Cover: John Byrne

Action Comics #586

Mar 1987 · DC · 0.75 USD; 1.00 CAD; 0.40 GBP

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“The Champion!”

★ 1st appearance — Amazing Grace

About this Issue

Action Comics #586 serves as the climactic payoff of the Superman subplot threading through the Legends crossover — the first major DC Universe event after Crisis on Infinite Earths — by resolving the brainwashed-Man-of-Steel-on-Apokolips arc that had run across three Superman titles. John Byrne's handling of the confrontation between a fury-driven Superman and Darkseid, including the memorable moment where Orion's Mother Box strips away Amazing Grace's mental conditioning and restores the hero's costume and memory, established a template for high-stakes New Gods storytelling in the post-Crisis era. As Chapter 19 of 28 crossover chapters, the issue also demonstrates how DC used satellite titles to carry meaningful story weight during Legends rather than relegating them to mere marketing tie-ins. The issue's Ambush Bug backup, meanwhile, underscores the tonal range Action Comics maintained under Byrne and editor Andrew Helfer — serious New Gods mythology in the lead feature, irreverent fourth-wall satire immediately after.

writer, artist John Byrne · inker Dick Giordano · colorist Tom Ziuko · letterer John Costanza · cover John Byrne

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $3

CGC 9.8 · 16 in census $39

CGC 9.6 · 4 in census $20

CGC 9.4 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 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

VF+ $0.99 VF $1.09 FN+ · Newsstand $1.8 VG · Newsstand $2.39 VF+ $2.45 FN $2.9 GOOD $2.95 VF $2.99

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History

Action Comics had resumed publication with issue #584 (January 1987) after a three-month hiatus during which DC suspended the regular Superman titles to allow John Byrne's six-issue Man of Steel limited series to relaunch the character post-Crisis. Byrne was simultaneously writing, pencilling, and providing covers for Action Comics, Superman (vol. 2), and co-writing Adventures of Superman, making him the singular architect of the revamped Superman line during this period. This issue was edited by Andrew Helfer, who had taken over from longtime editor Julius Schwartz (whose tenure closed with #583), and the creative team of Byrne, inker Dick Giordano, colorist Tom Ziuko, and letterer John Costanza remained consistent across the early Byrne Action Comics run.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover-dated March 1987; written, pencilled, and cover-drawn by John Byrne, with inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza, and editing by Andrew Helfer.
Chapter 19 of the Legends crossover event — the third and final chapter of the Superman-on-Apokolips subplot — continuing from Adventures of Superman #426 and leading into Legends #5.
The main story, titled 'The Champion!', resolves Superman's brainwashing at the hands of Amazing Grace: Orion's Mother Box restores Superman's memory and original costume, after which Superman redirects Darkseid's own Omega Beams back at him before being expelled through a Boom Tube.
Amazing Grace (first introduced in Superman vol. 2 #3) and Granny Goodness both appear in supporting roles; Amazing Grace attempts to neutralize Lightray using her mind-manipulating voice power but is defeated by his light-based abilities.
The issue contains a backup story featuring Ambush Bug (Irwin Schwab), consistent with Action Comics' practice of pairing serious lead features with Giffen/Fleming's satirical Bug strip during this era.
The issue was published in Direct Edition, Newsstand Edition, and a Canadian Edition — three distinct printings.
Legends was the first major DC-Universe-wide crossover following Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the event served as the launch platform for several new ongoing series including Justice League International, Suicide Squad, The Flash (vol. 2), and Wonder Woman (vol. 2).
The three Superman Legends tie-in issues (including this one) were later collected in the Superman: The Man of Steel trade paperback Vol. 2.