The 30 Greatest Superman Stories

An 80+ year history of constant publication Superman has amassed a lot of stories. But not all stories are created equally. With that many stories, and the current run by Brian Michael Bendis being universally hated by readers, which ones are the good ones? What are the good Superman stories and who will tell us what are the best 30. 

Fear not, good citizen! I have come to show the best ones I could find. But what of continuity, I hear you ask. Excellent question, good citizen. I have considered this and one of my ways of grading the best is the question “does this story stand alone?” (for this reason Peter J Tomasi’s recent work is not in the list). I will assume, as a baseline, that anything in the first two Christopher Reeves movies is well known and that you can work out that Brainiac is an evil space scientist.

Also, no Superman copies. Only officially released DC Stories about Superman.

30. Rocket Song/When Superman learnt to fly

Original publication: Action Comics (vol.2) 5 & 6 

Creative Team: Grant Morrison (Writer), Andy Kubert (pencils)

This story does a lot. Grant Morrison was tasked duringthe New 52 to rework the Superman mythos from the ground up. This story is easily the most Grant Morrison I’ve read, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. The story tells of the rocket’s journey to Krypton, his growing up on the farm, his time with the Legion of Superheroes, a new back story for Kryptonite and the formation of the anti-Superman army. New characters introduced are typical for Morrison’s run on Action Comics, some of which are renamed on a whim (e.g The Kryptonite man is now “K-Man”). I do prefer the new back story for Kryptonite and think it makes more sense than the classic fragments of Krypton. Your mileage will vary more on whether or not you like how Grant Morrison writes Superhero comics rather than the details of the story.

(Suggested further reading) Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes: The Early Years

Original publication: Adventure Comics 515-520 

Creative Team: Paul Levitz (writer), Kevin Sharpe (Pencils)

Is the Legion of Superheroes a separate thing? Or is it a expansion of Superman lore? I couldn’t decide so I didn’t have this one on the list even though it is worth talking about. This arc is an abridgement of the early Legion stories in a similar vein to Spider-man Blue or Secret Origins. This story arc is a useful jumping on point for anyone interested in Kal-El’s boyhood Superteam. It also focuses on the whole time travel aspect of the series and how they get around Superboy not knowing about his own future. A good read for anyone interested in Superman, Doctor Who and wants to ignore the problematic nature of Jim Shooter.

29. The Saga of Superman XX

Original publication:  Action Comics 338-339 and World’s Finest 166

Creative Team: Edmond Hamilton (Writer), Curt Swan (Artist)

Stand-alone? Yep. This is a single story about the descendent of the normal Superman as he battles his arch-enemy, Muto the Menace. Fun, Silly and Silver-age.

The story takes place thirty years before the formation of The Legion of Superheroes for anyone that interested in continuity.

28. Superman For All Seasons

Original publication: Superman For All Seasons (mini series)

Creative Team: Jeph Loeb (Writer), Tim Sale (Art)

Story-telling is not Story. This graphic novel is beautiful but lacking on story. This is more a character study of four of Superman’s supporting cast; Pa Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang. It’s more about seeing Superman from their different points of view. 

 

27. To Tame a Titan

Original publication: Superman Annual 1 (1987)

Creative Team: John Byrne

Yes, I admit it. I love Titano. Sure, he’s clearly inspired by King Kong. But here’s the thing. The film was about how civilised man kills his savage instincts to stay in society. So, with Superman the most civilised Man of Tomorrow, you have to make a bigger ape.

But this version of Titano has more back story, with him being a lab animal cruelly experimented on. He wants to protect Lois Lane because she stood up for him when scientists were abusing him. But Titano is a beast. He doesn’t fit into society and with his newly increased height and mass has no idea of the damage he does to his surroundings. 

Superman doesn’t want to hurt the giant ape but he can’t let him destroy Metropolis.

26. The Riddle of The Four Planets

Original publication: World’s Finest 130

Creative Team: Jerry Coleman (Writer), Jim Mooney (Art)

To quote comic book writer Marv Wolfman, “Superman in the 60’s was always just returning from a mission in space, and I always wanted to see that mission”. Well, DC heard him with this Silver-Age story. One of Batman and Superman’s few printed space adventures all about giant space-faring squids.

25. Crime Paradise

Original publication: Action Comics 101

Creative Team: Jerry Siegel (Writer), Win Mortimer (Art) 

Published shortly after World War 2, this story is significant.This story redefines Superman and has him find his post war identity. I could almost call this the first Silver-Age Superman story. This was the first time we had the “Evil Superman”, an ongoing trope of The Silver-Age. Irradiated by an Atomic Bomb, Superman becomes a vandal destroying everything in site. 

This story has Superman himself as an allegory for Nuclear weapons. In the right hands, Superman is a force for good. But, in the wrong hands, he’s the world’s biggest terror. The patriotism of the earlier era has dissolved and, instead, we have a more contemplative hero who is now questioning authority (in stark contrast to how he was portrayed in Dark Knight Returns). 

24. The Team of Luthor & Brainiac 

Original publication: Superman 167

Creative Team: Edmond Hamilton (writer), Curt Swan (Art)

Superman’s two greatest enemies team up to take him down. This story also first establishes the back story for Brainiac, making it the perfect introduction to the character. Especially as his first appearance (The Super Duel in Space by Otto Binder) has elements to Brainiac that aren’t seen in any other story, such as his pet cat. 

