With the release of James Gunn’s much-anticipated Superman, and the birth of a new cinematic DC universe along with it, I’ve seen a lot of people endeavouring to delve into the character’s long, storied history. But where to start? With nearly 90 years of back matter and existing material, it can be incredibly daunting, so I’ve assembled a Crash Course of recommendations for what I think are the best stories that showcase what makes Superman such an incredible character.
These stories reveal the many layers that make Superman not just a cultural icon but a lasting source of moral inspiration. At their best, his tales feel almost alchemical—epic moral dilemmas distilled through the experience of a limitless being confronting profoundly human truths. You can call him corny, you can call him outdated but the simple, sincere goodness to his character gives him a power that I don’t think any other superhero has ever been able to match, and each of the following stories all in some way illustrate how this character can feel genuinely transcendent.
The Bread
Superman: Birthright
It only feels right to begin with Superman’s origin story, but which one? While most people are familiar with the broad strokes of the Man of Steel’s beginnings, the way his origin is told can vary dramatically, each version reflecting something different about the era in which it was written, and what Superman means to that time. For my money, the most compelling retelling is Superman: Birthright, a standout miniseries by Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu that breathes fresh life into the mythos while honouring the character’s heritage. Birthright has an edge and cinematic scope that makes Superman more immediately “cool” like his contemporaries, without sacrificing the inherent old-fashioned whimsy of the character.
What makes it an easy recommendation for me though, is that perhaps more than any other story, Birthright brilliantly examines why Clark chooses to become Superman. Across its 12 issues, it lays out not just the vast power he possesses, but the weight of the consequences his actions can have—and the deep sense of responsibility that drives him to use that power for good.
Waid and Francis Yu craft a story that re-centres Superman not just as a powerful alien, but as a deeply human figure motivated by empathy, curiosity, and a genuine desire to do good. It gives Clark Kent real depth, not just as a disguise, but as a thoughtful, proactive journalist who truly believes in making a difference
‘Ex Machina’ (Christmas With the Super-Heroes #2)
As a child, I think what we find most compelling about Superman is the power fantasy of being able to do anything, to fly, to bend steel, to shrug off anything the world throws at us. However, as I have grown older, what I connect with most in Superman is his willingness to help everyone, regardless of how seemingly minor their problems may seem. In my opinion, this has never been more powerfully showcased than in ‘Ex Machina,’ a short story from Christmas With the Superheroes #2 by Paul Chadwick, the man behind indie comics staple, Concrete.
The story follows a man pulled over to the side of the road in a blizzard. Superman, of course, comes to his rescue, but the nature of his aid and the gravity of the man’s situation is revealed to be far more significant than a simple jumpstart. At just 8 pages, Chadwick lays out the radiant but altogether simple goodness of the Man of Steel, a goodness born from a desire to help others and a willingness to reach out and help. It is a genuinely perfect story and my go-to answer whenever someone wants a comic that distils the character’s appeal into a single narrative.
‘The Life Story of Superman’ (Action Comics Vol 1 #500)
A special pick for me, Action Comics #500 was the very first comic book I ever owned, in the form of a pocket-sized reprint called ‘The Superman Story.’ In its pages, underrated Superman scribe Martin Pasko outlines the entire history of the character (to that point) beautifully illustrated by the greatest artist to ever draw the character, Curt Swan. The story follows Superman as he leads a tour guide through a museum built in his honour. It’s a simple framing device, but one that easily and deftly brings new readers up to speed on everything that makes Superman who he is.
This is my first recommendation for anyone who wants to get into reading Superman comics. What makes Action Comics #500 so great and why I recommend it above almost any other issue to newcomers is that it’s a perfect onboarding point. You don’t need to know anything going in. Within one oversized issue, you’re introduced to Superman’s origin, his values, his powers, his supporting cast, his enemies, and the world he inhabits. It gives you the full foundation upon which you can jump into any Superman story, whether Golden Age, Bronze Age, or Modern.
But beyond being informative, it’s also deeply affectionate. There’s a love for the character in every caption, every line of dialogue, and every expression drawn on the page. It’s not just a history lesson, it’s a loving tribute to a cultural icon, a one-of-a-kind character and moral guiding light. As a child, reading it was like being welcomed into something vast and mythic, but also warm and familiar; a peek behind the curtain, it’s a major comfort food comic to me. That emotional tone, earnest, optimistic, and ultimately hopeful, is what made me fall in love with Superman in the first place.
