“Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” was a huge part of the childhood of a certain generation of kids, growing up watching rerurns of the 1950s Superman TV show at their grandparents’ house. Superman as a household name was actually petty common for the majority of the 20th century, and it’s only in recent years that Superman has fallen below the pop cultural radar, mostly because of the MCU’s complete domination of the superhero world. However, all of that is about to change with Superman (2025), a new big screen foray for the world’s first superhero. Superman is about to hit large again, for the first time in a long time, and if you’re looking for a road into the Superman comics, we have you covered.
I love Superman more than most people, and there’s a very good reason for that. I grew up watching Superman at my grandparents’, while at home I watched SuperFriends. I rented the VHS of the Max Fleischer Superman shorts. I’ve read the comics for much of my life. Superman has become a very important part of my life, and I’m here to share that knowledge with you. Digging into Superman’s comic history is a rewarding experience, one that goes much further than most people imagine. We’re going to break down Superman for you, and after you read this, you’ll be ready to tackle the best Superman comics ever written.
So, everyone knows the broad stroke of Superman, but we’ll go over them quickly in order to get them out of the way. Superman was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton to Jor-El and Lara. Krypton has changed many, many times over the years — and we’ll get to that, my God will we get to that — but the important things are that Krypton loved science so much it became a religion and that the planet was doomed. Jor-El and Lara were able to create a rocket to shoot young Kal-El to another world (and his dog and basically any other animal that was in house in the Silver Age), a world where the yellow sun would give the young Kryptonian power. He was launched, Krypton was destroyed, and a kindly farmer couple, unfortunately childless Jon and Martha Kent, found the rocket, retrieved the child, and raised him as his own. Newly named Clark, Kal developed his superpowers and was taught to help everyone weaker than him, which led him to the big city of Metropolis, where he became a reporter at The Daily Planet, met Jimmy Olsen and the love of his life Lois Lane. In Metropolis, he became Superman, the alien protector of the Earth. There you go. Basics done.
Now, obviously, we’re missing some things. I didn’t talk about his years as Superboy and the Teen of Steel’s time with the Legion of Superheroes. I didn’t bring up Supergirl, Superman’s cousin whose origin is basically the same, except she was older, and Superman found her instead of a kindly couple. There’s no Jor-El creating the Phantom Zone projector or the Fortress of Solitude. There’s no Lex Luthor in Smallville, or Lana or Pete Ross. All of those things are quite important to the history of Superman, but before you get into the weeds, it’s important to actually understand why Superman has stood the test of time. It’s important to understand who Superman is.
Superman is everything good in humanity. Superman is supposed to act as a mirror for us. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created a golem, a hero meant to fight for the downtrodden. Superman isn’t human, but he loves humanity. I have a favorite Superman quote, and it’s from writer Mark Waid, writing the introduction to All-Star Superman Vol. 2, which collected issues #7 through #12. It goes like this — “Gods achieve their power by encouraging us to believe in them. Superman achieves his power by believing in us.” The thing to understand about Superman, the throughway for the character in any media, especially the comics, is that Superman believes in humanity. Superman is, for all intents and purposes, a god. However, Superman doesn’t want adulation. Superman wants humanity to be the thing it can be at its best, and the only way to do that is to protect them, give them an example of the best thing they are. That’s what Superman is about.
Now, obviously, Superman isn’t real. I’m of the Grant Morrison school of fiction, that all of these fantasies we’ve created are as real as anyone else, and comics are the window into these living universes, given life by us. However, as far as it goes, Superman is a construct with no thoughts or feelings of his own. Superman, as we know him, is a collection of the greatest writers, artists, inkers, colorists, letterers, and editors, (and that’s just counting the comics, mind you). However, all of them did the same thing — imagine the best of humanity, take all of that and put into this alien creation, and then tell stories with that as the focus. For almost a hundred years, creators of all kinds have used Superman to look at the world around them, to find the hope inherent in humanity, and put it on the page. That’s who Superman is.
Superman is the struggle against evil. Superman is about making sure everyone gets a chance to shine. Superman is every human being who has ran into a burning building, every soldier who stayed back to hold the escape for their friends. Superman is every journalist that has revealed the terrible truth. Superman is every police officer who actually cares about the people. Superman is every politician whose first thought is of the public good, and every business owner who cares about their workers more than profit. Superman is the person helping the crying child find their parents. Superman is the guy who gets in between the argument that’s about to turn violent and saves the day. Superman is us at our best. Once you understand that everything else about Superman comes easy. Well, sort of. Now for the hard part.
