Back in 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster‘s Superman ushered in the era of superheroes within the pages of Action Comics #1. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Man of Steel and the landmark Action Comics #1,000. To celebrate the occasion, DC is doing more than just bringing back Superman’s red trunks. DC has announced that it’s going to publish a long-lost Superman story by Siegel and Shuster that many fans never even knew about.
Via CBR, the Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman hardcover will feature the Siegel and Shuster story called “Too Many Heroes.” It’s a 12-page tale that appears to find Superman overwhelmed by ordinary citizens taking his heroics into their own hands. And as fun as that sounds, the story of how these pages were discovered is just as interesting.
Many decades ago, a young DC fan named Marv Wolfman visited the company’s office and was given these pages as a gift. At the time, original art wasn’t returned to the artists, and it was instead given away or thrown out. That same Marv Wolfman eventually went on to write Superman comics and several other DC titles, including his most famous contributions to the Teen Titans. Wolfman, who still has the original pages, has lent the art back to DC for this book. It’s unclear if Shuster actually drew the pages, as he employed a studio of artists who could emulate his style, but this find is nevertheless almost worth a hardcover of its own.
Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman will be released on April 19, and it will also feature essays about Superman by various authors, another new story by iconic creators Paul Levitz and Neal Adams, a contribution from Siegel’s daughter, Laura Siegel Larson, as well as reprints of classic Superman stories from the past eight decades.
Are you excited to finally read a new Siegel and Shuster Superman story? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: DC Comics
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