Superman, Reviewed
SUPERMAN
Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
(appearing in comics/serials/shows/movies/etc. 1938-present)
INTRODUCTION
I love Superman. I am, in general, a sucker for characters who are excessively hopeful because of a steadfast belief that good will triumph, even in the darkest of times, and I will revisit that idea in future reviews.
However, Superman, in a broad storytelling sense, presents a dilemma. Let’s explore.
PART 1: THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO GET INTO SUPERMAN
Using facts and logic^, I have compiled a list of the consensus best Superman comic book stories.
^i threw various top 10/15/25 rankings into a google doc and crossed my fingers
There are 11, and they are as follows:
For The Man Who Has Everything (1985), written by comics legend and professional weirdo Alan Moore, in which Superman hallucinates about how life on Krypton would have continued if it hadn’t been destroyed
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow (1986), also by Moore, intended as a final story about the “Silver Age” (roughly, 1950s-1970s) version of Superman.
The Man of Steel (1986), an origin story updating Superman for the modern era, written by John Byrne.
The Death and Return of Superman (1993), a huge crossover event among various Superman titles (a lot of writers were involved, but Dan Jurgens is generally credited as spearheading the story).
Kingdom Come (1996), a non-canon story from writer Mark Waid, set in the future and focusing on DC’s classic heroes as they try to adjust to a more violent age.
Superman For All Seasons (1998), a non-canon origin story retelling from writer Jeph Loeb.
What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, & the American Way? (2001), a story from writer Joe Kelly in which Superman confronts a superhero team that believes violence is required to solve problems in the modern world.
Birthright (2003), an origin story from Waid, intended as a non-canon modernized version of Superman’s beginnings (it ultimately replaced The Man of Steel as the official origin for the character).
Red Son (2003), a non-canon story from writer Mark Millar about young Kal-El landing in Soviet Russia rather than Kansas.
Secret Identity (2004), a non-canon story from writer Kurt Busiek about a young boy named Clark Kent who gains superpowers in a world where Superman is a fictional character.
All-Star Superman (2005), a non-canon story from writer Grant Morrison, unpacking Superman’s character, principles, and history.
Five of these stories are non-canon. Three are origin stories. Two are meant to be final tales about a particular version of Superman. Of the three that were fully in-continuity with Superman’s ongoing stories at the time of release, two were contained within a single issue (For The Man Who Has Everything and What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, & the American Way?). The only one of these that was actually a story arc taking place across multiple months of the regularly released Superman titles was the one where they made things interesting by killing the character off.^
^he got better.
I realize that a scan of internet listicles isn’t exactly a scientific analysis of the best Superman stories, but these are the kinds of stories that somebody new to comic books would find if they did some basic research on where to start with Superman:
Stories about the beginning of Superman
Stories about the end (purported or otherwise) of Superman
Stories about the author’s own vision of Superman, outside of DC continuity
I’ve read most of these, and I can vouch for the fact that they are very good. In 2018, the site Comic Book Resources put together a user-generated poll of the top comic book writers (and artists) of all time, and the authors of the above Superman stories rated #1, #2, #7, #11, #15, #25, and #41 (with only Dan Jurgens and Joe Kelly missing the cut). Several of these writers wrote monthly Superman comics for extended periods of time before and/or after the stories listed above.
But:
None of these writers made their mark with those long-form, in-continuity stories exploring Superman and his place in the larger DC Universe.
For comparison, here’s what the same methodology comes up with when trying to determine the best Batman stories of all time:^
The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Frank Miller’s non-canon, extremely 80s exploration of an aged Batman coming out of retirement.
Year One (1987), Miller’s definitive, grounded reimagining of the origin of Batman.
A Death In the Family (1998), writer Jim Starlin’s take on the death of a significant supporting Batman character.
The Killing Joke (1988), a story written by comic book legend and professional weirdo Alan Moore, focusing on the depravity and philosophy of the Joker (ultimately resulting in the crippling of a significant supporting Batman character).
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989), Grant Morrison’s tale about Batman descending into the madness of Arkham Asylum (which impacted how Arkham was used in all Batman stories to come).
Knightfall (1993), an event taking place across all Batman titles printed at the time (which introduced the villain Bane).
The Long Halloween (1996), a story written by Jeph Loeb and set in the early days of Batman’s career (following up on some of the threads of Year One).
