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Superman Comic Recommendations
35
items If you loved the new Superman movie and want to read some Superman comics, try these! It’s a long list, but use the sections to cater to the type of stories you’re looking for! These recs include Amazon affiliate links
Sections
5
Origins and Early Years
Continuing Adventures
Later Years and End of Days
Superman-Adjacent
Superman Elseworlds
Origins and Early Years
If you like stories told from the beginning, where better to begin?
There’s nobody better than Grant Morrison when it comes to writing Superman, and this is certainly no exception. They re-present young Clark as a daring anti-authoritarian champion of the oppressed, calling back to his golden age roots with a modern ...
Superman by Grant Morrison Omnibus
Maybe the most all-encompassing origin retelling on this list, with everyone from Lana to Pete to the Legion of Superheroes, to the Daily Planet. This series has the added bonus of Gary Frank’s art, which conjures memories of the Donner films and Chr...
Superman Secret Origin
There’s no better place to start than the beginning. This collection includes the early issues featuring Superman, including the one where it all began, Action Comics 1 (1938) by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
SUPERMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OMNIBUS VOL. 1
Gene Leun Yang and Gurihiru do a beautiful retelling of the legendary radio show storyline that changed the world, telling the story of Superman versus the “Clan of the Fiery Cross” and juxtaposing it with Clark’s own alienation and search for belong...
Superman Smashes the Klan
Two masters tell the first time Superman encounters Kryptonite in this collection of stories from Superman: Confidential. Cooke displays his mastery of character and Sale delivers his usual style of larger than life characters and beautiful imagery
Superman: Kryptonite Deluxe Edition
A storied creative partnership delivers a heartfelt telling of Clark’s journey from Smallville to Metropolis. Loeb’s ability to capture emotion paired with Sale’s character acting produces a human story with a superhuman protagonist
Superman for All Seasons Deluxe Edition
The best modern retelling of the early days of Superman, in my opinion. Mark Waid has an incredible grasp of the characters and Leinel Francis Yu delivers iconic imagery
SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT THE DELUXE EDITION
Continuing Adventures
Not the beginning, not the end, but somewhere in the middle
Set in the continuity of the DC Animated Universe, Superman Adventures tells charming, all-ages, evergreen stories in the Bruce Timm tradition
Superman Adventures Compendium One
An anthology of short stories by a plethora of incredible creators, released originally as digital-first comics
Adventures of Superman
A charming anthology with the limited color palette of red and blue by some of the top creators. I’d like to especially highlight Daniel Warren Johnson’s Pa Kent story. I dare you to read it with dry eyes by the end
Superman Red & Blue
This seminal story is included in the “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” deluxe edition. From the team behind Watchmen, this heartbreaking story features Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman facing off against Mongul in the Fortress of Solitude a...
For the Man Who Has Everything
A seminal issue from the early 2000s, “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” pits Superman against modern antiheroes (stand-ins for the, at the time, groundbreaking and modern super team The Authority) and confronts the questio...
Action Comics #775 'What's So Funny About Truth?'
Featuring acclaimed Superman: The Movie director Richard Donner and stunning artwork by industry legend Adam Kubert, this is perhaps one of the best modern General Zod stories
Superman: Last Son
This chilling portrayal of Brainiac includes a heartbreaking character death that elevates it as one of the best Brainiac stories and one of the strongest Superman stories of the early 2000s
Superman: Brainiac
This is a great story about the legacy of Superman while also reintroducing his relationship to the Legion of Superheroes, one of my favorite, underutilized elements of the Superman myth
Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes
This is such a natural progression in the John’s/Frank run, and a great change in the status quo for Superman. A friend of mine described it as Superman’s version of Batman: No Man’s Land, and I think there’s something to that
Superman: World of New Krypton
There have been a lot of solid Superman/Batman teamup books. This one is my favorite. It’s like a comfortable chair. Waid writes this characters so naturally and Dan Mora is probably the best modern superhero artist working. A must-read, very accessi...
BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD'S FINEST
Another favorite Batman/Superman teamup has to be Public Enemies, which pits the World’s Finest against the government (run by President Lex Luthor) and the DC superheroes. Ed McGuinness’s art in particular suits this multi-issue super brawl perfectl...
