Action Comics No. 1 – historic cover, 1938
April 18, 1938 · Cover date June 1938

Superman’s
First Issue

One comic, one character, a new genre: how two young men from Cleveland forever changed the world with Action Comics No. 1 – and what the cover has to do with a car.

Origins

From idea to newsstand

Years of waiting

Jerry Siegel (script) and Joe Shuster (art) developed Superman as early as the early 1930s. After countless rejections they landed at National Allied Publications – later DC Comics – and sold the rights for $130. On April 18, 1938 the result hit the stands: an anthology comic with several stories – led by Superman.

The cover that defined everything

Joe Shuster’s cover shows a man in a blue suit and red cape holding a car overhead – visual language of unexpected power. The image became an icon of the superhero comic and still shapes how we “read” superpowers visually.

Birth of a genre

This issue did not just make a character world-famous – it established the recipe of alter ego, moral compass and spectacular feats that Batman, Wonder Woman and dozens of others soon followed. Without Action Comics No. 1, 21st-century superhero blockbusters would not exist as we know them.

Every character in the first issue →  ·  Collector value →  ·  Original vs. Reprint →

The cast · 1938

Characters of the first issue

Action Comics No. 1 is not a Superman-only comic but an anthology with eleven features. The 13-page opening story introduces the cast that founded the superhero mythos – led by Superman and Lois Lane. Alongside it, Western, magician, boxing and reporter series debut whose names today are mostly known to specialists.

Listed here are the named characters plus the key unnamed roles of the Superman story. One-off extras from the other features are omitted.

Superman: Champion of the Oppressed

Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, 13 pages. Debut of Superman and Lois Lane. The paper is still the Daily Star in Cleveland – Metropolis and Perry White come later.

Featured Superman

Superman

Clark Kent · debut and origin

An infant from a dying planet, sent to Earth by a scientist. At the orphanage the child shows superhuman strength; as an adult Clark Kent becomes a reporter and, in secret, the “Champion of the Oppressed.” He cannot fly yet in 1938: he leaps buildings, lifts enormous weights and is bulletproof.

Supporting Superman

Lois Lane

Daily Star reporter · debut

Clark’s colleague, who writes him off as a coward after he deliberately backs down from gangster Butch Matson on a date. Matson then abducts her; Superman wrecks the car (the cover scene) and carries Lois to safety. It is the first of her many kidnappings.

Supporting Superman

George Taylor

Editor of the Daily Star · debut

Clark’s boss, who assigns him to cover Superman and later sends him to San Monte. Taylor is the mythos’ first editor-in-chief; only in later years does Perry White take that role at the Daily Planet.

Supporting Superman

Jor-L

Unnamed in the original · later Jor-El

The scientist who places his son in a rocket and launches him from the dying planet toward Earth. In the issue itself he remains unnamed and appears only in the origin flashback on page one.

Other Superman

Evelyn Curry

Wrongfully sentenced to death

The first person Superman saves: she is about to be executed for a murder she did not commit. Superman delivers the real killer to the governor – minutes before the execution.

Antagonist Superman

Bea Carroll

Unnamed in the original · the real murderess

The woman who framed Evelyn Curry. Superman overpowers her, binds and gags her, and leaves her with a signed confession on the lawn of the governor’s mansion.

Antagonist Superman

Butch Matson

Gangster · debut

Cuts in on Clark and Lois at a nightclub, gets slapped by Lois, then abducts her. Superman chases the limousine and smashes the car with his bare hands – the cover image – before freeing Lois.

Antagonist Superman

Alex Greer

Washington lobbyist · debut

A war profiteer trying to push Senator Barrows into a European conflict. Superman grabs Greer, leaps with him onto the Capitol and demands a confession – a cliffhanger that leads straight into issue No. 2.

Antagonist Superman

Senator Barrows

U.S. senator · debut

The politician Greer is trying to talk into entering a war. Superman overhears the meeting in Washington and makes Greer – not the senator – his actual target.

Antagonist Superman

The wife-beater

Unnamed in the original

A man assaulting his wife. Clark hears the tip in the newsroom, changes identity and stops him: the attacker’s knife shatters on Superman’s skin before he faints. Typical of the 1938 social-crusader Superman.

Other Superman

Governor of Ohio

Unnamed in the original

Superman breaks through the door of his Columbus estate and convinces him at the last minute to halt Evelyn Curry’s execution. Unnamed, but the first public official Superman personally holds to account.

The other features in the issue

Besides Superman, the comic contains further serials and shorts – Western, magic, boxing, reporter action and historical adventure. These are the central characters of those features.

Featured Chuck Dawson

Chuck Dawson

Western · debut · part 1 of 14

Son of a murdered rancher who returns to Red Gulch, Texas, to reclaim his father’s land from John Burwell’s 4-G Gang. The black-and-white story ends with Chuck in jail – continued in No. 2.

Featured Zatara

Zatara

Giovanni “John” Zatara · debut

A stage magician who can actually work magic: backwards-spoken spells, teleportation, hypnosis. Here he hunts freight-train robbers led by the Tigress. Historically important: he is the father of Zatanna, who decades later joins the Justice League.

Supporting Zatara

Tong

Zatara’s assistant · debut

Zatara’s loyal companion. He saves Detective Brown from falling off the train, warns the engineer and delivers crooked inspector Babcock to the police – often more practical than magical.

Antagonist Zatara

The Tigress

Train robber · debut

Leader of the freight thefts. She shoves Zatara off the train, sets a shack on fire and escapes at the end – Zatara turns her pistol into a bullet, but the Tigress leaps away and remains at large.

Featured Sticky-Mitt Stimson

Sticky-Mitt Stimson

Comic thief

A humorous short by “Alger” (Russell Cole): a pickpocket tries to elude the police. No superhero, just slapstick in the late-1930s anthology mix.

Featured Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Historical adventure · debut · part 1 of 17

In 1271 Marco sets out from Venice for Asia with his father Niccolò and uncle Maffeo. This chapter covers the pope at Acre, Armenian ports and an ambush at the Karghar Pass – the start of a long serial.

Featured Pep Morgan

Pep Morgan

Boxer

A sports feature by Fred Guardineer: Pep wins despite doctored gloves against Sailor Sorenson and later against Boomerang, whose manager Doc Lowry dopes opponents with a needle sewn into the glove. Not a debut – Pep had already appeared in More Fun Comics.

Featured Scoop Scanlon

Scoop Scanlon

Five Star Reporter · debut

Reporter for The Bulletin who stops jewel thief Arnold with a tommy gun and a car chase. A typical pulp journalist: he does not just write the story, he is in the middle of it.

Supporting Scoop Scanlon

Rusty James

Photographer · debut

Scoop’s cameraman and sidekick. He clings to the getaway car and secretly punctures the fuel tank – which is why the chase succeeds at all.

Featured Tex Thomson

Tex Thomson

Adventurer · debut

A Texas oilman visiting England. He finds a murdered man, is accused, rescues the boy Robert and exposes the killer Sonja. Thomson later becomes the masked hero Mr. America (and Americommando) – one of the few characters in the issue with a superhero career.

Today

The legacy of No. 1

1938 originals are museum-grade and remain out of reach for most people. High-quality reprints let you experience the layout, stories and atmosphere of the first issue without a six- or seven-figure investment.

All documented reprints are listed under Reprints of Action Comics No. 1. If you want to read the Superman story from No. 1 in the context of the first years, see Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1. A currently available single-issue copy is linked on the home page offer section.