ACTION COMICS #1,000 DELUXE edition

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Your pal, KC Carlson

A KC COLUMN by KC Carlson

Wow, a thousand issues of action Comics! I never thought that I’d see anything like this — but then again, until recently, I thought I’d never see Brian Michael Bendis writing Superman either! The comics world has certainly gotten interesting in the last few years.

Action Comics #1000 Deluxe Edition

Action Comics #1000 Deluxe edition is a special 160-page hardcover presentation of the recently published milestone comic book from DC Comics. The contents include:

Action Comics #1000 Dan Jurgens cover

From The City That has Everything:

Writer/Layouts: Dan Jurgens

Finishes: norm Rapmund

Never-Ending Battle:

Story & words: Peter J. Tomasi

Art: Patrick Gleason

An enemy Within:

Script: Marv Wolfman

Pencils: Curt Swan

Inks: Butch Guice & Kurt Schaffenberger

This “lost” Curt Swan Superman story consists of four pages re-dialogued and newly inked by Guice, capped off with an old-style pinup inked by Schaffenberger.

Action Comics #1000 Steve rude cover

The Car:

Story: Geoff Johns and Richard Donner

Art: Olivier Coipel

The fifth Season:

Script: Scott Snyder

Art: Rafael Albuqerque

Of Tomorrow:

Script: Tom King

Art: Clay Mann

Five Minutes:

Script: Louise Simonson

Art: Jerry Ordway

Action Comics #1000 Joshua Middleton cover

Actionland!:

Script: Paul Dini

Art: José Luis García-López & Kevin Nowlan

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet:

Script: Brad Meltzer

Art: John Cassaday

The Truth:

Script: brain Michael Bendis

Art: Jim Lee & Scott Williams

The Game:

Storytellers: Paul Levitz and Neal Adams

(Five pages originally from action Comics: 80 Years of Superman)

Action Comics #1000 Jim Steranko cover

and 30 variant covers for this book, plus cover sketches.

DELUXE edition ONLY:

What makes this Deluxe edition special is the inclusion of 32 pages of extra material:

Peter J. Tomasi’s script for the “Never-Ending Battle” story, punctuated by samples of the historic art that inspired this trip through Superman art styles over the years.

The uninked Curt Swan pages used for “An enemy Within”, as originally written by Cindy Goff, which makes for a fascinating comparison.

Paul Dini’s original script for “Actionland!”

Black & white versions of Jim Lee’s cover for this book in both pencils and an inked version by Scott Williams.

And what would a Superman retrospective be without a reprint of the very first 1938 Superman story from action Comics #1!

YOU’RE really SUPER, SUPERMAN!

Action Comics #1000 Dave Gibbons cover

Normally, this would be one of those books that I would pick up, flip through, maybe reading a story or two, and not get back to for a week or so. This one, however, compelled me to read the whole thing in one sitting. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read as well! great job, DC!

The best part is that there are a lot of different kinds of stories in this book. A lot of folks used to think that Superman was a stodgy, old-school character only remembered from whatever films and TV shows (and even radio! yikes!) they watched or listened to. The modern Superman is quite dynamic — as the stores in this volume can attest.

And I just love having these new covers all in one place! What a great opportunity to study art styles and character interpretation!

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KC CARLSON: once edited the Superman books… for about five minutes. very short story. Not very interesting.

WESTFIELD COMICS is not responsible for the stupid things that KC says. especially that thing that really irritated you. The new TV season is what’s irritating me right now. You’re off the hook, comic books!