The writer and artist had worked on several features for National Allied Publications' other titles such as Slam Bradley in Detective Comics.

After re-pasting the sample newspaper strips they had prepared into comic book page format, National decided to make Superman the cover feature of their new magazine.

Writer Robert Bernstein and artist Howard Sherman revamped the "Congo Bill" backup feature in issue #248 (January 1959) in a story wherein the character gained the ability to swap bodies with a gorilla and his strip was renamed Congorilla.

[22] Following this debut appearance, Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee" and made Midvale Orphanage her base of operations.

[30] Julius Schwartz became the editor of the series with issue #419 (December 1972)[31] which also introduced the Human Target by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino in the backup feature.

[32] The Green Arrow and the Black Canary became a backup feature in #421 and ran through #458, initially rotating with the Human Target and the Atom.

[33] Between issues #423 (April 1973) and #424 (June 1973), the series jumped ahead by one month due to DC's decision to change the cover dates of its publishing line.

[36] Martin Pasko wrote issue #500 (October 1979) which featured a history of the Superman canon as it existed at the time[37] and was published in the Dollar Comics format.

[46] Following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer/artist John Byrne relaunched the Superman franchise in The Man of Steel limited series in 1986.

[48] Other costars during this period included the Phantom Stranger,[49] the New Gods,[50] the Demon,[51] Hawkman and Hawkwoman,[52] the Green Lantern Corps,[53] the Metal Men,[54] Superboy,[55] Big Barda,[56] Mister Miracle,[57] Booster Gold,[58] the Martian Manhunter,[59] the Spectre,[60] Lois Lane and Lana Lang,[61] Checkmate,[62] Wonder Woman,[63] and the Man-Bat.

[64] The first Action Comics Annual was published in 1987 and featured Superman teaming with Batman in a story written by Byrne and drawn by Arthur Adams.

The rest of these issues featured rotating serialized stories of other DC heroes, sometimes as try-outs that led to their own limited or ongoing series.

Titles spun off from Action Comics at this time included a Catwoman miniseries and a Blackhawk ongoing, in both cases by the same creative teams that worked on the weekly serials.

The final issue of the weekly was originally intended to feature a book-length encounter between Clark Kent and Hal Jordan by writer Neil Gaiman.

[69] While Gaiman's story primarily teamed up Green Lantern and Superman, it also featured other characters from Action Comics Weekly, including the Blackhawks (in flashback), Deadman, and the Phantom Stranger.

The story ran counter to DC editorial policy at the time as it portrayed Hal Jordan and Clark Kent as old friends who knew each other's secret identities.

This was not considered canon in 1989 and Gaiman was unwilling to change this aspect of the story (as each serial in ACW was edited by different editors, continuity was not being maintained by DC editorial).

The Action Comics Weekly experiment lasted only until the beginning of March 1989 and after a short break, issue #643 (July 1989) brought the title back onto a monthly schedule.

He created the Eradicator in Action Comics Annual #2[73][74] and later incorporated the character into the "Reign of the Supermen" story arc beginning in The Adventures of Superman #500.

The "Last Son" storyline was written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, the director of the 1978 film Superman: The Movie, and was pencilled by Adam Kubert.

This story introduces the original character, Christopher Kent, and adapts the classic Superman film villains, General Zod, Ursa and Non into the regular DC Universe continuity.

[84] Although DC had initially announced Marc Guggenheim as writer of the title following the War of the Supermen limited series,[85] he was replaced by Paul Cornell.

"[91] The Man of Steel is not yet trusted by Metropolis citizens and wears a basic costume consisting of a caped T-shirt, jeans and work boots.

He captures the attention of the military and scientist Lex Luthor, who are both interested in testing his capabilities as well as discovering what kind of threat he represents.

Following the completion of Morrison's storyline, writer Andy Diggle and artist Tony Daniel became the new creative team on the title with issue #19.

[98][99] For the series' 1000th issue—released on April 18, 2018, the 80th anniversary of the premiere issue—DC returned Superman to his traditional costume with the red trunks and yellow belt.

The regular Superman titles were suspended during this period to allow for the publication of John Byrne's six-issue The Man of Steel limited series.

On June 1, 2011, it was announced that all series taking place within the shared DC Universe would be either canceled or relaunched with new #1 issues, after a new continuity was created in the wake of the Flashpoint event.

[2] In February 2016, it was announced that as part of the DC Rebirth relaunch, Action Comics would resume its original numbering system, starting with issue #957 (Aug. 2016) and ship on a twice-monthly schedule.