Support NeoGAF

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Im not the biggest fan of Superman. Always been more of non-powers dude (Batman/Punisher/Hawkguy). Plus I have some annoyances with how overpowered Superman feels at times. But I liked the movies, occasionally enjoyed Smallville, and the Man of Steel trailer was awesome enough to get me to give comic-Supes again.

So... Best Superman comics to read?

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I think everyone would say All-Star.

I haven't even read it, yet I know its the best of the best.

 

[Kwixotik]

I've never read any, but heard Red Son is good

 

[Rei no Otaku]

Kingdom Come is definitely the best. The recent Injustice game clearly was influenced by it.

Red Son is great as well.

 

[B-Dubs]

All Star Superman, Superman for All Seasons

 

[shadyspace]

For the Man Who Has Everything

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow

Red Son

Secret Identity

 

[KalBalboa]

I've got you covered:

Birthright
Action Comics 775 (A single issue, but it's really that good)
Secret Identity
All-Star Superman
Superman For All Seasons
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
Kingdom Come
Superman and the Legion of Superheroes (the only story with these characters I care for and it's fantastic)
Red Son
Geof Johns Braniac
For The Man Who Has Everything
Earth One
Superman and the Men of Steel (Grant Morrison's New 52. I loved the vision for Superman so much but had issues with how fast it all escalated)

 

[Wingfan19]

I've got you covered:

Birthright
Action Comics 775
Secret Identity
All-Star Superman
A Superman For All Seasons
Luthor: Man of Steel
Kingdom Come
Earth One
Superman and the Legion of Superheroes (the only story with these characters I care for and it's fantastic)
Red Son
Geof Johns Braniac
Superman and the Men of Steel (Grant Morrison's New 52. I loved the vision for Superman so much but had issues with how fast it all escalated)

This post pretty much wins the thread. There's nothing else to see here, haha.

 

[KalBalboa]

This post pretty much wins the thread. There's nothing else to see here, haha.

 

[ReiGun]

Birthright, All-Star, Secret Identity, Superman for all Seasons, and Red Son will get you started. I'm going to also throw in Lex Luthor: Man of Steel.

 

[wetwired]

Superman for all Seasons is the best I reckon.
Secret Identity is pretty good too.
Red Son
Kingdom Come

 

[Log4Girlz]

Kingdom Come is definitely the best. The recent Injustice game clearly was influenced by it.

Red Son is great as well.

Well, that was quick. We're done here.

 

[Oozer3993]

Secret Identity
Birthright
Red Son
Kingdom Come
All-Star Superman

So, what everyone else said.

 

[ReiGun]

I think we've recommended every essential Superman story there is.

GG guys.

 

[KalBalboa]

I think we've recommended every essential Superman story there is.

GG guys.

Every Superman comic story.

But yeah, I noticed a few big ommissions from my list and added them after you guys posted them. Namely For The Man Who Has Everything & Kingdom Come.

 

[Chamber]

Yeah, this thread is over.

I'll just chime in and say Kingdom Come is what made me a Superman fan. Actually it made me a fan of the DC Universe entirely.

 

[shadyspace]

and look up the world of cardboard scene from JLU on youtube or something

 

[KalBalboa]

and look up the world of cardboard scene from JLU on youtube or something

The end of Superman: TAS is incredible, too. That series did plot arcs wonderfully.

 

[gdt]

Secret Identity.

One of the best comics ever. Incredibly moving I thought.

 

[Simo]

Yeah everyone has covered everything. lol So yeah check out, and my favorites,

• Birthright
• Secret Origin
• Secret Identity
• All Star Superman
• Superman For All Seasons
• Kingdom Come
• Superman Red Son
• Justice

The first three books inspired the Man of Steel movie to the extent Goyer pulled direct quotes from them and used them in the screenplay.

 

[VALIS]

50s/60s Superman, which was corny, weird, hilarious, bizarre (and Bizarro) and just fucking strange. Like, one time Superman needed to wash a bunch of dishes for Lois and forgot, so he quickly washed them at super speed and tossed them all up in the stratosphere then caught them all one by one as they came back down and put them in the drying rack before Lois noticed.

