Superman is a superhero that everyone on planet Earth has probably heard of in some form or fashion! Donning the classic blue tights, red underwear, and cape, Superman is one of the most celebrated superheroes of all time! The Man of Steel is such a common symbol within our culture, that he is often used as a metaphor. Even the infamous S on his chest is yet another symbol that everyone, even people who don’t read comics are familiar with.
Superman was a creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster that crashed onto the scene in the first issue of Action Comics in April of 1938 by the DC comics company. Superman aka Clark Kent is one of those characters who is invulnerable to almost everything, with a few lame exceptions: the two most known ones being kryptonite and magic. Think about that for a second! Superman is so strong and so powerful, that the writers had to make his main weakness is a fictional material that traces back to his homeworld, Krypton, known as kryptonite. This green, crystalline rock emits specific radiation that weakens Superman. It can be somewhat comical, no pun intended while reading that a mere human like Lex Luthor can destroy the Man of Steel simply by having a small piece of rock in his fist! Here are our 5 best Superman comics in descending order, saving the best for last!
Runner Up – Man of Steel (1986)
The Man of Steel #1 is an issue of the series ‘The Man of Steel’ (volume 1) was released in the Summer of 1986. All-Star Superman was a fresh take on the Man of Steel that is still a fan favorite to this day. The story begins with Superman’s biological father, Jor-El, a Kryptonian scientist rushes home to tell his wife, Lara-El that their planet is doomed. Jor-El informed Lara that a geological reaction has sparked the planet’s core elements into an explosive compound and that they only have hours to live! Jor-El quickly concocted a way for their son, Kal-El to escape Krypton’s destruction. A programmable rocket was coded to land Kal-El on planet Earth. This planet was hand-picked by his father because Earth, while similar to Krypton, had a yellow sun that would make Kal-El’s attributes greatly enhanced. We all know the rest of the story. The planet explodes, launching the rocket into space, crash-landing in Kansas where he meets his Earthly parents Jonathan and Martha Kent. Giving Kal-El the name Clark Kent and raising him up to be a man of integrity while keeping his abilities a secret.
Fast-forward to Clark as an adult, attending the 250th anniversary of Metropolis. Clark Kent had been living there for a few years and hadn’t revealed his abilities to anyone at this point. During an anniversary celebration of Metropolis, a NASA craft named ‘the Constitution’ collided with a rogue plane that haphazardly entered a no-fly zone. The Constitution begins to spin and head towards the ground. Quickly weighing the options, Clark realizes that he has no choice but to save the passengers on the Constitution and the innocent bystanders watching below. He rescues the aircraft and one of the reporters is none other than Lois Lane of the Daily Planet! As she begins to question him, he flies off and returns home to Smallville to consult his parents.
His father, Jonathan Kent, has an idea for Clark so that he can use his abilities to protect people and conceal his true identity at the same time. His mother makes Clark his first uniform with the “S” logo. Clark goes onto live life in Metropolis disguised as an unassuming man, having an alter ego for the first time, becoming the Man of Steel, Superman!!
No. 2 – Reign of the Supermen (1993)
Reign of the Supermen is an amazing story that follows events that took place during the “Death of Superman”. The world mourned, and it was all over news stations and written in newspapers everywhere that the most beloved superhero ever created was dead, and he valiantly died defending his city from complete annihilation from the super-powered alien who only grows stronger as he takes damage, Doomsday. For three months, March thru June of 1993, not a single Superman comic was written. For the first time in history, neither of the four iconic Superman titles were published: Superman, Superman in Action Comics, Superman: The Man of Steel, and The Adventures of Superman.
