Action Comics #45 (DC, 1942)

This rousing scene recalls the dynamism of Superman's crime-busting attack on the cover of Action Comics #1! Golden Age superhero covers for the biggest titles are among the rarest and most sought-after comic art there is -- and it doesn't get any bigger than Superman on the cover of Action Comics! One would be hard pressed to find another example with a stronger image of the greatest superhero of them all. Fred Ray brought his superior draftsmanship to fifteen covers for Action Comics, and his association with the Superman character began when his work appeared on the cover of Superman #8, dated January 1941. Fellow Superman "ghost" Jack Burnley was an admirer of Fred Ray's art and wrote a heart-felt appreciation in the pages of Robin Snyder's The Comics. Burnley wrote warmly of his friend's work: "His Superman covers were drawn in the simple style of, and better than, the Shuster studio. Fred improved rapidly and soon he was doing impressive Superman covers that equaled or surpassed mine. Although Wayne Boring has been credited with changing Superman's image from the cartoony Shuster figure to the more realistic modern hero; actually, Fred and I were the first to 'modernize' Superman with our covers in the early forties. Fred's outstanding Superman art is enough to earn him a top spot among artists of the fabulous Golden Age."