1980s “Action Comics #1000” Joshua Middleton Variant Cover

In late February DC Comics unveiled the artwork for the variant covers for “Action Comics #1000” which celebrated different eras of Superman’s 80 year history. At the time, the only cover missing was the 1980s cover by Joshua Middleton.

Today, DC Comics unveiled that cover, which depicts Superman flying, while beneath him we see Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen in front of the Daily Planet globe. Also in the cover artwork are two of Superman’s greatest foes, Lex Luthor (in green and purple battle suit) and Brainiac.

With “Action Comics” speeding toward its landmark 1,000th issue on Superman’s 80th anniversary (April 18), not only will we see a series of variant covers capturing the look and feel of the Man of Steel throughout different eras of his 80-year run, but certain comic book stores will also have their own exclusive variant covers available in limited numbers.

Some of comics’ most prolific artists will be lending their considerable talents to celebrate Superman’s incredible impact on comics, literature and popular culture through these variant covers:

  • 1930s by Steve Rude (FUTURE QUEST, FUTURE QUEST PRESENTS
  • 1940s by Michael Cho (BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE)
  • 1950s by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN)
  • 1960s by Michael Allred (BUG!: THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER)
  • 1970s by Jim Steranko (CATWOMAN: SELINA’S BIG SCORE)
  • 1980s by Joshua Middleton
  • 1990s by Dan Jurgens (ACTION COMICS) and Kevin Nowlan (HAWKMAN: FOUND)
  • 2000s by Lee Bermejo (LUTHOR)
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To date, other exclusive variant covers revealed include:

  • Forbidden Planet Exclusive Jock Variant
  • Yesteryear Comics Exclusive Jason Fabok Variant
  • Third Eye Comics Exclusive Kaare Andrews Variant
  • Summit Comics & Games Exclusive George Perez Variant
  • Bulletproof Comix Exclusive Gabriele Dell’Otto Variant

Expect more to be revealed ahead of the release of “Action Comics #1000” on April 18.

3 Comments
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BBally
BBally
March 7, 2018 6:08 pm

I’m surprised the cover has no reference to John Byrne’s run considering how iconic it was

kal-bert
kal-bert
March 8, 2018 12:26 pm
Reply to  BBally

He chose the previous issue: “Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow” style. I personally would prefer a John Byrne reference. It is the one that gave us today’s Superman.

Steve Eden
Steve Eden
March 8, 2018 2:07 pm

Has Lone Star Comics joined into this promotion?