After the three-month hiatus, all four titles were relaunched, but each title following the story of one of four pretenders to the Superman throne! First, you have the Cyborg-Superman, Hank Henshaw. Premiered in Superman #78 in April of 1993. Henshaw was an ex NASA astronaut who blamed Superman for the death of his astronaut wife, Terri Henshaw due to a solar flare which he blamed Superman for creating. Presumed dead, on the verge of deterioration from radiation exposure, he was able to save his consciousness, stole the ship Superman came to Earth as a boy in, flew into outer space alone, and using the spacecraft managed to clone Superman’s body using mostly cybernetic materials. He vowed that he would kill Superman. Upon returning to Earth, Henshaw made some appearances saving people and even had a conversation with Lois Lane claiming that he was in fact Superman rebuilt! Lois didn’t believe him and took to have him examined by a scientist who was familiar with Superman and his Kryptonian makeup. The results showed that Henshaw was a definite match and that he was Superman. Cyborg Superman broke into the military facility where Doomsday’s body was being kept and stole him. Cyborg Supes flew him into outer space and embedded Doomsday’s body into an asteroid and hurled him away from Earth. We soon see Doomsday open his eyes as he is floating on the asteroid, and Cyborg Superman is doing things that the real Superman would never do. Break Federal laws make hasty, reckless decisions like what he did with Doomsday. Was Cyborg Superman the real deal, or was he yet another copycat of the Man of Steel?
Enter the yellow-visored Superman, terminator Superman, or as fans have named him, Eradicator! Eradicator Superman is a 200,000-year-old Kryptonian AI that originally was a Kryptonian weapon but the Kryptonian droids used this AI to from Eradicator into a being wielding most of Superman’s powers. Eradicator’s body was created using Superman’s body as a template. Eradicator stole Superman’s body from the monument he was buried in, and he and the droids placed Kal-El in the regeneration matrix, which they were using to recharge Kal-El’s body while using that power from Superman’s body to power Eradicator’s. He did have a cool new skill, in lieu of eye beams, he had the ability to blast power energy projections from his hands. The Eradicator also had trouble seeing properly after he was put inside a “limited body”. Thus the yellow-visor was necessary for him to see properly. Immediately after his body was formed, he saw the need for Superman in Metropolis as chaos ensued. So to keep the legend alive, Eradicator inserted himself into the scene, saving people and stopping criminals. All the while claiming himself as Superman incarnate! Technically speaking, he sort of was Superman incarnate, but as Eradicator told Lois Lane after she saw him that he is Superman, but he has changed, and that he is different. Picture a cold Superman with zero personality.
Steel, premiered in Superman: The Man of Steel #22 in April of 1993! John Henry Irons was a steelworker/engineer whom Superman saved during an accident at work When Irons saved a fellow co-worker who fell from a building during its construction, Irons bravely grabbed a cable, jumped off, and caught his co-worker landing him safely on a beam. Irons wasn’t so lucky, the cable slipped off of the beam it was attached to and Irons began to fall from way up high when Superman came out of nowhere and scooped him up! John Henry Irons was so grateful that Superman gave him a second chance at life that he told Superman ” I owe you my life” and Superman replied, “Then make it count for something.” With a new look on life, Steel vowed that he would honor the Man of Steel with his life as best he could. While playing ball with some kids from the neighborhood, one of the kids, Zoid was the victim of a drive-by shooting that was meant to kill a rival gang member. Irons took chase to the car, jumped onto the car and smashed the gun used to kill the boy, but they slammed Irons into a wall with the car and escaped. After being released from Hospital custody and Irons seeing that the weapons used to kill were a design of his own creation, John Henry Irons decided that he would honor Superman’s life by designing a suit of armor to replicate the powers of Superman! The suit would be able to withstand gunfire, fire, energy blasts, etc. As well as jet boots to give him the ability to fly! Irons put the steel “S” on his chest and donned the red cape as well as a giant sledgehammer to bring the fight to these gangs that were out of control since the death of Superman. This is how John Henry Irons became the character we all love named Steel!