23. Superman: Friend or Foe

Original publication: Action Comics 551

Creative Team: Marv Wolfman (writer), Gil Kane (Art)

The genius of this comic is seconded only to it’s simplicity. Two kids in Metropolis are dying of a rare disease and the only known cure is on the other side of the world in a war-zone that no one dares to cross. The cure can not be replicated in Metropolis so Superman is the only one who can save these innocent kids as more and more obstacles get in his way.

22. The Sightless Lois Lane

Original publication: Showcase 10

Creative Team: Jerry Coleman (Writer), Wayne Boring (Art)

Part of the pilot comic that lead to the infamous series “Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane”. This is one of the better Lois Lane stories, free from the plots of tricking Superman into marrying her. I think this story best illustrates how much Superman cares about Lois Lane (including performing an elaborate puppet show).

21. Superman Secret Identity

Original publication: Superman: Secret Identity (Mini-series)

Creative Team: Kurt Busiek (Writer), Stuart Immonen (Art)

“Superman in the real world” is probably the easy description of this book. It’s a deconstruction but not a tedious kind that hates Superheroes. It’s about some poor shmoe who has Superman’s powers and the name Clark Kent. He hates the constant jokes about his name but he still tries to use his powers to help people. Fortunately, most people will ignore Superman flying over their head and just think it’s a figment of their imagination. 

20. Trinity

Original publication: Trinity (Mini Series)

Creative Team: Matt Wagner

I originally dismissed this as just a popcorn comic. However, I later realised that there is a lot more subtly hidden within it’s story of Ra’s Al Ghul, Bizarro and Artemis teaming up to take over the world and accidentally forming the Justice League. There is a story of how Superman inspires the other two heroes to be more trusting and better people.

19 Krypton Dies Again

Original publication: Action Comics 489-491

Creative Team: Cary Bates (Writer), Curt Swan (Art)

The evilness of Brainiac in this story is to be admired. Forcing Superman to watch the destruction of his home planet, just to see what will happen.

18. Return to Krypton

Original publication: Action Comics 600 & Superman 18

Creative Team: John Byrne (writer), Mike Mignola (Art)

Action Comics 600 contains 3 stories in it. The first two are about Superman and Wonder Woman teaming up. This issue ended the era of Action Comics being Superman’s team up book. But the better story is the one that leads into Superman 18. Superman is losing control, breaking down and crying in a cave where he is found by Man-Bat. A subversion of ideas where the mutated being is comforting the hero later leads to a team up with Hawkman and Hawkwoman. 

The second part of the story is the titular return to Krypton with the whole planet being Kryptonite. This was the cause of Superman’s breakdown. While exploring the planet in a lead-lined spacesuit, Superman hallucinates. He imagine’s what would’ve happened if the Kryptonians had listened to his father Jor-El and left their dying planet. He imagines them trying to enslave the inhabitants of earth and Jor-El becoming the Saviour leading a resistance against his own people.

17. The Saga of the D.N.Aliens

Original publication: Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen 133-138

Creative Team: Jack Kirby

This story might be remembered for being the first appearance of Darkseid but it has a greater merit to it. There are two layers to it. The first is its plot about experimentation with cloning. The second is the relationship between Superman and Jimmy Olsen. The two are in conflict but neither one is the bad guy. It’s more a failure to communicate, Jimmy thinks Superman is holding him back and Superman is just looking out for his pal knowing that Morgan Edge has lead Jimmy into a trap. 

16. Strange Visitor

Original publication: The Adventures of Superman (vol.2) 16

Creative Team: Joe Keatridge (Writer), Mike Doyle, Brent Schnoover, David Williams, Tula Latoya, Jason Shawn Alexander and Jon Bogdanove 

The Adventures of Superman Volume 3 is easily one of the most enjoyable Superman series. This is just one example of a story from the series. The mix of Silver-Age concepts with modern art and storytelling devices shows the timelessness of the character. This one is about a rocket ship that mysteriously disappears.

15. Must There be a Superman?

Original publication: Superman 247

Creative Team: Elliot S Maggin (Writer), Curt Swan (Art)

Do we need Superman or does his help hinder our progress? The Guardians of Oa ask Superman this very question and we learn Zack Snyder is wrong.

14. Superman: Unchained

Original publication: Superman Unchained (Mini series)

Creative Team: Scott Snyder (Writer), Jim Lee and Dustin Nyugen (Art)

With a rewrite, this would be in the top 5 but DC won’t let us have nice things. There are a lot of good elements to this but a few bad decisions (particularly at the end) ruin this story.

This story could almost be a masterclass in how to use Lex Luthor. It also features Superman battling the alien responsible for the destruction of Nagasaki. Superman solves his problems with his Super-intelligence and his powers while the military question his motives. General Lane calls Superman a coward because he won’t be the Armies weapon. Yet, despite being under this accusation, Superman sticks to his morals and remains a hero for the whole world. But it’s not just the U.S Military Superman has to deal with. A group of luddites called the Ascension want to destroy all technology.

SPOILERS Sounds good but the last issue ruins everything with an out of nowhere revelation that Clark killed someone as a teen and a un-rebuted monologue from Lex Luthor about how “Superman doesn’t stand for anything”. These are both completely unneeded and ruin a very good Superman story, especially as Lex’s monologue is to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, both of whom should reply with “You don’t understand Lex. You never will because you’ve only ever thought about yourself”. I think Scott Snyder didn’t want to alienate his edge lord fans or DC have no idea how such things sour the perceptions of their great hero.

