Superman #1
Superman #1 (2011) marks the third volume launch of DC's flagship Superman title and stands as one of the most structurally ambitious first issues of the New 52 relaunch — the single largest line-wide continuity reset in DC's history up to that point. The issue established a dramatically reconfigured status quo for Clark Kent: younger, unmarried, alienated from Lois Lane, and operating in a Metropolis now thoroughly skeptical of him, upending decades of familiar mythology in a single issue. The Daily Planet's symbolic demolition in the story functioned as an in-universe metaphor for the relaunch itself, with Pérez deliberately framing the destruction of the old building as a commentary on what the New 52 was doing to DC's legacy. Because the series ran 52 issues before concluding in 2016 and shepherded Superman through several subsequent creative teams, this first issue serves as the definitional origin point of a heavily debated era in the Man of Steel's publishing history.
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DC launched Superman (Volume 3) #1 on September 28, 2011, with a cover date of November 2011, as part of the New 52's simultaneous relaunch of 52 titles following the Flashpoint event. George Pérez — a veteran of Crisis on Infinite Earths and the celebrated post-Crisis Wonder Woman revamp — was tapped to write and provide breakdowns, with Jesús Merino handling finished pencils and inks and Brian Buccellato on colors. Pérez later spoke candidly about the experience, revealing that he was never informed Grant Morrison's concurrent Action Comics was set five years before his own scripts, leaving him unable to resolve basic continuity questions about the new Superman's status quo; editorial also could not answer fundamental questions, such as whether Jonathan and Martha Kent were still alive. Pérez departed after six issues, and by the series' first-year zero issue, it had already cycled through three separate writing teams — a creative turbulence that became one of the New 52's most-discussed production stories.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published September 28, 2011 (cover date November 2011); it is Superman Volume 3, #1, launched as part of DC's New 52 event following the Flashpoint crossover.
- Written and broken down by George Pérez, with interior pencils and inks by Jesús Merino, colors by Brian Buccellato, letters by Carlos M. Mangual, and cover art by George Pérez and Brian Buccellato.
- The issue's story is titled 'What Price Tomorrow?' and centers on the demolition of the original Daily Planet building, which is absorbed into a media conglomerate called the Planet Global Network (PGN), headed by Morgan Edge.
- New 52 status quo changes established here include: Clark Kent and Lois Lane are not romantically involved or married, Lois has been promoted to VP/Executive of New Media at PGN, and Clark remains a print journalist who rejects the new corporate direction.
- The mysterious figure Pandora makes a background cameo in this issue — as she does in all New 52 Wave 1 first issues — appearing during Mayor Rob Morrisroe's speech, a seeding of the Trinity War storyline.
- The issue was later collected in two trade paperbacks: Superman Vol. 1: What Price Tomorrow? (collecting issues #1–6) and Adventures of Superman: George Pérez (a retrospective hardcover collecting the New 52 Superman #1–6 alongside earlier Pérez Superman work).
- George Pérez remained on the series for only six issues before departing due to editorial conflicts; the series went on to see writing contributions from Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Scott Lobdell, Geoff Johns, Gene Luen Yang, and Peter J. Tomasi before concluding with issue #52 in July 2016.
- The series as a whole introduced major New 52 continuity developments for Superman, including a romantic relationship with Wonder Woman (rather than Lois Lane) and, in a later Gene Luen Yang arc, the public revelation of Clark Kent's secret identity.
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