75 years ago, IGN's #1 Comic Book Hero and the world's most recognizable superhero icon, Superman, made his debut in the pages of Action Comics #1 in 1938. Cut to 2013, where Superman has permeated popular culture in a profound way, becoming more than just a work of fiction but a real symbol of optimism and hope across the globe.

He's got a brand new summer blockbuster on the way June 14, Man of Steel , and is about to get an all-new ongoing series on June 12 from two of DC's premier creators, Scott Snyder and Jim Lee, called Superman Unchained.

What Superman Means to Us

To celebrate Superman's first 75 years, I had a chat with DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio, who kindly agreed to debut the first look at Superman Unchained's many variant covers that celebrate the history of the Man of Steel from a collection of comics' greatest artists.

: Did you take a look at the variant covers?Yeah, we’re really excited about it, too. It was one of those things we wanted to do, especially given this was Superman’s 75th anniversary year. With a major launch like this, with the variant covers, we really wanted to capture Superman through the years and Jim Lee working with Mark Chiarello really captured that, the decades of Superman throughout time.We really wanted to go after the artists that captured the flavor and the spirit of the times that we were going for -- everything from Superman’s inception through the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Modern Age, through to capturing the time of Superman Reborn. Also, we’re looking at Superman versus his greatest nemesis, Lex Luthor.So we really wanted to capture the things that just resonated with the people throughout the years, because ultimately it just shows the life and longevity of this character. And the fact that we’re able to launch this book, Superman Unchained, in the way we have just shows that he’s just as vibrant and vital now as he was 75 years ago.Realistically, we wanted to go out in a big way and really tell that strong, concise story with Superman and really set the tone, not just for the character, but for the DC Universe as a whole. We’re more than a year and a half into the New 52, and one of the things we really want to do is go out with a big Superman story, and I think this is the one.The reality is the movie takes on such great weight and such great attention that, you know, it sort of feeds back into the book in a very organic way. The fact of the matter is, we knew we had two major Superman launches in June around the same time. The movie was important to us because we knew all the attention was going to be on Superman, but we didn’t want the attention just to be on the film, we wanted it to be on comics too, because that’s where he started and that’s where his origins were. We wanted to make sure that we met the level of excitement and expectations with the books we were putting out as people were starting to build for the film itself.We have further plans, and we’ll announce them later in the year. We look at it as more of a year-long celebration than a single date, and realistically we have an April start to his birth, but quite honestly with everything with Man of Steel, that seems like a more important date for us to be building off of -- and Free Comic Book Day too.Between Free Comic Book Day, between the film, between the launch of Superman Unchained, Batman/Superman and the [regular] series itself, that’s just the start of everything that we have planned to really give Superman a push from now to December.You know, it’s a fascinating thing to me, because I’ve always enjoyed the character. But it’s hard for me to separate my job from knowing the character now. I knew him from the movies and TV and the comic stories that I enjoyed, I knew him as a member of the Justice League, I knew him from the villains he fought, I knew him from the World’s Finest comics where he appears with Batman -- everything from DC Comics Presents to the relaunch with John Byrne to The Death of Superman with Dan Jurgens.I experienced all of those as a fan just like anybody else, and those stories still hold so strong to me now. To be part of the process and to be part of building Superman, you realize how many things you’re up against because of how many great stories have been told with him. Our goal right now is to keep on building on that legend and going forward.Hopefully, during the period of time that I’ve been here working on him, the next generation will remember the stories from the time that we’re here that resonate just as much as the stories resonated with me before I got here.Me, personally? You know what, I’m a goofy ‘70s kid. [laughs] I can’t break that, so I still go back to Kryptonite Nevermore, when he lost a portion of his power and the creation of Sandman Superman, and ultimately that shot of him eating kryptonite always makes me giggle. [laughs]That’s a tough one, because what I love about all the incarnations is that they’re so unique to the period of time that they’re created. I sit back and still look at the George Reeves version very easily, because that’s the one that I grew up on, but to look at the Christopher Reeve interpretation, I think that’s always going to hold true. But there’s a lot to be said for the other TV shows. Everything from Lois & Clark to Smallville; incredibly intelligent ways to re-present the story in a rather unique light and just shows the multiple facets of who Superman is, the fact that he can be interpreted so differently, yet still be the same character in all these different programs and films.I have a real soft spot for Lois & Clark because that show was on the air while I was at ABC, so I got a chance to watch that come on. As a comic fan working in television at the time, I almost wanted to jump out of my skin any time I got a chance to work on something that was close to being involved in comics. Little did I know where it was all going, but for me that was the closest I ever got to working in comics, helping working with affiliate stations on Lois & Clark. [laughs]I just think it’s the recurring strength. It’s the immigrant story, it’s the ability to rise above controversy and stand for what’s right. It was always fascinating to me because, you know what, I’ve done a lot of traveling in this position, and I find that Superman means so much to so many different people. You see how he resonates with the people inside the United States, but he also resonates in an extreme way to the people outside the United States.You go to the United Kingdom and other countries, and he’s just as popular there as he is here. People know him and understand him in ways that we might not see in the exact same way in the United States. The fact is he stands for so many different things, people interpret what their true beliefs are on that character as a personification for what they feel is right.Oh yeah. I think the Man of Steel movie is reinterpreting the character for another generation. I think he will continue to drive just as strongly or even stronger than we’ve ever seen him before. Honestly, this is just his first 75 years. I’m sure there’s another 75 that’ll be coming just as strongly as the first one.

Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito , or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN . After Man of Steel comes out, his life will lose all sense of direction and purpose.