Action Comics #775
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAction Comics #775 stands as one of the most consequential single-issue Superman stories of the modern era precisely because it arrived not as a marquee event book but as a standalone extra-sized issue that nonetheless posed the sharpest possible question about the Man of Steel's relevance: in an age when lethal, consequence-free superheroes were gaining mainstream praise, was Superman's refusal to kill a virtue or an anachronism? Writer Joe Kelly's answer — that restraint exercised by someone capable of far worse is the ultimate expression of power — reframed the character's core ethics for a generation of readers who had grown up on darker material. The issue also delivered five significant first appearances (Manchester Black, Coldcast, the Hat, Menagerie, and the Elite as a team), antagonists whose philosophical challenge to Superman proved durable enough to fuel years of follow-on comics, an animated film, and a television adaptation. Wizard Magazine later named it the single best comic of 2001, voted it the top book of the entire decade, and called it the greatest Superman story ever told — a critical consensus rare enough for any single issue, let alone one published without fanfare.
In "What's So Funny about Truth, Justice & the American Way?", Superman faces a new kind of challenge as a group of superhumans emerges, unorthodox in their methods and willing to use force to achieve their goals. Written by Joe Kelly and brought to life by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo with dynamic inks by Tom Nguyen and others, the story puts the Man of Steel to the test in defining what justice really means. The cover by Tim Bradstreet captures the tension of a hero at a crossroads.
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Joe Kelly has described the story's origin as a visceral, almost personal reaction to a specific issue of The Authority — at the time published by WildStorm, which DC was in the process of acquiring — where he felt the book had pushed past the boundary separating antihero from something more troubling; he recalls getting 'fanboy mad' and pitching the concept directly to editor Eddie Berganza, specifically asking to have Superman confront those characters in fictional form. Berganza greenlit the story as an anniversary extra-sized issue, giving Kelly the page count to let the moral argument breathe rather than compress it into a standard monthly. The finished book carried pencils from two artists — Doug Mahnke handling the harder-edged action sequences and Lee Bermejo contributing a distinctive painterly texture — inked by a six-person team, with lettering by Comicraft; it was published on January 31, 2001, carrying a March 2001 cover date. DC republished the issue as a second printing timed to coincide with the launch of Justice League Elite #1, evidence that the characters Kelly created had grown into an ongoing franchise.
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- First appearance of Manchester Black (British telekinetic and psychic, leader of the Elite), Coldcast (electromagnetic energy manipulator), the Hat (magical fedora-wielding sorcerer), and Menagerie (host to symbiotic alien creatures) — all four debuting simultaneously in this issue.
- Written by Joe Kelly; penciled by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo; inked by Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, José Marzan Jr., Wade Von Grawbadger, and Wayne Faucher; colored by Rob Schwager; lettered by Comicraft; edited by Eddie Berganza and Tom Palmer Jr.; cover by Tim Bradstreet.
- Published January 31, 2001 (cover-dated March 2001) as an extra-sized, 52-page issue — not solicited as an anniversary or event book.
- The Elite are explicit in-universe analogues of Warren Ellis and Mark Millar's Authority, a WildStorm series whose combination of lethal force and massive collateral damage had become both critically acclaimed and culturally influential; Manchester Black's British nationality and Union Jack tattoo were deliberate nods to Authority leader Jenny Sparks.
- The story's title riffs on the Nick Lowe-penned song '(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,' itself a meditation on idealism under pressure.
- Wizard Magazine declared it the best single issue of 2001, ranked it #1 in its Top Ten Comics of the Decade list, and named it the Greatest Superman Story of All Time; Comics Bulletin counterbalanced this by placing it at #4 on its Top 10 Overrated Comics list.
- The issue received a second printing timed to the launch of Justice League Elite #1, and has been reprinted in at least two major collections: Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Volume 1 and Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years.
- Adapted into the 2012 DC Universe Animated Original Movie Superman vs. the Elite (the 14th film in that line), scripted by Kelly himself, directed by Michael Chang, and featuring George Newbern and David Kaufman reprising their DC Animated Universe roles as Superman and Jimmy Olsen; the story's title was also used for a Season 4 episode of the Arrowverse TV series Supergirl, which introduced a live-action version of the Elite.
- DC published a Facsimile Edition of the issue in June 2025, with multiple cover variants, signaling the story's continued canonical and cultural standing more than two decades after original publication.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told #1 (2004), Klassiker der Comic-Literatur #1 (2005), Justice League Elite #1 (2005), Superman: Cover to Cover #[nn] (2006), Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years #[nn] (2014), Superman Anthologie #[nn] (2018), Le Meilleur de DC Comics #5 (2020), Legends of the DC Universe: Doug Mahnke #[nn] (2021), Action Comics 775 (Facsimile Edition) #[nn] (2025)
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