Let’s take a look at a rather unusual piece of comic book history, one of the weirdest crossovers ever.
This was requested by one of my supporters on Patreon; as a reminder, if you join you can request a Silver Age review.
Technically speaking this is past the Silver Age, but the supporter wanted me to have a look at a GOOD comic from the 70s after going through the Kirby books.
Does this qualify as a good book?
Superman vs Muhammad Ali (1978)
by Danny O’Neil & Neal Adams
cover by Joe Kubert & Neal Adams
Technically speaking the official name of the book is “All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-56”, but nobody calls it that.
The cover is legendary on its own right.
It features an impressive 172 character, several of which are real people!
It’s a real who’s who of celebrities from the 1970… at least from the US.
I recognize 135 names, but that’s not that impressive considering how many of those are either comic book characters or comic book creators; I don’t recognize most celebrities (5 of these are the Jackson Five and I couldn’t tell you the name of four of them).
Also Doc Magnus and the Metal Men are counted as just 1 character, but the Jackson Five get numbered individually!
The cover itself has some history. The original Joe Kubert version didn’t include any celebrities, just a regular crow for a boxing match.
And presumably there could have been more celebrities.
So, there were people I just left out. But there were other people I’d already put in there. For example, John Wayne decided he didn’t want to be in it, but I’d already drawn him. So I decided, “I don’t want to take him out, but on the other hand, I don’t want everybody to know it’s John Wayne.” So we put a mustache on him. So, if you look very carefully on the front cover, you’ll see a guy with a mustache sitting right next to Johnny Carson, and sure enough, that’s John Wayne with a mustache. You’ll see next to Ron Howard, is a guy with a mustache-that’s Fonzie [Henry Winkler] with different hair and a mustache.
NEAL ADAMS
It’s generally accepted that the idea from the comic came from DC editor Julius Schwartz, backed by publisher Jenette Kahn.
Neal Adams, who in addition to penciling the story is also the co-writer, suggested years later that many DC writers also backed the idea based of sending a powerful anti-prejudice message by elevating a black man as a mythical figure on par with Superman.
Here was our opportunity to say something about the world without actually getting involved in the political arena, but getting involved in the area of humanity and high adventure and fun and enjoyment. Once you realize that you’re going to have Superman and Muhammad Ali fight for the right to save the Earth, the story kind of writes itself.
NEAL ADAMS
My knowledge of boxing starts with the Rocky movies and ends with the Creed movies, but it’s interesting to note that because the book had many delays Muhammad Ali had lost the World Heavyweight Champion title by the time the story was published… and re-claimed it before the end of the year.
Notably, Superman has another boxing connection: Non, the Kryptonian villain from Superman II, was played by Jack O’Halloran: he had been a boxer until 1974, and he came very close having a match with Muhammed Ali.
But let’s get into the story proper: this is a 72 page story, so this is gonna be a long one.
We begin with Clark Kent and the former Daily Planet crew interviewing Muhammad Ali.
For reference, this is already the period when Clark was a TV reporter.
Then aliens show up.
This looks like a job for… Muhammad Ali, apparently.
If you’re wondering why Superman doesn’t intervene, he’s a bit distracted by the GIANT ALIEN ARMADA in orbit.
These guys are all about fighting, so they want a match between their champion and Muhammad Ali. Who’s having none of this.
Also: as mentioned I know nothing about boxing, but boxers don’t ALWAYS decide who they’re going to fight, right?
Superman would gladly fight the aliens himself… if it wasn’t for Muhammad Ali.
Just to prove how little I know about boxing, Rocky Marciano is the only one of these boxers I recognize.
I’m certain that Muhammad Ali had a big ego… deservedly so, considering HE WAS MUHAMMAD ALI… but this feels like going overboard.
To prove how serious they are, the aliens shoot missiles at St. Louis (I don’t know if the city was chosen for a particular reason), where Superman rushes to deflect them…
…aaaand he fails. In Superman’s defense, the missiles are intangible so he couldn’t just grab them.
You’d expect Superman to stop the tsunami with super-breath, but he has a more impressive solution.
And that was just a couple of missiles! This is going to be a tough fight.
Suddenly the idea of solving this through a boxing match doesn’t look so ridiculous anymore.
And Superman would fight the aliens himself if it wasn’t for Muhammad Ali, AGAIN.
Yeah, uhm, I get that the intention was having Muhammad Ali come across as a badass, but this goes so absurdly beyond that he comes across as insane.
Basically the entire premise of the fight would not happen if only Muhammad Ali just shut up.
This got a chuckle out of me.
Why isn’t anybody wondering if they should call the Justice League?
Superman decides he’s going to train for the fight in the Fortress of Solitude, where he admits he has a hoarding problem.
Superman has technology that can dilate time so that he can train for months in just a day, meaning A) this is an absurdly useful thing that he’s never going to use again B) this just turned into Dragonball Z.
Muhammad Ali was just waiting for any excuse to punch Superman, wasn’t he?
