Heartwarming / Action Comics

• Issue #600 is pretty adorable from beginning to end.
  • After yet another heroic rescue, Superman is felled by a Kryptonite cloud which finally caught up after the explosion of the planet. The hero is so weak he can barely move. Even after being carried a distance with the help of a forklift and a mattress, he can't stand up on his own.
    Superman: I should be able to walk now.
    Jimmy: Are you sure?
    Superman: Ahk!...N-no.
    Jimmy: 'S okay. Lean on me.
  • Leaning heavily on Jimmy's shoulder the entire way, Superman makes his way down into a lead-heavy cavern outside town, hoping to avoid the Kryptonite. Jimmy helps him lie down and Superman urges him to bring back help. Jimmy is reluctant to leave his pal alone in this condition, but eventually agrees.
    He was right. There was nothing more I could do for him.
    Jimmy: All right, Superman, you're the boss. You hang tough. I won't be gone long. I'll get help. If I have to, I'll bring back the whole Justice League!
• Many from issue #1000, since that issue was a celebration of Superman's legacy.
  • An Elite Mook tells how Superman helped his Heel–Face Turn:
    "The last time he caught me, I was in over my head. I was smuggling plutonium for Skull and nearly died. Superman knew the cycle of poverty and violence I was stuck in. He put in a good word for me so that once I got outta jail, I landed a decent job. Thanks to him and his patience, I finally have my life on track. I'd like to see him again. To thank him."
  • Superman is kidnapped by Vandal Savage and sent through Hypertime. His only thought while trying to get out and facing off with mooks and rogues throughout his long histories is... to get back to Jon and Lois, who are celebrating his birthday;
  • The entire city of Metropolis turns out for a celebration in honor of Superman (the above Elite Mook's account comes from this story). To make sure that his big day isn't ruined, the Justice League colludes with Lois to prevent him finding out about an alien invasion that they're handling... in effect giving him the day off, and then showing up to surprise him en masse (along with, for some reason, Deathstroke and Harley Quinn...)^note Both are characters written by the author, so it was basically a shout out to his titles. at the end of the story with their own thanks for his being there.
  • A story set in the far, far future has Superman returning to Earth one last time before it's swallowed by the sun to say goodbye to Jonathan and Martha Kent one last time. It's implied that he's visited Earth once a year for 5,000,000,000 years for this purpose.
  • It's revealed that Superman saved Lex Luthor's life back when they were kids.
  • We're treated to the resolution of the driver of the car from Action #1 (the one whose car was famously thrown into a cliff by Supes on the cover. We find that Superman gives him a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech, causing the thug to have a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Mr. Mxyzptlk and Ms. Gsptlsnz roleplay a far-future Superman theme park. When they get to the point where the park reveals how Mxy killed Superman, Mxy stops when Gsptlsnz makes him realize he has too much fun with the big lug to ever want to kill him. Keep in mind, since Mxy is a Reality Warper, he might have actually changed reality into one where he did kill him, so he may just have hit the Reset Button instead.
  • Marv Wolfman (and a posthumous Curt Swan)'s story has Superman placing his well-founded trust in the people of Metropolis to do what's right when Braniac attacks and he's all the way on the other side of the world and powerless to stop the trouble going on. Doubly heartwarming for the use of old unpublished Curt Swan art, allowing the man who more than most had a massive influence on the visual look of Superman to participate in this milestone even from beyond the grave; triply heartwarming in that the inks for the final splash page of the story was inked posthumously by Kurt Schaffenberger, who, among other things, created the modern look of Lois Lane and Ma and Pa Kent.^note He also was the creator of Captain Marvel's look. The segment concludes with "For Curt".