Action Comics #1000

Action Comics #1000 came out back in April. Not only was it the 1000th issue of Action Comics, but DC also timed the scheduling of the series so that its publication would coincide with the 80th anniversary of Action Comics #1 (I can't prove that's why Action has been shipping semi-monthly for a while now, but that's a pretty big coincidence if it's not).

Because of this, DC released #1000 as an 80-page giant that featured several different stories that celebrated the scope of Superman's history. One of the stories really took that to heart and told a reality-bending tale with shout-outs to several Superman adaptations over the years.

“Never-Ending Battle” by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

The first to be seen was the black Superman shield that first appeared in the Fleischer cartoons from the 40s. Although we've seen this S recently, this is the first time to my knowledge that it's appeared on a full Superman outfit in a canon comic book.

Next up is a black-and-white adventure that clearly represents Superman and the Mole Men (1951), the pilot to the Adventures of Superman tv series, and technically the first Superman theatrical film.

Eventually, Superman gets caught in a fight of multiple versions of himself, one of which is clearly the Superman that appeared in Super Friends (1978). You can tell by the simpler lines, lack of shading, and the distinctive spit curl.

Finally, there's these depictions of The Phantom Zone, the Fortress of Solitude, and Jax-Ur & Mala.

I've had the flat-square Phantom Zone and the crystalline Fortress of Solitude on this blog before, and in the same post, even. This version of Jax-Ur has likewise been seen before. Mala, however, is brand new. She and Jax-Ur first appeared in the Superman: The Animated series episode "Blasts from the Past, Part 1" (September 1997), and although they're both based on Kryptonian characters from the comics, Mala was originally a male.

(Note: “Actionland!” by Paul Dini and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez also included two canon immigrants, but one of them, the Mechanical Monsters, has already been featured on this site in a more concretely canon capacity, and the other, Miss Gsptlsnz's looks, will be featured in two weeks.)

So yeah, this post is kind of two months late, but it's completely fine because it's just celebrating the 80th anniversary of Action Comics #1's cover date. See? Totally works!

52 Shakeup

The Batman Beyond post from earlier this year made me realize that the New 52 has affected this site more drastically than I originally thought. No longer can I go on just presuming that past stories still "count", however loosely. They do for the purposes of this site, but in terms of the New 52, nothing exists until we see it again. So I think it's important to take note of what makes it through and what doesn't. And let me tell you...not a whole lot has made it through. Below is the list of everything I could find, and most of it is exactly what you would expect. In the future, if anything else shows up, it'll get a brand new spotlight and a "52 Shakeup" tag, because it's essentially a new character

Batman:
Harley Quinn

Batgirl first appeared in Batgirl #1 (September 2011). She's Barbara Gordon again and looks like Batgirl.

Renee Montoya first appeared in one panel of Batwoman #1 (September 2011) and then appeared in one panel of Batwoman #0 (September 2012). That's it so far.

Mr. Freeze's real name, costume, and part of his backstory haven't changed from the Animated Series version. And of course he still calls himself "Mr. Freeze", which is from Batman '66. And, as part of his backstory, Nora Fries is still around..sort of. Her name is Nora Fields, and Mr. Freeze is obsessed with her but they were never actually married. In fact, they never even met. (Batman Annual #1, May 2012)

Clayface is looking more like his animated self than ever in Justice League #30 (May 2014).

The Batmobile's afterburner is still around, but I don't have a first appearance for it.

Presumably this whole page, if the Batman Inc. stuff still counts

Superman:
Perry White and Jimmy Olsen first appeared in Superman #1 (September 2011).
The Daily Planet has definitely appeared in the New 52, but I can't find what issue. I'm sure it came out in September 2011, though.

Mercy Graves first appears in Justice League #31 (June 2014). She's Asian now, supposedly to match Tao Okamoto in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but I don't know which one really came first.

Livewire first appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villians in Justice League #30 (May 2014).

Non first appears by name in Action Comics #23.2 (September 2013), although I've read he appeared as early as Action Comics #5 (January 2012). Interestingly, he appears with Faora instead of Ursa; presumably this is to be more like Man of Steel, but then why wouldn't they use Jax-Ur instead of Non?

Sgt. Casey is mentioned in Action Comics #1 (September 2011). As far as I know, he hasn't actually appeared yet, but he's out there somewhere.

Mr. Mxyzptlk first appeared in Action Comics #15 (December 2012) with a new backstory: he's now a court jester for the 5th-dimensional King-Thing Brpxz of Zrff.