Superheroes are popular and comics aren’t. There are plenty of reasons comics aren’t, but the main one is that comics are confusing. Superman has existed for 87 years now. That’s a daunting thing and it’s why so many people would rather watch the movies than go to a comic store and read comics. Comics history is broken into ages, and understanding the basics of each one is important to understanding Superman. So, I’m going to start using words that a new comic fan really will have no frame of reference for, and I’ll explain — the Golden Age of comics began in 1938 with Action Comics #1 and lasted until 1956. The Silver Age of comics began with 1956’s Showcase #4 and lasted to about 1971. Next comes the Bronze Age of comics, which went from 1971 to… well, there’s multiple thoughts on that, but I’m going to say that the Bronze Age ended in 1991, with the premiere of X-Men (Vol. 2) #1. Finally, there’s the Modern Age, which in my opinion runs from 1991 to now. At some point, we’ll get another Age after the Bronze, but no one has brought it up yet. Finally, for DC itself, there’s pre-Crisis, everything from 1938 to 1985, and post-Crisis, from 1986 to now. Crisis on Infinite Earths was a hard reboot of the DC Multiverse, and things get very different. So, with that out of the way, let’s get started.
Superman is the first character that we would recognize as a superhero. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster took the pulp detective comics and the sci-fi comics of the day and blended them together. Superman comes from that. Their first idea for Superman was as a bald villain with telepathy, but the grim realities of the Great Depression saw them change this idea, making Superman into a paragon of hope and virtue in a time when those things were in short supply. The Golden Age Superman is quite different from the one that came later. He was vastly less powerful, and a bit more violent (although not as violent as Golden Age Batman). Golden Age Superman fought crooked politicians and police, got involved in domestic violence, and would be the perfect hero for the Great Depression. The dawn of World War II would change all of that, with Superman becoming the ultimate American hero, teaming with Batman, Wonder Woman, and the other heroes of the Justice Society of America to fight the Nazis and protect the homefront. The concept of Superboy was invented back then, giving the young readership a version of Superman more like them. he got the first Fortress of Solitude back then, called the Secret Sanctuary. These stories are the bedrock of Superman, and if I’m being honest I wouldn’t recommend these older comics until you’re read a lot of other comics. Golden Age comics are very simplistic and a very different reading experience. However, these stories are also extremely rewarding because it’s kind of wonderful to watch the changes made to Superman during this time. DC has reprinted a lot of this stuff, and the best place to start would be Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1, which collects the first Superman stories. Give it a chance after you get through some of the other recommendations here.
The Silver Age of comics, especially the Superman comics, is known for the outlandishness of the stories. It was a time of wild sci-fi and hallucinatory imagery. This is the era where we learned about Superman’s past with the Legion of Superheroes as Superboy. It was when we were introduced to Supergirl, Brainiac, Bizarro, Mister Mxyzptlk, and many more. It was the age of Lex Luthor, when the Golden Age enemy truly stepped into his place as Superman’s greatest villain. The Silver Age is wild. There’s really not a lot to say about the particulars of the Silver Age, because continuity wasn’t really a thing back then, but there are some interesting tropes of the period. Covers would present some wild imagery, all meant to get someone to pick up an issue. This is the era of jerk Superman, especially in Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, with covers portraying Superman tormenting his friends. There’s the weird sci-fi, with Superman transforming into something different on the cover. This is the time of Superman’s powers hitting a level that is best described as godlike. He can move planets, fly faster than the speed of light, and fly through time. Krypton became a much more important part of Superman, as his time traveling adventures saw him going to the planet. Superman was much more Kryptonian in general, with the hero embracing his alien origins while he was in the costume. Clark Kent was a disguise back in these days, a place he could go to be human. The best works of Silver Age Superman are basically anything written by Otto Binder. Binder helped make Captain Marvel/Shazam more popular than Superman in the late Golden Age, and after DC sued Fawcett Publishing and bought was left, Binder came to DC. Binder’s stories are hallucinatory Superman sci-fi at its finest. Superman: The Silver Age Vol. 1 by Otto Binder is the main book I would recommend. It will give you a window into the weirdness of Silver Age Superman, and has art from the three best Superman artists of the Silver Age — Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, and Al Plastino. Swan’s Superman is my favorite, capturing the power of Superman and the inherent friendliness of the character. Anything by Binder and Swan is the way to go here.
