Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Superman | Tagged: action comics, mark waid
DC Comics confirms that Clark Kent and Superman’s birthday is June the Eighteenth once more (Spoilers)
Article Summary
DC Comics has officially confirmed Superman/Clark Kent’s birthday as June 18th in Action Comics #1087.
Superman’s birthday has shifted through the decades, with dates in January, February, May, October, and December.
Key comics, calendars, and TV shows have all set Superman’s birthday differently over the years.
The June 18th date ties back to Superman’s origin, marking the day Kal-El crash-landed on Earth.
Once upon a time, DC Comics told readers that Superman’s birthday was in October. According to Action Comics #149, published in October 1950 anyway.
But Action Comics #241 was published in June 1958… making it June? Maybe.
In World’s Finest Comics #164 in 1966, a letter column claimed it as being the 29th of January, on a Leap Year. It might have started as a gag… higher than a tall building…
But in 1972, he was forgetting when his birthday might ever be, in Superman #249.
Only for the next year have it be established in Superman #263 as the 18th of June, the date that Superman crash landed as a baby as the 18th of June, and that was the day they celebrated as a family.
But by the Super DC Calendar from 1976 it was back to January 29th
And then picked up by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons for Superman Annual #11 in 1985, as Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin visit Superman for his birthday. Or the closest thing in a non-Leap year like 1985.
Then Time Magazine released its Superman 50th Anniversary edition on February 29th, 1988 and went with it.
However, by Action Comics #655 in 1990. Clark Kent’s celebrated birthday, the day he landed, was February 28th (or thereabouts)
TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1997 made it the 13th of May. While the subsequent series Smallville gave both the 3rd of May and 16th of October, depending on the episode.
Superman: Secret Origins #1 from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank in 2009 had it as the 1st of December.
And then Superman: American Alien #1 by Max Landis and Nick Dragotta from 2016 had it as April 18th, the day that Action Comics #1 was meant to be published. But now? Well, Action Comics #1087 by Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge is out today. Telling the story of Superman as a boy again, in Smallville. And being very specific about that birthday, as the day that Kal-El crash-landed on Earth, in an issue called “Birthday”.
It’s June the eighteenth again. And that’s as canon as it gets. Until they make it Leap Year again.
Not the only fix Mark Waid made to Superman legend in the comic either… shame DC couldn’t have waited a week to publish this comic, if only for the PR.
ACTION COMICS #1087 (W) Mark Waid (A) Skylar Patridge (CA) Ryan SookSUPERBOY RETURNS WITH CREATORS MARK WAID AND SKYLAR PATRIDGE! Witness Mark Waid’s triumphant return to the title alongside rising star artist Skylar Patridge as they take Clark Kent back to his early years on Kent Farm. This can’t-miss story, with ties to the present, takes the Boy of Steel to unexpected heights as he figures out what being a hero truly means. First stop: Metropolis’s Expo of Tomorrow! Will Clark be able to blend into the crowd, or is Superboy about to make his public debut?! Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 06/11/2025
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