Issue Description

Cover by Murphy Anderson and Carmine Infantino."Secret of the Wheel-Chair Superman!" (Part 2 of The Super-Panhandler of Metropolis). written by Leo Dorfman, penciled by Curt Swan and inked by Murphy Anderson. Jimmy Olsen drops a coin into a beggar's cup on the street, and the coin bounces out of the cup. As the beggar bends over to retrieve the coin, his blanket falls off revealing that he is Superman, confined to a wheelchair. Superman manages to flee the pursuing crowd, but Jimmy tracks him down, and Superman tells him the story of how he came to be in this state. After a series of missions went wrong, in that the super-science of the 1990s had solved the crises before Superman arrived, Superman began to lose his powers, eventually becoming so weak he couldn't even walk unaided. Jimmy persuades Superman to visit a neurologist, who diagnoses Superman's problem as mental - believing that he is no longer needed or wanted by the world, he convinced himself that his powers had disappeared. However, the neurologist is unable to cure him, so he leaves, dejected. Later, at the abandoned tenement where he lives with a couple who suffer from an incurable disease, his heat vision (one of his remaining powers) accidentally starts a fire. Superman realizes the he is needed after all, and his powers return. However, he still believes that Earth's science has made him redundant, so he sets off in search of another world where he can be more useful."The Super Captive of the Sea!" An "Untold Tales of the Fortress" story. written by Geoff Brown, penciled by Curt Swan and inked by Murphy Anderson. A pink pollution cloud which causes Superman and Supergirl to lose control of their powers envelops the Earth. Superman finds that if he stays underwater, the cloud doesn't affect him, so he performs his super-duties from under the sea. He notices that while he's doing his super-feats, two shadows always appear. Eventually he discovers that these shadows are alien fish-like men who placed the pollution cloud over the Earth to force Superman underwater. They want to see if he can perform super-deeds underwater so they can capture him and take him back to their water world. They trap Superman inside a force field, but he tricks them into releasing him. Using armour he fashions out of flexible glass, Superman manages to emerge from the sea and dispose of both the aliens and the pink cloud around the Earth.

Action Comics (1938)

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

In the early days of comics books, it was not the convention to name comics after specific characters. Rather comics bore generic names such as this one. Although this series featured Superman throughout, it thus bore this name, one which it has become famous for (and the name was kept after the launch of The New 52.) It was the fourth DC Comics title, and the first new one produced after Detective Comics spread beyond the one title (this was after it purchased More Fun Comics and New Adventure Comics.)

Starring: Lex Luthor (starting #890) until #900.

Second Feature: Captain Atom (#879-#889), Superboy (#892), Jimmy Olsen (#893-#896)

(Issues #601-642 are filed under Action Comics Weekly)

Collected EditionsSuperman: The Golden Age Omnibus vol. 1 (#1-31)Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane vol. 1 (#539-541, 545, 546 & #551-554)Superman vs. Darkseid (#586)They Saved Luthor's Brain (#600, #668, #670-673, #676-678 )Panic in the Sky (#674-675)Death of Superman (#683-684)World Without Superman (#685-686)Superman: Funeral For A Friend (#685-686)Superman: Reign of the Supermen (#687-688)The Trial of Superman (#716-717)Transformed! (#729 & 732)DC Comics Presents: Superman #4 (#768, #771-773)Superman: Emperor Joker (#769-770)President Lex (#773)Superman: Our Worlds At War, Book One (#780-781)Superman: Our Worlds At War, Book Two (#782)Superman: Ending Battle (#795-796)DC Comics Presents: Superman #2 (#798)Godfall (Action Comics #812- 813, Adventures of Superman #625- 626 and Superman #202- 203)Superman: The Wrath of Gog (#814-819; backups #812-813)Superman: Sacrifice (Action Comics #829, Superman #218-220, Adventures of Superman #642-643 and Wonder Woman #219-220)Superman: Up, Up and Away! (#837-840)Superman: Back In Action (#841-843, plus stories from DC Comics Presents #4, #17 and #24)Superman: Last Son (#844-846, #851 and Action Comics Annual #11)The Third Kryptonian (Superman #668-670, Action Comics #847, Superman Annual #13)Redemption (Superman #659&666, Action Comics #848-849)3-2-1 Action (Superman #665, Action Comics #852-854, Legends of the DC Universe #14)Superman: Escape From Bizarro World (#855-857)Superman And The Legion of Super-Heroes (#858-863)Superman: Brainiac (#866-870)Superman: New Krypton Vol. 1 (#871)Superman: New Krypton Vol. 2 (#872-873)Superman: Nightwing And Flamebird Vol. 1 (#875-879 and Action Comics Annual #12)Superman: Codename Patriot (#880)Superman: Nightwing And Flamebird Vol. 2 (#883-889, Superman #696 and Adventure Comics #8-10)Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 1 (#890-895)Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 2 (#896-900; Action Comics Annual #13; Secret Six #29)Secret Six: Caution To the Wind (#897)Superman: Reign of Doomsday (#900-904)For Post-Flashpoint refer to Action Comics (Vol. 2)

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