TWO TITLES. ONE SUPERMAN.
Action Comics, Superman, and the 88 years in between — new issues, back issues and honest valuations · Comic King
Superman — The Complete Comic King Guide
In June 1938 a comic called Action Comics put a man in a red cape on the cover lifting a car over his head, and the superhero was invented on that page. Everything else in this shop descends from it — every Marvel title, every DC title, every indie book that plays with the idea of someone with powers. Superman is not just the first superhero; he is the reason the category exists. Comic King carries Superman in Edmonton on both ends: this week's new issues, and a back-issue wall that runs from the affordable to the genuinely serious. If the issue you want isn't on the shelf, we can special-order or source it on request.
Quick Facts
Story: A refugee from a dead planet, raised on a Kansas farm, who decides to use what he can do to help. Eighty-eight years of writers have not improved on it.
Length: Published continuously since 1938 across two parallel titles — see the era table.
Status: Ongoing, with several concurrent Superman-line titles running.
Publisher: DC Comics
Age Guide: The best all-ages superhero on the wall — genuinely suitable for young readers, with adult-oriented stories available separately.
Formats: New issues · back issues · graphic novels · omnibus & Absolute editions · facsimile reprints.
At Comic King: New issues weekly, a deep back-issue run, honest valuations, and we buy Superman collections.
Why There Are Two Superman Comics — and Neither of
Them Starts Where You'd Think
This is the single most useful thing to understand before buying or selling a Superman comic, and it confuses more people than anything else on the DC wall. Superman runs in two parallel titles, and they work completely differently. ACTION COMICS is the one he debuted in, back when it was an anthology carrying several features. It has never restarted its numbering — not once in 88 years — which is why it sailed past issue #1000 in 2018 and reached #1100 in July 2026. SUPERMAN is the solo title that launched a year later, in 1939, and it has been renumbered several times since, most notably after the 1986 reboot and again in 2011. So a customer holding "Superman #1" might have the 1939 original, the 1987 relaunch, the 2011 New 52 issue or the 2023 one — four completely different comics, with values ranging from a few dollars to a life-changing amount. The rule at our counter is simple and we apply it every time: identify the masthead first, then the year, and never price from an issue number alone. If you bring us a Superman collection, we will walk you through which spine each book belongs to before we talk about money.
The Run, Era by Era
Eighty-eight years, organized. Every era of Superman, the one issue that represents it, and why collectors care:
The Keys — Issues Everyone Hunts
Action Comics #1 sits at the top of the entire medium, and its story is better than most comics: the record copy was bought by Nicolas Cage in 1996, stolen from his home in 2000, recovered from a California storage unit in 2011, and sold in January 2026 for fifteen million dollars. That is rare air, and almost nobody will ever hold one. What matters more day to day is the tier below. Action Comics #23 is the first Lex Luthor. Action Comics #242 is the first Brainiac. Action Comics #252 is the first Supergirl, and it moves every single time that character reaches a screen. Superman #123, from 1958, is the odd try-out issue that ran a different “Super-Girl” a year before the real one. Superman #233 is the Bronze Age cover grail. The Man of Steel #1 marks the 1986 reset. And then there is the one that gets missed constantly: DC Comics Presents #26, from 1980, is a Superman team-up book that happens to contain the first appearance of the New Teen Titans — so it files under Superman, gets bought as a Titans key, and slips past anyone pricing a Superman run by the inch. We check every DC Comics Presents stack. Key prices move constantly, so we buy and price against live sold comps — ask and we will pull them up on screen together.
Every Format You Can Buy
Screen & Series Status
Updated August 2026: Superman has been relaunched on screen as the flagship of DC's rebuilt film universe, a Supergirl film has since landed, and a further Superman film is dated and in production. This is a franchise heading into its window rather than out of one, which is the reason to build a Superman wall now rather than after. On the page, the Superman line continues across several titles and Action Comics keeps hitting milestone numbers — ask at the counter for the newest jump-on issue. Exact release dates live in the Consolidated Ordering Calendar, not on this page.
Collector's Corner — Grading, Care & We Buy
There is one conversation we have more often on Superman than on any other character, and we would rather you heard it here than found out the hard way. Superman #75 — the death issue, usually still sealed in its black polybag — was printed in enormous numbers, and it arrives in very nearly every collection we are offered. It is a genuine piece of comics history and it is not a retirement fund. What it is worth depends on which edition you have, because there were newsstand, direct and platinum versions and they are not equal, and on whether the bag is sealed. We will check the edition, pull the live sold comps up on screen, and tell you straight. The second thing worth knowing is authentication. Action Comics #1 and Superman #1 both exist as oversized 1970s Famous First Editions and as modern facsimiles, and people bring them in believing they have found the grail. The rule is simple: if it is oversized, it is a reprint, always. We would far rather deliver that news kindly and keep your trust than have you learn it somewhere else. We assess keys in front of you, grade honestly, broker CGC submissions for slab-worthy books, and stock the bags, boards and boxes that keep a collection worth grading in the first place.
FAQ - Straight Answers
What is the difference between Action Comics and Superman?
Action Comics is the title Superman first appeared in, in 1938, and it has never restarted its numbering — it passed issue #1000 in 2018 and reached #1100 in July 2026. Superman is the solo title that started a year later, in 1939, and it has been renumbered several times since, including after the 1986 reboot and again in 2011. Both still publish. That is why "Superman #1" is an ambiguous thing to own: there are at least four different comics with that name, and their values are nothing like each other. Check the masthead first, then the year on the cover or in the indicia. Bring the book in and we will identify it with you.
Is my Death of Superman comic worth anything?
Almost certainly less than you have been told, and we say that as the shop that would buy it from you. Superman #75 was one of the largest print runs in the history of comics — millions of copies, most of them bought as an investment and stored carefully, which is exactly why so many survive in good condition today. It is a real piece of history and a great story, and for most copies it is a modest-value book rather than a valuable one. There are exceptions worth checking: the platinum edition is genuinely scarce, the newsstand and direct versions differ, and sealed versus opened matters to some buyers. Bring it in, we will identify the edition and show you the live sold prices on screen, and you will know exactly where you stand.
How can I tell if an Action Comics #1 is real?
Start with the size. A genuine 1938 Action Comics #1 is a standard-sized comic. In the 1970s DC published oversized Famous First Edition reprints of it, and modern facsimile editions exist too — both are clearly labelled once you know to look, and both are frequently mistaken for the original. If the book is larger than a normal comic, it is a reprint, every time. Fewer than a hundred copies of the real thing are known to exist and every one that surfaces is news, so the odds are heavily against any given copy being genuine. That said, they do still turn up in attics and estates. If you think you have something, bring it to us before you do anything else — we will look at it properly and, if it is real, help you get it authenticated and sold the right way rather than the fast way.