Superman #156
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSuperman #156 is one of the most ambitious single-issue productions of the Silver Age Superman era, packing an entire three-part novel — 'The Last Days of Superman!' — into one comic book and deploying virtually the entire Weisinger-era supporting cast in a collaborative farewell. It marks the first appearance of Virus X, the deadly Kryptonian plague that would recur as a storytelling device throughout the Superman titles for years, and it is the issue that crystallizes the era's approach to scale: Superman's allies collectively irrigate Earth's deserts, terraform Antarctica, and etch a message onto the Moon, feats that underline just how grandiose Silver Age ambitions could be. The story also demonstrates how Edmond Hamilton's science-fiction instincts — working inside Mort Weisinger's tightly controlled continuity — could wring genuine emotional stakes from an ostensibly 'Superman might die' premise.
When a Kryptonian artifact carrying Virus X crashes on Earth, Superman races to contain the threat—buried deep beneath the planet’s surface. But as the countdown begins, the Man of Steel faces a grim reality: the virus is fatal to Kryptonians, and he has just thirty days to live. With the Superman Emergency Squad mobilizing and echoes of a forgotten past from Tharb-El resurfacing, Earth’s greatest protector must confront an end he never thought possible.
In the wake of Superman’s near-fatal collapse, Supergirl rallies the Superman Emergency Squad and a fleet of Superman robots to carry out his final, vital missions—each one a promise to protect Earth’s future. With time running short and the weight of legacy on their shoulders, these heroic stand-ins must rise to the challenge of carrying on a legend, one task at a time.
In the final hours of his life, Superman faces his end with quiet resolve, bidding farewell to those who mean the most. As the Superman Emergency Squad stands ready and Tharb-El watches in solemn silence, the truth begins to unravel—Supergirl uncovers a shocking revelation, and Mon-El’s long-lost voice finally breaks through from the Phantom Zone, hinting at a far deeper mystery behind Superman’s fading strength.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 22 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw / ungraded ▾ $34–$80.1 4 listings
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The story was scripted by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Curt Swan, inked by George Klein, and edited by Mort Weisinger, the core creative team responsible for defining the Superman mythos across the late 1950s and early 1960s. Weisinger, who had represented Hamilton through his literary agency decades earlier, recruited him specifically for the kind of large-scale, scientifically inflected storytelling that 'The Last Days of Superman!' exemplifies. The plot itself was a deliberate Earth-One reworking of an identically titled story from Superman #66, with Weisinger's well-documented habit of recycling and retooling earlier stories for the Silver Age continuity clearly at work. The issue arrived at a pivotal moment for the Legion of Super-Heroes, published the same month that Legion members began appearing as regulars in Adventure Comics #300, and it served as a high-profile showcase for the team's growing roster just as their own dedicated series was launching.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover-dated October 1962; published by DC Comics under editor Mort Weisinger. Written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled and cover-drawn by Curt Swan, inked by George Klein.
- First appearance of Virus X, the Kryptonian plague that gives Superman a 30-day 'death sentence' — a concept that would return in later Superman stories.
- Second appearance of Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg), per continuity tracking sources; the character had debuted only shortly before.
- The story is a three-part novel structured across the single issue, reworked from the Earth-Two story of the same title in Superman #66 (1951), with multiple parallel plot elements including a Kryptonite shard in Jimmy Olsen's camera and the same epitaph carved on the Moon.
- Mon-El, communicating telepathically from the Phantom Zone via Saturn Girl, is ultimately responsible for revealing that Superman's illness is Kryptonite poisoning rather than Virus X, resolving the story's central mystery.
- The issue assembles one of the largest Silver Age Legion rosters in a Superman title: Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, and Triplicate Girl all appear alongside Supergirl, Krypto, Batman, Robin, and Lori Lemaris.
- A production error in Part II has Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn) mistakenly referred to as 'Cosmic King' in one panel.
- The story has been reprinted multiple times: in Limited Collectors' Edition #C-52 (1977), Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Vol. 1, and Superman in the Sixties.
Cast · 29 characters
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Superboy #12 (1951)
Reprinted in MV Comix #6/1970 (1970), Limited Collectors' Edition #C-52 (1977), Superman in the Sixties #[nn] (1999), Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told #1 (2004), Klassiker der Comic-Literatur #1 (2005), Superman: Cover to Cover #[nn] (2006), Showcase Presents: Superman #3 (2007), Stålmannen #4/1964
Key issues in Superman
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.