Last but certainly not least, Superboy! A teen created by Project Cadmus using the DNA of both Superman and Lex Luthor. Superboy was intended to be a replacement for Superman after his death while facing Doomsday! He was very rebellious and cocky and loathed being called Superboy. He demanded everyone call him Superman, and as you could imagine, that didn’t go over very well. The source of Superboy’s powers came from a telekinetic force field that surrounds his body and grants him many of Superman’s powers: super-human strength, flight, hypersonic speed, and invulnerability. Superboy flew onto the scene and with his sarcasm and immaturity, quickly drew attention to himself. He showed up at the Daily Planet and immediately told them that he was a clone of Superman. He was then distracted by a woman named Tana who worked for GBS and she was after a good news story to advance her career. Superboy agreed to be interviewed by her on her news station and told everyone in Metropolis that he was a clone of Superman and that he is the new Superman. Tana convinced Superboy to rig him with a mic and camera and watched him take out Steel Hand, the villain on live television. Tana’s boss was proud of her and wants to start staging fights with costumed villains for more appeal and to boost their ratings, and meanwhile, Lex Luthor is upset that their creation is out there in the spotlight and he wants to keep their work with Project Cadmus a secret. So Luthor tries to reign Superboy in and fails to do so. After Superman’s return, Clark takes Superboy under his wing and adopts him into his family. Literally, Jonathan and Martha Kent adopted him, so to speak and Superboy was given both a new human and Kryptonian name, Connor Kent and Kon-El! Kon-El eventually warms up to the title of Superboy and is forever a character entrenched into the DC universe!
The Reign of the Supermen then continues! There are four different imposters out there claiming to be Superman, but who do we believe? Which one is the true Superman? Confusion is everywhere and with every news outlet, with Lex Luthor, and with Lois Lane. No one knows who is telling the truth, and the Supermen wind up confronting one another and fighting for the title of being Superman. Cyborg Superman goes rogue, forms an alliance with Mongul, takes over Coast City, destroys it and most of California, killing millions in the process, and renames it Engine City. This is because Cyborg Supes has created a massive engine hovering above the city that will have the power to shift Earth out of orbit. The real Superman, the Man of Steel himself, Clark Kent, has returned from the dead in the epic Return of Superman! The other three Supermen: Steel, Eradicator, and Superboy team up with Superman to take down Mongul and Cyborg Superman, because what happened in Coast City could happen in Metropolis and drive Earth right out of orbit! Superman isn’t near his full capacity, so his fight with Mongul isn’t going well at all, he’s barely hanging in there, and Steel is going toe to toe with Cyborg Superman. Steel quickly realizes that he will not be able to match him in strength or intelligence, but Steel finds a way to outwit him and gets Cyborg Superman to reveal Mongul’s plan for Earth and how the engine works. Once that information was revealed, Steel flies into the gigantic gears of the engine and it comes to a screeching halt! At this point, Cyborg Superman, driven by his own rage against Superman betrays Mongul and allows the Green Lantern access to the engine so that he can himself kill Superman and get his revenge once and for all. Green Lantern gets access and takes on Mongul one v one! The green ring will not work against Mongul because he is yellow, but Hal valiantly armors himself and goes into the fight head-on! Eradicator saves Superman and they team up in an epic battle that ends with Eradicator giving his life by taking a full beam of kryptonite and transferring his power to Superman! With his restored powers back and Cyborg Supes also weakened from the Kryptonite blast, Superman punches a hole through Cyborg Superman’s chest, and then vibrating his arm at hyper speeds to shatter Cyborg Superman to bits! The fight is over and Superman is victorious, restored, and ready to resume his post as the Man of Steel! Superboy acknowledges that he is in fact Superboy and Clark is the real deal! The heroes give Superman his suit back and Superman flies off with a new appreciation and outlook on life 🙂
No. 1 – The Death of Superman (1992)
For the number one spot! The greatest Superman story of all time is none other than the Death of Superman! Also, the Death of Superman was so historic that it made international news! It impacted not only comic book fans, literally, most everyone was buzzing about Superman dying! Think about that. This is the first and only time, ever that the death of a fictional comic book character garnered so much attention, especially in the US. Children’s beloved curlicued superhero gave his life and fought the most brutal battle to protect his home and for the first time since his creation, someone was able to best Superman in sheer physicality! The two literally beat each other to the point of death. Shortly after his death for a few months, Superman comics weren’t being printed. Let’s get into it!