Superman: For All Seasons
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween was a major landmark for Batman in 1996, giving the character’s world a cohesive and lush atmosphere that most comic books could only hope to achieve. In 1998, the pair decided to do the same for Big Blue with For All Seasons, a gorgeous 4-issue miniseries once again covering the origin of the Man of Tomorrow. Each issue covers a different season in Clark’s life, both literally and figuratively, as each issue looks at Superman through the eyes of a different character in a different period.
Spring focuses on Jonathan Kent and his son, a burgeoning young man ready to take on the world. Summer brings in more heat with Lois Lane and the fiery intensity of a new romance with a new hero. Fall is seen through the eyes of Lex Luthor, who narrates a bitter season of change as he grapples with a world that’s slipping beyond his control. The series closes out with Lana Lang in the winter with a quieter reflection on a cold and often indifferent world. It’s a wonderfully conceptualised book, with a fable-like quality that sets it apart from the standard superhero fare, using its simple framing device to deliver a deeply emotional and timeless portrait of the Man of Steel.
The Meat
All-Star Superman
All-Star Superman, chances are that if you’re a fan of comic books, you already love this. It’s a universally accepted masterpiece, a pinnacle of the medium and my favourite comic book of all time, bar none. However, I often see this recommended to newcomers as an entry point, and while it is certainly adequate at that, I think it functions much better if the reader has more knowledge about the character, his supporting cast and his world. All-Star is a treatise on the power of Superman as a character and the effect he has on those around him, with each issue focusing on his relationship to a different character, be it Bizarro, Lois Lane or Lex Luthor. Big ideas, big action, but a beautiful human drama at its centre about godhood and mortality and humanity’s potential.
‘Grant Morrison’s Action Comics’ (Action Comics Vol 2 #1-19)
Long after All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison returned to the character once again with a run on Action Comics at the start of DC’s New 52 controversial reboot. This reboot wipes the continuity clean with a new face for DC’s universe, one that was “realer,” darker and edgier. For a lot of books, this took the characters in a darker, more grounded direction, and this is somewhat true of Action Comics; however, Morrison uses that grounding to reconnect with the humanist everyman roots of the character. Superman, as originally written, was a borderline socialist anti-hero, a hero for the common man, throwing out landlords and tussling with corrupt politicians more than mad scientists or intergalactic despots.
Morrison sought to return to this approach with a Superman early in his career, evading the law, tossing out corrupt city officials and helping to make the Metropolis a better place to live. The brilliance of this run, though, is how it tracks this Superman as his world becomes zanier and larger, with alien invasions, time travel and mechanical monstrosities. It’s a combination of the grounded social commentary of the Golden Age and the imaginative Sci-Fi of the Silver Age, tracking how the former morphs into the latter. Much like Morrison’s Batman, this is a series that embraces the gulf between the extreme, acknowledging that Superman as he exists today is a fusion of all that came before.
‘Camelot Falls’ (Superman Vol 1 #654-667 and Annual #13)
If earlier stories painted Superman as the perfect man—the embodiment of humanity’s highest ideals, then Camelot Falls seeks to interrogate what that actually means and whether this super man is actually driving us to a better future. At its core, it’s a story that places Superman in a philosophical crucible, forcing him to confront a superhero’s version of the trolley problem: is doing good always the right choice, even if it prevents humanity from growing on its own? Do his actions stunt us and hold us back from facing greater, darker evils down the road? Can a perfect hero weaken an imperfect world? Superman can save the world, but should he? I don’t think the story answers all these questions with the grace and profundity it is clearly aiming for, but I think it’s mix of heady philosophical ideas and massive, blockbuster action is central to what makes the character’s best stories so compelling and it makes it a great choice for anyone who wants to dig in a little deeper.
