40 Years Ago Today, John Byrne Re-Launched One of DC’s Oldest Titles (& Changed Its Format Completely)

It has been 40 years since DC Comics rebooted its entire comic book line following the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event series. This allowed creators to come in and reimagine many of the superheroes and relaunch stories and tales that had been ongoing for decades in some cases. It also allowed DC to clear up any confusing stories concerning alternate Earths, retcons, and more by starting fresh, opening the door for young and new fans to get on board without years of complicated history. John Byrne was brought in, and he got a chance to reimagine Superman, and it all started with his Man of Steel miniseries, where he introduced Superman’s role in this new DC Universe. The six-issue miniseries showed Superman’s life on Earth, brought back his life with Ma and Pa Kent, had him discover his origin from Krypton, and introduced Lex Luthor as a new business mogul villain.

When Man of Steel ended its six-issue run, DC began its run with a renumbered Superman and continuations of Action Comics and The Adventures of Superman. Byrne wrote and penciled Superman and Action Comics, while Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway worked on The Adventures of Superman. The biggest change came for Action Comics. On September 30, 1986, DC released Action Comics #584, and Byrne changed it from a Superman solo title to a Superman team-up comic.

Action Comics Was One of DC’s Oldest Running Titles

When DC began publishing comics, the two biggest superheroes in the company line were Superman and Batman. Both of these characters appeared in two different comics. For Batman, it was his solo title and Detective Comics. For Superman, it was his solo title and Action Comics. In fact, it was Action Comics that introduced the world to Superman, as Action Comics #1 (1938) was the first-ever appearance of Superman. The comic remains iconic to this day, with Superman lifting the car while people ran away. Action Comics #1 remains known as the comic book that started the Golden Age of comics.

In the beginning, Action Comics wasn’t a Superman title, but was instead an anthology comic. On top of Superman, other heroes who were spotlighted in early issues included the magician Zatara, the hero Tex Thompson, and the Vigilante. However, the character who stuck was Superman. In that first issue, Lois Lane also made her first appearance. An unnamed office boy who later would become known by the name Jimmy Olsen showed up in Action Comics #6. As the series ran on, Superman started gaining more and more powers, including X-ray vision, super hearing, and super breath. Lex Luthor made his first appearance in Action Comics #23.

When the Silver Age started with new heroes like Barry Allen’s Flash and Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern, Superman remained constant, and Action Comics continued to be one of the homes of Superman stories. This saw the book introduce things like the Fortress of Solitude in Action Comics #241 and then Brainiac in the next issue. Supergirl debuted in Action Comics #252, and eventually this became a Superman comic book as much as the title that included his name. Things looked bleak in Action Comics #583, when DC released one of the best Superman stories ever written, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” by Alan Moore and Curt Swan, widely considered to be the final Superman story. That was the “final” issue of Action Comics.

John Byrne Turned Action Comics Into a Superman Team-Up Comic Book Series

Of course, that was just a publicity stunt that DC put on to lead into the changes following “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” When Action Comics returned four months later, it kept the numbering going, but the book was completely different. This was no longer just another Superman solo title. Instead, Action Comics became similar to Marvel Team-Up, a Marvel Comics book that saw Spider-Man teaming up with a different hero each month. DC used the iconic Action Comics to replace the cancelled DC Comics Presents, which was the previous book that saw Superman teaming up with another hero. Written and penciled by John Byrne, the newly rebooted title started with Action Comics #584, where Superman teamed up with the New Teen Titans.

While the format repeated that of DC Comics Presents, it seemed weird that the book that introduced Superman to the world became just another team-up book. The next few issues saw Superman team up with the Phantom Stranger, the New Gods, the Demon, Hawkman, the Green Lantern Corps, and more. These were some big team-ups and some major battles, but it just wasn’t the same old Action Comics. This all finally ended in Action Comics #600, which was not only a massive anniversary issue, but also a return to the old-school anthology format. This issue also marked the end of this as a monthly title, and Action Comics went weekly with the next issue, which also marked the departure of John Byrne from the title.

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