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A review by loonyboi
Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition by Jim Lee, Jules Feiffer, Cary Bates, Carmine Infantino, Klaus Janson, Pasqual Ferry, Roger Stern, Curt Swan, Tim Sale, Gil Kane, Duncan Rouleau, Mort Meskin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Alex Ross, Grant Morrison, Tom DeHaven, Len Wein, Al Plastino, J.H. Williams III, Marv Wolfman, Kilian Plunkett, Jim Mooney, Lee Bermejo, Paul Levitz, Tony Harris, Dan Jurgens, Mort Weisinger, John Byrne, Joe Shuster, Joe Kelly, Wayne Boring, Ben Oliver, Dave Bullock, Fred Guardineer, Laura Siegel Larson, Gene Luen Yang, David Hajdu, Ed McGuinness, Neal Adams, Bob McLeod, Kerry Gammill, Ed Dobrotka, Otto Binder, Jerry Coleman, Larry Tye, Edmond Homilton, Don Cameron, Jerry Siegel
4.0
A decent, if slightly schizophrenic collection of Superman stories. The text pieces by Levitz and especially the great [a:Jules Feiffer|5116|Jules Feiffer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208540516p2/5116.jpg] are welcome, as is the excellent (if brief) piece by [a:Gene Luen Yang|68959|Gene Luen Yang|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1415919636p2/68959.jpg]. But the reprinted stories are all over the place.
The previously unpublished piece believed to have been written by Jerry Siegel is great, if only because of the amazing story (told in his introduction) of how it was saved by a young [a:Marv Wolfman|10178|Marv Wolfman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1298865686p2/10178.jpg]. And I will always be up for Superman stories by greats like [a:John Byrne|15083|John Byrne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270670409p2/15083.jpg], [a:Neal Adams|61970|Neal Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362629672p2/61970.jpg], [a:Curt Swan|93458|Curt Swan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] or any others I've loved over the years. But did we really need a Human Target story in this book? Or Zatara: Master Magician? If this is a retrospective of Action Comics as a whole, then sure. But it's 80 Years of Superman in Action Comics, which makes those feel particularly out of place.
But still, good collection. Don't go expecting this to be a comprehensive book of the best Superman stories ever told (DC has books with those names, but they're hardly definitive), as this is limited to tales that appeared within the Action Comics run. But it's a decent collection, and some of these stories haven't been collected elsewhere. Worth reading if you're a fan for sure.
The previously unpublished piece believed to have been written by Jerry Siegel is great, if only because of the amazing story (told in his introduction) of how it was saved by a young [a:Marv Wolfman|10178|Marv Wolfman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1298865686p2/10178.jpg]. And I will always be up for Superman stories by greats like [a:John Byrne|15083|John Byrne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270670409p2/15083.jpg], [a:Neal Adams|61970|Neal Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362629672p2/61970.jpg], [a:Curt Swan|93458|Curt Swan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] or any others I've loved over the years. But did we really need a Human Target story in this book? Or Zatara: Master Magician? If this is a retrospective of Action Comics as a whole, then sure. But it's 80 Years of Superman in Action Comics, which makes those feel particularly out of place.
But still, good collection. Don't go expecting this to be a comprehensive book of the best Superman stories ever told (DC has books with those names, but they're hardly definitive), as this is limited to tales that appeared within the Action Comics run. But it's a decent collection, and some of these stories haven't been collected elsewhere. Worth reading if you're a fan for sure.