13. The World of Krypton

Original publication: The World of Krypton Mini Series 

Creative Team: John Byrne (Writer), Mike Mignola (Art) 

From the creative team that created Hellboy, this is a work of beauty. Mignola in the first part gets to show off his rarely seen Moebius influences to show the peaceful utopia that was Superman’s homeworld. Of course, the history of Krypton is not all peaceful poetry recitals. Explaining the Kryptonian clone-war (which would inadvertently destroy the planet) and how Kryptonians reproduce asexually, this explains what motivates Superman to be a hero and the influence his father’s genes have on him. Jor-El is Krypton’s last romantic and his son is following in his father’s footsteps.

12. The Boy of Steel

Original publication: Adventure Comics 0-3, 5&6 and Superman Secret Files 2009

Creative Team: Geoff Johns (writer), Francis Manapul (Art)

We’ve all seen in cartoons the idea of an Angel and Devil on somebodies shoulder. Well, Connor has that in his DNA. As the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, he has the DNA of a hero and a criminal.

This story is all about how Connor wants to be like Superman and reject his other DNA. But, as the story continues, we find out how rotten Lex Luthor is to the core. Connor even debunks Lex’s claim “that he could be a hero if it wasn’t for Superman”.  

11. Fortress

Original publication: Adventures of Superman (vol.2) 1 

Creative Team: Jeff Lemire

Adult fans have forgotten what Superman’s really about so here are 2 kids who get it. (The shortest story on the list probably deserved the shortest analysis).

10. Emperor Joker

Original publication: Superman 160-161, Adventures of Superman 582-583, Superman: The Man of Steel 104-105, Action Comics 769-770 and Emperor Joker 1

Creative Team: Jeph Loeb, Joe Kelly, J.M DeMatteis, Mark Schultz and Yll Ekeoj (as Writers), Doug Mahnke, Ed McGuiness Mike Miller, Onak, Duncan Rouleau, Todd Nauck, Carlo Barberi, Scott McDaniel, EMC2 and Kano (as Artists)

Superman has gone sane in a world gone mad! Perfect tagline. In the world of Emperor Joker, rationality and scientific reason have been banned as the Clown Prince of Crime rebuilds the world to his design after stealing the powers of Mr Mxzptlkz. The story itself is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Silver Age, with references to Jimmy Olsen becoming a Turtle-man and an appearance by the Legion of SuperPets. If you’re not an expert on Superman comics, that might actually work to this stories advantage because its all about the world being weird. 

What I want to know is this; why haven’t DC Animated made a version of this yet? The actual book is a little disjointed with a lot happening of panel (in a weird way, this can actually help the comic). But an animation team working on a straight to DVD movie van fix it. (Yes, I am aware there is an episode of Batman, the Brave and the Bold called Emperor Joker but its a flimsy abridgement).

9. The Man of Steel

Original publication: Man of Steel (Mini-Series)

Creative Team: John Byrne

Lots of Mini-series exist retelling the early days of Superman and this is the first to make a concise version. Geoff John’s Secret Origin is more a ticked off list of things he wanted to reintroduce and Mark Waid’s Birthright borrows too much from the Richard Donner movie. Lets not even mention the terminal stinkers that are Frank Miller’s Year One or Max Landis’ American Alien (because neither of those understand who Superman or Clark Kent are).

John Byrne’s mini series is all about Superman’s firsts, each issue is a different first. When he first left Smallsville. When he first met Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and Batman. The first time he fought a Supervillain who was as powerful as him (Bizarro). When he first found out he was an alien.

This is the set up for Byrne’s era where he “Marvellised” the series. The tropes and writing conventions of his 22 issues of Superman, 18  issues Action Comics and this mini-series practically scream Marvel. Superman fights a supervillain and an ongoing soap opera narrative happens in the background. Byrne is a lifelong comic fan who made a name for himself at Marvel and this mini-series reflects both these passions from him.

8. The Champion of the Oppressed

Original publication: Action Comics 1

Creative Team: Jerry Siegel (Writer), Joe Shuster (Artist)

The very first Superman Comic and it tells you exactly who he is. Of course, it’s the oldest on this list but it’s still one of the best. This story doesn’t hold back and it shows you exactly why Superman is the ultimate hero.

7. For the Man who has Everything

Original publication: Superman Annual 11 (1985)

Creative Team: Alan Moore (Writer), Dave Gibbons (Art)

The creative team behind Watchmen also made this classic. Superman has the fortress of Solitude filled with amazing treasures from around the world, the powers of a demigod and loyal friends. So what could he possibly want? Well, the answer is that he wants to belong. This idea was tackled by Jack Kirby in the latter half of his Jimmy Olsen run and also in Forever People, with Superman’s search for Super-Town (which turned out to be New Genesis). Superman is lonely on earth being the only person with his powers and what he really wants is a world that doesn’t need him to be Superman.

6. JLA: Age of Wonder

Original publication: JLA Age of Wonder (Mini Series)

Creative Team: Adisakdi Tantimedh (Writer), P. Craig Russell and Galen Showman (Art)

This is a Superman Elseworld story done right. There aren’t actually many. A lot of Elseworld’s don’t stick to their key premise. You’re supposed to change very few things and see how that effects the DC Universe. This changes one thing; what if DC’s heroes first emerged in the 1890’s. Red Son, in contrast, changes a lot from Themyscira’s relationship to the world, how Green Lantern rings work and how Krypton was destroyed (which causes many plot-holes in the story).