Hush (2002), another Loeb story, introducing the villain Hush (who would be revisted regularly by future Batman writers).
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader (2009), writer Neil Gaiman’s non-canon story in which various characters present eulogies at Batman’s funeral.
The Court of Owls (2011), the first arc in writer Scott Snyder’s and arist Greg Capullo’s long run on the main Batman title (which introduces a new villainous organization to Batman’s rogues gallery).
^please do not whine about how there are glaring omissions in this list while i’m trying to make a point. personally i’m peeved No Man’s Land doesn’t rate here, but the listicles don’t lie.
Looking at this set of stories, only two are non-canon, and there’s one “beginning of days” and “end of days” story apiece. Five of the stories took place across multiple months of the main Batman title(s) at the time, and all introduced important changes to the Batman mythos. Knightfall is admittedly similar to Death and Return of Superman in that the premise of both is “replace the hero to show why they’re super good at their job and other people wouldn’t be good at it”^, and both did introduce important villains to their respective characters (Bane and Doomsday). Even if Knightfall and Death and Return of Superman are a wash, though, the Batman tales listed here are clearly more continuity-focused.
^i might talk about these in more detail someday, along with… similar superhero stories. hope y’all like clones.
Reading these Batman stories in order would result in a fairly cohesive tapestry, in which the status quo and supporting characters develop over time. This read-through would also provide a pretty strong foundational understanding of Batman’s comic book history.
By comparison, reading that Superman list would result in constant acclimation to a new take on Superman, with practically none of the stories building on each other in a meaningful way. A new reader would be left with a lot of thematic ideas about Superman (many of them a response to the state of the comics industry at the time of publication), but not a lot of context about the in-universe history of Superman. Many people, at this point, would probably tell you that this is all because Superman is a boring character, which is just a bad opinion. However, I do think it underlines that Superman is a hard character to write for.
There’s another factor at play here too. We need to talk about DC.
PART 2: THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO GET INTO DC
Superman as a character dates back to 1938, and Batman was introduced in 1939. Many of DC’s currently popular heroes come from the 1930s and 1940s; notably, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow all debuted in 1941, and the “Golden Age” (roughly, 1930s-1940s) versions of Green Lantern and the Flash appeared in 1940. Most of these heroes were also members of the Justice Society of America. The end result was that the DC comic book universe had over a decade of history and continuity prior to the Eisenhower administration.
In 1956, after superhero comics had largely fallen out of the limelight, DC introduced a new Flash, for whom the old Flash was a fictional, in-universe comic book character. This led to a wave of revitalization (considered the start of the Silver Age of comics), during which DC brought back or updated many of its classic heroes (and put them in the Justice League of America). Eventually, the idea of the multiverse was spawned, in which the Golden Age and Silver Age heroes each had their own timeline/earth/dimension. This led to crossovers and additional alternate realities, and resulted in a DC universe continuity that could best be described as a massive headache (for fans and for writers).
By 1985, everybody was apparently sick of it, because DC released the event miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, which basically said “actually, there’s one earth now.” This singular timeline didn’t stay organized for very long. In 1994, the event Zero Hour tried to declare “the timeline is cleaner now,” and that attempt wasn’t very successful either. In 2005, the event Infinite Crisis said “actually, all the earths are back now.” In 2011, the event Flashpoint led to a company-wide rebranding called The New 52, which asked the question “what if everything was different but also similar.” In 2015, the event Convergence asked the question “what if we did everything again.” 2017, the event The Doomsday Clock asked the question “what if we can fix this by adding the characters from Watchmen to this universe, considering that Watchmen is a story created by comic book legend and professional weirdo Alan Moore as a scathing satire of superheroes.”
Basically, the DC comics universe is a mess in its own right. Its writers have been caught between trying to pay homage to its past and build groundwork for its future for as long as said shared universe has existed. While the universe shakeups have gotten more frequent recently, they’ve been an issue for decades now, because of this ongoing game of catch-up. In fact, DC’s problem predates the extistence of modern superheroes at their competitor Marvel.
Marvel introduced the characters Captain America, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and The Human Torch^ around the same time as those Golden Age DC Heroes, and basically added no other superheroes their roster until after DC introduced the Silver Age Flash. Enter writer Stan Lee, artist Jack Kirby, and artist Steve Ditko.