Bizarro first appears in Superman #23.1 (September 2013) as a failed Kryptonian/human-hybrid Superman clone called Subject B-0.

Metallo first appears in Action Comics #1 (September 2011) as John Corben, a soldier under Sam Lane. In issue 2 (October 2011), he joins John Henry Irons's Project: Steel Soldier and wears the Metal-0 suit, The Metal-0 suit is then revealed to be sentient - thanks to a Brainiac virus - and through a series of events, Metallo and Corben become one person and they get a Kryptonite heart in issue 8 (April 2012). Later, they upgrade to Metal-2.0, and then by Forever Evil they begin calling themselves Metallo.

This whole page, except for maybe the Phantom Zone appearance

Other:
Giganta's powers, as seen here in her first appearance, Trinity of Sin: Pandora #2 (August 2013):

Green Arrow's costume, as seen here, seems to be a mixture of his Smallville and Arrow outfits. From what I've seen, it tends to lean more toward one or the other based on the artist:

John Stewart's costume, as seen here. John Stewart first appeared in Green Lantern Corps #1 (September 2011).

Superman Super Post! (Part 1: Characters)

I think something a lot of people don't realize about the Superman is just. how. MUCH of it originated in adaptations before appearing in the comics themselves.  It's staggering, really.  Let's put it this way: it's so much that I have to split it into two parts.  So today we'll look at which of Superman's supporting cast are immigrants, and tomorrow we'll take a look at character appearances and other things.  (And keep in mind that these two parts aren't even counting the things that have already been discussed in previous posts.)

Sergeant Casey

Perry White

Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy Olsen first appeared in the The Adventures of Superman radio show during the serial episode "The Emerald of the Incas" (April 1940).  His first comics appearance was in Superman #13 (December 1941).  Like Perry White, he has become a staple of the Superman mythos, and has appeared in most adaptations.

Atoman

Atom Man (note the different spelling) first appeared in the Superman radio serial "Atom Man" and its immediate sequel "Atom Man vs. Metropolis" (October 1945), which was later adapted into the movie serial Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950). His first comics appearance was in World's Finest #271 (September 1981). Please note that Atoman has much more in common with the radio version than the serial version, who is just a disguise for Lex Luthor.

Inspector William Henderson

Professor Pepperwinkle

Professor Pepperwinkle first appeared in the The Adventures of Superman radio show during the 1940s.  He made his first comics appearance in Action Comics #442 (December 1974), Like Inspector Henderson, he also appeared in the Adventures of Superman tv series before making it to the comics.

Mr. Mxyzptlk

Mxyzptlk, a mischievous imp from the 5th Dimension, first appeared in the Superman comic strip in February 1944 (strip name: "The Mischievous Mr. Mxyztplk").  He later appeared in comics in Superman #30 (September 1944).  It's interesting to note that when he first appeared, his name was spelled "Mxyztplk"; it wasn't until Action Comics #208 (September 1955) that it was changed to the current spelling.

Metallo

Metallo first appeared in the Superman comic strip in December 1958.  The story would later be retold in Action Comics #252 (May 1959), his first appearance in comics.

Ben Hubbard

Ben Hubbard was first mentioned in Superman: The Movie (1975) as a neighbor of the Kents, and hinted to be in a relationship with Martha after Jonathan died.  He made his first real appearance in Superman Returns (2006) in deleted scenes, and then his first comics appearance is Action Comics #855 (March 2007), although I've heard he's been mentioned before that.

Ursa and Non

Ursa and Non first appeared in Superman II (1980) as General Zod's lieutenants, roles that were formerly filled in the comics by Jax-Ur and Faora Fu-Ul.  They first appeared in comics in Adventure Comics #845 (January 2007).

Superwoman

Superwoman (aka Kristin Wells) first appeared in the Elliot S! Maggin novel, Miracle Monday (1981); she was a person from the 29th century - a descendant of Jimmy Olsen - who travelled back in time to figure out the secret identity of Superwoman, only to discover that it was actually her.  She later appeared in comics, starting with DC Comics Presents Annual #2 (January 1983), but the Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped her character from continuity.

She was later reintroduced to comics in the 2000s, but as two separate characters.  Kristin Wells showed up in Superman #668 (December 2007) and was revealed to be Karsta War-Ul, a Kryptonian living on Earth, while the new Superwoman first appeared in Supergirl #35 (January 2009) and turned out to be Lucy Lane.