My favorite Superman of All Time...

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali is an oversize comic book published by DC Comics in 1978. It features Superman teaming up with the heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali to defeat an alien invasion of Earth. The 72-page All-New Collectors' Edition: Superman vs. Muhammad Ali retailed for $2.50.

Pairing the Man of Steel with real-life American icons was nothing new by the late 1970s. In fact, Superman had already been featured in print with the likes of Steve Allen, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Allen Funt, Don Rickles, and John F. Kennedy. But he had never gone up against a real-life athlete. And in the 1970s, there was only one real Superman outside of the world of comic books: champion boxer Muhammad Ali. Ali was more than just an athlete and more than simply the best athlete of his time. Known for his nearly superhuman sparring ability, Ali was a colorful, larger-than-life hero to children and adults everywhere. So it was probably inevitable that the comic book world would give the public what they wanted, a battle between Ali and the Man of Steel.

"Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)," a 1975 Top Forty song by Johnny Wakelin, was alleged to have been the book's inspiration, although DC denied it.^{[citation needed]} Perhaps just as big an inspiration was the 1976 Academy Award-winning film Rocky, which added to the growing popularity of boxing. In addition, interplanetary battles were the rage in late '70s entertainment. The broad popularity of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica undoubtedly influenced the book's alien invasion storyline.

Supposedly, Ali only agreed to take part in the comic if his character is allowed to discover Superman's secret identity.^{[citation needed]} The book suffered numerous delays, going from a publication date of fall 1977, to spring 1978, before it finally arrived on the stands in the fall of 1978.^[1] Ironically, at the time the oft-delayed book was finally published, Ali was no longer World Heavyweight Champion, having been dethroned by Leon Spinks. (Ali promptly won back the title in September 1978.)

The comic book has become a genuine collectors' item in recent years, partly because it can never be reprinted. Changes in intellectual property law have prohibited the use of celebrity faces in media or artwork they do not personally endorse.

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali was based on an original story by Dennis O'Neil which was adapted by Neal Adams, with pencils by Adams, and figure inks by Dick Giordano with background inks by Terry Austin.

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i may have missed this, but do you own this comic?