Superman 101: What to Read to Really Get Him

It's Summer of Superman at DC, so of course it's Summer of Superman here at Walt's.

You know, some writers would start this article with a joke along the lines of, “It's a bird, it's a plane, it's my article on Superman.” Others would just tell you that some writers would do that and kind of do it anyway.

The truth (and justice, and the better tomorrow) is that Superman is not just the ultimate symbol of comic books. He is comic books. Plain and simple. He is the one every writer wants to write. More often than not, he's the one everyone falls in love with after just a single page turn. And it doesn't end with him.

Then we have Clark Kent, sometimes the mask, often the heart. Lois Lane. Jimmy Olsen. Lex Luthor. Metropolis. Daily Planet. Smallville. Krypton. It's a never-ending glossary of names that automatically get the heart pumping. They all rose to a status beyond the page. They are lexicons of things that are so much more.

We start our multiple Superman articles on Beyond the Panels, because, of course, we can't fit everything into one, with graphic novels (stories you can jump into, each giving you a full arc in just one volume). Some of these are canon, some of these are Elseworlds, but all of these are made by people with a deep, inoperable love of Superman.

So, you guessed it, up, up, and away.

Superman Origin Stories

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu

My love for this is never-ending. Mark Waid not only updates his origin story, he does a manifesto of why Superman should still matter in the 21st century.

A seasoned writer telling a story made of blocks from the genius who came before, without fear of looking forward — and doing so in something meant to be a look back, as origin retells always seem to be — is already a feat in itself. Whatever you need to comprehend Superman and the world around him is here.

And that's the key. The world around him. 

Waid starts with Clark finding himself, discovering what he wants to stand for in a world full of horror and war. Then he shows us what he stands for. He shows us with the Kents helping him make his uniform and decide what that uniform should symbolize. He shows us with the undying tenacity of Lois Lane, someone dedicated to looking into places others ignore. He shows us with the Daily Planet, a dinosaur still standing firm with its values when the world tells it they should fade away. And he shows us with Krypton, with why Kal-El survives and why so many perished. Because one man chose to look beyond what seemed comfortable, and in that, Waid shows us what a birthright is.

You can get Superman Birthright the Deluxe Edition, but there is also a DC Compact coming in June.

Other origin / early years re-imaginings

We have the classic John Byrne Man of Steel in the post-Crisis era, which for many years stood as the definitive modern retelling. We’ll talk more about it in the Omnibus and Deluxe Editions article coming soon.

Then there’s Geoff Johns' Secret Origins, which is very similar to Birthright but has that rockstar, fresh voice approach that Johns brought to modern DC. Given the choice, I’d go with Birthright, but it’s a close call with Johns. And knowing how much I love Waid, that’s also an endorsement for Secret Origins. (To be fair, I also love Johns, so yeah, only good stuff for me).

I also enjoy Max Landis' approach in Superman: American Alien, blending some of the best of the realism/dark approach people were obsessed with in the 2010s with cinematic flair. What seemed to be a fresh, new superstar voice at the time unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a creep.

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

Morrison's absolute veneration for Superman's mythos comes through in the pages of this classic Superman magnum opus. Every chapter aims to symbolize one aspect of what makes Superman comics so iconic.

In All-Star Superman, Morrison gives both a testimonial of longevity and a swan song conclusion. You walk away feeling that you don't need to read any more Superman stories ever, yet also wanting to read every single page ever written. Full of beautiful moments, like the now-classic (and often-quoted as character-defining) page. 

Frank Quitely is at his best. Every panel feels cinematic, yet undeniably comic book. You can get lost in what is drawn because every moment feels centralized, given its proper importance — almost like a poster. And the emptiness around it is both a void and a breeze of well-earned air.

You can get it All-Star Superman in Trade-paperback, Deluxe Edition, Absolute Edition, and also in the affordable small-digest size DC Compact.

Superman for All Season by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Looking for panels to illustrate Superman For All Seasons literally made me cry. It's that beautiful. Being immersed in Superman the last few weeks for this article and revisiting All Seasons feels like hugging a feeling — and I know, but please indulge me a bit here. It feels like I'm hugging memories of long winter nights and beautiful summer days. Of family, of people I loved and continue to do so, people I loved and whose love has vanished. Of memories of the kid I was and should still aim to be. Of things that passed but will return again. That's the magic that this powerful comic duo creates here.

