Superman: Lois and Clark #8. All but one of the heroes have been killed by the new mysterious bad guys, The Gentry. From Man of Steel to Death of Superman (1986 to 1992), Superman in the New Millennium (2000 to 2006), From Infinite Crisis to New 52 (2007 to 2011), Essential Standalone Superman Recommendations, Marvel Comics was debuting Fantastic Four, Countdown to Infinite Crisis: The Omac Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi7HnWapV-o, Screaming at No One (Lois Lane: Enemy of the State Review! Superman: Metropolis #8 Superman #242, Phantom Zone #1 (1982) I recommend starting with the Geoff Johns Superman run. If Pratt is this world’s Superman analogue, he’s broken and beaten down and had his moral core chipped away over the course of a grueling five-year war until the only option he sees for himself to save the day is to kill Blockbuster. As Kal-El struggles to survive against the barbarian’s attacking hordes, the events that led to Vandal Savage’s creation and … 3 #7 All-Star Superman #5 Second, there is a moment of uncertainty in Superman where he and Flash are talking and he expresses reservations about his ability to live up to his own hype. This is an incredible ending to this story. 2 #2 Action Comics Vol. 2 #10 Yeah, let’s just go with Super). Superman Vol. Superman Vol. Note: These stories were in continuity but are pre-Flashpoint so the canonicity of these stories isn't exactly known. The unofficial DC Comics Subreddit It goes in-depth in fleshing out Clark's drives and motivations, and sets up the Superman supporting cast. 2 #19 2 #27 While this arc of JLA Classified is not strictly necessary for the story we’re looking at here, there’s a better than average chance that it’s included in a collected edition you’re purchasing, and let’s be honest: it’s a story that has Batman tell Alfred he’s “going to the sci-fi closet” in the first issue. Superman Vol. Morrison has been fascinated with the idea of Kal-el’s ship crashing in Nazi Germany for years, and here he gets to expand on the idea. With all the doors to reality open, heroes come pouring in from every world, and the Gentry are defeated. Superman/Batman #12 We have a Rebirth Recommendations List, as well as an Imprint Recommendations List for other titles released in that time period. Superman is actually in it for a very limited amount of time: most of the story is Batman and Squire saving the world. Here, however, Morrison’s Superman story is complemented very nicely by one issue of Multiversity in particular: in a dream world where Superman is saved by innocence, faith and a little magic, really the only way to follow it up is the only issue of Multiversity where Superman actually wins. 1: Superman & the Men of Steel. 3, Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. Superman: Secret Identity #3 Knowing the only way he can stop Brainiac’s plan to destroy both worlds is to get Ultraman back on his Earth, where one of the underlying rules of that universe is “only bad can win,” Superman stops fighting and goes home. ._1x9diBHPBP-hL1JiwUwJ5J{font-size:14px;font-weight:500;line-height:18px;color:#ff585b;padding-left:3px;padding-right:24px}._2B0OHMLKb9TXNdd9g5Ere-,._1xKxnscCn2PjBiXhorZef4{height:16px;padding-right:4px;vertical-align:top}._1LLqoNXrOsaIkMtOuTBmO5{height:20px;padding-right:8px;vertical-align:bottom}.QB2Yrr8uihZVRhvwrKuMS{height:18px;padding-right:8px;vertical-align:top}._3w_KK8BUvCMkCPWZVsZQn0{font-size:14px;font-weight:500;line-height:18px;color:var(--newCommunityTheme-actionIcon)}._3w_KK8BUvCMkCPWZVsZQn0 ._1LLqoNXrOsaIkMtOuTBmO5,._3w_KK8BUvCMkCPWZVsZQn0 ._2B0OHMLKb9TXNdd9g5Ere-,._3w_KK8BUvCMkCPWZVsZQn0 ._1xKxnscCn2PjBiXhorZef4,._3w_KK8BUvCMkCPWZVsZQn0 .QB2Yrr8uihZVRhvwrKuMS{fill:var(--newCommunityTheme-actionIcon)} But before that, the entire story hinges on where it flips from his Earth heritage to his Kryptonian. In the first, the League fights a new group of heroes, the Ultramarine Corps, and General Eiling, who placed his mind in the Shaggy Man’s body. It turns out the short guy who has been floating around the entire series to this point is Vyndktvx, a fifth-dimensional imp with a grudge against Mr. Mxyzptlk. He sees darkness in the future for mankind, but not