The Special Sauce
‘Big City, Little Man’ (Action Comics Vol 1 #792)
Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego, Clark Kent, gets precious few stories for my liking; the focus is always on the musclebound, cosmic heroics of Superman, so I always relish those arcs that choose to centre on the man behind the myth. ‘Big City, Little Man’ is one such story and follows Clark as he searches for an everyday street vendor who mysteriously vanishes from Metropolis. I often take issue with stories that present Clark Kent as simply a fop and a disguise and not as a genuine heroic aspect of Kal-El’s personality, and this issue understands this better than any other. It’s a story that strips Superman back to his simplest qualities; he’s a reporter, a detective, a friend, a neighbour, a man who genuinely cares for everyone, no matter who they are. The whole issue has a wonderful old-school film noir quality with gorgeous, moody imagery and a hardboiled style of writing that makes it a really fun diversion from the usual tone and style of Superman comic books. To me, it is the definitive story about Clark Kent, and the specific role he plays.
‘Super Friends’ (Hitman #34)
Garth Ennis is a big name in comic books, the pen behind Preacher and The Boys. He’s a writer known for bleak, nihilistic examinations of humanity’s violent nature. He’s not exactly one of “my guys”, but he has always fascinated me because he works within an industry obsessed with costumed do-gooders, and yet he hates superheroes, save for one, Superman. To Ennis, the superhero was perfected from the jump; everything else is limp and weightless in comparison to the magic that Superman can offer to storytellers.
This makes Superman’s appearance in Hitman a real treat as it offers a tonal break within that book’s own hyper-violent black comedy sensibilities and allows Superman, a man defined by his ideals, to face off against someone who has none. The issue follows the titular Hitman as he stumbles into Superman brooding on a rooftop, reflecting on a recent failed rescue and the pressure he feels. It’s a really wonderful one and done.
‘Time and Time Again’ (Adventures of Superman Vol 1 #476-478, Action Comics Vol 1 #663-664 and Superman Vol 2 #54-55)
The Special Sauce is a space to recommend those hidden gems, the diamonds in the rough and the eccentric outliers that usually aren’t the first to be recommended. But it’s also where we like to throw in the comics that are dense, convoluted and long, the kind of stuff that you can’t just lend to someone in a single trade paperback. For me, Superman’s Triangle Era is kind of the apex of this recommendation, a massive, sprawling series of interlocking books telling an ongoing narrative over years and years.
The Triangle Era refers to the era of Superman books between 1986 and 2000 where the character’s stories were largely told through three titles, Action Comics, Superman, and the Adventures of Superman, three connected books with three different creative teams, all telling one larger narrative, more than any other time in Superman’s history his world felt cohesive, alive and populated. This ambitious project boasted an impressive lineup of all-star creative talent playing an editorial relay race with the narrative baton being passed from writer to writer, week by week.
If you’re already well into Superman and are looking for a long-term project, you can’t do any better than the Triangle Era, which contained great emotional complexity, consistent character growth and development and sprawling, bold storylines. There are a lot of stories I love from this era, but if you’re looking for just one, I can easily recommend ‘Time and Time Again.’
Superman/Aliens
Superman has had a lot of goofy, bizarre crossovers with a lot of different characters over the years, with varying levels of success. Spider-Man, He-Man, The Nesquik Bunny, Godzilla, Muhammad Ali and Bugs Bunny are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of them so it felt only right to include one such crossover here, and the crown jewel for me has always been Superman/Aliens. A depowered Superman lands on a planet infested with Xenomorphs and has to fight to survive alongside a lone, stranded colonial marine. It’s stupid, meathead comic book nonsense at its finest that bolsters a bold, powerful artistic style and a great understanding of the appeal of both franchises. Just a whole lot of fun.
How Superman Would Win the War
This list would feel incomplete without acknowledging the voices of Superman’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Their story is inseparable from the character’s origins and the meaning he has carried for over 80 years. Born from the imaginations of two Jewish men during a time when the world was plunging into another devastating war, Superman was their answer to a world in crisis—a symbol of hope and justice in the face of overwhelming darkness. I believe that their most powerful expression of this vision is a striking two-pager in which Superman takes on both Hitler and Stalin. It’s a bold, unfiltered realisation of what their creation meant to them, and even though the character has evolved over the decades, at his core, Superman remains the embodiment of their original dream: a man who stands against tyranny, who can pull us back from the brink, and who never stops fighting for a better world.