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Action Comics Vol 1 1000

Action Comics #1000 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 2018. It was published on April 18, 2018.

Synopsis for "From the City That Has Everything"

In the midst of a Khund invasion, the city of Metropolis celebrates "Superman Day", a day of recognition for all the things that Superman has done for the city; however, the Man of Tomorrow does not seem too enthusiastic about the festivities.

After he has destroyed a Khundian warship, Lois and Jon try to get Clark to come to a celebratory panel, which he does, hesitantly.

The presentation begins with a group of guests recounting their experiences of when Superman saved them from various dangers. Meanwhile, Clark feels uneasy, worried about the Khunds sending out a larger force. As he uses his telescopic vision to check, though, he experiences brief, strange hallucinations of ships, but then they disappear.

During the presentation, Lois is continually bombarded with calls from her boss, Perry White, but when he appears on stage to speak at the panel, Superman realizes that something is awry. He flies off, but is stopped by Wonder Woman, who reveals the truth: the Khunds indeed attempted a large-scale invasion, but the world's heroes have already taken care of it. Diana apologetically admits that the Martian Manhunter had influenced Superman telepathically so he would not notice anything, and that Lois had actually been on the phone with Batman the entire time. Diana explains that his family and friends did this because they wanted him to enjoy his day. After all, he also influenced all of them.

As Superman returns to the presentation, he sees both the Superman and Batman Families, the Justice League, the Titans, Earth's Green Lanterns... all of the heroes, and even villains like Harley Quinn and Deathstroke the Terminator, gathered in celebration of him.

Appearing in "From the City That Has Everything"

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  • Khund Armada

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  • Superman Day

Synopsis for "Never-Ending Battle"

On his birthday, Superman recounts the events that occurred right before his arrival: after a night out on patrol, Superman is teleported into the lair of Vandal Savage, who hooks him up to a device that can "weaponize Hypertime". Savage explains that the device will trap Superman in an endless time loop, where he will never be able to stop Savage from taking over the world.

Savage activates the device, sending the hero back into his own past.

Superman awakens in 1930s Metropolis, where he finds himself battling a group of gangsters. He realizes that he is missing some of his powers, but is exhilarated nevertheless.[1] As the time loop progresses, Vandal throws Superman from adversary to adversary, including former villains, alternate versions of himself, and even the power of "nature" itself. Despite this, Clark does not back down. He uses time to his advantage, overcoming Savage's attack and besting the enemy once and for all.

As Clark returns home, he realizes that every incarnation of him would always end with him reuniting with his family.

Appearing in "Never-Ending Battle"

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  • The Locomotive (Flashback only) (Cameo)

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Synopsis for "An Enemy Within"

While Superman stops Brainiac from attacking Japan, Maggie Sawyer negotiates a hostage situation at a High school; a principal has taken a student and is holding her at gunpoint.

Superman overhears the situation from afar, believing the principal to be under the influence of Brainiac. The police bring the principal's wife to ease the situation, snapping him out of the villain's control. Superman severs the controls of Brainiac's ship, overriding the signal and freeing the principal.

Later, Maggie finds a homeless man and tries to help him, but he ignores her. The man is actually in the process of being controlled by Brainiac, but the connection fails.

As Superman leaves Japan, he realizes that Brainiac was doomed to fail anyway because humanity is "too strong-minded" to be controlled by any higher power.

Appearing in "An Enemy Within"

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  • Linda Davis (Single appearance)

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Synopsis for "The Car"

Butch Matson takes his car to the shop to get it repaired. When the mechanic asks what damaged the car, Butch responds with "a man wearing red under-wear."[1]

While he waits outside, Butch is visited by Superman, who confronts him about the night before. Clark tells him that he had looked into Butch's past, learning about his troubled childhood. Butch became an orphan and ended up on the streets after both his parents died when he was 13. Butch remembers a hot day when him and the other orphans just wanted to go swimming, but there was no pool.

Superman tells him to make a decision; either continue to cause trouble in the city, or "be the person who wasn't there for him".

Once Superman flies off, Butch takes his repaired car to the old orphanage and opens a fire hydrant, delighting the children and at the same time fulfilling his inner conflict.

Appearing in "The Car"

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  • Butch Mason's Car (Destroyed)

Synopsis for "The Fifth Season"

Superman encounters Lex Luthor in the Smallville Planetarium, confronting him about acquiring two objects: the "Eye of Xotar" and "Chronos' Time Scissors". Together, these two objects could be used to erase any genealogical line from history. Luthor rebuffs the claims, stating that he only wishes to stargaze.

Superman asks why Luthor chose the planetarium, and he responds by saying that it was the one place that offered him solace as a child. Luthor explains that in Smallville, there is a time between winter and spring where the weather becomes completely unpredictable, a time called "the Fifth Season". During this time period, Luthor would visit the planetarium to escape from his father's abuse.

He then tells Superman of a time where he had once gone there in the hopes of using the facility's telescope to send out a distress call into space, looking for someone to come down from the heavens to help him. Luthor believed that his call was left unanswered, but he was wrong...

In school, Luthor had built a "rudimentary laser" with his lab partner, Clark Kent, and taken it to the telescope. However, he had forgotten to heat up the liquid nitrogen, which would have killed him if not for Clark. Clark realized it, and used his heat vision to fix the mistake, saving his friend. Luthor never realized his call had been answered at the very moment that it was sent.

In the present, Luthor admits to planning to use the Eye and Scissors to kill Superman. Superman knows this, but wonders if things could have been different between them.

Appearing in "The Fifth Season"

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  • Eye of Xotar (Mentioned only)
  • Chronos' Time Scissors (Mentioned only)

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Synopsis for "Of Tomorrow"

On Earth, 5 billion years in the future, the red Sun expands to engulf the planet. Superman goes to visit his parents' gravesite, recounts how he will not let the planet be forgotten, updates the Kents on Lois who now runs a galactic information network, and tells them that they would be proud of Jon. He says that he loves them, says good-bye, and thanks them for everything that they did for him.

Appearing in "Of Tomorrow"

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Synopsis for "Five Minutes"

Clark Kent is trying to get an article on political corruption ready in time for the next edition, but once and again he is derailed by emergences that only Superman can take care of. Despite everything Clark manages to meet the deadline, but Perry White tells him that it is old news now and he is to cover the latest of Superman's deeds. As he leaves with Jimmy Olsen, Clark ponders that superheroing and reporting are not so different.

Appearing in "Five Minutes"

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  • Unnamed burglar (Single appearance) (Unnamed)
  • Unnamed shooters (Single appearance) (Unnamed)

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  • The train conductor (Single appearance) (Unnamed)

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  • Metropolis Train

Synopsis for "Actionland!"

A tour guide welcomes a group of visitors to "Actionland", a Superman-themed amusement park. The woman guides the crowd throughout Superman's life: his escape from Krypton, his childhood in Smallville, his adult life in Metropolis, his battles alongside the Justice League or by himself against his worst enemies until his final battle against Mister Mxyzptlk, where the Man of Steel fell down.

All of a sudden, the world around the tour falls apart and Mister Mxyzptlk appears, grumbling about his inability to come up with a suitably epic ending despite his reality-rewriting powers. His girlfriend—and the tour guide—Miss Gsptlsnz states that Mxyzptlk cannot choose an ending because, deep down inside, he does not want the story to end. Superman defines him as much as he defines Superman.

Mxy and Gsp hug as Bat-Mite and his partners-in-crime decide that it is their turn now to ride Superman's rocket all the way to the Batcave.

Appearing in "Actionland!"

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Synopsis for "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet"

Superman spots a crook shooting an innocent bystander. As he streaks forward, he knows that he will not make it. He is too far away.

Nevertheless, the female hostage leans her weight against the gun's barrel, catching the crook off-guard. Her reckless behavior, obviously, does not stop the bullet, but does buy Superman the extra second that he needed to save her.

