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Issue: Action Comics #1
Disclose Detail
Title:
Variant: unnamed
Rating: [no rating]
Publisher: FlagDC
Brand: none
Indicia Publisher: Detective Comics, Inc.
On Sale Date: 04/18/1938
Volume: none
Pages: 68
ISBN: none
UPC/EAN: none
Price: $0.10 USD
Indicia Frequency:
Content Items: 16 (10 stories, 1 cover)
Editor(s):  
Disclose Notes: Indicia:
ACTION COMICS. published monthly by Detective Comics, Inc., 480 Lexington Ave., New York, N. Y. Second class entry pending at Post Office, New York, N. Y. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: 12 issues by mail in the United States, its possessions and Mexico, South America and Spain, $1.50; elsewhere $2.60. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material. Entire contents copyright 1938 by Detective Comics, Inc.

The on-sale date is the publication date reported in the U. S. Copyright Office filing.

In the documentation for the testimony from Detective Comics, Inc. vs. Bruns (Fox) Publications April 6 and 7, 1939, the on sale date for this issue is described by Jack Liebowitz as being April 18, 1938.

This is confirmed again in the documentation for the Siegel lawsuit against Warner Bros (CASE NO. CV-04-8400-SGL (RZx)) published on March 26, 2008; the on sale date for this issue is listed as being April 18, 1938.
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Disclose Format
Publication Type: Comic Book
Color: color
Dimensions: standard Golden Age US; then standard Silver Age US; then standard Modern Age US
Paper Stock:  
Binding: saddle-stitched (squarebound #334, 347, 360, 373, 437, 443, 449, 544, 600)
Publishing Format: was ongoing series
Format Notes:  
Disclose Reprinted From0
There is currently no data for this Issue being reprinted from anywhere.
Disclose Images4
Cover, Front
Original Artwork
Digital Edition
Adult Image
Title Page
Indicia on this Page
 
 

Cover, Front
Original Artwork
Digital Edition
Adult Image
Title Page
Indicia on this Page
CGC Restored Grade 8.0
Action Comics #1 (DC, 1938) CGC Apparent VF 8.0 Moderate (P) Cream to off-white pages. Demand for the few elite super-keys of the comic hobby goes up with each passing year, and attractively restored Action #1s are among these hot commodities. Most recently, the Court Copy (certified with moderate professional restoration like this copy, but graded three notches lower at Apparent 6.5) fetched $143,400.
"The most important comic book ever published" was Overstreet's note about this issue some years ago, and no one has seriously disputed that claim in the ensuing years. This is the first appearance of Superman, and by universal consensus it's the comic that started the Golden Age. Superman spawned many imitators, and the character's runaway success established DC as one of the top publishers, a status it has never lost. This first Superman story, written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joe Shuster, also briefly tells the origin of the character.
CGC notes, "Restoration includes: color touch, pieces added, tear seals, cover cleaned, reinforced." Overstreet 2010 GD 2.0 value = $80,000; VG 4.0 value = $160,000; FN 6.0 value = $240,000; VF 8.0 value = $600,000.

Cover, Back
Original Artwork
Digital Edition
Adult Image
Title Page
Indicia on this Page
 
 

Cover, Front
Original Artwork
Digital Edition
Adult Image
Title Page
Indicia on this Page
 
 
Assets1
 
 
Title Pages Job Number Notes
[untitled]
Illustration on Cover, Front
1   In Alter Ego #56 (Feb. 2006), in an interview with Adler, he reports that he painted the colors on the engraving plates for this story.
$25 Cash Prizes!
Promotional Material (from Publisher) on Interior Page(s)
1   Inside front cover.
[untitled]
Story on Interior Page(s)
1   This strip was originally prepared for newspaper publication, cut up and repaged. Black shading used.
The Coming of Superman
Story on Interior Page(s)
11.67   Story continues in Action Comics #2. Originally prepared for newspaper publication, cut up and repaged by Joe Shuster, not Harry Lampert as often claimed. Black shading used. Superman wears blue boots. The last 1/3 of page 12 is an illustrated promotional ad for the Superman strip appearing in Action Comics.
[untitled]
Promotional Material (from Publisher) on Interior Page(s)
0.33   Illustrated promotional advertisement for the Superman strip appearing in Action Comics.
The A-G Gang
Story on Interior Page(s)
6    
The Mystery of the Freight Train Robberies
Story on Interior Page(s)
12    
South Sea Strategy [Part 1]
Text Story on Interior Page(s)
2    
Sticky-Mitt Stimson
Story on Interior Page(s)
4    
[untitled]
Story on Interior Page(s)
4    
The Light Heavyweight Championship
Story on Interior Page(s)
4    
The International Jewel Thief
Story on Interior Page(s)
6    
Murder in England
Story on Interior Page(s)
12   Tex Thomson later becomes Mr. America in Action Comics #33 and then Americommando in Action Comics #54.
Fred Astaire, Constance Bennett, Charles Boyer, Wheeler and Wollsey
Cartoon on Interior Page(s)
1    
[untitled]
Cartoon on Interior Page(s)
1   Inside back cover.
[untitled]
Advertisement on Interior Page(s)
1   Back cover.

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