Superman is one of the first DC Comics superheroes, appearing for the first time in Action Comics #1 in 1938. With now over 80 years of history, there have been more Superman stories than almost any other comic book character. While not all his stories have been great, there are plenty that have stood the test of time and are worth reading. There are many books that everyone recommends, and for good reason. However, other stories seem to get ignored by even Superman fans. These stories may not reach the level of widespread acclaim that other recommendations do, but they are just as great and demonstrate why Superman has always been the world’s greatest hero.
While it is impossible to leave off the recommendations of the top three best Superman stories ever told, others deserve to be added to any DC Comics fan’s reading list.
10) Superman: Peace on Earth
Superman: Peace on Earth is a difficult title because it has Superman fighting a battle he can never win. This was featured in the graphic novel by writer Paul Dini and artist Alex Ross, where Superman was dealing with something that had begun to bother him. After a Christmas tree lighting, Superman found a young girl dying of starvation and was told the homeless shelters were overburdened. Superman decided he wanted to feed all the hungry for one day. He began spreading seeds across the world to help grow food, but there was one problem. One dictator wouldn’t allow it because keeping his citizens hungry kept them under his control. He couldn’t do anything because Superman can’t interfere in a country’s politics. By the end, Superman realized he couldn’t help everyone and believed he had failed. However, what makes Superman great is that he tried and did all he could.
9) Superman Smashes the Klan
A 1946 Superman radio show featured the Man of Steel fighting the Ku Klux Klan. While that was a good story, a more recent one has been released that pays homage to the earlier version. Superman Smashes the Klan sees writer Gene Luen Yang working with illustrators Gurihiru to tell the story of a young Superman who encounters the Klan as they try to push around and hurt both minorities and those who stand up for them. This includes Lois Lane and Perry White, Black police Inspector Henderson, and a Chinese-American family who moved from Chinatown to Metropolis. The racism is on full display from people around Metropolis, and the twist was that the main Klan head was in it for the money, but he recruited zealots who believed in “one color, one religion, one race.” The story works because it also leans into Superman’s role as an immigrant who doesn’t want people to fear him, but that was always holding him back from being great.
8) Superman: Camelot Falls
Superman: Camelot Falls is a story by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco that spanned 10 issues. This story has Superman come to understand that the more he does to protect people now, the worse things will be in the future. In this case, a man from the past named Arion of Atlantis tells him great evil is coming, and if Superman keeps fighting to hold it back, in 100 years, a worse tide of evil will arrive and lead the world into a period of great darkness that would last even longer than it would otherwise. Superman must decide whether to allow “Camelot to fall,” resulting in a brief period of darkness, to prevent it from being even worse in the future. The problem is that it means allowing people to get hurt now. Superman is not depowered here, as he usually is, and instead has to make a difficult decision about his impact on the world.
7) Superman: Time and Time Again!
Superman: Time and Time Again! was a story that ran through eight issues in 1994. In this story, a time-traveling bounty hunter from the future known as Linear Man arrives in the present day to return Booster Gold to his timeline. Superman tries to intervene and ends up sent through time instead. He spends much of his journey meeting several characters, including the Justice Society, Legion of Super-Heroes, Etrigan the Demon, and Chronos. He also gets to fight Nazis in World War II and a T-Rex in the far past. The fun here is seeing Superman fighting different battles in various eras, and he knows he has to be careful so as not to disrupt the timeline by changing anything in the past. It is a great sci-fi addition to Superman stories.
6) Superman: Last Son
Superman: Last Son is a 2006-2007 story by Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, and Adam Kubert. That is the selling point. Johns works with the man who directed Superman: The Movie for a great comic book storyline. This is a five-issue series from Action Comics, introducing a new Kryptonian child named Christopher Kent (whom Lois Lane and Superman adopt), and bringing General Zod, Non, and Ursa into the DC Universe post-Infinite Crisis. For anyone who wants to read a great Superman story that deals with the themes of family before Superman and Lois finally started their own, this is the book to read.
5) Superman: Exile
Superman: Exile is a storyline that runs for 13 issues between Superman (Vol. 2), Adventures of Superman, and Action Comics. Notably, since this series spans multiple comics, the writers and artists are diverse and feature some exceptional talent, including Dan Jurgens, George Perez, Roger Stern, Mike Mignola, and more. After a series of events that lead Superman to believe he poses a threat to the people of Earth, he exiles himself from the planet and seeks a new home where he can no longer harm anyone. While exploring the universe, he finally comes to understand his purpose in the world. This is another great sci-fi Superman story, and it gets bonus points for introducing the Eradicator to the Superman mythos.
4) Superman: For Tomorrow
Superman: For Tomorrow is an 11-issue storyline from writer Brian Azzarello and artists Jim Lee. Released in 2004-2005, this is a darker Superman story and has him dealing with heavy issues, which is atypical for Superman in comics. While the Snyderverse movies added even darker subject matter, this storyline was the extent of the darkness that works in Superman comics. The entire series began with Superman giving his confession to a Catholic priest after he failed to save Lois Lane and thousands of others in Metropolis from disappearing. He blames himself, and his guilt is heavy here. Superman then has to decide how far he will go to save the people he loves, even if it means compromising on his beliefs.
3) “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Truth, Justice and the American Way?”
While the previous seven Superman stories are mostly deep cuts, with the hopes of adding new stories to people’s reading lists, the top three here are the best Superman stories ever released. First up is “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Truth, Justice and the American Way?” This was a one-issue story from Action Comics #775 (2001) by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, and Lee Bermejo. When a new superhero team known as The Elite emerges and starts brutalizing villains, people begin to view Superman as old-fashioned and gravitate toward the new, violent rockstar heroes. The Elite were a knockoff of The Authority, and Superman realized he needed to stop them while also regaining public support. This pre-dated the Snyderverse ideas of heroes being overly violent and dark, and this issue was the best counterpoint possible, as Superman became ultra-violent to prove a point to the young heroes. Ultimately, Superman demonstrates that dignity and honor are the qualities that define him as a great hero.
2) “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?”
Released in 1986, “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” is the ending of Superman’s story. This is a two-part story that unfolds in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583, marking the final Superman tale before the reboot following Crisis on Infinite Earths. Alan Moore and Curt Swan created this story about Metropolis, 10 years after Superman’s disappearance. Lois Lane reveals what happened to end Superman’s career, including numerous attacks by his enemies, the deaths of several loved ones, and the revelation of his identity as Clark Kent. The reason for Superman’s disappearance is tragic, but these two issues featured the perfect ending for the Silver Age Superman, thanks to one last twist at the end.
1) “For The Man Who Has Everything…”
The perfect Superman story was another one-issue tale, taking place in Superman Annual Vol. 1 #11. Written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the story has Superman living a perfect life on Krypton with his wife and son. While this seemed like an Elseworlds story, it was more ominous than that. “For The Man Who Has Everything…” keeps flipping back to Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman, realizing Superman is entranced thanks to Mongul. They race to free him of the hypnotic state he is in. However, the fact is that Superman is living his best life in his mind means bringing him back is just as sad and tragic as leaving him in there. Years later, The Matrix presented a similar dilemma, prompting the question of whether a person would rather live in a perfect dream world or the real world. Of course, Superman wants to be in the real world, but seeing him lose his family — even if just a dream family — was sad and makes this one of the most touching Superman comics ever created.
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