Action Comics No. 1, cover-dated June 1938, went on sale on April 18, 1938, with Superman hoisting a car over his head on the cover. National Allied Publications, a forerunner of DC Comics, paid Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster $130 for the 13-page story. The 200,000-copy print run sold out, and the character's blend of alien origin, secret identity and moral certainty set the template for the superhero genre.
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two friends from Cleveland who had dreamed up the character as teenagers, had been pitching a caped strongman character to newspaper syndicates for years before National Allied Publications finally bought their idea for a mere $130, a sum that would haunt both creators for the rest of their lives as Superman grew into a billion-dollar franchise while they struggled financially and fought decades-long legal battles for recognition and royalties.
The character himself was a mash of influences: pulp adventure heroes, the Old Testament story of Moses set adrift as an infant, and the anxieties of Depression-era readers eager for a protector who could lift cars over his head and never lose a fight. Superman's debut issue sold modestly at first, but sales climbed fast enough that National ordered a dedicated solo title within a year. The character's success didn't just create a comic book icon; it effectively invented the superhero genre as a commercial category, inspiring Batman, Wonder Woman, and eventually the sprawling universes of Marvel and DC that now dominate global film box offices.
Key people: Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster