A few days ago, we had the opportunity to discover some of the contents that would be included in the milestone that is 'Action Comics' # 1000. We can see the new Superman costume or witness the debut of Brian Michael Bendis in DC after his departure from Marvel Comics, but one of the most interesting extras is undoubtedly the publication of a Superman story by Jerry Siegel and some of the artists of the Joe Shuster Studio that had been given for lost and that is now recovered for the thousandth issue of 'Action Comics'. Under the title "Too Many Heroes", we have now learned more details about this story.
The way in which this piece has been recovered is in itself a whole story that some of those involved in its discovery have been able to relate. One of them is Paul Levitz, former editor of DC Comics:
"The discovery of the history of Siegel and Shuster is a true treasure with a fascinating past. In the days when DC regularly toured the New York office, it was common for fans to get material that would otherwise have been put on sale as a tour souvenir. As a young follower on a tour, Marv Wolfman found this Superman story and has kept it for all these years. It's amazing to think that Marv not only rescued this story without publishing, but then he would become one of DC's most prolific writers, and then share the story with DC as part of this special new collection"
Superman Action Comics # 1000 (1) Wolfman himself also has the opportunity to explain with much more precision in an interview the exact details of how this work came to his hands. One of the most interesting data is that both this story and many others were going to be incinerated, but luckily, Sol Harrison, producer manager of DC, offered them the possibility to keep the illustrations and other material. Once at home, Wolfman realized that among all he had achieved were most of the 12 pages of the history of Siegel and Shuster.
The pages contained the "Written Off" mark and even several annotations that were never corrected in the story itself. Later, when Wolfman started working for DC, he was able to visit the company bookstore to find out what time the work would be. The most that could be limited was around the year 1942 and that in 1947 it would be rewritten as a 10-page story and then redrawn by Wayne Boring.
The original by Siegel and Shuster was never published, so this is a key moment in the history of DC and the followers of Superman, with which it is necessary to point to our agendas on April 19, when the 'Action Comics' sale # 1000.