Are you new to Superman or are a long-time fan of DC Comics' premier super-hero? Well, say no more as I, staranold, present to you a list of Superman graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and one-shots I recommend you should check out, especially in celebration of Superman's 75th anniversary and with us nearing the release ofthe theatrical live-action film Man of Steel. Keep note that "Pre-Crisis" describes Superman's mainstream history before the Crisis of Infinite Earths event (where 5 universes within canon DC Universe continuity merged into New Earth with the others destroyed) while Post-Crisis describes Superman's mainstream history as revised by the universe merger that occured on the COIE event, "Post-Zero Hour" describes Superman's mainstream history as revised by the rest of time in Zero Hour - A Crisis in Time, "Post-Infinite Crisis" describes Superman's mainstream history as revised by the re-merger of New Earth (or in other words, the creation of Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-0) in Infinite Crisis, and "Post-Flashpoint" describes Superman's mainstream history as revised by the universe merger in Flashpoint (Vol. 2), the prelude to DC Comics The New 52.
- Superman in the Forties: Sample Superman stories from the 1940s.
- Superman in the Fifties: Sample Superman stories from the 1950s.*
- Superman in the Sixties: Sample Superman stories from the 1960s.
- Superman in the Seventies: Sample Superman stories from the 1970s.
- Superman in the Eighties: Sample Superman stories from the 1980s.**
- Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told: Sample canon continuity Superman stories from the 1930s thoughout the 2000s.
- Superboy: The Greatest Stories Ever Told: Sample canon continuity Superman stories featuring Clark Kent as the kid super-hero Superboy.
- Superman: Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude: Sample stories involving Superman's base of operations.
- Superman: Tales of the Bizzaro World
- Superman Vs. Braniac: Reprinting several classic Superman Vs. Braniac tales.
- Superman Vs. Lex Luthor: Reprinting several classic Superman Vs. Lex Luthor tales.
- Superman: Daily Planet: Sample classic stories involving the Daily Planet staff.
- Superman: Bottle City of Kandor: Reprinting sample stories from the Silver Age featuring the Kandorians.
- Superman: Tales from the Phantom Zone: reprinting Silver Age tales featuring Kryptonian vilains once imprisoned in the Phantom Zone.
- The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen: Reprinting classic tales from the Silver Age featuring weird transformations experienced by Superman's photographer sidekick.
- Superman: Adventures of Flamebird & Nightwing: Reprinting calssic Brozne Age stories featuring the Kryptonian super-heroes once looked up to by Superman himself.
- Superman: The Man of Steel Book 1: Reprint of the 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel, which presents the Post-Crisis origin of Superman.
- Superman: Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite: Lex Luthor lots to defeat Sueprman by usign Red Kryptonite to rob him of his powers.
- Superman: Panic in the Sky: Superman requires aid from various super-heroes to help him defend Earth from Braniac.
- The Death of Superman: Superman battles Doomsday, only to die sacrificing his life in the process.
- Superman: The World of Krypton: Exploring the violent Post-Crisis history of Superman's birth planet Krypton.
- A World Without a Superman: Reprinting the "Funeral for a Friend" storyarc (sequel to "The Death of Superman"), where Earth's super-hero community struggle to cope without Superman after the "Death of Superman" event.
- The Return of Superman: Reprinting the Reign of the Supermen storyarc (sequel to "Funeral For a Friend"), which centers around four men (Kon-El/Superboy, John Henry Irons/Steel, the villain-turened-hero The Eradicator, and Henry Henkshaw/Cyborg Superman) each wanting to be Superman's successor.
- Steel: Forging of a Hero: Reprinting ealry stories featuring Superman Family member John Henry Irons/Steel.
- Superman: Eradication!: Reprinting the "Death of Superman" prequel storyarc "The Day of the Krypton Man", which features the origin of The Eradicator.
- Superman: Bizarro's World: Lex Luthor recreates Bizzaro to cure him of a fatal disease, but Bizaaro is only itnerested in recreatign Earth in his own liking.
- Superman Wedding Album: Clark Kent finally marries love interest Lois Lane.***
- Superman: The Death of Clark Kent: a childhood friend of Clark Kent becomes the super-villain Conduit threatens to harrass Clark's own family and friends after learning of his dual identity.
- Superman Red/Superman Blue: The Cyborg Superman causes Superman to split in two: the intelligent Superman Blue and the acting-for-thinking Supeman Red.
