Tomasi and Gleason's Action Comics #1,000 Story is 15 pages of homages to 80 Years of Superman

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Action Comics #1000, which is available now.

How do you you pay tribute to 80 years of the Man of Steel in 15 pages? Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason have found an ingenious way in their Action Comics #1000 story. The outgoing Superman creative team has pitted the hero against the immortal Vandal Savage in a romp across the Multiverse.

The set-up is minimal. On the way home from his nightly patrol, Superman is whisked away by Savage. The Man of Steel finds himself in the villains's underground layer, where the immortal reveals his clever plan.

Savage has weaponized Hypertime. He has trapped Superman in a never-ending loop of yesterdays that will never cross the villain’s own path. By taking him outside history, Vandal has neutralized the Man of Steel.

This scheme is a contrivance that lets Tomasi and Gleason pay tribute to 80 years of Superman adventures. The Man of Steel experiences these stories as both a protagonist and spectator. After all, these pages do not necessarily reflect Superman's personal history within the current DC Universe. These are the stories readers and viewers have come to know and love over the years.

"Never-Ending Battle" shows Superman finding a path back home across the Multiverse. As he fights his way to the present, he jumps into various unfamiliar versions of himself. There are some similarities to Ed Brubaker’s Out of Time Captain America arc, but the storytelling here is extremely condensed.

Transported into the body of his 1940s self, Superman is exhilarated. He relishes the lack of power, and the pure simplicity of saving men, women and children in need. He thrills to the chatter of tommy guns. Fighting in World War II, he is seduced by the simple morality of good and evil.

Superman immediately recognizes that pining for a simpler time is a distraction. The Golden Age is little more than a trap. Battling across a multitude of past realities, he finds strength to claw his way back to the present.

His voiceover is far too dramatic. It recalls the weary trope of a hero's inner monologue providing a play-by-play of the action. Tomasi's script plays with the cliché, and uses it to set up a last-page laugh at Superman's expense.

The highlight here is the art. Patrick Gleason and colorist Alejandro Sanchez prove themselves to be artistic chameleons. Aided by letterer Tom Napolitano, the duo employs a range of artistic styles and color palettes over the story's 15 single-panel pages.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Action%20Comics%27%20Hypertime%20Battle%20Covers%2080%20Years%20in%2015%20Pages']

The interior thirteen splash pages depict Superman's battle through Hypertime. They take readers on a whirlwind tour of the Man of Steel's past. Each of these pages is a visual homage to the many creators who have shaped Superman's legacy. They are also invitations for readers to test—or expand—their knowledge of Superman lore.

Some of the pages are obvious. They are straight-up retellings of well-known events and iconic images. Others are a little more challenging, mashing-up elements from various periods to tell new stories. All are lots of fun. Fans of Superman will find themselves moved by each of these loving tributes.

Let's take a dive into the pages of "Never-Ending Battle." If you haven't already read the story, you may want to pause here and go see for yourself. It's more fun that way.

The first three pages riff on the covers of Action Comics Issues #40-42, but in reverse order. We start with the gun-toting mobsters of Action Comics #42. This is followed by Superman stopping a train, as per issue #41. The third page is Superman taking out a German tank, as on the cover of Action Comics #40.

None of these images is 100% faithful to the originals, but each is a joyous play on continuity. The first shows Superman's chest emblazoned with his original notched shield -- the one that was inspired by a police badge. The second shows the triangle shield that first appeared on the cover of Action Comics #7.

The third image shows the Man of Steel sporting the red-on-black shield of the Max Fleischer cartoons. However, this is not the only anachronism. The page echoes the visual style of Joe Kubert. It also shows Superman fighting in the background, with Sergeant Rock and Easy Company in the foreground. This didn't happen until the pages of DC Comics Presents #10 in 1979.

The next page depicts Superman ensnared by tiny green men on another planet. This is another image that references a story from beyond the pages of DC Comics. It appears to riff on a Wayne Boring newspaper strip published on Thursday, July 17, 1949. That day’s comic strip depicted Superman as the hero of Gulliver's Travels, surrounded by Lilliputians.

These little green men may also reference the various Kryptonite-powered fiends who have attacked Superman over the years. They may also play on the diminutive red aliens who appear in Superboy #88. "The Invader from Earth" is a 1961 story that depicts Superboy traveling to a far-off world. Initially seen as a hostile presence, he reveals that the world's starving denizens need struggle no more. The planet's previous occupants left behind technology that provides ample food and energy. This revelation saves the red aliens from extinction.

The story of this extra-planetary adventure continues on the next page. The Man of Steel extends the hand of friendship to another set of aliens living underground.

We have to admit here that we goofed, but thanks to astute CBR reader and George Reeves fan, Marc Sauvé of Brooklyn, we can now say with confidence that Tomasi and Gleason are paying tribute to the 1951 feature film Superman and the Mole Men. Shot in black-and-white, the low-budget project was planned as both a B-movie and a television pilot.

