DC to publish long-lost Siegel and Shuster story in honor of Action Comics milestone

DC Comics will publish the 1,000th issue of Action Comics this year, and to mark that occasion it’s also releasing a special hardcover collection called Action Comics #1000: 80 Years Of Superman. The book will be a celebration of the Man Of Steel’s legacy, and it’ll have a whole bunch of new and classic stories and essays about not only Superman, but also other big-name heroes who appeared in Action Comics—including Supergirl, Zatara, The Vigilante, Human Target, and President John F. Kennedy.

Of course, as much as people love The Vigilante, the real hook is the Superman stuff. As announced in a press release today, Action Comics #1000 will actually feature a long-lost story written by original Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster called “Too Many Heroes” that was apparently found many years ago by a young Marv Wolfman—who has since become a famous comic book writer himself, with one of his own Action Comics stories being reprinted in this book.

The press release doesn’t say if Siegel and Shuster’s families are getting paid for this long-lost story, but since this is supposed to be a celebration we probably shouldn’t make references to how poorly DC Comics used to treat the two guys who put it on the map. Anyway, the actual 1,000th issue of Action Comics (the comic book, not this book book) will also include the first-ever DC story from longtime Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis and the reveal that Superman is getting the red underwear back on his costume—a thing that is evidently important to a lot of people—so there are multiple special things happening at DC in April.

Action Comics #1000: 80 Years Of Superman will be available on April 19, and you can read more about it here.