The Top 20 Superman Stories, Part 2

- by Steve Garcia, 6 November 2013

Being that it’s Superman’s 75th Anniversary year, it would be some sort of crime if I did not write up a single piece that commemorates my favorite fictional character of all time before the year is over. Trash Muties—this is my top 20 Superman stories of all time! Part 2 of 2 - the top 10! If you missed the first installment of this list, don't fret and make sure to read part one right here.

Superman image by Alex Ross. All pictures in this article are © DC Comics.

10. THE MAN OF STEEL

After the era-ending Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer/artist John Byrne took on the daunting task of breathing new life into Superman’s origin story for the Modern Age of comic books—something that hadn’t been done since Superman #53 in 1948. In this more complex, pseudoscientific retelling, it provided us with a concrete origin that established a great deal of concepts still used today, including how Superman’s powers work, how exactly Jor-El was able to rocket his child to earth safely, who Lana Lang is and why she was such an important person in Clark Kent’s life, and a revisit to Superman’s first interactions with Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and even Batman himself. While the Silver Age was such a far-out, balls to the wall, wacky period for the Superman mythos, Byrne brought the character into the real world and actually took the character seriously, which was a major first for the character. An excellent story for beginners, Byrne’s The Man of Steel mini-series is a must-read for any Superman fan.

9. LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL

It would be utter blasphemy to write a top Superman stories list without mentioning Superman’s greatest foe: Lex Luthor. 

In Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, the spotlight shines on the one and only Lex Luthor, and gives us a complete understanding as to who he is, why he does what he does, and provides a truly unique perspective on his relationship with Superman himself. 

While other stories on this list make an effort with these concepts, Azzarello truly dug deep and showed us a side of the character that we’ve never seen before, even forcing the audience to… kind of feel sorry for Lex. And any story that can make me feel sorry for the monster that is Lex Luthor is one that absolutely deserves a spot on this list.

8. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?

Just before John Byrne rebooted the Superman mythos, the Silver Age Superman had his final farewell in a beautiful story by Alan Moore and Curt Swan. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is told retroactively by a now-married Lois Lane, as she reminisces on Superman’s final moments as he had to combat a Brainiac-infused Lex Luthor, Toyman, Prankster, Kryptonite Man, and the always mischievous Mr. Mxyzptlk in one day. With an all-star list like that, it’s clear that Moore had a passion for the insanity that was the Silver Age and respected it enough to beautifully squeeze it all in there in a way that never felt wrong or out of place. 

Completely unapologetic, if there was a book that housed all the charm and crazy for this period in Superman’s 75 years, this is it.

7. SUPERMAN: RED SON

I’ve told you about Earth One, Secret Origin, and The Man of Steel and how they all uniquely retold that sacred origin story, but writer Mark Millar, without a doubt, takes the cake with Red Son. Told in a similar fashion to Marvel Comics’s “What If” tales, Red Son asks the question “What if Superman’s ship had landed in Communist Russia?” While I personally have no idea how or why Millar posed the question and chose to write about it, I’m incredibly glad he did because this is an excellent story that not only took risks, but provided us with excellent characterizations for Superman and Lex Luthor specifically, despite it being an elseworlds tale. As if this story wasn’t good enough, the ending of this story is so jaw-dropping and perfect, that the only example I could compare it to is the twist ending of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. The only differences, of course, are that there are no ghosts, no Bruce Willis, and the ending hasn’t been spoiled by everyone and their mother.

6. WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT TRUTH, JUSTICE & THE AMERICAN WAY?

Whenever I tell someone that Superman is my favorite superhero, they either laugh it off, go on about how Superman is “lame,” or a combination of both. When I ask them why they feel that way, they always give me the same exact response: “he’s too good.” Batman is a broody hero of the night that fights for justice. Spider-Man is a nerd with real issues that fights for responsibility. But Superman? He fights for the sake of goodness. And if there is a story that not only emphasizes why that is, but why he also just doesn’t exterminate the bad guys, it’s the single-issue story of Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, and Lee Bermejo’s What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & The American Way? 

After a team called The Elite gains popularity and earns the public’s acceptance even if they execute the bad guys, Superman begins to question his own relevance, “old fashioned” methods, and approach to being a hero. 

But when it boils down to it, this story’s ending proves that there’s nothing funny about truth, justice, and the American way. This story also excels at showing that Superman is a natural born leader, which is a concept I feel that is rarely addressed. So the next time someone gives you grief about liking Superman, or you yourself feel that Superman is outdated, I strongly suggest you give this story a read, as I’m positive that this can change perspectives.

5. FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING

The Watchmen team Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons brought us the most heartbreaking Superman story of all time with For the Man Who Has Everything. 

When Batman, Robin (Jason Todd), and Wonder Woman discover Superman being brainwashed by an alien plant brought by the villainous Mongul, they fight to bring him back to reality. This plant, called “Black Mercy” allows its victims to see vivid illusions of what they most desire. But as the title suggests, what on earth could Superman, a virtual god, desire? 

