‘Action Comics’ #1000 Trailer Released

DC has released a teaser trailer for Action Comics #1000, the hugely-anticipated anniversary issue that will kick off Marvel superstar Brian Michael Bendis’s run as the primary architect of DC’s Superman mythology.

Given the length, and dialogue-free nature of the spot, it seems likely this will run on the wall of DC’s pop-up shop at South by Southwest. Similar trailers for comics, movies, and DC TV shows ran on the side of a similar pop-up store at DC in DC.

The trailer features no new artwork, but rather focuses on a number of images from throughout Action Comics‘s 80-year history. Near the end, there is a rapid-fire countdown beginning with “The Oz Efect” and concluding with Action Comics #1000, featuring the issue’s main cover by DC co-publisher Jim Lee.

Since Bendis’s upcoming miniseries Man of Steel promises to introduce a new threat with ties to Krypton, one must wonder whether DC’s decision to begin the countdown with an image from “The Oz Effect” is teasing something particular.

“The Oz Effect” pitted Superman against Mr. Oz, a mysterious, hooded figure who had been skulking around the edges of the series looking suspicious for a few years. In the story, Mr. Oz revealed himself as Jor-El, Superman’s birth father, and said that Earth did not deserve his son. He hoped to convince Superman to abandon Earth, and to take his wife Lois and son Jonathan with him.

After Mr. Oz’s defeat and mysterious disappearance, Superman doubted the villain’s story, but traveling through time and space to witness Krypton’s death, the Man of Steel finally came face-to-face with his answer in yesterday’s Action Comics #998.

In addition to a story by Bendis, the return of Superman’s red trunks, and a story by DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and Superman: The Movie driector Richard Donner, Action Comics #1000 will feature a total of ten covers, including one by legendary Marvel Comics creator Jim Steranko.

As the first mainstream American comic to reach 1,000 monthly issues, Action Comics #1000 is being supported by DC with the kind of publicity campaign rarely provided on the publishing side, especially for single-issue comics.

You can see the trailer above. Action Comics #1000 will be in stores on April 18.