^not that one
From 1961-1972, Lee, Kirby, and Ditko created an absurd number of iconic Marvel characters, establishing a rock-solid foundation for the comic universe that continues today:
The Fantastic Four
^Spider-Man
Nick Fury
The Avengers (including Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch)
Black Widow
Black Panther
The X-Men (including Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Angel)
Daredevil
Silver Surfer
Doctor Strange
^including the Human Torch you actually know
The fact that there was such a strong creative vision during the formation of these characters meant the universe was simple to build upon, and by the 90s, the only big continuity problem Marvel was really facing was the fact that their characters hadn’t aged much since the 60s. Marvel used the 1996 event Heroes Reborn to reboot the time period when most of their core heroes debuted in-universe^, but didn’t make a ton of changes to the characters themselves. Eventually they just decided to do some handwaving and say that the Marvel comics universe has a “sliding timeline.”
^for example, moving Iron Man’s wartime experience from the Vietnam War to, er, whichever “U.S.-in-the-Middle-East” war his current writer wants to use
Marvel also introduced an “Ultimate Universe” in 2000, which was meant to be a streamlined version of the Marvel Universe that wouldn’t actually impact the regular universe’s continuity. The momentum of this concept petered out eventually, but in hindsight it was a smart way for Marvel to have their reboot-cake and eat it too. Also, we got Miles Morales out of it, so that’s a win in my book.
This leads me back to CBR, who also has a master list of the user-voted top comic book runs of all time, this one put together in 2020.^ Again, this isn’t scientific, but 1,000+ users participated, which is good enough for me to use it as a rough benchmark for what modern comic book fans feel are the best sustained runs of all time (so no one-off miniseries or individual issues, like most of the Superman stories we discussed in the last section). There’s probably some bias for superhero comics in the list, but if so, that works in our favor, since we’re most interested in comparing DC and Marvel.
^CBR does a bunch of polls like this and updates them on a regular basis. nothing snarky to say here, just highlighting that they’re a great resource for people who want to get into comics, like 2012-era me.
If we look at the comic book characters who populate the top 10 runs as voted on the list, we see that six are Marvel properties and four are DC properties. All six of the Marvel characters got their start in that burst of genius from Lee, Ditko, and Kirby in the 60s, and two (Spider-Man and Fantastic Four) are the characters’ initial runs from that era. I think this tracks pretty well with what we’ve explored so far - writers were able to build off of the core cast of the Marvel universe in a linear, logical fashion.
DC’s first two spots, meanwhile, are taken by Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Both of these were complete revamps of minor characters^ in the DC universe, which feels telling - DC’s best comic book runs didn’t elevate their main superheroes to new heights. Sandman was actually published under DC’s mature Vertigo imprint, which was traditionally separate from DC’s main continuity.
^well, Sandman was actually a new character with the name of an old character, and that run sometimes made passing references to the old character. also the new character didn’t really go by that name anyway. it is what it is.
If we break down this list, we end up with a whopping 44 runs published by Marvel, compared to only 25 by DC. However, DC had eight more runs make the list from the Vertigo imprint (and another two^ from their WildStorm imprint, which was also set apart from the main DC continuity). Unlike Sandman, all but one of the other Vertigo/WildStorm comics on the list have nothing to do with the regular DC universe (the exception being Hitman). What this seems to indicate is that DC has historically given creators a lot of flexibility to tell stories they want to tell - even if those stories don’t further their main superhero universe.
^well, give or take two, depending on your definition of which properties should be credited to WildStorm, rather than moving to them after starting somewhere else. tracking 90s comic book publishing beyond Marvel and DC is a nightmare.
The other big takeaway^ from the list is that while Batman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers each have five runs, Superman has… one. (it’s John Byrne’s run, which followed that Man of Steel origin story we mentioned at the top of the review, and it clocks in at #45). It’s worth noting that Batman is the exception for DC; in a list brimming with the X-Men and Fantastic Four, Green Lantern and Flash each only have a couple of runs, while Wonder Woman has none.
^the other other big takeaway is that Grant Morrison is responsible for four of DC’s in-continuity runs on the list. shine on, crazy diamond.
In summary:
Superman is a hard character to write for an extended period of time.
The DC comics universe is a hard universe to write in for an extended period of time.
