I really enjoyed DC Comics’ 80-page ACTION COMICS #1000 Anniversary issue, which also, coincidentally, marks the 80-year anniversary of Superman in printed comic form, having debuted on the stands in ACTION COMICS #1 on April 18, 1938 with a June cover date. I bought, in my opinion, the best looking available cover left on the shelf — the Joshua Middleton 1980s era variant (see below).

An anthology of assorted stories honoring Superman, I would have to say the Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason story probably was the best of the bunch, but really all the stories contributed well to the overall product, I think. The contents could have maybe been sequenced differently, but really that’s a minor thing. Dan Jurgens’ lead-off story was very clever. “The Car” by Geoff Johns, Richard Donner & Olivier Coipel, and “Of Tomorrow” by Tom King & Clay Mann, were especially fine little vignettes, as was Brad Meltzer and John Cassaday’s “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet”. As for the closing story with Brian Michael Bendis making his debut on the title and character, drawn by Jim Lee and Ryan Benjamin with inks by Scott Williams, I’ll say this: aside from the slightly annoying Bendis dialogue, I thought it was intriguing enough to whet the appetite for whatever it is he’s got in store for his upcoming runs on both ACTION COMICS and SUPERMAN starting this Summer.

So, as an on-the-fringe DC Comics fan, I’m very happy to own this special, historic comic. It’s certainly one of the better anniversary specials of all time, I’d say.