Later, Superman is talking with Lois. His wife states that people are inspired by Superman, but they inspire him in turn.

Appearing in "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet"

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  • Rick Fagen (Single appearance)

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Synopsis for "The Truth"

Superman gets punched across several buildings and crashes into a coffee shop. Two women find his barely-conscious body and are trying to drag him to a safe place when his assailant arrives and rushes towards Superman. Suddenly Supergirl pounces on the axe-brandishing alien and hits him with a brutal combination of heat vision and rapid fisticuffs to the face. Furious, the alien gets her off him, roaring that he will deal with her next, and resumes his attack.

Superman engages him again, but the alien is too powerful and smashes him down once and again easily. Once he has pinned Superman to the ground and shot Supergirl down, the savage alien declares that his name is Rogol Zaar, that he cleansed the galaxy of the Kryptonian plague and that he has come there to exterminate the last survivors. As he drives his blade into Superman's chest, he declares that he will finally end the Kryptonian menace just like he promised Jor-El when he destroyed Krypton.

Appearing in "The Truth"

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  • Rogol Zaar's Axe (First appearance)

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Notes

  • This issue is cover dated early June 2018.
  • This issue was released with a high number of variant covers, one for each decade of Superman comics and several retailer-exclusive variants.
  • The story "From the City That Has Everything" takes place after Dark Nights: Metal.
  • The story "Of Tomorrow" takes place in the far future where Clark and Jon Kent are still alive, as well as Lois, who achieved immortality through the unseen "Eternity Formula".
  • Bendis's story "The Truth" leads directly into The Man of Steel (Volume 2) and takes place between pages 10 and 11 of issue #4.
  • "The Game" appeared in digital editions of this comic. The story, by writer Paul Levitz and artist Neal Adams, had already been published one week earlier as a part of the book Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman: The Deluxe Edition and was not included in print editions of this comic; therefore, it has been excluded from this page.
  • "The Truth" is collected in The Man of Steel.
  • "Never-Ending Battle" is collected in Superman: Bizarroverse, Superman: Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 4 and Superman by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason Omnibus.
  • Solicitation:
Celebrate 1000 issues of Action Comics with an all-star lineup of top talent as they pay tribute to the comic that started it all! From today's explosive action to a previously unpublished tale illustrated by the legendary Curt Swan to the Man of Tomorrow's future-this very special, oversized issue presents the best of the best in Superman stories!
  • Longer solicitation:
Celebrate 1000 issues of ACTION COMICS with an all-star lineup of top talent as they pay tribute to the comic that started it all! From today's explosive action to a previously unpublished tale illustrated by the legendary Curt Swan to the Man of Tomorrow's future — this very special, oversized issue presents the best of the best in Superman stories!
Contributors to this once-in-a-lifetime issue include legendary Superman movie director Richard Donner and New York Times best-selling writer Geoff Johns, with art by Olivier Coipel. Other contributing creative teams will include Paul Dini with Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez; Tom King with Clay Mann and Jordie Bellaire; Brad Meltzer with John Cassaday and Laura Martin; Louise Simonson with Jerry Ordway; Scott Snyder with Tim Sale, and more to be announced.
  • Even though it retailed for $7.99, this issue and variants of it were by far the best-selling advance orders of the month of April 2018 from Diamond Distributors: the standard cover was first, 1960s was third, blank was fourth, 2000s was fifth, 1930s was sixth, 1990s was eighth, 1970s was ninth, 1940s was tenth, 1980s was eleventh and 1950s was twelfth.[2]
  • Two weeks before it was released, retailers had purchased more than half a million copies.[3] In contrast, Amazing Spider-Man #800 sold 300,000 copies to retailers.[4] The issue ended up being both the comic that sold the most issues, as well as the one that made the most money in the North American market in April 2018 according to Diamond Comic Distributors.[5]
  • Originally, Doug Mahnke, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely were solicited as helping to create this issue, but they were not in either the final digital or print editions.[6]

Trivia

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Recommended Reading

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