All Star Superman #1

History

All-Star Superman grew out of Morrison's earlier, rejected pitch called 'Superman Now,' conceived alongside editor Dan Raspler, some ideas from which were later repurposed for the series. DC VP Dan DiDio ultimately drew Morrison back to Superman by offering the freedom of the newly created All-Star imprint — a line explicitly designed to let top-tier creators work outside DC Universe continuity and present 'the most iconic versions' of its characters, without being beholden to prior storylines. Morrison has described a chance encounter with a costumed Superman outside San Diego Comic-Con as a 'shamanic' moment that helped crystallize their vision and inspired the cover of the first issue. The series was intended for bimonthly publication but production demands from Quitely's meticulous linework extended the full 12-issue run across three years, from November 2005 to October 2008.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published November 16, 2005 (cover-dated January 2006) by DC Comics under its All-Star imprint; edited by Bob Schreck with Brandon Montclare as associate editor and Dan DiDio as executive editor.
• Creative team: writer Grant Morrison, penciller Frank Quitely, digital inker/colorist Jamie Grant, and letterer Phil Balsman — the same core trio who had previously collaborated on WE3.
• First appearance of Dr. Leo Quintum, an original character created by Morrison as the series' 'good scientist' counterpart to Lex Luthor, and his organization P.R.O.J.E.C.T., headquartered on the moon.
• The issue's story, titled '…Faster…,' establishes the series' central premise: Luthor secretly sabotages a solar mission aboard the spacecraft Ray Bradbury, forcing Superman to absorb a lethal overdose of solar radiation that supercharges his powers while condemning him to die within a year.
• The issue ends with Clark Kent revealing his identity as Superman to Lois Lane — a significant divergence from how the same revelation occurred in mainstream DC continuity, where it happened only after Clark and Lois became romantically involved.
• Characters from Superman's Kryptonian heritage — Jor-El, Lara, and Jonathan and Martha Kent — appear in this issue as visionary/memory sequences, establishing the series' reverence for the full breadth of Superman mythology.
• The series was collected in two trade paperback volumes (2007 and 2009), an Absolute Edition (2010), a Deluxe Edition hardcover (2022), and a DC Compact Comics edition (2024); issue #1 was also reprinted as a Superman Day Special Edition in June 2025.
• The series directly inspired a 2011 DC Universe animated film written by Dwayne McDuffie and directed by Sam Liu, and the 2025 James Gunn theatrical film Superman acknowledged All-Star Superman as a key creative influence.

Cast · 14 characters

Full credits

Variants (2)