Superman and Lex Luthor start working for Thomas Edison as inventors, but with their skills and genius feeling under appreciated. Lex and Clark start their own company with Nikola Tesla. A science accident happens in their lab and Barry Allan becomes the Flash. The Waynes meet Superman at a charity ball and their son Bruce tells him that he wants to be an inventor like Clark. The Waynes are murdered by Luddites and Bruce swears revenge.

This 2 issue mini-series is a hidden gem. More JLA members get involved, all of whom get “downdated?” to fit the time, including versions of Plastic Man, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, whilst also staying consistent with their DC universe counterparts. And, of course, Lex Luthor turns evil when Lois Lane rejects him in favour of Clark Kent. 

5. Superman vs The Elite

Original publication: Animated Movie (based on Action Comics 775)

Creative Team: Joe Kelly (writer), Michael Change (Director), Hiroshi Nitta (Art Direction)

What’s so funny about Truth, Justice and The American Way? Superman vs The Elite is a great expansion of the original comic, improving on the original by Superman trying more than one method to correct the contract killers posing as heroes. The original comic suffers from being overly compressed but, in an animated movie, it has more breathing room. Maybe swapping out a giant monkey with a gun for the Atomic Skull is a downgrade in my opinion. However, both iterations have Superman showing the edgy new heroes (who are just terrorists) that his values are right. Superman may have to use their methods to show that terrorism is not the answer but some people deserve a taste of their own medicine.

4. Man and Superman

Original publication: Man and Superman (One Shot)

Creative Team: Marv Wolfman (writer), Claudio Castellini

Do you ever feel like you’re not living up to your own potential? Superman does in this story. He wants to help but he doesn’t quite know how. This Superman is philosophising over what is right and wrong. He stumbles, he makes mistakes, he’s human. He’s Superman, he’s not called demi-god. But what is important about Superman is that he tries to do good. Superman is not as perfect as he tries to look and this is set in the early days in his career. Also, Superman gives a lecture in this book that perfectly identifies his ideologies. It’s so magnificent, it gives me chills. The story is open-ended, which left me feeling slightly unsatisfied reading this, but the open end is to allow all the other Superman stories to exist.

Marv Wolfman claims this is the best Superman story he’s ever written but… 

3. All Star Superman

Original publication: All Star Superman (Mini Series)

Creative Team: Grant Morrison (Writer), Frank Quietly

I can hear the cries of sacrilege from everyone now. All Star Superman made me a Superman fan. I didn’t like the character before reading this book and from there, I wanted to read all the adventures. I was first turned onto the book from being a fan of Grant Morrison. I read it and was blown away. For a long time, this was what I thought the pinnacle of comic book stories was.

All Star is unlike any other Superman story. It takes elements from all era’s and distills it into one story. This story is different. It’s about Superman dying. The book masters mixed emotions with the joy of Superman doing 12 great labours before his death (a nod to Hercules). But the muted colour scheme gives an air of sadness, reminding us that Superman is doomed. 

I don’t want to say anymore about it other than read it.

2. Superman Smashes The Klan/Superman the Spy/ The Clan of the Fiery Cross

Original publication: Superman Smashes the Klan 1-3, Real life and The Adventures of Superman (radio series)

Creative Team: Gene Luen Yang (writer),Gurihiru (Art) Bud Collyer and the Anti Defamation League

After World War 2 and the constant threat of Nazi’s had finished, Bud Collyer wanted new enemies for Superman to fight on his radio show. Hearing about this, the Anti-Defamation League reached out to him and suggested that they do a story based on the findings of a spy they had placed into the Ku Klux Klan. The mainstream news media had refused to cover the story. So, with the ADL wanting to expose the KKK, they took a long shot with Bud. Collyer bought the idea and the radio serial “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” was written and produced. The Klan hated this, going so far as to disbar any member of the Klan who bought Kellogs cereal (the sponsors of the Adventures of Superman). The world didn’t know what the Klan really was until a radio play with Superman denouncing them as racist hate-mongers was made. That is how Superman in the real world told the world of the threat of the Klan. What’s Batman done that was anything like that?

Now, Superman Smashes the Klan is a comic book adaptation of this arc from the radio series but Gene Luen Yang has added to it. Yang has viewed Superman as an immigrant with his desire to belong in conflict with his desire to embrace his heritage. In this story, Superman doesn’t know how to fly until he learns to embrace his culture. Also, Jimmy Olsen asks a Klan member “Do you know how ridiculous you look with a pillow case on your head”.

1. If Superman Didn’t Exist

Original publication: Action Comics 554

Creative Team: Marv Wolfman (writer), Gil Kane (Art)

At long last, we’re at number 1. When I read this, I knew it was the one. For it to have appeared in an unassuming issue of Action Comics is astounding but it happened. This story has Superman erased from the universe by Vandal Savage. Not just Superman but everything he stands for. It’s imagining earth not just without Superman but without the archetypes that lead to him. Humans are cowards living in mud-huts, scowling at their neighbours for being different, unmotivated to invent anything new and stubbornly set in their ways. 

This story is about how dreaming will save the world, how the imagination of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster inspires people to be better. Imagination is a much better commodity than cynicism and this Superman story spells out why.

The 15 Best Superman Villains

It’s often said that “Superman doesn’t have good villains” but I don’t think that’s right. Superman’s Rogue’s Gallery is actually one of the better ones in comics. The problem is because of the movies. The more casual fans think it’s just Lex Luthor and General Zod (who only ever does one thing in the comics and thats die). 

15 The Ambush Bug

More nuisance than menace the 4th wall breaker had his whole gimmick stolen by Deadpool (complete with teleportation). Ambush Bug’s whole motivation was he wanted his own series and would annoy the Man of Steel to get a fanbase. DC’s biggest mistake was not promoting this character further, predating the Merc with the Mouth’s meta stories by a whole decade. Ambush Bug should be more popular but, no, he’s an obscure character who only gets mentioned by “Holier than thou” fans when Deadpool is mentioned. 

14 Mongul

Intergalactic tyrant and war-lord Mongul makes the 14th spot. Forcing mortal-men to fight for his amusement and then crushing any who oppose him with his bare hands. Mongul is ruthless and works equally well as an antagonist for the Green Lantern Corp. 

13 The Intergang

Who are the Integang? Nobody actually knows. A mysterious organisation dedicated to crime. Known members include Morgan Edge (the DC Universe’s version of Rupert Murdoch). This secret organisation is devoted to Darkseid and his goals to make earth a second Apokolips and to find the Anti-Life Equation (a formula to remove free will from all living beings in the universe)

12 Silver Banshee

An ancient Irish curse, The Silver Banshee as the name suggests has amazing screaming abilities. But more deadly is her other magical abilities including the ability to kill somebody by touching them but only if she knows their real name. Keeping a secret identity has saved Superman many times, leading her to search for his real name. Silver Banshee is quite low on the list because she’s often used more as Supergirl’s enemy. 

11 Titano

He’s a Giant Ape with laser beams that shoot out of his eyes. What’s not to like? 

10 The Prankster

The Distraction for hire, The Prankster makes a great second banana to any super villain scheme. He may never be a great lead villain but causing distractions for Superman to have to deal with while the other villain carries out a bigger scheme. 

9 Maxima

DC has rules about female villains… So DC publication keep ruining this character. The selfish tyrant warrior queen of the planet Almeric. Maxima believes only one man is worthy of fathering her heirs and that’s Superman. Really the archenemy of Lois Lane Maxima’s unique motivations for antagonising The Man of Tomorrow is under-utilised especially as Superman has “No interesting in fathering Despots”. DC Editorial keep trying to make Maxima a hero, but it doesn’t work. She ends up as just a generic super-being.

8 The Parasite

He lives up to his name, craving power at any cost. The Parasite is a superpowered junkie wanting to feed off life-force and power. The more powerful the more he wants to feed and the more he feeds the stronger he becomes. DC have tried to make him a joke (for reasons that only make sense to them) but he makes Doomsday entirely redundant as the more you fight the Parasite the weaker you become and the stronger he is. Parasite is unrealised potential as his best stories are the second Superman/Spider-man intracompany crossover and an issue of Green Arrow (which dealt with the parasite’s inability to control himself and his constant pain wanting to feed off super beings).

7 The Toyman

There have been multiple Toymen but Winslow Schott is the best one (when done right). Winslow is a luddite hating progress (making him an obvious antagonist for the man of tomorrow). But also tragic; he’s obsessed with Toys and wants to be known as the world’s greatest toy-maker. His obsession with toys comes from his previous employment as a toy designer but he also became obsessed with clock-work robotics after the death of his son. While this obsession with automatons is a ret-con to remove the other Toymen from continuity it was a rare one that fixed a problem (Thank YOU Geoff Johns), making Schott Jr a mistake that killed Cat Grant’s son (some self awareness there). 

6 Metallo 

Have you ever hated someone so much that you’d transform yourself into a machine-man powered by Kryptonite? If so you’re Metallo. He’s that single-minded more so than Lex Luthor you wonder how he’d even get out of bed if Superman died. 

5 Mr Mxyzptlk

The power to shape all of reality to your whims and how do you spend your days? Trying to make Superman look silly. With an unpronounceable name and one that’s harder to spell. Official DC properties can’t decide sometimes Mixell-plix, Mixer-Spit-Licks, Mixi-Spitter-Licks and any variant between them, (Ra’s Al Ghul pronunciation debate has nothing on this 5th Dimension Imp). 

4 Darkseid

IT’S PRONOUNCED DARK SIDE! The living avatar of hatred, hatred feeds him and makes him stronger. You can not defeat Darkseid, he is hatred itself reborn. Darkseid is pain, Darkseid is suffering. The tyrant only wants the universe to worship him and will use the Anti-Life equation to purify his hatred for all things. Some may argue that Darkseid is not a Superman villain but Darkseid is. Superman may not be Darkseid’s archenemy but no hero has fought Darkseid more than the Man of Steel. 

3 Bizarro

HiM Am BiZArRo! A distorted parody of Superman that is Bizarro. He’s often called the opposite of Superman but, as Seinfeld pointed out, he can’t be. Bizarro is an illogical version of the Hero. No one understands Bizarro but that’s what makes his clashes with Superman so interesting he’s unpredictable not the logical thinker of his counterpart. 

2 Lex Luthor

Inevitable really Superman’s most famous enemy, a self centred billionaire. Lex Luthor never does anything that doesn’t benefit him, he’s a selfish manipulator. At times unredeemable he’s completely amoral and can’t stand the fact he’s not as loved as Superman. Lex Luthor often uses the excuse that he could do unselfish things but Superman stops him but this is an excuse. Superman never forced him to try and buy women. Luthor is obsessed with Lois Lane because she rejects him. He can’t stand the idea of not having something and the more of a challenge the more he wants it. Cold and cruel lacking any empathy or humanity Luthor is almost the perfect counterpoint to Superman. 