They want to show you one aspect of these characters, and they do it through the changing seasons. The symbolism of that is just unbeatable. Because seasons are both the things that are over and the things that will come back to you.

If All-Star Superman is a love letter to the mythos, this is a love letter to the feeling we all had when we picked up one of his comics. It's a beautiful (and I mean visually stunning and thematically so) painting of what this character has come to be.

Superman For All Seasons is available in Absolute Hardcover Edition and in Trade Paperback.

Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen

You’re going to read about a lot of authors doing their love letters to Superman in this article, but none is as clever and fun as this. Busiek and Immonen introduce us to a world where Superman is a famous I.P. — something very similar to our own world. He’s nothing but a character. Or is he? Because we also meet Clark Kent. But wait. He’s just a guy who happens to be named after the classic comic book — and weirdly, they both share a very similar life. Clark lives with the unbearable weight of comparison, of never truly being what his namesake is. Until he also gets powers.

The cleverness goes beyond the “gotcha-you” plot because it’s truly a story about what you do when you’re given the opportunity to be what you always wanted, what you were always destined (maybe?) to be. And it’s not a given that you become the idyllic version of that something. It’s a daily struggle. In that struggle lies Superman. A daily choice. A daily effort that takes its toll. This is a book about the boy, basically. About the boy Clark dealing with what the world expects of him.

This is Superman with realism done absolutely right — without the overwhelming cynicism. Low-key, it’s one of the best Clark stories ever written, and it doesn’t get talked about as much as it should.

You can find it, along with other incredible stories, in Superman by Kurt Busiek HC Book 01, and also join me in daily yelling at my window that this should always be in print in absolute editions, compacts, or whatever format people can get their hands on.

Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson

Just don't say, "Oh, this guy loves everything", because here’s me recommending something I don’t love. Listen, I was obsessed with Millar when I was 14, and then I proceeded to not be much of a fan when I got older. I always joke that’s the only correct path with him, but I have to give him this: what you expect when you hear this comic exists is not what you’ll get. Well, it is, but not exactly. 

This is an Elseworlds story with the pitch, “What if Superman landed in the Soviet Union instead of the United States?” But the often-ignored key here is that Superman still lands on a farm, this time in the Ukraine. And in that, Millar constructs a world that puts both sides of the Cold War in a very grey area. What values are upheld in the battle for power and control, and can we even uphold any values at all? Those are the questions at stake.

If you think Clark is mischaracterized for plot conveniences here, he weirdly is not. Millar just shifts aspects of the character. The ending is brilliant (and if you ask me, it’s the kind of ending that makes you think, “Wait, why wasn’t everything else here as good as this?”). 

But this is a classic and should be read by any Superman fan, even if you come to the same conclusion I did.

Superman Red Son is available in Absolute Hardcover Edition, in Trade Paperback, and  a DC Compact version is coming soon.

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru

If the fact that this graphic novel was controversial doesn’t make you shiver with fear, I don’t know what to tell you. This is a graphic novel for young adults that should be read by everyone. The description is in the title already, but it's not everything. The story takes place in the 40s and is divided between four POVs — one is Superman, of course. But the other three are kids, all of whom look up to Superman, and that’s where the brilliance lies.

We have two brothers, Tommy and Roberta Lee, two Asian-Americans who just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis. Tommy is a kid desperate to fit in, and Roberta is a kid certain that she will never fit in. The third kid is Chuck Riggs, whose uncle is deeply involved with the Klan and seems dedicated to getting the Lees, whom he views as threats, out of his city. Meanwhile, Superman himself is now dealing with the fact that he is an alien.

These four, well, five kids will help each other and help everyone else in the process. This is a deeply personal story for Gene Luen Yang (the genius behind American Born Chinese and Dragon Hoops) and acts as his statement on how he can see himself and his family in Superman, as well as a necessary reckoning with DC Comics' own history.

This is for all ages. If you want to introduce your kids to Superman, warm the nostalgia of your dad, or rediscover and reaffirm your love for the character, this should be called the most important Superman story of the 21st century — by far.

You can get Superman Smashes The Klan in one trade paperback.