Fantastic.

Serious Superman is a bore.

 

[Wag]

You missed one.

 

[KalBalboa]

Yeah everyone has covered everything. lol So yeah check out, and my favorites,

• Birthright
• Secret Origin
• Secret Identity
• All Star Superman
• Superman For All Seasons
• Kingdom Come
• Superman Red Son
• Justice

The first three books inspired the Man of Steel movie to the extent Goyer pulled direct quotes from them and used them in the screenplay.

Justice, while gorgeous, didn't hold up in the finale for me. It has some novel concepts for scenes, like Clark & Bruce visiting an orphanage together, but the way they fix the threat in that book was pretty lazy to me.

Still, it's beautiful eye candy.

 

[shadyspace]

Why doesn't anyone ever recc. Byrne's Man of Steel

 

[KalBalboa]

Why doesn't anyone ever recc. Byrne's Man of Steel

Byrne did some important work in the 80s, but I don't think it holds up well. He did a lot to modernize Superman though for the time, which is appreciated.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I liked the animated version of "What's so funny about truth, justice, and the american way?" a good amount, though i forget if the comic was as good.

Everything else has really been mentioned OP, though you sgould really watch the animated series and the justice league.

 

[Anticitizen One]

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison
Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek

/thread

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

I liked the animated version of "What's so funny about truth, justice, and the american way?" a good amount, though i forget if the comic was as good.

Everything else has really been mentioned OP, though you sgould really watch the animated series and the justice league.

Watched some Justice League when I was younger, that and Batman: The Animated Series.

 

[KalBalboa]

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison
Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek

/thread

So much is missing from those two that define Superman. Both are great books though, don't get me wrong.

Action Comics 775 should be higher priority than either of those, imo.

Watched some Justice League when I was younger, that and Batman: The Animated Series.

Do yourself a favor and watch some of Superman: The Animated Series. It's heavily under rated and has an ongoing plot arc that pays off in a big way that Batman never attempted to (and I LOVE Batman: TAS).

 

[Subaroo]

Secret Origin. Best portrayal of Superman.

 

[Wag]

Superman: The Kents is quite excellent (if you can find it). It's not really a Superman story but a backstory on the Kents in the 1800's. Great western storytelling.

 

[Discotheque]

Watched some Justice League when I was younger, that and Batman: The Animated Series.

justice league is up on netflix. i just finished it, show is awesome. it's pretty much the major reason why i want a wonder woman movie now. since batman (and now superman) are out.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

All Star Superman

There are other Superman stories, and there are All-Star Superman. Aliens will come down to this planet and ask us, "Explain this...superhero thing to us", and you can give them a copy of All-Star Superman, knowing full well it contains the purest expression of the greatest superhero of them all. You will finally understand the inspirational power those two little Jewish kids saw when they created the character many years ago; God exists in comic book form, and he loves each and every one of us.

 

[KalBalboa]

Secret Origin. Best portrayal of Superman.

A solid book. It's basically a greatest-hits version of Superman origins, borrowing from Superman: TAS, Superman: The Movie, and a few others. The fight towards the end felts a bit uninspired and didn't feel like much of a conclusion... plus The Legion never worked for me in his origin. I mean, he's literally told he'll become Superman... it takes some of the heroism out of his journey.

With all that said, the interrogation scene, Frank's artwork, the xenophobia themes, and the supporting cast in the book are great.

 

[Angry Fork]

Red Son is cool as far as the gimmick is concerned (what if he were in Soviet Union rather than America), the imagery is great, but the historical and political errors annoyed me, whether purposeful or not.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Posted this today on another thread.

Not using the Superman name, but comics based on Superman that are very notable well told stories.

Superman comics if Superman was written with depth & wasn't restricted by the franchise name & image.
Very adult themes & completely un-traditional super hero story telling.

