles Action Comics Weekly #636-640: Exiles]]"
47	* "[[ComicBook/PanicInTheSky Action Comics #674-676: Panic in the Sky!]]"
48	* "[[ComicBook/TheDominusEffect Action Comics #745-748: The Dominus Effect]]"
49	* "[[ComicBook/WhatsSoFunnyAboutTruthJusticeAndTheAmericanWay Action Comics #775: What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?]]"
50	* "[[ComicBook/LastSon Action Comics #844-846, #851, and Annual #11: Last Son]]"
51	* "[[ComicBook/SupermanAndTheLegionOfSuperHeroes Action Comics #858-863: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes]]"
52	* "[[ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac Action Comics #866-870: Superman: Brainiac]]"
53	* "[[ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron Action Comics #881-882: The Hunt for Reactron]]"
54	* "[[ComicBook/TheBlackRing Action Comics #890-900: The Black Ring]]"
55	* "[[ComicBook/ReignOfDoomsday Action Comics #900-904: Reign of Doomsday]]"
56	* "[[ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52 Action Comics (Vol. 2) #0-9: Grant Morrison's Action Comics]]"
57	* "[[ComicBook/SupermanDoomed Action Comics (Vol. 2) #30-35: Superman: Doomed]]"
58	* "[[ComicBook/SupermanReborn Action Comics #975–976: Superman: Reborn]]"
59	* "[[ComicBook/TheOzEffect Action Comics #985-992: The Oz Effect]]"
60	* ''[[ComicBook/HouseOfBrainiac Action Comics #1064-1066: House of Brainiac]]''
61	[[/index]]
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63	----
64	!!Tropes found in other issues of ''Action Comics'' include:
65	* AloneAmongTheCouples: In #325 "Ugly Duckling Teacher of Stanhope College", Teacher Elizabeth Sparrow feels sorry during a college chaperone dance because all female teachers have gotten a dance partner...except for her, who is considered an old maid.
66	* AlreadyMetEveryone: In issue #358, Superboy accidentally ends up on Argo and meets his cousin Kara, one decade prior to her arrival on Earth.
67	* AnthologyComic: Until Superman just [[SpotlightStealingSquad flat-out took over]]. It still often featured a backup story of some sort featuring other characters, up through the Bronze Age. The series went back to a full anthology format in 1988 with ''Action Comics Weekly'', running from issues 601-642 before Superman took over again, and the comic returned to the monthly format.
68	* ArtifactTitle: Sort of. It certainly still has a lot of action, but its generic title suggests its anthology roots, not a book starring a particular character.
69	* AweInspiringDinosaurShot: In ''Action Comics #259: "The Cave-Girl of Steel"'' (1959), Supergirl travels to the prehistoric age to find dinosaurs, and becomes fascinated by the ferocious countenance of a looming ''Ceratosaurus'' and the sheer size of a ''Brontosaurus''.
70	* BreakoutCharacter: The Man of Steel himself, believe it or not. He started out as just one of many characters in the comic, but he became so popular that by issue #14, he was placed on the cover on a permanent basis. Eventually, the book became entirely about him and dropped the anthology angle for good.
71	* TheBusCameBack: The ''[[ComicBook/DCRebirth Rebirth]]'' edition of ''Action'' has the return of the Superman Revenge Squad, including a freshly restored Cyborg Superman, along with Blanque, Mongul, The Eradicator, Metallo and General Zod.
72	* ContinuityCavalcade: The Creator/PeterTomasi story "Never-Ending Battle" from #1000 has ComicBook/VandalSavage trapping Superman in a device that weaponizes Hypertime, forcing him to experience multiple incarnations of his life in an endless time loop, such as the early [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] adventures, ''Superman and the Mole Men'', ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', and more.
73	* TheDiscoveryOfFire: In ''Action Comics #259: "The Cave-Girl of Steel"'', Supergirl travels back in time and meets prehistoric humans, whom she teaches to create fire and to use it to ward off an attacking sea serpent.
74	* DistaffCounterpart: In issue #252 TropeCodifier ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} first showed up.
75	* DrosteImage: The cover of ''Action Comics #500: ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfSuperman'' features Superman staring at Supergirl and Lois Lane holding the cover of ''Action Comics'' #500 featuring Superman staring at Supergirl and Lois Lane holding the cover of ''Action Comics'' #500 featuring Superman staring at Supergirl and Lois Lane holding the cover of ''Action Comics'' #500 featuring...
