Publication history of Superman have gone down to his local newsstand and asked a kid, "Why are you reading this one?" pointing to "Action Comics". "Because it's the one that has Superman in it, mister." The revised Superman first appeared in "Action Comics" #1, June 1938. Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the company for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material. The "Saturday Evening Post" reported in 1960 that the pair was being paid $75,000 each per year, still a fraction of DC's Superman profits. In 1964, when Siegel and Shuster sued for more money, DC fired them, prompting
Superman Universe, which is a shared universe of superhero characters owned by DC Comics, and consequently he frequently appears in stories alongside the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, and others. Superman has sold more comic books over his lifetime than any other American superhero character. Exact sales figures for the early decades of Superman comic books are hard to find because, like most publishers at the time, DC Comics concealed this data to deny competitors, but sales of "Action Comics" and "Superman" probably peaked in the mid-1940s and thereafter steadily declined as part of a general trend in comic book sales.