I’m going to be completely honest — I know very little about Bronze Age DC until the 1980s. This was the era of the multiverse in DC, when the publisher went all in on their multiple Earths. However, that doesn’t mean I know nothing about Bronze Age Superman… well, at least a Bronze Age Superman. Earth-Two Superman, the original Superman of the Golden Age, was brought back in 1969’s Justice League of America #73. It was during the Bronze Age that he started getting more spotlight in All-Star Comics, the book that gave readers the adventures of Earth-Two’s Justice Society. Superman played a key role in the book, and readers got to meet the Earth-Two Supergirl, known as Power Girl. I would recommend All-Star Comics of this period, because I’m an Earth-Two Superman partisan. DC hasn’t ever printed a Bronze Age omnibus, which makes it hard to get into. However, there’s two Bronze Age comics I have to recommend, both of them from writer Alan Moore. The first is Supeman Annual #11, the story titled “For the Man Who Has Everything”. The story is set on Superman’s birthday, with Batman, Wonder Woman, and Robin bringing Superman gifts. However, they find him ensnared by the Black Mercy, a plant which gives its victim their heart’s desire as it kills them. This led to a battle with Mongul, and has some of the most hardcore Superman action. It’s brilliant. Moore also wrote “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, which was published as Superman #423 and Action Comics #583. This was written as the last story of the pre-Crisis Superman, a capstone to a character that had been one of the most popular ever. It’s amazing and the perfect send-off to Superman.
Talking about the Modern Age of Superman is actually pretty difficult, mostly because of the shifting continuity of DC Comics. Crisis on Infinite Earths changed everything, and Superman was the most changed. His Kryptonian heritage was downplayed, and he was more of an All-American Superman. However, since then, things have changed multiple times and Superman is much closer to his Silver and Bronze Age selves than ever before, so I’m not going to get into it too much. John Byrne’s Man of Steel #1 – 6 gives the basics of post-Crisis Superman. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend any Byrne Superman. He got rid of the most interesting parts of the character, and replaced with a conservative status quo that doesn’t really work for Superman. This is the era that a new reader should start in. There are multiple timeless stories that I think everyone should read that only demand knowing the basics of Superman. “Death of Superman” is a must and DC has readers covered with Superman: The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus. There’s Superman For All Seasons, a timeless story about Superman and his friends. Kingdom Come is set an alternate future where Superman’s retirement leads to disaster. Action Comics #775, “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, & the American Way”, is a story about why Superman still matters in the modern day. Writer Geoff Johns has some brilliant stories from Action Comics in the late ’00s —”Last Son”, “Brainiac”, and “Superman and the Legion of Superheroes” — and writer Kurt Busiek’s “Camelot Falls” is a must read from this era. And, of course, there’s All-Star Superman, a story that has gone down as the greatest Superman story ever. These are the stories you should read first. That brings us to the newest Superman comics.
Superman and Action Comics have been putting out amazing stories since 2022. Superman focuses on the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane, who has gained Kryptonian superpowers, while Action Comics is deep in the “Superman Superstars” publishing initiative, giving readers short Superman stories from the greatest writers around. Superman is the story that is in continuity, dealing with the situation in Metropolis. Lex Luthor had his mind wiped in “House of Brainiac”, but is seemingly getting his memory back. Doomsday has returned as the Time Trapper, trying to get Superman to kill him so that he can become a god and stop Superman’s death. Lois’s powers came from General Zod, and he’s heading to Earth to deal with that. Superman is a very exciting book, but if you want something that’s easy reading, Action Comics is the way to go. Beyond the“House of Brainiac” tie-in issues, Action Comics has been telling just plain good Superman stories since Action Comics #1061. DC hasn’t collected the stories yet, but it’s worth hunting down the stories, especially “I, Bizarro” from Action Comics #1061 – #1063, “Challenge from the Stars” from Action Comics #1067 – 1069, and “Phantoms” from Action Comics #1070 – 1081. Action Comics is much easier for new fans to read, but Superman is quite rewarding as well. Soon, there will be Superman Unlimited, a new flagship Superman title.
Finally, there’s also Absolute Superman. Absolute Superman is part of DC’s Absolute line of comics, which started the DC Universe again on another Earth created by Darkseid. In this world, Superman spent much of his childhood on Krypton before coming to Earth. This Superman is very much a man of people, battling evil corporate interests to help humanity. Absolute Superman #1 – 6 have all been released, giving the origin of Absolute Superman, but most of them are sold out. DC hasn’t released a collected edition yet, but that should happen in the next few months. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Superman created the idea of superheroes, and has always been the purest of them all. Superman is the ideal, the superhero that every other heroes wants to be. Superman can feel a little old-fashioned at times, but that’s part of the charm. Superman is all about the best parts of humanity. Hope is the watch word of Superman, and that’s why reading Superman is so great.
We live in an often hopeless world. Sometimes, it’s nice to believe in this alien who wants to helps humanity to reach its potential, and it’s nice to believe that we can triumph if we just be the best we can be. If that sort of storytelling interests you, Superman is the right character for you. Entering the world of Superman is a rewarding experience, one that will take you to a world of action and adventure unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
“Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” was a huge part of the childhood of a certain generation of kids, growing up watching rerurns of the 1950s Superman TV show at their grandparents’ house. Superman as a household name was actually petty common for the majority of the 20th Read More