Summary
The Multiverse is an absolutely massive place with an infinite number of characters in it, which leads to an infinite number of potential crossovers. And thanks to the Multiverse, one of the most iconic and famous images ofSupermanwas just given a brand new pop-culture twist in a truly wild team-up.
Warner Brothers owns a lot of IPs, from Animaniacs to Batman, allowing DC Comics to have some pretty fun crossovers now and then. There’s no better proof of that than theMultiversus: Collision Detectedseries. As part ofa tie-in for the newMultiversusvideo game, DC is launching a new comic miniseries that explores the dynamic of these characters, something the game doesn’t have the time to get into. This has led to some pretty absurd covers, but perhaps the most hilarious isthis parody of the iconic cover ofAction Comics#1.
October 16th, 2024
Variant Covers:
Joel Ojeda, Jon Sommariva
Mayhem In The City Of Tomorrow! Metropolis’s newest city-wide battle has everything: Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, a child with a gem on his shiny round tum-tum, a sprite-sized Dark Knight, and…the Head. (It’s that thing where Brainiac’s code gets overwritten by an inebriated scientist who couldn’t be bothered to hang around for the entire issue!)
In Dan Mora’s cover forMultiversus: Collision Detected#3,Superman is shown liftingthe Mystery Machine as several characters, such as Steven Universe and Bugs Bunny, look on in abject horror. While this cover situation is already funny, the history ofAction Comics#1 makes it even more hilarious.
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This Iconic Superman Image Isn’t What People Think It Is
Cover ofAction Comics#1 by Joe Shuster
There’s been a fairly common misconception about what is actually happening in this famous cover image. SeeingSuperman lifting a carover his head and people running for safety, most fans usually assume that Superman is stopping a speeding car or doing something to save the people in the immediate vicinity. But that actually isn’t true. As covered in a story fromAction Comics#1, the characters on this cover are a group of fleeing criminals, andSuperman lifts their car up to promptly smash it against some rocks, destroying the car and preventing the criminals from escaping.
Why Superman would decide he’s going to obliterate the Mystery Machine is the true mystery of the cover though.
This fact completely changes the context of the cover forMultiversus: Collision Detected#3. Superman isn’t lifting the Mystery Machine to simply protect or move it, but he’s instead, apparently, threatening to smash it into oblivion. This story context explains all the alarmed looks of characters like Bugs Bunny and Steven Universe. It also goes a long way to explain the terrified looks of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, who are still inside the Mystery Machine.Why Superman would decide he’s going to obliterate the Mystery Machine is the true mysteryof the cover, though perhapsSuperman is finally fed up with all these crossover events.
Superman Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Action Comics#1 is an old comic, having come out almost well over 80 years ago. Because it’s from another time, when the traditional narrative conventions of superhero comics had yet to be developed, even major fans of Superman aren’t likely to have read it, which is why some have mistakenly assumed that Superman is saving the other characters. The truth is that Superman was absolutely obliterating the car to stop criminals from escaping, making this Scooby-themed parody image even more hilarious. For whatever reason, it seems thatSupermanjust isn’t a fan of the Mystery Machine.
Multiversus: Collision Detected#3is available October 16th, 2024 from DC Comics!
Superman
The icon who launched the entire world of superheroes, the last son of Krypton escaped his dying world to crash land on Earth and be raised as Clark Kent. The world knows him better as Superman, the Man of Steel, the leader of the Justice League, and the most well-known hero in the DC Comics Universe. Blessed with the powers of a demigod, Kal-El of Krypton fights enemies both small and cosmic in his endless pursuit of truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.