Moore answers the question, as he puts Superman in a world where Krypton was never destroyed, allowing Kal-El to grow up, get married, raise a family, and live a normal life on his home world.

As Superman’s allies in the real world defeated Mongul and began to free Superman of his trance, the illusion ends with Kal-El having to tell his own imaginary son, that he isn’t real—the single most tragic thing ever done with the character. What makes this story even more compelling is that Moore managed to tell this story and provoke so much thought in a single issue, rather than a long story arc.

4. KINGDOM COME

While Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come is a gigantic story featuring a great variety of themes, Superman plays an integral role in this epic. 

An interesting commentary on everything that was wrong with 90’s superhero comics (even down to their over-the-top costume designs), Kingdom Come takes place in a future where superheroes that kill are the social norm. 

Much like What’s So Funny About Truth..., a brooding, older, completely alienated Superman is forced to reflect on this new era, and is eventually inspired to get back out there to fight the good fight with his old allies, including a war-eccentric Wonder Woman, a speed force-infused Flash, and a Batman encased in an Iron Man-esque suit. 

What differentiates this tale from all the others is that Superman, notorious for being a static character that always does good for goodness sake, actually emerged from this story a changed hero that rediscovered himself in a way that had never presented before.

3. SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY

Elseworlds tales are usually the most interesting because they have the ability to take risks. In Kurt Busiek and Stewart Immonen’s Secret Identity, Superman’s origin takes another retelling, but without the Clark Kent we’re familiar with. 

The story follows a man in the real world named Clark Kent, whose parents named him that as their idea of a joke. As Clark grows up to loathe his name, he discovers that he actually has the powers of the fictitious Superman, and never hesitates to use his powers for good, using the character as his inspiration. This four-issue miniseries follows Clark’s journey from boy to old man, as he not only marries a Lois Lane, but actually gets to raise a family, and has terrible run-ins with the government, who realistically feel threatened by him. 

The best thing about this story, excluding its total uniqueness and breathtaking artwork, is that it emphasized that it isn’t the tights and cape that makes Superman, but it’s the actions he takes and his morals that make the character who he is. While this story may be ranked at number three, I’m going to cheat and say that this, number two, and number one can all be interchangeable as far as I’m concerned. It’s that good.

2. SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT

I’ve been known to say that Mark Waid and Leinil Yu’s retelling of that sacred origin is the “Bible of Superman stories.” What Waid did in this story was take the character, and make him the most relatable he’d ever been by giving him a realistic conflict with Pa Kent, a character that, for the most part, hardly ever gets a spotlight in the Superman mythos. 

Giving us a much younger Martha and Jonathan Kent, they both wish Clark to make the most of himself, but in completely different ways that were obviously used (albeit not quite as well) in Zack Snyder’s film, Man of Steel. The story also excels at providing the audience with a concrete, charming explanation as to how it is possible for Clark to keep his identity a secret, despite the fact that the only mask he has are those glasses. 

The reader is also introduced to the idea, much similar to that of the Smallville TV series, that Clark and Lex Luthor have a history outside of the usual hero vs. villain routine. Finally, and the most important idea to come out of this story, is that the “S” on Superman’s chest is the Kryptonian symbol for hope, which says so much more about who the character is and what he stands for, rather than it just being a giant “S.” Despite the other incredible origin retellings that made this list, I can safely say that Superman: Birthright is my absolute favorite, and regardless of the reboots, this is the one I go by.

1. ALL-STAR SUPERMAN

Between Mark Waid and Grant Morrison, I honestly couldn’t tell you who loves Superman more. While all of the stories on this list shine with something that makes Superman such a beloved character, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman put them all together and released it in one, massive, be-all end-all, twelve-part story. 

The epic follows Superman, who was poisoned by solar radiation (the very thing that gives him his powers), to live out whatevertime he has left by performing the twelve great feats he was told he must realize. We’re given absolutely everything we ever wanted to see in a Superman story, including the obligatory scenes with Lex Luthor and Lois Lane, wacky Silver Age concepts such as the bottled city of Kandor, Bizarro (and a Bizarro of a Bizarro), Superman using his brain over brawn, and much, much more.

But that’s not even what makes this story so compelling. It’s the fact that this story takes the very idea of Superman himself, as ridiculous as it may or may not be, and truly present the character as the icon he always was, giving us a true ending to his story. It’s the ultimate representation of who Superman is, what he stands for, why he does the things he does, expands and dissects his relationship with his closest associates all the way from Lex Luthor to Jimmy Olsen, and everything in between. All-Star Superman isn’t just the story of the hero we all know and love, it’s the heartwarming, rollercoaster of emotions, celebration and acceptance of the pop-culture icon and what he means to us.


This concludes The Top 20 Superman Stories! If you just found this article and didn't read the first part of it, you can do so right here.

What did you think of the list? What stories would you include? What's your favorite Superman story? Leave us a comment!

Tagged: comics.

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