PART 3: THERE’S SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT TRUTH, JUSTICE, & THE AMERICAN WAY
I haven’t spent much time talking about Superman as a character to this point, because I’m trying to highlight the real problem with Superman: Because he’s hard to get into, he’s hard to get at all.
If you asked somebody to describe Batman’s motivations, or Spider-Man’s motivations, or even Captain America’s motivations, and they’ve more or less kept up superhero movies, they’d probably be able to tell you.
Bruce Wayne’s parents were shot and killed by a common thug. He uses his anger over their unjust death to fuel a crusade against crime, in which he refuses to use a gun or take a life.
Spider-Man didn’t stop a criminal from getting away, and that criminal killed his uncle. His guilt over his uncle’s death pushes him to use his powers for good, even if it stretches him too thin.
Captain America is a man displaced from World War II. He fights to maintain his old-fashined principles in the face of a more politically- and socially-complicated world.
Superman, however… I think people could tell you that he’s from a destroyed planet, and that he was raised as a simple Kansas farmboy, and that he likes Lois Lane. Beyond that, though, I’d expect that all people could tell you is, “well, er, he’s good.” Like Captain America, he has old-fashioned principles, but Superman’s powers generally allow him to push the world to change, not the other way around. Like Spider-Man, he constantly uses his powers to help people, but Superman’s powers aren’t limited by a fundamentally human body. Like Batman, Superman greatly values human life, but Superman’s powers often take him toe-to-toe with worldbeating enemies who can shake it off even if he does try to put them down for good.
Of course, there are compelling Superman stories in the comics that give him understandable motivations and allow for character growth.^ But if Superman’s most popular stories are about his beginning (which leaves him with his regular status quo, so that another writer has to pick up the hard part), or are about his ending (which, structurally, is a story that gets told all the time about many different superheroes, and it practically writes itself these days), or are not about the true Superman at all, then how would a more casual superhero fan ever get an idea of what drives Superman?
^heck, in the last few years the comics have introduced a son for Superman, which seems neat!
The movies are to blame as well, perhaps even more so. The original Superman (1978) was an origin story, even if the film remains delightful today. Superman II (1980) did continue the development of Superman in the public eye, and started exploring the idea of Clark Kent feeling alienated on his adopted planet. This could’ve been a jumping off point for more films about the character, in the same way that the Tim Burton Batman films established Batman’s popularity and supporting cast even if those movies didn’t completely nail the comic book character.
Like the post-Burton Batman films, however, the next two Superman sequels fell off a cliff in terms of critical reception,^ and while Batman & Robin (1997) was followed by a successful reboot seven years later, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987) waited 19 years for a follow-up… and got Superman Returns (2006).
^for the record, this was a crime with regards to Batman Forever, which is solid actually, and also Val Kilmer is the best Batman thanks bye
I have not seen Superman Returns. While there was a time when I planned to check it out, that time has passed given the controversy (putting it lightly) surrounding both Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer; I can only separate creator and creation so much. Their off-set behavior wasn’t a factor at the time of release, but the film received lukewarm reviews, and didn’t trigger any other Superman sequels.
Enter Zack Snyder.
PART 4: ZACK SNYDER’S WATCHMEN II
Right off the bat, I feel the need to say that I think I actually like Snyder as a person? Following a family tragedy, he’s helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I followed Snyder on Twitter in early 2020 just to keep an eye on Snyder Cut news, and was not expecting to see him posting links to the AFSP and other resources during May as part of Mental Health Awareness Month.
I think it’s easy to turn Snyder into a meme - he’s a gold mine for silly, edgy quotes about superheroes - but I do want to highlight that while I’m not sure we agree on anything philosophically, I’ll always have the fact that he uses his platform for a truly positive cause in the back of my mind.
Anyway. I don’t really like Man of Steel (2013), and I don’t think that’s entirely Snyder’s fault. He has a distinct, divisive style, and I can’t blame him for taking a truckload of money from Warner Bros. to play around with characters he likes. To his credit, he does try to do something with Superman’s motiviations: On the page, the idea of Superman having to make a choice between protecting his adopted planet and resurrecting his birth planet is a genuinely interesting conflict.