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Searchers by way of Superman. This showcases Superman’s strength of will and his determination to never give up on anybody
SUPERMAN: UP IN THE SKY
Another natural progression for the Superman story, this one brilliantly extrapolates the Moses allegory of the Superman myth and turns Superman into a liberator and freedom fighter. Great, pulpy aesthetics that not only ties back to his theological,...
Superman: The Warworld Saga
Later Years and End of Days
Most superhero stories don’t have a third act, but the few times they give Superman one, they’re bangers
So much has been said about this and it’s all true. This is, in my opinion, the greatest Superman story ever made. The art and writing between Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison is sublime. This is a story that makes explicit the modern secular myth wh...
All Star Superman: The Deluxe Edition:
I think this book serves as the definitive ending of the DC Universe story for a lot of fans. It’s epic, it’s got strong themes, and it’s got a character arc at the center in Superman’s journey to reconnecting with his humanity in order to inspire th...
Absolute Kingdom Come (New Edition)
This is such a fun, lore-enhancing take on the future of Superman. Phillip Kennedy Johnson takes his signature world-building approach and tells the story of the House of El from the far future, with complex family trees and a new generation of Super...
Future State: Superman: House of El Vol 1 1
Maybe the best-regarded ending story before All-Star Superman, Alan Moore and legendary Superman artist Curt Swan give the pre-Crisis Superman an epic sendoff with a last stand at the Fortress of Solitude facing off against Luthor, Brainiac, Metallo,...
SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN?
This project by Grant Morrison and a host of artists ties into their JLA run, but Superman is very much at the center. The events of this story are referenced in All-Star Superman, and presents maybe one of the more heartwarming endings to the Superm...
DC One Million
Superman-Adjacent
This inventive, modern take on the Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen is worth it for the Batman prank wars alone but then it also has Metamorpho and maybe the funniest Gorilla City joke ever. A loving sendup to a Silver Age series
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy?
For being as old as Superman, there are a shockingly low number of books featuring Lois Lane to recommend to modern audiences. This is probably the most prolific one outside of the Silver Age. I think the great Lois Lane series is yet to be told, but...
Lois Lane: Enemy of the People: Rucka, Greg
This delightful all-ages book features a lot of the Superman cast circa 2013. I had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it.
Superman Family Adventures, Vol. 1
There are a LOT of different versions of the Legion of Superheroes, and I haven’t read all of them, but I did find this one accessible and fun. I’m a sucker for Mark Waid and Barry Kitson is great. Plus, this run ends with Kara joining the Legion, wh...
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL. 1: TEENAGE REVOLUTION
Probably the most beautiful book on this whole list, which is saying something! Bilquis Evely was a revelation to me, and Tom King wrote a great galaxy spanning story that demonstrates how different and how similar Kara is from her cousin. I’ll give ...
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
This is maybe the most jarring item on this list, because I wouldn’t expect an in-continuity Western comic in a Superman list, but this deserves to be here. It takes us to the Civil War-era Kent family and sees the house divided. It’s so different fr...
The Kents
Superman Elseworlds
We’ll start this section with the obvious choice. Superman has been the subject of some great Elseworlds stories, many of them collected in this omnibus, including Superman: The Dark Side (what if Kal-El landed on Apokolips), Superman: Speeding Bulle...
Elseworlds: Superman Omnibus Vol. 1
Probably my favorite Elseworlds story is Secret Identity, in large part because it’s by two of my favorite creators: Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen. This gorgeous book is about a world just like ours where a boy who happens to be named Clark Kent hat...
Superman: Secret Identity?
Maybe the best know Elseworlds, this story sees Kal-El’s ship raised in Ukraine and raised in the Soviet Union, presenting interesting questions of nature and nurture while presenting a world where the Cold War power dynamics shift with Superman on R...
What are your opinions on Superman: Red Son?
A relatively recent addition, I love the visuals of this series, which places the DC characters in an Arthurian fantasy setting.
Dark Knights of Steel Deluxe Edition