In a ground-breaking new partnership, The Folio Society, independent publisher of beautifully illustrated hardback books, will publish with DC Comics a collection of seminal stories which founded the Super Hero genre, and have gone on to define popular culture. DC Comics: The Golden Age (1938–1956), is published on 1 September, with 18 stories from the formative age of American comic books, including the debut adventures of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and more.
The edition is the first in a series of DC ‘Ages’ collections, selected and introduced by former DC Editor-in-Chief Jenette Kahn. The first woman at the helm of the legendary publishers, during her 27-year tenure she transformed comics into a sophisticated art form. Kahn says: ‘Comic books were once disdained as a disposable children’s medium, but with their clamshell packaging and gorgeous facsimile reproductions, The Folio Society affirms comics’ essential place in cultural history as a totally original and resonant art form.’
The Folio Society edition offers the chance to own Action Comics #1, the comic book that gave the world its first Super Hero, as a meticulous 68-page facsimile complete with original ads. First published in April 1938 and originally selling on newsstands for ten cents apiece, the comic featuring Superman’s rollicking debut is now considered the most valuable in the world. Although sporting his signature red cape, Superman has yet to gain his famous powers of flight and battles corrupt politicians and landlords in lieu of crazed Super Villains.
DC Comics: The Golden Age (1938–1956) also contains classic adventures featuring the original Aquaman, Flash,Green Lantern, and DC’s Captain Marvel (later known as ‘Shazam’), as well as Wonder Woman’s first mission to America in 1942’s Sensation Comics #1. In her new introduction, Jenette Kahn reflects on these foundational stories, which ‘provided the roadmaps for decades of invention to come’.
The edition has been made according to The Folio Society’s exceptional production standards. Scanned from original copies held in the DC archives, the comics have been reproduced in treasury format. The book, with endpapers featuring DC’s Golden Age pantheon and bound in shimmering gold cloth, is housed in a specially designed clamshell box. An original art print by the award-winning DC artist Yanick Paquette, which updates the classic montage featured in 1939’s Superman #3 is also included.
The Folio Society’s Head of Editorial, James Rose, comments: ‘Bringing massive pop culture characters of page and screen, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern into the Folio publishing programme is a privilege. Internationally acclaimed, these carefully curated seminal stories collect the earliest – often startling – incarnations of our modern Super Hero icons.’
Tom Walker, Publishing Director, said of the collaboration: ‘DC Comics founded the Super Hero as we know it todayand The Golden Age explores the roots of a pop culture phenomenon. With production values to suit the most exacting super hero, we are delighted to partner with DC Comics and proud to showcase the epoch-making stories selected by the hugely respected Jenette Kahn in the first of these Folio Society editions.’
The Folio Society edition of DC Comics: The Golden Age (1938–1956), selected and introduced by Jenette Kahn, willbe exclusively available for £185 / US $260 from 31 August 2023 exclusively from foliosociety.com/DCGolden
DC Comics: The Silver Age will be published in Autumn 2024 and DC Comics: The Bronze Age in Autumn 2025. There will also be a DC character series starting with DC: Batman in Spring 2024.