if he can pull off his master plan: to be elected President, assassinated, and then resurrected by the all-powerful Superman of our story, Captain Atom. Superman #234 Superman #680, Action Comics #865 3 #45 War of the Supermen #3 2 #212 Billy changes into Captain Marvel, and aided by Captain Marvel, Jr. and Mary Marvel, defeats the Sivanas and heads off to the Rock to try and save the wizard. Superman Unchained #9, Superman/Wonder Woman #1 (2013) For more information on Rebirth, see our Rebirth FAQ. Superman/Batman #17 Wonder Woman may have led humanity into battle, but they were there fighting for Superman. ._3-SW6hQX6gXK9G4FM74obr{display:inline-block;vertical-align:text-bottom;width:16px;height:16px;font-size:16px;line-height:16px} 2 #14 The world doesn’t know what to make of this new Superman, so the Army (aided by Lex Luthor, who develops as consistently over the course of these stories as Superman does) tries to take him out. In them, the League fights the Hyperclan, a group of mysterious “heroes” who start building a false utopia and turn out to be disguised White Martians; and then they battle an invading army of angels, The Key and Professor Ivo and T.O. 2 #43 Then he has to live with himself: we discover that he was unaware of the atrocities of the Nazis until after the war, and he’s wracked with guilt for helping them win. Don't know where to start? Then it shifts to Nix Uotan, SUPERJUDGE (Style Guide Note: that must always be written in all caps) as he prepares to dissect Ultra Comics, which we’ll get to. 2 #13 Green entries are Limited series Uncle Gorby’s Corner Of Free Stuff: UGO’s 52 Pickup, Crisis For Infinite Nerds: Alternate Histories and Parallel Realities in the DC Universe, Uncle Gorby’s Corner of Free Stuff: Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic, Uncle Gorby’s Corner Of Free Stuff: Spider-Man: The 1990s Animated Series, Uncle Gorby’s Corner of Free Stuff: Justice League Heroes: Falling Star, Uncle Gorby’s Corner Of Free Stuff: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Comic Issue Reading Order: Daredevil: Shadowland (Marvel Event), Review: Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. Batman/Superman #26 The heroes at the Hall, including President Superman; a Savage Dragon analogue; Captain Carrot; Aquawoman from Earth 11; Bloodwynd (! Tarot Reading of X-Men: X of Swords Chapter 18 – Hellions #6! Meanwhile, Wonder Woman inspires the now-powered ENTIRE HUMAN RACE and leads them skyward to help buy Superman some more time, while Superman absorbs Maggeddon’s anti-sun core and saves the universe. Superman #656 The New 52 was a highly publicized continuity reboot that reset every ongoing to #1, to give new readers an easy entry point. So instead, he has Flash bring them back to Earth 1, which switches the Crime Syndicate villains back to Earth 2, and Ultraman (Superman’s evil counterpart whom we’ll be seeing a lot more of soon) lobotomizes Brainiac. Moreso than the often-cited panel where he saves Regan from suicide in issue 10, I think this is the crux of All-Star Superman: that he’s the sum of his parts, that these varying components – Jimmy, Lois, the Planet, his Kryptonian heritage, his status as an adoptee and immigrant, both sets of parents, even Lex – all combined to make the hero that saves the sun. After that, where should I go? President Superman and Lex Luthor (with a little help from a memory of Superman’s father) manage to fight Superdoom back into the box he came out of and save the day. Superman comes back from the future (he was hanging out with the various Legions of Super Heroes from a handful of timelines in the no-bullshit all-time classic Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds) finds Batman’s corpse, and gets super pissed. Man of Steel #6, Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #1 (2005) It used the old Charlton Comics characters (The Question, Peacemaker, Nightshade, Blue Beetle, and Captain Atom) to take the Superman concept and atomize it, divorce it from its humanity and pick it apart until the concept collapses in on itself. The issue closes with the world being destroyed by the very same Superman robots that Kal-el used to eliminate all strife in his absence.