Issue Description

Cover by Nick Cardy."Make way for Captain Thunder!" written by Elliot S. Maggin, penciled by Curt Swan and inked by Bob Oksner. Reprinted in The Best of DC #16, Superman in the Seventies #1 - TPB & Shazam: The Greatest Stories Ever Told #1 - TPB.

A young boy, Willie Fawcett, materializes in a dingy alleyway. His clothes and his hairstyle look at least "twenty years behind the times." He is surprised to learn about Superman whom he's never heard of before. During an armored car robbery, Superman is distracted by an illusion of a flying monster. Willie rubs his magic belt buckle and says the magic word, "Thunder!" Willie Fawcett is secretly the super hero Captain Thunder. But, instead of helping the police, Willie's alter ego helps the crooks. After Superman deals with the illusion, he goes after Captain Thunder and the crooks. Thunder manages to get away and later, as Willie Fawcett, goes to see Clark Kent. He tells Clark the origin of Captain Thunder, of how he was on a camping trip for orphans and followed an owl to the last medicine man of the Mohegan tribe. There he is invested with the powers of Tornado, Hare, Uncas, Nature, Diamond, Eagle, and Ram: the acronym spells THUNDER. The last thing Willie remembers is fighting the Monster League of Evil which appears to be comprised of Frankenstein's monster, the mummy, the wolf man, and Dracula. He imprisons them in another dimension, but they laugh about how they have done something to him secretively and "you'll never be the same!" Clark is not entirely convinced and decides to take Willie to the police and see if he has been reported missing. Just as they arrive, a jail break is going on and Clark slips off to change into Superman. When he tries to stop the jailbreak, Captain Thunder appears. They have a tremendous battle in the skies and the fight goes back and forth. Superman realizes that he can not defeat Thunder in a battle of strength, so he decides to use "super wits." He uses static electricity to generate a bolt of lightning directed at Captain Thunder and manipulates the conversation so that as his foe says the word "thunder," Superman forces him to rub his magic belt buckle. This causes Thunder to revert to his Willie Fawcett identity. Superman explains that he has figured out that Thunder comes from another dimension. His plan is to put a full nelson on Willie and have him change into Thunder in order to use Thunder's wisdom to overcome the Monster League of Evil's hold. When Thunder comes back, he tries to break free, but can not. Eventually, Thunder breaks free of their hold and figures out how to get home. The epilogue shows Clark and Lois walking down the street and she spots an expensive restaurant and drags Clark inside. Clark is comforted by the knowledge that he is not alone in the universe and that "...Captain Thunder...like Superman... champions the weak and the helpless...for no other reason than because it is right!"

Superman (1939)

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

Superman launched May 18, 1939 with its first issue (that doesn't actually have a #1 on the cover) and although it was a seasonal book for its first five issues, with its sixth it began a bimonthly publishing rate and kept up with said rate until its eighty-fifth. With its eighty-sixth issue Superman began it's mostly consistent monthly publishing rate which it continued using up until 1986 when the series ended at 423 issues, the last issue featuring Alan Moore's acclaimed story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" After that, the title's numbering was continued through Adventures of Superman which lasted for several decades. It was in 2006 with #650 that the title returned to its original name, kicking off it's new era with the One Year Later storyline co-written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek. After the arc, the series was written by Busiek from 654-675, with James Robinson taking the reigns in 677 and holding them tight until the milestone 700th issue where JMS took over with an arc entitled "Grounded" that would feature Superman walking across America. However, JMS left the book earlier then planned and new writer Chris Roberson worked off of JMS' original notes and plotline. Unfortunately, Roberson never got to prove himself with his own story on the book as with the launch of The New 52 in September 2011, after 72 years and 714 issues (including Adventures of Superman) Superman Vol. 1 came to an end with the final chapter of the Grounded story arc serving as the final issue of the series. Superman will survive as an ongoing series at DC, with the month following the release of Superman #714 serving as the launching point of the third ongoing Superman series in DC history with #1.

For Post Flashpoint volume 3, refer to Superman.

General Notes

Superman #424-649 do not exist, however, the issues that took those numbers can be found on the Adventures of Superman page.

Another ongoing title from DC entitled Superman does exist and was published with its own numbering while Adventures of Superman was in print, thus even though this title began publication in the 30's and lasted until 2011, no two Superman titles were hitting shelves at the same time. The other Superman volume can be found here.

The main star of the series has of course been Superman but from #686-697 Mon-El was the star as Superman was away from Earth and the covers bore the banners "World Without Superman" for the first five and "World Against Superman" for the last six issues of this absence.

Collected EditionsSuperman Chronicles (Collects the earliest issues)Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus vol. 1 (#1-31)Showcase presents: Superman (late 50`s, early 60`s stories)Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane vol. 1 (#367, 372 & 375)Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (#423, Action Comics #583)Up, Up and Away! (#650-653, Action Comics #837-840 )Camelot Falls Vol. 1 (#654-658)Camelot Falls Vol. 2 (#662-664 & 667, Superman Annual #13)Redemption (#659 & 666, Action Comics #848-849)3-2-1 Action (#665, Action Comics #852-854, Legends of the DC Universe #14)The Third Kryptonian (#668-670, Action Comics #847, Superman Annual #13)Shadows Linger (#671-675)The Coming of Atlas (#677-680)New Krypton Vol. 1 (#681, Action Comics #871, Adventure Comics Special Featuring The Guardian #1, Superman New Krypton Special #1, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #1)New Krypton Vol. 2 (#682-683, Action Comics #872-873; Supergirl #35-36)Mon-El Vol. 1 (#684-690, Action Comics #874, Action Comics Annual #10)Codename Patriot (#691, Action Comics #880, Supergirl #44, Superman: World of New Krypto #6, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special #2)Mon-El Vol. 2 (#692-697, Adventure Comics #11, Superman Annual #14, Superman: Secret Files 2009 #1)Nightwing and Flamebird Vol. 2 (#696, Action Comics #883-889, Adventure Comics #8-10)Last Stand of New Krypton Vol. 1 (#698, Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #1-2, Adventure Comics #8-9, Supergirl #51)Last Stand of New Krypton Vol. 2 (#699, Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #3, Adventure Comics #10-11, Supergirl #52)Superman: War of The Supermen (#700)Grounded Vol. 1 (#700-706)Grounded Vol. 2 (#707-711 & #713-714)

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