Unfortunately, the whole “wrecking Smallville and Metropolis” deal muddles the point just a bit, and the editing of the movie’s timeline leaves a lot to be desired. But the biggest problem with the film, for me, is how the movie tries to establish a Clark Kent who is “how Superman would be in the real world.” And that starts with the portrayal of his parents.
Instead of Martha and Jonathan Kent trying to instill a passion for doing the right thing in their adopted son, they repeatedly (and I’m pulling from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)^ a little here) encourage Clark to hide his powers at the expense of helping others, and in general, advise him to help others only as much as he believes he should.
^i should note that i’m not even gonna mention Justice League (2017) here. to paraphrase a popular musical paraphrasing a popular historical figure, “Snyder’s Superman has beliefs; Whedon’s has none.”
Perhaps the most baffling result of this is Jonathan Kent’s death scene, in which the elder Kent goes into the street to help the family dog escape the car during a tornado. Kent then doesn’t allow Clark to save him, despite the fact that it wouldn’t be all that difficult for Clark to do it without giving away his powers (given the convenient distraction of, y’know, a tornado). Superman For All Seasons, one of the comics we mentioned earlier, actually features a specific sequence in which Clarks saves a Smallville resident from a tornado by flying low to the ground, and nobody realizes what happened because of said tornado.^
^while double checking myself on this detail i noticed that the Wikipedia entry for Superman For All Seasons includes the line “When a tornado strikes the town, Clark discovers he can fly and rescues a neighbor, but wonders if he could have done more.” can’t make this up.
The movie infamously ends with Superman killing Zod (again, after causing massive damage to the city), but perhaps that could’ve worked if we knew what exactly this Superman stood for. Snyder’s Kal-El is grim and plagued with internal conflict, but for much of the screentime in both Man of Steel and BvS:DoJ, that conflict simply seems to be “struggling to process the events around him,” probably because the lessons he learns from his parents are so vague and noncommital. This results in a Superman who rarely shows emotion, struggles to make decisive choices, and is prone to sudden, violent demonstrations of power.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because there’s already a famous and definitive “Superman in our world” take, and his name is Dr. Manhattan.^
^unfortunately, i’m not convinced Snyder really got Watchmen either, though that’s a discussion for another day.
There’s a way to take Clark Kent, the comic book character, and put him in something akin to reality while having him maintain his principles and beliefs. Several of the stories mentioned at the top of the review do something very similar. But when you erode his faith in what he stands for, he’s not really DC Comics’ Clark Kent anymore.
Snyder’s portrayal is an alternate version, just as much as a a Clark Kent who lives in a world where Superman is already a fictional superhero, or a Kal-El who lands in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas. I’m not against alternate versions entirely, but I am when said version is taking up a space that could be used for the first modern, definitive Superman.
CONCLUSION
The point I’m trying to get across is that we’re sorely lacking for content that represents the Superman longtime comics fans are familiar with. In the end, it’s probably television that’s done the most work for our boy in blue; that’s pretty rough to reckon with, considering the excellent Superman: The Animated Series got sandwiched between and overshadowed by Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, while Smallville, er, never actually dealt with Superman being Superman?^
^forgive me if i don’t have high hopes for the upcoming CW Arrowverse spinoff Lois and Clark. there are at least three words in the phrase “CW Arrowverse spinoff” that concern me.
Don’t even get me started on how Superman’s supporting cast has been developed as far as audience recognition goes. We’ve had seven live-action movies starring Superman and not a single one used the villain Braniac? The mind boggles.^
^if we get a Superman reboot in a few years that uses Luthor and/or Zod again, i will write somebody a strongly worded letter. probably.
For 40-odd years, Superman has been left by the wayside in the public image, to the extent that, yes, many people now think he’s boring and one-dimensional. And that’s an absolute shame. I don’t believe for a second that he’s outdated, or that he has nothing to teach 21st century audiences. But if that potential is ever going to be realized, it’s going to require somebody running DC to understand just how powerful Superman really is.
In my MCU review, I briefly gushed about the image of Captain America standing, undeterred, across the battlefield from Thanos’ armies. In the right hands, tales about Superman can absolutely strike the tone and command the weight of that kind of scene, over and over again. He’s a character who leads humanity forward, even against impossible odds. And it sure feels like humanity is facing a lot of impossible odds these days.
I don’t care what Gary Oldman has to say about it: Clark Kent is the hero we need right now.
The world just hasn’t met him yet.