Action Comics #1

Nov 2011 · DC · 3.99 USD

📊 ~182,748 copies sold its debut month

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“Superman Versus the City of Tomorrow”

★ 1st appearance — New 52 Superman★ Key event — Superman★ Key event — Clark Kent

About this Issue

Action Comics (vol. 2) #1 served as the narrative bedrock of DC's 2011 New 52 relaunch — the point Dan DiDio publicly called 'DC Universe Year Zero' — resetting Superman's entire continuity from scratch and establishing the character as a rougher, pre-flight vigilante years before the rest of the relaunched universe. Grant Morrison's deliberate reach back to the scrappy, socially-conscious Golden Age Superman of 1938 gave the character a philosophical and tonal freshness that hadn't been attempted since John Byrne's 1986 reboot, while Rags Morales's kinetic art reintroduced the entire supporting cast — Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, General Sam Lane — in a single propulsive issue. The debut of original New 52 characters Mrs. Nyxly and Glen Glenmorgan seeded a mythology that Morrison would pay off across the full 18-issue run, making this issue's creative choices unusually consequential for the long-form story that followed.

In "Superman Versus the City of Tomorrow," a young Superman faces off against corruption and chaos in Metropolis, confronting a corrupt developer and risking everything to protect the city's most vulnerable. As Lex Luthor and General Lane observe from the sidelines, Superman's actions set off a chain of events that puts Jimmy Olsen and General Lane's daughter in danger during a high-stakes train crisis. Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Rags Morales, with inks by Rick Bryant, colors by Brad Anderson, and letters by Patrick Brosseau, this issue features a striking cover by Rags Morales.

writer Grant Morrison · artist Rags Morales · inker Rick Bryant · colorist Brad Anderson · letterer Patrick Brosseau · cover Rags Morales

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $5

CGC 9.8 · 811 in census $53

CGC 9.6 · 256 in census $20

CGC 9.4 · 109 in census $20

CGC 9.2 · 59 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 · 37 in census $20*

CGC 8.5 · 29 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 none in existence

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 none in existence

CGC 5.0 none in existence

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM · Variant $24.99 Virgin $40 CGC 9.8 · Signed $199 CGC 9.6 $472.99 RARE ACTION COMICS Issue 1 DONALD TRUMP HOMAGE ORIGINAL SILVER METAL COMIC! $48.6

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History

When DC undertook its sweeping 2011 New 52 relaunch — ending the original Action Comics run at #904 after 73 years — the publisher handed the flagship Superman title to Grant Morrison, fresh off the Eisner-winning All-Star Superman, paired with Identity Crisis artist Rags Morales, with Rick Bryant as inker and Brad Anderson on colors. Morrison structured the run as a deliberate homage to comic-book history: the first arc mirrors the Golden Age, with Superman unable to fly and preoccupied with ground-level social justice, before transitioning through analogues of the Silver and Bronze Ages across subsequent story arcs. The issue landed on September 7, 2011, and demand was strong enough that it went through five printings by March 2012.

Trivia · 7 facts

First New 52 appearances of Glen 'Mr. Metropolis' Glenmorgan and Mrs. Nyxly (Clark Kent's landlady, later revealed to be the fifth-dimensional entity Nyxlygsptlnz, New 52 counterpart of Miss Gsptlnz).
Establishes Superman as a pre-flight vigilante set roughly five years before the present-day New 52 DCU — his costume is a T-shirt with the S-symbol, jeans, work boots, and a red cape made from his Kryptonian blanket, a deliberate echo of the Golden Age original.
Lex Luthor appears as a consultant to General Sam Lane's military operation against Superman — Morrison confirmed Luthor's heavier, out-of-shape design is a nod to the Golden Age character Alexei Luthor.
Pandora makes a silent cameo on the runaway train alongside Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane, part of her mandate to appear in every New 52 #1 issue; her first full appearance was in Flashpoint.
The story's title is 'Superman Versus the City of Tomorrow'; the villain Glenmorgan lives in the 'Reeve Building,' a background tribute to actor Christopher Reeve.
The first issue went through five printings by March 2012; it was also collected in Superman – Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel and reprinted in The New 52: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2021).
The series ran for 52 issues (2011–2016), concluding with 'The Final Days of Superman' storyline; legacy numbering was restored with #957 in 2016, allowing Action Comics to reach its 1,000th issue in 2018.