This year, the last son of Krypton becomes an octogenarian, and DC Comics is celebrating this huge milestone in style with this book which is essentially a companion volume to the publication of Action Comics #1000.

Action Comics introduced the world’s first superhero in their June 1938, debut issue, when readers caught their first glimpse of Superman hoisting an automobile above his head and smashing it against a rock. And so, an industry was born, and the reading habits of millions changed.

This book is a handsome tribute to not only the character but to the many talented people who have contributed to the development and continuation of the Man of Steel in Action Comics over the generations. So, interspersed among the reprinted stories, we have the insights of Laura Siegel Larson, daughter of Superman’s co-creator Jerry Siegel, comic book writer Marv Wolfman and academics and comics historians which give fresh insights into the character, his relevance and his ongoing popularity in an ever-changing world.

The meat of the book, though is the choice of stories that have been reprinted, each representing a different era of Superman’s development and, I guess evolution.  Predictably, the first story is THE first story from Action Comics #1. Superman as a character isn’t as well developed as he would become, doesn’t have his heat, or x-ray vision, can’t actually fly but can jump an eighth of a mile and hurdle a twenty-storey building, outrun a train and has super strength. The rest would come later, notably in the Silver Age when the whole super-mythos was greatly expanded with the introduction of his cousin, Supergirl, the shrinking of the last surviving Kryptonian city of Kandor, the Fortress of Solitude (remember when it had a huge golden key to open the door?), Krypto the super-dog, the improbable super-monkey and super-horse, and Superman’s other great alliterative loves, childhood crush Lana Lang and mermaid Lori Lemaris are all fondly recalled here.

The more recent stories are A Hero’s Journey from Action Comics #800, which is a reverential look at the character’s history followed by Superman’s introduction to the New 52 storylines, and finally The Game, which brings us right up to date – April 2018.

All in all, it’s a volume well worth getting, providing a brilliant selection of entertaining snapshots from the world’s mightiest superhero’s career. Several are key milestones, others are just run of the mill – but they’re all fun to read.

Happy birthday, Kal-El. May you soar mightily up, up and away for another eighty years.

ACTION COMICS: 80 YEARS OF SUPERMAN – THE DELUXE EDITION / AUTHOR: VARIOUS / PUBLISHED: DC COMICS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW