ACTION
COMICS
Comic Books For Sale
SUPERMAN
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The
title that started it all for DC and essentially the comic
book industry.
Prior to 1938 comic books were primarily newspaper strips
combined and reprinted into a comic book.
In 1935 DC introduced New Fun Comics #1 which contained new
material and launched their company becoming their first
comic book to be published.
It
wasn’t until the introduction of Action Comics #1 in 1938
that DC and the comic book industry as a whole skyrocketed
and cemented it as one of only two art forms created in the
20th century by Americans.
The
monumental issue gave us the first superhero with Superman
and the world has never been the same since. That first
issue provided a one page origin of the Man of Steel being
rocketed from the planet Krypton which was not identified at
that time as such and then growing up on the small farm
raised by the Kents where he started to recognize his super
powers.
We would get to see Superman leaping instead of flying in
that first issue which was something he would not do for a
few years later.
The issue introduced Lois Lane in the Superman story and
Zatara the magician in his own set of stories along with a
few other characters to fill up the 64 pages.
It would take a few weeks before the publishers had an
opportunity to assess the sales numbers on the first issue
and by that time had already setup other characters to
appear on the covers of the next few issues before they knew
what a hit Superman was.
Jimmy Olsen would make his debut in issue #6 and the second
Superman cover ever made it with issue #7.
Lex Luthor would make his first appearance in issue #23 as
slowly the title was becoming more and more Superman’s book
and would also reference the Daily Planet for the first
time.
Some of the important firsts would appear in Action Comics
for Superman like the first time X-Ray vision was used in
issue #14 and the first time he flies in issue #123.
An interesting fact that in issue #12 contained one of the
very first appearances of Batman with an ad for Detective
Comics #27 which was on sale the coming month.
There
are some great World War II covers with Superman that
appeared in Action Comics with issue #s in the 40s through
the 60s battling on the front line and taking out tanks and
cannons. These remain some of his best covers.
Three of Superman’s major characters from the Silver Age
were introduced in the title. Brainiac would first appear
in issue #242, Supergirl and Metallo would appear in issue
#252. The origins of Brainiac and Supergirl would be told
in those issues as well. Supergirl would regularly appear
as a second feature to Superman in Action Comics and would
head over to the Adventure Comics title as well.
The first
time that Bizarro and Superman meet was featured in issue
#254.
Some of the earliest appearances of the Legion of
Super-Heroes would appear in the pages of Action Comics and
even some of the members made their first appearances ever
as found in issue #267 which featured Chameleon Boy,
Colossal Boy and Invisible Kid while issue #276 included the
first appearances of Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Triplicate
Girl, Bouncing Boy, Sun Boy and Shrinking Violet.
There
have been numerous origin retellings of Superman, Supergirl
and others in the Superman world featured in Action Comics
with some of the Superpets like Comet the Superhorse and
Streaky the Supercat.
One of Superman’s enduring super-villains made his first
appearance in issue #340 called the Parasite. He would go
on to appear in many issues up to current day and was a
prominent figure in some of the Superman animated series
shows.
Joining
Superman in the 1970s were some of DC’s top characters like
Green Arrow and the Atom as a backup feature to Superman and
or Supergirl. These made for some really good issues to
pickup. Issue #440 represented artist Mike Grell’s first
work on Green Arrow beginning an association with the
character that has lasted for a few decades.
Some interesting wedding stories have been told in the title
such as issue #484 where the Earth II Superman and Lois Lane
marry.
Writer/artist John Byrne would work on the title for 17
issues beginning in issue #584 coinciding with his revamp of
Superman in his regular title. Here in Action Comics he
provided art and story using a variety of characters to
team-up with Superman taking on all kinds of threats
culminating in the 600th anniversary issue.
The much long-awaited reveal of Clark Kent’s identity to
Lois Lane appeared first in issue #662 and would set off an
important chain of events in Superman’s life.
Superman
has even renounced his US citizenship in Action Comics which
is still being debated today.
DC has put in a lot of effort into this title since its
inception which has lasted for well into 8 decades with its
most recognizable character at the forefront of the book.
This is one of the iconic comic book titles that often times
most collectors seem to disregard probably due to the fact
that the title does not reflect a character’s name and also
the fact that the issues tended to include additional
stories and not a full-length Superman story.
Besides the obvious Golden Age issues and the key issues
from the Silver Age, this title continues to have many
issues that are relatively inexpensive making it very
attractive for many collectors to pick up and acquire a
large run without having to spend too much.
With the Man of Steel movie coming out in 2013, it will only fuel interest in Superman related
items and Action Comics should be one of them.
Purchasing Action Comics
When reviewing sources to acquire
Action Comics issues, I like to check
out local comic book shops and conventions. I get to see
the comics in person and can examine more issues at one time than I could online.
Eventually local sources go only so far since they rely on
collectors and other sellers in the area to bring them in.
Sources on the internet tend to travel and pick up
collections and will buy a lot of books online to add to
their inventory. They also have a lot of people from
all over the world who will contact them since they are not
tied to a local area to sell to them. These sellers
also tend to advertise on a more global scale than the local
comic book shop since their marketplace is the entire world
essentially.
mycomicshop
is a great place to find Action Comics issues. They're a
national online seller and have been selling comic books
through the mail since the 1960s. They try to stock every issue of every
title that has ever been published.
You'll
see a large amount of
Action Comics
covers of key books in the run
as well as general issues in the title on this page that I
think will interest any
Action Comics and Superman
collection which will take
you directly to mycomicshop's inventory of that issue.
There you
will see every condition of that issue they currently have
in stock so you can choose the right condition of the book
that you're looking for.
Don't be
worried if you do not see an issue in stock when you click
on any of the links. Often times they will receive an
issue into their inventory on a fairly regular basis as they
purchase books and collections daily. Just go ahead
and bookmark the link after you've clicked on the issue here
or check back here and click on the link to see if the issue
has come into stock. The links will stay permanently
connected.
I've
purchased books from mycomicshop before and will continue to use them.
Their grading is accurate and they are a reliable source.
They have great customer service in providing you books in a
timely manner.
Ebay is
a great option as there’s a lot of
collectors/sellers/dealers always looking to move in
and out of product and use Ebay as their avenue.
You may find some good deals on Ebay, but be careful to check out
the auctions and or Buy it Now listings carefully. Some
sellers’ terms are not right for everyone and sometimes the
items are not what you expect.
If condition is important to you, then be sure to ask a lot
of questions. If you don’t get the right kinds of answers
you’re looking for, then move on and try another listing.
Always check out the seller’s profile to see how their past
selling has been. If they’re new to selling and have only
been buying, ask questions.
You always want to be comfortable with the person you’re
potentially going to be buying from and you really need to
know what it is you’re getting.
If you're looking for CGC
Action Comics, then ComicLink is
your best choice. They focus primarily on CGC books
and you can find some of the top notch Action Comics and
Superman issues available on their site. Expect to see
the most valuable comic book in the world being sold in
their auctions (Action Comics #1) when it becomes available as well as other
Action Comics and Superman related titles of that era and CGC
Action Comics and Superman comic books from the
Silver and Bronze age. They even will have CGC copies of
issues that came out in the 1980s and 1990s.
Enjoy your hunt and
Happy
Collecting!!!
Johnson's Collectibles