Reeves was initially hesitant to accept the role. Like many of his contemporaries, he thought that the nascent television medium was a step in the wrong direction. Although he was certain it would lead to obscurity, his TV role made him a national celebrity.

A hard luck case who had difficulty finding work after his stint as the iconic hero, Reeves died in Los Angeles on June 6, 1959. The official cause of death was suicide by gunshot, but questions still remain about what actually transpired. This tragedy is further compounded by the fact that a reboot of the series was in progress at the time.

Page six is an update of the cover of Superman #132. It depicts the "Flame-Dragon from Krypton" burning off Clark Kent's clothes, revealing his true identity. Gleason even reproduces Lois's original yellow dress from the 1961 story.

In this issue, the dragon is said to be the third animal to have survived the destruction of Krypton. He follows on the heels of Krypto, and the monkey Beppo. You may be thinking he's the fourth, after Streaky. However, Supergirl's pet is an Earth cat who acquired superpowers after exposure to X-Kryptonite.

REVIEW: Action Comics #1000 Shows Superman Still Looks Good at 80 Years Old

After this, we see All-Star Superman fighting duplicates of himself. Drawn in the style of Frank Quietly, this image also references the three-Superman fight in Grant Morrison's Final Crisis.

Page eight is a straightforward redrawing of Superman succumbing to a nuclear blast in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

Superman fighting Silver Banshee follows. Some of her notable appearances include Action Comics #595. John Byrne and Keith Williams' 1987 story "The Ghost of Superman" is one of the many tales that feature a temporarily dead Man of Steel. In J.M DeMatteis and Ryan Sook's Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #15, he again encounters the villain as he rescues Lois Lane from Hell.

The Tenth page shows 90s mullet Superman taking on Mongul in the ashes of Coast City. He is pictured with Steel and the Metropolis Kid in this homage to the 1993 "Reign of the Supermen" storyline.

Page 3: [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='From%20Kingdom%20Come%20to%20the%20Rebirth%20Era%20-%20How%20Superman%20Wins']

The eleventh splash page is another reference to Superman's screen presence. The pastiche depicts Jax-Ur and Mala from Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000). The cartoon villains coexist with iconic images from Richard Donner's 1978 Superman: The Movie. We see the Phantom Zone and the Fortress of Solitude as they appear in the classic film starring Christopher Reeve.

The penultimate image in the Hypertime sequence is an obvious homage to Mark Waid and Alex Ross's 1996 masterpiece, Kingdom Come. But is there more to this picture? Does it also hint at the cover of Action Comics #816? Chuck Austen and Ivan Reis's August 2004 story portrays the Man of Steel fighting Gog, a character who was established as Magog’s creator in a Kingdom Come prequel. This confrontation leads to—you guessed it—another temporary Superman death. Could the Man of Steel's recurring demises be a running joke in “Never-ending Battle?”

The final page shows Superman breaking free of Hypertime to take out Vandal Savage. The New 52 version gives way to his pre-Flashpoint counterpart. The Superman who is victorious is the present day version, an amalgam of the hero's previous two incarnations. He was willed to life by his son, Jon, in Action Comics #976.

This page appears to be a straightforward image that uses a repeated figure to show the progression of action. But is it one final Easter egg? Do Tomasi and Gleason homage Ross Andru and Rick Giordano's Superman #345 cover from 1980? Given the theme of "Never-Ending Battle," it makes sense that the last page references a story called "When Time Ran Backward!"

When Superman returns to the present, Lois and Jon treat his Hypertime story as an extended dad joke. They ask him to save the wind for blowing out the candles, and he appeals to Krypto for sympathy. Also, there are far too many candles on the cake for his chronological age within the fictional timeline. One doesn't have to count them to guess the number, given the anniversary this story celebrates.

This last panel reflects the humor and family focus of Tomasi and Gleason's stellar Superman run. Their last regular issue (#45) was released this week as well, but they have one more story to tell. They’ll be taking Jon and Clark back to Dinosaur Island for one last adventure in next month’s Superman Special #1

Within the context of this run "Never-ending Battle" is very much a grace note. Within the context of Action Comics #1000, Tomasi and Gleason’s story is part of a triptych of sorts.

Geoff Johns, Richard Donner and artist Olivier Coipel contribute "The Car." This tale of redemption reveals the fate of Butch, the driver of the vehicle on the cover of Action Comics #1. Tom King and Clay Mann's "Of Tomorrow" tells the story of Superman as the Sun goes supernova. Five billion years into the future, he visits his parents' grave one last time—before the Earth is consumed in flames.

Tomasi and Gleason tell the story in-between. Their narrative is a loving tribute to 80 years of fabulous storytelling. It is atreat for longtime fans, and a treasure hunt for casual readers. There is far more in this 15-page story than in some arcs that drag on for months.

"Never-ending Battle" provides never-ending joy.

With additional research by Brian Cronin.