Alan Moore's Miracle Man (a homage to Superman, revolutionary comic)

Alan Moore's Supreme run (a direct homage to Superman)

Irredeemable (Superman if he had real flaws & finally snapped & goes on a World wide rampage with no one to stop him)

Invincible (Superman & his son, only Superman eventually turns out to be evil)

 

[Penguin]

I've got you covered:

Birthright
Action Comics 775 (A single issue, but it's really that good)
Secret Identity
All-Star Superman
Superman For All Seasons
Luthor: Man of Steel
Kingdom Come
Superman and the Legion of Superheroes (the only story with these characters I care for and it's fantastic)
Red Son
Geof Johns Braniac
For The Man Who Has Everything
Earth One
Superman and the Men of Steel (Grant Morrison's New 52. I loved the vision for Superman so much but had issues with how fast it all escalated)

I shall look into this.
Read most of it, but to fill in the gaps

 

[KalBalboa]

Posted this today on another thread.

Not using the Superman name, but comics based on Superman that are very notable well told stories.

Irredemable feels like a real cheap, gross-out kind of story. It basically tries as hard as possible to ruin the character with a cast of pop-culture references (Dr. Who is basically a main character).

It has its moments, but it came off shallow to me by the end. That version of Superman doesn't have "real flaws" as much as he's purposefully the most miserable attitude possible taken on the source material. The book always felt too third-person for it to genuinely feel like we understood the Superman character. It's not worthless, but I expected more I suppose.

I dig the rest of your picks, though. Cool idea. Needs Astro City!

 

[Joel Was Right]

Heart felt story. My favourite piece of Superman literature. It doesn't matter when you read it, you will love it immediately

 

[KalBalboa]

Heart felt story. My favourite piece of Superman literature. It doesn't matter when you read it, you will love it immediately

Absolutely. Read this one in a single evening and you'll feel like you're thirteen again.

 

[Riposte]

I think All-Star Superman is that book. Seems like everyone beat me to the punch.

EDIT: yeah, Irredeemable doesn't have much business next to Miracle Man.

 

[KalBalboa]

I think All-Star Superman is that book. Seems like everyone beat me to the punch.

All-Star works for so many people because it takes the popular opinion of Superman (that he's insanely powerful) and makes it work as a major, driving plot point. It deconstructs him a bit with it and introduces people to the rest of what more hardcore fans know about him, but it's specifically about that Greek myth Superman that the 60s & Donner movies sort of cultivated.

 

[DrSlek]

I would also recommend Up, Up and Away.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Yeah, it's gonna be kinda hard for anybody to even get their hands on Miracleman, unless you got a couple hundred books to blow

 

[KalBalboa]

Yeah, it's gonna be kinda hard for anybody to even get their hands on Miracleman, unless you got a couple hundred books to blow

Is there a best-of I should check out? I feel like I need to read Moore's take.

I would also recommend Up, Up and Away.

I liked this a lot at the time. The Infinite Crisis era of Superman & DC was really fun.

 

[Toa TAK]

Well GAF, looks like I'm picking up All Star Superman soon.

I don't own many graphic novels, but if it's as good as the ones I do own (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns), I'm all in.

 

[KalBalboa]

Well GAF, looks like I'm picking up All Star Superman soon.

I don't own many graphic novels, but if it's as good as the ones I do own (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns), I'm all in.

Soon you will join us in the sun.

Spoiler

Had to.

 

[DrSlek]

Is there a best-of I should check out? I feel like I need to read Moore's take.

I think he means bucks instead of books. Miracleman is incredibly rare, sought after and thus stupidly valuable if in good condition.

 

[KalBalboa]

I think he means bucks instead of books. Miracleman is incredibly rare, sought after and thus stupidly valuable if in good condition.

Oh I got that, but I want to know if there's some big arc that's a must-read. Maybe it can be found digitally or in an anthology.

 

[DrSlek]

Well I believe recently Marvel aquired the rights to Miracleman. As to what they plan to do with them, I have no idea. I don't recall hearing of them reprinting the original run.