The problem with Lex Luthor is he’s best used sparingly, as a looming threat too much and he becomes cartoonish and too many schemes undermine his genius.

1 Brainiac

If done right Brainiac is Superman’s greatest enemy because he is his greatest dark mirror. Brainiac like Superman wants to save things but Brainiac wants to save them by removing their freedom keeping them in jars to be studied. Brainiac is a bad omen, your world is doomed as Superman’s goal is to save the earth and prevent it from turning into another Krypton. This works better than the lazier versions that have Brainiac destroy planets. 

Both Superman and Brainiac perform experiments but Brainiac has no compassion only logic and curiosity. Their feud continues because Brainiac’s collection is incomplete since Superman stole the bottled city of Kandor and Brainiac will do anything to get it back including blowing up another potential piece of his collection. 

The politics of Superman and is he irrelevant? (SUPERMAY)

What do Superman and the Fantastic Four have in common? Well they both started superhero comics franchises, have endlessly optimistic main characters, white skin and had a steep decline in popularity in the 1980’s that neither have recovered from. But why is that, well I forgot that they both embody “leftist” ideals, and the heroes that replaced them in popularity are more conservative (to varying degrees). A superhero actually can’t be apolitical, a Superhero needs to fight something and what they fight must be bad. When people say “don’t put politics in comics” they mean “put my politics in your comic”, because people have a hard time finding their own politics in things, it’s much easier to rally against the enemy than to say “that is just how I see the world”.

Superman first debuted in 1938 with his first story “The Champion of the oppressed”, (a clearly political title). Being in the first issue of an experimental idea by National Comics his future was not certain, the plug could’ve been pulled at any time. Knowing it may be the only chance for the world to see their Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster put everything they could into the story. The page layouts where radically different to everything else (even the other stories in the magazine), normally comic pages where made in with regular sized panels so the story could be reprinted in newspapers. The layouts in Superman’s first story are different long tall panels to show him leaping into the air and one of Superman smashing a car over his head onto a rock that takes of 2/3 of the page (this is also the iconic image from the front cover that was chosen last minute). The story is also  a laundry list of the baddies Superman would face, corrupt bosses, spousal abusers and gangsters. Despite the all in feel of the first story it sets up the second where Superman forces arms dealers to go to war to see what their weapons do. The early Superman is more heavy-handed than his later incarnations busting through doorways declaring “learn some compassion or I’ll beat it into you”. An often overlooked and under appreciated part of the early Superman books is Lois Lane. A mistake made by onlookers about Lois is that she is just a shrinking violet who is easily caught by Superman’s enemies. That is not true. Lois is a headstrong career gal and the Daily Planet’s best reporter, resourceful and stubborn which gets her into trouble. It’s really debatable if she even needs Superman to save her some of the time, but why bother when he will and with his involvement you’ll get the front-page story. Clark Kent as a reporter lives in her shadow, that is because of his faux-timid demeanour he can’t put himself into the same risks as Lois, if he did the world might find out he’s Superman.     

Clark Kent was a self insert of Jerry Siegel, a timid meagre unathletic man with Superman as his fantasy (girls are ignoring me but thats because they don’t know who I really am). Now this wish fulfilment and power fantasy are common in fiction but Superman was different. Siegel’s wish was to use his amazing power to try and fix the world and be the father he wishes he had. It’s interesting that Mort Weisenger (national comics editor), Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster all grew up without a dad and their creation Superman is, a strong, caring man who stands up for the weak. An authority figure whose goal is to guide mankind to a brighter future. Coming from the destroyed world of Krypton, Superman’s goal was not conquest like his pulp alien precursors, his goal was to warn us about the pitfalls of progress. We must progress in a way that isn’t destructive, to teach us not to be prejudiced or creedist and we must unite to create a better tomorrow. Superman drew influence from mythology, mankind has always told stories of great saviours like King Arthur or beings of great strength like Hercules but Superman was an industrial-era update of these concepts. Superman’s whole costume is designed to tell you who he is at a single glance, a circus strong-man belt and pants to show he’s strong, a cape similar to a rabbis robe to symbolise his wisdom doubling as a way to show if in picture his leap is taking off or landing, no mask to show he’s not hiding, a shield on his chest show he’s a protector and brightly coloured tights with no mask to show how confident he is. He sheds his work clothes of Clark Kent to become Superman to show he isn’t hiding anymore he’s proud of who he is, this has led to Superman being popular with gays and minorities as they’ve often felt they needed to hide who they really are when their true culture is something beautiful in itself.

With the success of Superman stories imitators had to come along it was inevitable, but only two in “The Golden Age” of comics where ever a threat to his title of the most popular superhero and they both did it by appealing more to children. One being the original Captain Marvel, an orphaned newspaper boy who by yelling “SHAZAM!” can become the oedipal wet dream of an amazing super-dad. The other being The Black Terror a pharmacist who takes vitamin x and gains superpowers. The Black Terror also introduced the idea of the kid sidekick which became a staple of comics, so much so Superman even gained one with Jimmy Olsen an orphaned boy (he had to be an orphan so nobody could sue for reckless child endangerment) who became the Daily Planets cub reporter.  