Superman: Space Age by Mark Russell and Michael Allred

When you think all classics have already been written and most things will just be a mere reframing of other stuff, a comic comes along and hits you in the head with a “Of course not, you idiot, as long as comics allow for the wonderful gift of perspective, there are always new stories to tell.” The perspective chosen here is the world-end scare of the Cold War. A period often described as a day-to-day countdown to the bombs, it was also a period of the space age, where humanity was trying to move forward. A dichotomy that seems paradoxical but is very much not mutually exclusive in the history of our species.

In this threshold of looking to the future, and a future that may never come, what if we introduced superheroes? The Superman mythos and his main mission are put to the test when the character has to deal with the fact that he knows we’re approaching the end and that saving us is impossible. But of course, the question is, what does Superman do with what is impossible?

And in a brilliant way, this is not just a story about Superman; it’s also a Batman book and a Justice League book in disguise. The age of heroes is rebuilt in a way that fits this time, in a very entertaining puzzle that thematically unfolds before you. It reminds me of one of my favorite comics of all time, DC: The New Frontier, and anyone who knows how magical that book is will certainly pick up Space Age on the comparison alone.

Superman Space Age is available in hardcover, trade paperback, and you can even get the first issue, because I’m sure the world will catch up on how brilliant this very recent story is.

Superman: Unchained by Scott Snyder and Jim Lee

Scott Snyder and Jim Lee. These two names should be enough to pique your curiosity. This story comes right at the beginning of the New 52 reboot initiative, and sometimes it seems lost in the middle of all the confusion Superman went through during that period (more on the Omnibus & Deluxe Editions article), but it's a very good book. The scope is enormous, feeling very cinematic (of course, Jim Lee) — in the same way Snyder does with his Batman at the time.

The plot centers on Superman discovering that he’s not the only one. We become aware of Wrath, another alien powered by the yellow sun who happens to have fallen onto our planet. But this time, it’s not the Kents who find him; it’s the U.S. Army. And to make it even scarier, Wrath remains very loyal to them. Snyder and Lee show you what a misconception of Superman’s love for his country would actually look like if those guys were right.        

It’s bold and feels like a superhero action comic should feel — maybe the most capes-and-punch action recommendation on this list. 

You can get the whole story in the Superman Unchained The Deluxe Edition HC (2023 Edition).

Superman: Up In The Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert

Yes, this absolute superstar, Tom King, wrote Superman in this very much overlooked and kind of forgotten republishing of material made for the Superman Giant series. This is not the character deconstructions and deep dives King is famous for, but it’s an adorable little story that tasks Superman with saving one missing little girl.

If the trolley problem (explained in a very fun way in Space Age above) asks if one life is worth the same as five, King states the obvious: put in that situation, Superman would save everyone. The author cleverly utilizes the format to answer a few questions we’ve always had about the character (like, would we win in a race against Flash?), and each issue is its own little detour in his journey.

And the way it all ties back to the main story is just so adorable and lovely. Not an essential read, but a very good one nonetheless.

Superman Up In The Sky as available in one compact trade paperback.

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore with Curt Swan, Dave Gibbons and Rick Veitch

It’s a bit of a herculean task to describe exactly the importance of this book to you, as you can imagine by the cover of legends listed above. This is the true series finale for the Silver Age Superman and the comics those legends grew up reading. It ties all the dots and gives you a conclusion to the mythos. It’s a goodbye letter written by the very people who were shaped by those stories, who then shaped the medium themselves. Alan Moore is at his most reverent, choosing not his usual irony and subversion, but instead going for something deeply sincere.

The title suggests a question, but the story is an answer: the man of tomorrow becomes the man of today by choosing to walk away. Not in defeat, but in peace. Not because the world doesn’t need Superman anymore, but because maybe it finally learned what he was trying to teach.

Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow is available in hardcover (bundled with For the Man Who Has Everything, another Moore-penned classic), and it absolutely deserves a spot on your shelf, on your re-read pile, and maybe even your nightstand.

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DC is also cleverly releasing a box set for the new movie (please be good, please be good, I'm sure it will!) that contains a lot of the stories mentioned here and a few others.

It includes All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore and Curt Swan, Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert, and Superman Vol. 1: Supercorp by Joshua Williamson and Jamal Campbell.

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Next for Superman Summer on Beyond The Panels, we will tackle the full runs and eras of Superman in the Omnibus and Deluxe Editions article. So keep your cape nearby.