Followed by a full page of Muhammad Ali explaining how boxing works.
It makes perfect sense that Superman wouldn’t know too much about boxing.
He’s been in plenty of fistfights without his powers, so we know that he CAN fight… but a brawl and a boxing match aren’t the same thing.
Not to mention he has a bit of history of sucking at boxing.
When Earth tries to launch missiles at the ships in orbit, the aliens get impatient.
Superman is going to have to fight this guy. Without powers, because the aliens come from a planet under a red sun.
Too bad for him that Muhammad Ali is teaching Superman his other talent: trash-talking.
You wouldn’t expect to find some of the best Neil Adams sci-fi artwork in a story about boxing, but the artwork in this book is phenomenal.
Technically speaking, “Superman vs Muhammad Ali” is the PRELIMINARY fight: the winner will fight the alien champion.
There isn’t a lot I can say about this part. It’s multiple pages of boxing.
It helps that it’s penciled by Neil Adams, who… well he’s Neil Adams, of course it’s great… but the lack of a background doesn’t make this very exciting to follow.
Superman was on top in the first few rounds, but Muhammad Ali is just massacring him now.
Muhammad Ali is the winner, with Superman having received a brutal beating.
Now onto the main event: Some Alien Guy vs Muhammad Ali.
Well I guess the book would’ve sold less if THAT was the title.
Jimmy Olsen is the one commenting on the fight, and he begins by explaining that humans don’t fight their neighbors.
Riiiiiiiiight.
And then ATHENA shows up.
She’s here to be the referee, because she doesn’t think we can trust a robot.
She’s basically here because Neil Adams wanted to draw a hot ethereal goddess, isn’t it?
I’m not gonna lie, this version Muhammad Ali is beginning to get on my nerves.
Trash talk is perfectly fine for a boxing match, but with the fate of the entire world on the line, to me he comes across as TOO self-centered.
It’s also not working all that great as a fighting technique.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali’s trainer Bundini Brown is sneaking through the alien ship…
…only to reveal himself as Superman (!!!), who has infiltrated the ship after memorizing its blueprints.
Well that’s the problem when your entire society is dedicated to fighting and not, say, establishing better security.
Superman lost on purpose, but it seems he suffered brain damage.
Muhammad Ali is about to lose the match, until the alien leader proposes a compromise: he won’t destroy Earth if its people become slaves.
BAD CALL.
Superman deals with the fleet, which is now far enough from Earth…
…while Muhammad Ali wins the match.
The alien leader is a sore loser, ordering the destruction of Earth anyway.
With what army, though?
Superman is exhausted (I’m guessing he hasn’t healed properly after the match); there are still enough ships left to destroy Earth… but there’s another downside of having a warrior culture.
And the winner is… fair play, apparently.
In the epilogue, we get the confirmation that Superman threw the fight…
…and Muhammad Ali figured out his secret identity.
Why do I get the feeling that the Muhammad Ali of the beginning of the story would STILL want to fight Superman?
Historical significance: 
/ 10
Muhammad Ali never makes any other direct appearances in the Superman books, and I’m not aware of any in-universe mention of this story.
But the idea was spoofed in Amazing Spider-Man #186 from the same year, where Spider-Man is approached by a woman who really resembles DC editor Jenette Kahn.
Also Spider-Man hits on her! From what I can tell she was single in 1978, so we might have had an even more unexpected crossover.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
All things considered, there’s quite a lot of attention to make sure the various contrivances needed to have Muhammad Ali fight Superman make sense for this universe.
It is still quite absurd that not a single other superhero tries to face these aliens.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
To answer my initial question: IS this comic good? I would say yes… with a few caveats.
The premise sounds absurd, and the comic has a bit of a reputation for being silly… but when you sit down and read it, it’s not bad at all! Actually better than nearly every other Superman story of the 70s for me.
The real selling point is clearly the artwork: Neal Adams is absolutely ON FIRE in these.
The story is fine, nothing to write home about, even if it’s really stretched thin for 72 pages.
Where it fails for me, it’s to make Muhammad Ali a likeable co-protagonist. He does redeem himself at the end when he’s fighting for humanity, but before that point I never get the sense that he’s in this fight for anything but the glory.
Which is fine for a boxing match, a little questionable with the fate of the world on the line.
Despite its fame, I’m not aware of any high profile parodies of the story… with one notable exception: “Harley’s Little Black Book” #5 from 2016.
The story parallels the original. It even has Neal Adams drawing it…
…it has the same bad guy, the same premise, A LOT of panels paralleling the originals …
…and I do mean A LOT…
…but it’s still a Harley Quinn story.
It’s mostly an unabashed love letter to the original, even if it does make fun of the fact that Athena served no purpose. Completely valid criticism.
This series is… not very good, but this issue specifically is worth checking out if you’re a fan of the original story. You might get a chuckle out of it.
Although I’m pretty sure Neal Adams drew this exclusively because Harley is in a bikini for the entire story.