76	* DumbDinos: In ''Action Comics #259: "The Cave-Girl of Steel"'' (1959), Supergirl travels to the prehistoric age and finds dinosaurs, depicted as sluggish and slow-witted creatures which are easily fooled and scared away. A Brontosaur even hurts itself as trying to shake Supergirl off his neck.
77	* ForgottenFirstMeeting: In issue #358, teenager Clark met Kara during an incident where he accidentally ended up on Argo. The fact that he didn't recognize his cousin when she arrived on Earth years later was explained to be the result of LaserGuidedAmnesia.
78	* HaveAGayOldTime: In #756, a retired super-villain announces that he was once known as the Molester. The reactions of his friends force him to point out that back in the day, "molest" meant "to bother" (and he couldn't pick "Joker" or "Prankster" because they were already taken).
79	* HeroesFightBarehanded: It had... uh... fist air fight: [[http://www.comicvine.com/action-comics-its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-supermobile/37-121620/ Supermobile]].
80	* HeroicSacrifice: In #399, an overloading nuclear reactor threatens to "turn the Earth into a ball of flame", requiring Superman to carry it into space and hurl it into the sun. Then, Superman's drawn through a portal several centuries into the future, where scientists are testing a device that has not only brought ''him'' to the future, but George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and George Custer. Superman is, much to their regret, the only one able to escape the containment field they are held in, and quickly learns a rather skewed (to him) version of his own death, where he perished saving the world from the ''very disaster'' he was just attempting to stop. (The other three historic figures had also been pulled to this place mere hours before their deaths in order to prevent a GrandfatherParadox.) Superman at first has second thoughts about going back, but then does so - only to discover, to his shock, that he manages to survive. Eventually, he starts to realize that he wasn't in the future of ''his'' Earth, but an alternate one, where history is similar, but not identical. (''However'', the final panel makes this ''very'' cold comfort for him, as he realizes that world's Superman died, and the citizens of the Earth he saved are now mourning for him.)
81	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Issues #584-642 were a weird era for the title. From #584 to #600, the title was a team-up book akin to the old ''ComicBook/MarvelTeamUp'' with Superman allying himself with a different hero each issue. From #601-642, the title returned to its AnthologyComic roots, but it proved to be such a failure that the title was put on hiatus for six months.
82	* LimitedSpecialUltimateCollectorsEdition: In 1974, DC reprinted the entire first issue in giant sized comic form, billing it as a "Famous 1st Edition, Limited Collector's Golden Mint Series" issue.
83	* RiseFromYourGrave: Superman did this in #469-470 after having apparently been killed (and insta-buried) by Terra-Man. Since he retained his powers, it was not a very surprising feat. The twist set up by the villain was that he came back looking like Terra-Man, leading him to be hunted by other superheroes [[MistakenForOwnMurderer for obvious reasons]].
84	* SceneCover: See that image up there? That scene happens in the story. The full context is that villains are trying to escape from Superman so he stops their car, turns it sideways to dump them out, and ''then'' smashes it.
85	* SleazyPhotoshoot: {{Exaggerated\|Trope}} in issues #592 and 593. Sleez, a former associate of ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, manages to get both [[ComicBook/NewGods Big Barda]] and ComicBook/{{Superman}} under his mental control. Along with humiliating Barda, he works with an adult film producer in one of Metropolis' slums to have Barda filmed doing something indecent, and later tries to have Superman and Barda filmed having sex. However, Barda's husband Mister Miracle, tipped off to what's going on by ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, interrupts the shoot and breaks them free of Sleez's control before things can get farther than them kissing.
86	* SolarSystemNeighbors
87	** During the course of his job as a [[SpacePolice Planeteer]] Tommy Tomorrow helps out some Jovians on Jupiter.
88	** Giovanni Zatara once thwarted a planned Saturnian invasion by tricking the shapeshifting Saturnians into thinking magical powers like his own were commonplace on earth.
89	* TeamUpSeries: It was a Superman team-up book for a while ComicBook/PostCrisis after ''ComicBook/DCComicsPresents'' ended.
90	* VariantCover: #1000 takes it [[ExaggeratedTrope up to eleven]] as there are ''eight'' covers depicting Superman in the style of each decade: Steve Rude (TheThirties), Michael Cho (TheForties), Dave Gibbons (TheFifties), Michael Allred (TheSixties), Creator/JimSteranko (TheSeventies), Joshua Middleton (TheEighties), Dan Jurgens (TheNineties)[[note]]Since Jurgens was the artist during that period, DC basically told him "You do you, Dan."[[/note]] and Lee Bermejo (TheNoughties).

Context ComicBook / ActionComics