Superman’s leftist stance lessened with Siegel and Shuster being accused of being communists, so when a soft relaunch of Superman into his own book his backstory was fleshed out (Superman still to this day appears in Action Comics). While the Fleischer Superman cartoons explicitly state he was raised in an orphanage after crashing to earth this was now retconned to landing outside Ma and Pa Kent’s farm who raised Clark to be a good American who believed whole heartedly in the inscription of the statue of liberty, the bill of rights and the declaration of independence (which actually reads a lot like the communist manifesto just saying). 

With a popular platform Siegel and Shuster couldn’t keep their political views quiet for too long and with the rise of fascism over Europe why should they. Superman was one of the first to speak up against it, in an out of canon published in Look magazine Superman busts through the Third Reich and Mussolini’s guard to put Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini on trial for crimes against humanity. More superheroes were created to motivate Americans to stop the Axis, like Captain America whose creator Jack Kirby once said “I don’t have any political views I just hate Nazis” (more on him later). Superhero comics where very enthusiastic to join in the war effort, a lot of anti-Nazi comics started before america had even joined World War 2 and with good reason. Comics where one of the few places Jews could get jobs, with them being deemed as low art for kids they weren’t seen as a glamorous form of writing and most used pseudonyms so the publishers didn’t have to deal with anti-semitism. 

In the comics during World War 2 Superman became Americas secret weapon but once it finished we got Action Comics 101 (published one month after the war was declared over) where Superman documents atomic bomb tests and calls the bomb itself the greatest evil in the world. With the war over Superman was not going to be the military’s stooge again. But superhero comics steeply declined in popularity after the war so this story effectively ended the Golden age of superhero comics.

This war with the atomic bomb defined the next era of Superman comics but they called the bomb Kryptonite. The radioactive rock was Superman’s main weakness, often used by mad scientists and their experiments to defeat the man of tomorrow. Green Kryptonite slowly poisoned and drained him of his super strength and Red Kryptonite horribly distorted Superman sometimes physically and sometimes mentally. Like atomic radiation Kryptonite was also useful, it could be used as a fuel source similar to chemotherapy in small doses it could cure earthlings illnesses, but it could always fall into the wrong hands. 

The new wave of Superheroes shared this outlook that science is mankind’s salvation whilst fearing the bomb, starting this wave was the rebooted Flash but this idea would be best embodied by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four. While the Flash was created to teach children scientific ideas, and if young boys learnt about friction from a man in a red suit running around a gorilla, who’s to argue with that, Marvel’s comics were sci-fi horror. The Fantastic Four where mutated by Cosmic radiation after travelling in an unsafe rocket-ship to beat the Russians in the space race. Now with powers that were a mixed blessing, led by Reed Richard manly scientist who is as rugged as he is smart (and did I mention he’s the smartest man in the world) they perform experiments and explore the universe. The Lee Kirby era introduced the majority of the Marvel universe like the Unamerican group of ex-Nazis and their sympathisers known as Hydra. Latveria is a land ruled by a traditionalist, occultist and mad scientist Dr Doom. More progressively their allied nation is Wakanda which is technologically more advanced than the rest of the world and located in Africa. 

 

image photoshopped by James Dawson

Marvel attempted at making superheroes for conservatives like Iron Man, Tony Stark was created with the sole purpose of being a hero Marvel’s current counter culture readership would hate and it worked. Iron Man wasn’t popular until his movie (in fact when the MCU started Iron Man and the Avenger’s comics had been cancelled due to low sales). Iron Man stayed in print by being paired with Captain America, Superhero comics having only one story was a new idea at the time and many of Marvel’s heroes shared a book; Strange Tales of Dr Strange and Nick Fury, Tales to Astonish was the Hulk and Namor and Tales of Suspense was for the conservative fans. DC also had conservative superheroes, Green Lantern and Batman are essentially good cop heroes (Batman in the 66 Television series does flirt with being a counter culture hero) and these characters would soon get overhauls by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams. Green Lantern would be paired with Green Arrow to argue ideology and Batman would lose his sidekick to college and become as violent as the Comics Code Authority would allow.

Feeling under appreciated Jack Kirby left Marvel comics and was quickly hired by their biggest competitor who offered him total freedom as long as he wrote and drew one Superman book a month. Not wanting to put anyone out of a job Jack chose as his Superman series Jimmy Olsen which became part of his (retroactively named) Fourth World Saga. This was an exploration of hippie culture with the good parts being embodied by New Genesis, like peace, love and The Beatles. The bad like Charles Manson’s seduction of young girls to join his white supremacist cult was Darkseid and Apokolips. Darkseid was also not so subtly based on Nazi’s complete with Germanic spell of side. Superman’s role in this was as a square Dad who wanted to be part of the good parts but being worried that the good was being steamrolled by the evil. Post-Kirby the Marvel universe suffered from a lack of originality, mostly churning out monthly comics shallowly expanding on concepts he produced with one exception the relaunched X-men. The X-men were a Lee/Kirby series but during their run it felt more like a copy of the Fantastic Four but with a younger cast of characters. With the relaunched series the X-men stopped being a bunch of white teenagers but a diverse group of heroes and continuing through the Claremont era getting more and more diverse so much so nobody looks twice at the fact they have a one-legged vietnamese lesbian. 