Now before I get into the actual story, we will go in reverse order. The origins of Doomsday were unknown at the time of this story’s release. It wasn’t revealed until after the Death of Superman in a 3 issue mini-series called Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey. For the purpose of grasping the key information, I think you should know his origin first. Doomsday is the byproduct of a genetic evolutionary experiment by an ancient scientist named Bertron. Bertron visited Krypton some 250,000 years before the planet was inhabited by Superman’s race. He began his experiment by creating life and releasing the infant out into the rugged terrain of Krypton where the infant would almost instantly die, due to the wild animals, etc. Bertron and his team found some surviving tissue that had regenerated itself, so they took that tissue and kept on making enhancements. Bertron released and re-released the infant into the wild and every time the infant would die, it would grow back stronger and immune to what it had previously died from. This went on for decades until the creature began surviving for months at a time, and eventually wound up surviving for two years and matured into an adult. The creature eventually kills everything on Krypton including his creators and escapes. The creature continues this pattern across the entire universe. He encountered the most technologically advanced race of their time, which predated the Kryptonians, and they sacrificed their powers to create a being of pure energy, the Radiant! The Radiant wasn’t able to kill Doomsday but was able to knock him out, restrain him and send him off into space in hopes of floating forever. That vessel would wind up crashing on planet Earth and was buried deep below the Earth’s surface for a very long time only to awaken and start causing destruction conveniently during the time of Superman!
The Death of Superman started out like most stories that featured Superman. Bad guys doing wrong, harming and attempting to kill innocent civilians, and Superman swoops in to save the day! A group of rogue monsters who were known as the Underworlders and lived underground, literally, hi-jacked a bunch of firearms and kidnapped a boy from a local dealer in Metropolis in attempts to start a war with the people on the surface. They were rejects, after all, what better enemy for them to have than society! Superman investigates goes underground to find the perpetrators and hears the boy yelling for his life. Superman shows up and saves the boy and wrangles up the firearms and returns them and the boy to safety. The end of this issue shows a mysterious giant fist pounding into a door! A few issues later and Superman is still battling the Underworlders, flashes of this fist about to break out are teased until finally, Superman: The Man of Steel #18 reveals the beginning of the end! Doomsday!
As Doomsday beats his way out of his underground containment chamber, he makes his way to the surface. Once Doomsday reaches the surface he immediately begins its destruction! To illustrate just how Doomsday thinks, they have a clip of a bird flying into his hand, and he crushes it! He encounters a deer and snaps its neck! Talk about brutality like we’ve never seen from a Superman villain! After destroying a knock-off Wal-Mart called Lex-Mart, Doomsday sees a television commercial that showed a wrestling match being held in Metropolis. Naturally, being around violence is right where Doomsday wanted to be so that is where he was headed. By this time, he had already wiped out the entire Justice League International in a matter of minutes and Superman was trying to stop him. The fight went onto Metropolis and it was a true clash of the titans! Like Kevin Malone from the office said: “In one corner we have Michael and he is mad, and in the other corner you have Stanley and he is mad! And that’s about it.” Obviously the legends Michael Scott and Stanley Hudson aren’t in this fight, but it was Doomsday and the only person on planet Earth who even stood a chance at taking him down, Superman! The two square off, and it’s kind of unfair for Superman because he is having to shift his focus all throughout the fight saving people as the battle rages, because he cares about the lives of others, and Doomsday has zero regard for not just human-life, but life in general. Doomsday was created to be the ultimate killing machine, and kill he did! The more Superman threw at Doomsday, the better Doomsday would get and he would become immune to whatever Superman threw at him. Finally, Superman found a weakness in Doomsday, his bone protrusions! Unfortunately, Superman found out his weakness a little late in the game, because by this point, his strength was fading, but Supes pressed on! Doomsday charged at Lois and Jimmy Olsen in attempts to kill them and Superman intervened, saved them, gave Lois a proper goodbye, charged at Doomsday and the two got into an all out street fight until neither both of them were laid out. The Man of Steel had given it every ounce of strength he had and he managed to kill Doomsday, but Doomsday had caused so much damage to Superman that moments later, he died, in the arms of the woman he loved in the middle of the destroyed city that he loved.
