Cover: Dave Gibbons

Action Comics Weekly #601

May 1988 · DC · 1.50 USD; 2.00 CAD; 0.60 GBP

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★ 1st appearance — Tony Mantegna★ 1st appearance — Ladonna Jameal★ 1st appearance — Vic Sommers★ 1st appearance — Dr. Maria Verdugo★ 1st appearance — Luke McKendrick★ 1st appearance — Mitch Hoberman

In "And the Pain Shall Leave My Heart," Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty deliver a gritty, intense moment in the life of Wild Dog as he storms a Davenport City Council meeting seized by the radical Committee for Social Change. With Dave Gibbons' striking cover setting the tone, the issue plunges into a high-stakes confrontation that tests the limits of justice and violence.

Contains 6 stories

...And the Pain Shall Leave My Heart

8 pp · Superhero

Moral Stand, Chapter One: Point of Order

8 pp · Adventure

Lt. Andy FlintDetective CallowayCaptain LangeSusan KingLenCommittee for Social Change (some die)

In "Moral Stand, Chapter One: Point of Order," Wild Dog bursts into a Davenport City Council meeting seized by the Committee for Social Change, confronting the group in a tense standoff that erupts into violence. With no time for negotiation, he moves to free the hostages, forcing a brutal clash that tests the limits of justice and the cost of taking a stand.

Listening to the Mockingbird

8 pp · Superhero

Rafael DiRienzi (introduction)Gus (introduction)

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!

2 pp · Superhero

Bob Galt (introduction)Charles Culpepper (introduction, villain)

[Chapter One] The Section Chief

8 pp · Superhero

Major Grace Kasaba (introduction)Professor Fulgencio Flores (introduction)

Another Fine War

8 pp · Adventure, War

Cynthia Hastings (introduction)Mr. Zalecki (introduction)

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NM- $4.99 Action Comics Weekly YOU PICK #601 602 603 614 624 Superman DC Comics 1988 $1.99 💥 1988 Action Comics Weekly Superman Green Lantern Comic Issue #601 601 FREE SH $19.99

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Trivia · 8 facts

First issue of Action Comics Weekly: with #601, the title officially converted from a monthly Superman team-up book to DC's first weekly anthology series, running issues #601–642 (May 1988–March 1989).
Cover by Dave Gibbons, fresh off Watchmen; the Grand Comics Database confirms this is his sole cover contribution to the weekly run.
Death of Katma Tui: in the Green Lantern story '...And the Pain Shall Leave My Heart,' written by James Owsley (Christopher Priest) with art by Gil Kane, Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris) murders John Stewart's wife Katma Tui in their apartment — a scene later reprinted in the 2021 collection Green Lantern John Stewart: A Celebration of 50 Years.
Notably, Gil Kane both co-created Katma Tui (Green Lantern #30, 1964) and drew her death scene in this issue.
First appearance of the second Secret Six and debut of new members Mitch Hoberman, Ladonna Jameal, Tony Mantegna, Luke McKendrick, Vic Sommers, and Dr. Maria Verdugo — scripted by Martin Pasko with art by Dan Spiegle — also partially resolving the twenty-year mystery of Mockingbird's identity by revealing him as original-team member August Durant.
Six individual stories are packed into the issue's 52 pages: Green Lantern (Owsley/Kane), Wild Dog (Max Collins/Terry Beatty), Secret Six (Pasko/Spiegle), Superman (Roger Stern/Curt Swan), Deadman (Mike Baron/Dan Jurgens), and Blackhawk (Mike Grell/Rick Burchett).
The Superman serial, 'Faster Than a Speeding Bullet,' was later collected in Superman: The Power Within.
Supervising editor Mike Gold, with associate editors Robert Greenberger and Brian Augustyn, shepherded the issue; the letters page was replaced in this debut issue by an explanatory editorial article about the new format.