off white pgs; pc out 5th pg, affects story, cvr dtchd, Jerry Siegel written 1st pg, incomplete
2nd Superman cover! rare in any grade
Jerry Siegel Collection
Action Comics #7 marked
Superman's second cover appearance after becoming an instant sensation as the cover star of
Action Comics #1. The brass at National Comics was still reluctant to admit that the Man of Steel was moving all those copies. In fact, there would be several more issues before Superman became the regular cover star for
Action. (To be fair,
Action had some great covers during that stint, wrapping the issues in the same kind of pulp-style covers that had graced both
New Adventure and
More Fun up to that point.)
Action #7 really delivered as Superman returned to the cover, though. Co-creator Joe Shuster's understated illustration once again sets the mood for the character's early appearances. Superman's bold strength and energy perfectly matches Shuster's simplified lines and stark landscape. It's also fun to see a variation on superheroes swooping in with the bad guy, as Superman dangles a criminal high above Metropolis. There's a classic story too, as "Superman Joins the Circus" — specifically, as a strongman to save the owner from ruthless creeps trying to ruin his business.(There's also the satisfaction of a petty Clark Kent getting revenge on an office bully at the
Daily Star newspaper where he works.)
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This copy comes from the collection of Mr. Siegel, making the winning bidder the recipient of this personal memento of his famed creation. Mostly celebrated as the Man of Steel's second cover appearance, this issue was also the very first time the name "Superman" had ever appeared on the cover of a comic book. In late 1938, DC editors handed out copies of Action #7 to their staff in the hopes that it would inspire the creation of another superhero, which resulted in the Batman just a few months later. /Jerry Siegel heard about that and reportedly felt insulted that others had been instructed to copy his work. When Siegel and Shuster sued DC comics, hoping in vain to regain control of Superman, Siegel compared the story and images in Action #7 with other DC publications and decided key elements from the issue were improperly borrowed for the creation of other heroes. The image missing from pg. 5 (Superman lifting an elephant) was clipped by Siegel himself to illustrate that point in the lawsuit. Early Actions survive in incredibly low numbers -- any chance at a copy of one of these historic issues must be undertaken.
Overstreet Guide 2017 GD (2.0) value = $35,000.
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