Superman has been around for nearly 90 years at this point. The prospect of trying to narrow down his thousands of appearances to the ten greatest Superman stories of all time is a daunting one (it was hard enough for us to limit the list to 25). But that's exactly what The Folio Society has set out to do with the release of the deluxe hardcover set DC: Superman.
Unsurprisingly, one of the stories featured in this new collection is the first chapter of Alan Moore and Curt Swan's seminal 1986 tale "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of this issue, showing how faithfully the original comic has been reproduced in the hardcover. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:
The stories included in DC: Superman have been scanned from DC's archives and are intended to recreate the original artwork as faithfully as possible, coloring and all. The artwork is presented in a 7" x 10" slipcase hardcover format.
The full lineup of stories in DC: Superman includes:
- Action Comics #36 (May 1941) – ‘Fifth Columnists’ by writer Jerry Siegel, artists Wayne Boring and Joe Shuster, and cover artist Fred Ray.
- Superman #30 (October 1944) – ‘The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!’ by writer Jerry Siegel, artist Ira Yarbrough and Stan Kaye, and cover artist Jack Burnley.
- Superman #96 (March 1955) – ‘The Girl Who Didn't Believe in Superman!’ by writer Bill Finger, artists Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye, and cover artist Al Plastino.
- Superman #149 (November 1961) – ‘The Death of Superman’ by writer Jerry Siegel, artists Curt Swan and George Klein, and cover artists Curt Swan and George Klein.
- Superman #400 (October 1984) – ‘The Living Legends of Superman – Chapter Four’ by writer Elliot S. Maggin, artist Marshall Rodgers and Terry Austin, and cover artists Howard Chaykin and Frank Miller.
- Action Comics # 583 (September 1986) – ‘Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?’ by writer Alan Moore, artists Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, and cover artists Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, and Anthony Tollin.
- Superman Vol. 2 #2 (February 1987) – ‘The Secret Revealed’ by writer John Byrne, artists John Byrne, Terry Austin and Keith Williams, and cover artist John Byrne.
- Superman Annual #2 (August 1988) – ‘Love’s Labors …’ by writer Roger Stern, artists Ron Frenz and Brett Breeding, and cover artist Ron Frenz.
- The Adventures of Superman #462 (January 1990) – ‘Homeless for the Holidays’ by writer Roger Stern, artists Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert, and cover artists Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, and Tom Ziuko.
- Superman #75 (January 1993) – ‘Doomsday!’ by writer Dan Jurgens, artists Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, and cover artists Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding.
- Peace on Earth (January 1999) by writer Paul Dini and artist Alex Ross.
“Symbolizing 'Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow,' Superman has been a feature of comics and Western culture for almost ninety years, and where other characters have changed their allegiances and desires Superman has always stood for one thing: Hope. And we could all do with a little hope now and again,” said James Rose, Head of Editorial for the Folio Society, in a statement.
DC: Superman is priced at $100 and is available now exclusively on The Folio Society's website.
For more on what's coming up in the comic book world, see what to expect from DC in 2025 and IGN's most anticipated new comics of 2025.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