John Byrne made a name for himself in the comics industry as an artist on X-men, but due to creative differences with Chris Claremont the two parted ways and Byrne took over the Fantastic Four. With Byrne as writer and artist on Fantastic Four the sales increased to make his run on F4 the second most popular era (behind the original Lee/Kirby). DC wanting to continue a trend they hired Byrne to reboot Superman in 1988. This in a lot of ways was the last hurrah for the Man of Steel, despite an obsession with trying to explain how his powers would work without breaking the laws of physics. The Man of Steel reboot reset the Superman lore, before it Clark Kent was a news anchor not his more recognisable newspaper reporter and his supporting cast where expanded to having 3 single mothers; Maggie Sawyer (a cop in charge of special unit trained to takedown superpowered threats), Cat Grant (The Daily Planets gossip columnist) and Sarah Olsen (the mother of Jimmy proving that single mothers can raise children to be responsible adults). Lex Luthor was also reinvented for this era, his original version was a Nazi cult leader, then he was a gangster and then in the 50’s he became a Mad scientist but his most sinister incarnation came in the late 80’s Donald Trump. Byrne had no idea that after his tenure of Superman his evil industrialist would become the president and then later his real world inspiration would be inspired by this. 

The rise of Comic book shops opened the door to new independent publishers and challenge the duopoly of Marvel and DC. One of the great things about comics is their expensiveness, so with a market of independent writers and artist would be a mixed blessing. One of the biggest success stories of the early self published comics was Dave Sim, his work started off innocuous enough a barbarian parody comic about an aardvark but as time went on Sims work became more and more political. Dave Sim influenced others to make their own comics like Jeff Smith (Bone), Eastman and Laird (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) but Sim’s views on the world are not conventional. Dave Sim believes feminism is destroying the world and the only way to stop the spread is to save young girls from it at a young age by making them do things (basically he’s a paedophile with a cause). Fortunately Sim has never worked on a mainstream comic book series. 

With the rise of outspoken comic book creators the medium itself was determined to be taken more seriously. Unfortunately they forgot the difference between thoughtful and cynical. Deconstructions of the superhero started cropping up like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. An important thing to remember about deconstruction is you have to actually deconstruct something, he deconstruct a building you have bricks, you deconstruct brick you have gravel. Since the publication of Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen very few honest superhero properties have become popular (exceptions being Alan Moore’s later work Tom Strong and Promethea, Savage Dragon, Invincible and the PJ Masks). Superhero deconstructions have gotten so plentiful that they’re well trodden ground like One Punch Man. One Punch Man has absolutely nothing to say, it’s 2nd rate Venture Brothers and a 3rd rate Tick but it’s popular for some reason (despite awful art and blatant homophobia).

90’s Superhero comics loved using this phrase “Not your Dad’s Comic books”, this is very true because my Dad’s comic books were actually good. The new heroes weren’t heroes they were paramilitary groups. The New Mutants became X-Force and the implied child soldiers aspect became the text, Cable wasn’t training children to be diplomats he was making them weapons. The popularity of Rob Liefeld and the end of the Comics code authority meant that comics were violence for the desensitised. Full of Reagan era patriotism and bigger guns, storytelling was a secondary interest to creating variant covers for chumps to buy. Superman didn’t fit into this era very well so they killed him after character assaignating him first. Lobo was now DC’s best selling series, with a readership not getting he was meant as a parody of the increasing violence in comics, the fans didn’t care he was violent. 

After the speculator boom these new heroes all disappeared but it’s legacy still remains. “Superman is unrelatable” is something I’ve heard for years but this statement is anti-humanist. The reason given is that Superman “saves people for no reward, he has no great tragedy in his back story and he’s too powerful”. This reasoning is awful, it’s that of a psychopath or a libertarian (is there actually a difference). People do acts of altruism all the time why wouldn’t a superpowered person help people without compensation. We’ve had deconstructions like the Incredibles where the heroes are actually punished for altruism but thinking like that only breeds more misanthropy. If we met aliens it’s just as likely that they would be friendly as they would be hostile. In fact people act accordingly to how they are treated so being nice to someone will mean they’re nice to you. So Superman’s lack of tragedy in his back story actually makes him more realistic. As for him being too powerful, part of why we read superhero comics is as a comfort, a piece of escapism where we know the good guy will win and the bad guys loses. Of course we want him to have a challenge but why does it have to be a physical one? why not challenge his moral code or take his super intelligence out for a spin. The meathead Superman of the 90’s is the most boring version of Superman as part of the fun is watching him do creative problem solving, sure he could lift that building or he could fly round the water making a typhoon and then freeze it with his super breath to catch the falling building. 

As for the question do we need white, progressive Superheroes? yes we do. A common suggestion to fix Superman is to have him become black but times haven’t changed enough for Pa Kent not to have lived through the race riots of the 1960’s and this would change his outlook on the world. Not to mention Superman is from Kansas which isn’t as racist as Alabama but I don’t think they would take too kindly to a flying black kid. You could change him from growing up in Kansas to a more black part of the US say the Bronx but then thats Static Shock with different superpowers (and Static is a different character to Superman). 

Also Comicsgate we need to stop them, Comicsgate have tried to weaponise fan disapproval of losing their favourite characters to new diverse ones for their own racist agenda. They hate Carol Danvers Captain Marvel even though the only thing progressive about her is that she’s a woman. Everyone deserves a hero they can relate too but Alt-Right heroes like the Punisher are not heroes. We need to have some with a progressive outlook maybe they don’t need to be the star of their own book, maybe part of an ensemble team with diverse ethnicities like the X-men. But Superheroes were meant to fight hatred and intolerance and now fans are trying to spread it and they need reminding that they’re wrong and if that will only be heard if it comes from a white character then so be it.