Comic fans finally get a chance to read long-lost 'Superman' issue

By: H&I Staff     Posted: January 24, 2018, 4:33PM   

Image: DC Comics

One day in the 1960s, comic book enthusiast Marv Wolfman visited the offices of DC — years before ever being hired by the comic book giant and becoming one of the company’s most beloved writers. When he made that first visit to the office, he got the chance to read what’s gone on to become the white whale to generations of Superman fans: "Too Many Heroes."

According to io9, this 12-page comic dates back to 1945, eight years after the first DC appearance of Superman in Action Comics 1. "Too Many Heroes"was allegedly written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated in the studio of Joe Shuster — Superman’s co-creators — but was scrapped before ever going to print.

There was no proof that the comic was a full-on collaboration between Siegel and Shuster, though Newsweek states that there have been confirmed receipts dating back to 1945 showing that Siegel did get paid for the script. That doesn’t stop Superman fans from wanting to get their hands on it, though.

Action Comics is coming up on its 1,000th issue, and DC wants to celebrate. On April 19, it will be releasing a 384-page issue titled Action Comics 1,000: 80 Years of Superman. It will include stories from a number of DC writers — including that long-lost story. Entertainment Weekly reported that there will even be a story written by Superman movie director Richard Donner and Geoff Johns, with art from Olivier Coipel.

“The one-thousandth issue of Action Comics is an incredible milestone in pop culture and a testament to the vision of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster,” said DC publisher Dan DiDio to EW.  “Without this book, along with Siegel and Shuster’s fertile imaginations and boundless creativity, the superhero’s place in literature may have been wildly different, if not altogether nonexistent.”

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