In June Superman’s life is getting a huge shake-up with his identity exposed, a new costume and him coming to terms with a new power which all leaves him essentially human for short periods of time. These changes will be explored in the upcoming “Truth” storylines, which will encompass Superman, Action Comics, Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman. To make this Superman event easier to digest I have created the Superman: Truth Reading Guide, which lists all the titles involved, lead-in titles, dates, creative teams and more.
How should I read Superman: Truth?
Superman is not your traditional crossover story, with the 4 Superman centric titles involved but telling 4 different stories centered around the theme. In an interview with Newsarama, Action Comics and Batman/Superman writer explains the reading format:
“Yeah, they’re all focusing on a slightly different point in the story, so you can read each book separately. It isn’t a big, traditional crossover. You don’t have to read the books one after another. You can read each separate book separately. You can get a full story from each separate book. Of, when you put them all together, it adds up to something bigger altogether. But it’s not a traditional crossover.”
As you can see in the quote above, each series covers a different aspect of Superman’s life. Action Comics covers the Superman’s new power and the consequences of him using it. Batman/Superman will explore the team dynamic between Superman the new Batman. Superman/Wonder Woman looks at the how the new changes in his life affect his relationship with Wonder Woman. Finally, Superman will revolve around Superman’s identity as Clark Kent being revealed.
Lead Ins
There are a few stories that hint at Superman: Truth leading up the actual meat of the story, which begins in June. These are:
Superman #40
Superman/Wonder Woman Sneak Peek
Further reading
If you want even more Superman leading up to Superman Truth, I suggest reading Geoff John’s Superman. While his run is short, it introduces the tone of Superman going forward and introduces Superman’s new power. His Superman run begins with Superman #32 and ends with Superman #39.
June
Action Comics #41
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Aaron Kuder.
Available June 3rd, 2015.
Batman/Superman #21
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Adrian Syaf.
Available June 10th, 2015
Superman/Wonder Woman #18
Written Peter Tomasi. Art by Doug Mahnke.
Available June 17th, 2015
Superman #41
Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by John Romita Jr.
Available June 24th, 2015.
July
Action Comics #42
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Aaron Kuder.
Available July 1st, 2015.
Batman/Superman #22
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Adrian Syaf.
Available July 8th, 2015.
Superman/Wonder Woman #19
Written Peter Tomasi. Art by Doug Mahnke.
Available July 15th, 2015.
Superman #42
Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by John Romita Jr.
Available July 22nd, 2015.
August
Action Comics #43
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Aaron Kuder.
Available August 5th, 2015.
Batman/Superman #23
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Adrian Syaf.
Available August 12th, 2015.
Superman/Wonder Woman #20
Written Peter Tomasi. Art by Doug Mahnke.
Available August 19th, 2015.
Superman #43
Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by John Romita Jr.
Available August 26th, 2015.
September
Action Comics #44
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Aaron Kuder.
Available September 2nd, 2015.
Batman/Superman #24
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Adrian Syaf.
Available September 9th, 2015.
Superman/Wonder Woman #21
Written Peter Tomasi. Art by Doug Mahnke.
Available September 16th, 2015.
Superman #44
Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by John Romita Jr.
Available September 23rd, 2015.
Have Your Say!
Will you be reading any aspect of Superman: Truth? If so, Which titles will you be reading? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
I’d read them by series, rather than by release date. In chronological order you start with Superman then Action Comics, Superman/WW, and finally Superman/Batman.
Make sure to get those free previews / tie-ins too. I originally thought they were actual previews of the issues themselves, but they are not. They further explain things, including that well-known scene where he is rejected by the fortress.
Also, the Superman preview is included in Divergence along with a story for Batman and Wonder Woman. You don’t need both.
Thanks for this. Just bought Action Comics 41. I hadn’t bought a comic in years, and I didn’t know which to get next. I like this depowered, casual wearing Superman, and I am interested in following his adventures while it lasts. I really enjoyed Action Comics 41, and I will buy all the other TRUTH comics that chronologically follow it. Since Superman 41 takes place before Action Comics 41, I probably won’t buy that one, though.
I think the point is that the books DON’T all follow chronologically. It’s a non-linear story, with pieces told in each of the titles but you don’t have to get them all to put together a beginning, middle and end. But if you WANT to get all the “TRUTH” books, I think you’ll want to get Superman 41, 42, 43, and 44 because it provides the “back story” for how the “truth” about Supes’ identity came out.
I’m confused about one thing, in Action Comics #41, there’s a panel where Clark says “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks” and then a * See Superman 41 for more details.
What confuses me as that Superman 41 did not even come out at that point. Where does the Truth Saga really begin? I feel like I’m missing something big in the beginning of Action Comics 41
Yeah I just read all of June’s issues and it was a bit confusing. I think they released it out of order, especially the big Lois lane reveal which actually happened in divergence.
Hopefully the others are released in July properly!
It’s a non-linear story structure. So it doesn’t matter what order you read the titles in. So that people who only read Action Comics will get a complete story, even if they don’t pick up S/WW or Superman or Batman/Superman. And same for the others. But all the books for all four titles from June until September fall under the “Truth” story concept.
Thanks for putting this together. Its hard to get this information from anywhere.
No worries, Wally. I’ve updated it with the September comics too!