- Superman For All Seasons: Jonathan Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Lana Lang narrate their views on who Superman is and how he comes to be.
- Superman Vs. The Revenge Squad: Maxima, Barrage, Riot & Anomaly, and Misa form a task force to fullfil their common goal --- the assasination of Superman.
- Superman: The Dark Side: A noncanon tale that portrays Superman as the adopted son of Darkseid.
- Superman: War of the Worlds: In this non-canon retro-esque version of Superman's first adventure (also a retelling of H.G. Wells' famous sci-fi novel War of the Worlds), the mighty Kryptonian super-hero battles mech-operating Martians to protect Metropolis. A must-read for fans of the Golden Age Superman stories.
- Supergirl: Many Happy Returns: Linda Danvers (Supergirl II in Post-Zero Hour timeline) encounters what appears to be Superman's Kryptonian cousin Kara Zor-El, but is she real of a hoax?
- Superman: Birthright: The Post-Zero Hour origin of Superman.
- Superman: For Tommorrow: Superman tries to solve a mystery involving the disappearance of a milion Earth inhabitants, only to end up planning to create an alternate universe as refuge for the remaing Earthers to ensure they don't suffer a fatal tragedy.
- All-Star Superman: In this outside-canon continuity tale paying tribute to the Silver Age Superman stories, a dying Superman tries to fullfill 12 tasks to help both humanity and Kryptonians while hoping to spend the remainder of his life with Lois Lane.
- Superman: True Brit: An outside canon continutiy tale about hwta Superman's life would be like if he was a supe-hero representing the U.K. and not the U.S..
- Supergirl: Power: Post-Zero Hour take on Kara Zor-El's early adventures on Earth. Sequel to Sueprman/Batman: Supergirl.
- Superman: Up, Up, and Away!: A powerless Clark Kent tries his best to save Metropolis from crime without his Superman identity after losing his Kryptonian powers in the fight against the hero-turned-villain Superman-Prime a year earier (seen in Infinite Crisis).
- Superman: Last Son of Krypton: Clark Kent meets General Zod's son Lor-Zod, whom he later adopts as "Chris Kent" and tries to protect from both Zod and Braniac.****
- Superman: Kryptonite: The Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-0 timeline's version of Superman's first encounter with kryptonite.
- Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Superman's first adventure with the 31st century-based Legion of Super-Heroes since his battles in Infinite Crisis.
- Superman: Braniac: Superman meets the real Braniac, who is on a mission to steal Metroplis in the same way he captured the Kryptonian city of Kandor. Basis for the made-for-DVD animated film Superman: Unbound.
- Superman: New Krypton Books 1 and 2: Reprinting the "New Krypton" stroyarc (sequel to Superman: Braniac"), where Superman attempts to help the 100 000 Kryptonians of Kandor adjust to life on Earth as Kandor now resides with the Fortress of Solitude.
- Superman: New Krypton Books 3 and 4: Reprinting the "New Krypton" storyarc's sequel "World of New Krypton", where The Kandorians create a new planet withon Earth's solor system, and Superan decides to relocate residence there to keep an eye on General Zod.
- Supergirl: Way of the World: Can Kara Zor-El beat the odds to save a dying kid from cancer?
- Superman: Secret Origin: Clark Kent presents his perspective on his Superman origins. This story tells the origins as revised by the collison between the Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-0 and the Dakotaverse in Final Crisis, eventually reinstating his Superboy career in his history after it was previously erased by the creation of New Earth's Post-Crisis timeline.
- Superman: Escape from Bizarro World: Reprinting both the "Escape from Bizarro World" storyarc (where Superman journeys to Bizzaro's homeworld to discover the monster's reason for kidnapping Jonathan Kent) and a number of classic Superman Vs. Bizzaro stories.
- Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton: Picking up from where the "World of New Krypton" storyarc left off, the Superman Family and the Legion of Super-Heroes help the Kandorians defend New Krypton from Braniac's army, only to soon encounter Lex Luthor and General Zod in the conflict.
- Superman: War of the Supermen: Following the events in "Last Stand of New Krypton", Superman finds himself caught in a war between the Earth and General Zod and his followers.
- Superman: Grounded: After the events in Superman: War of the Supermen, Superman enters a walk around American soil, hoping to rebuild his relationship with the American population, who had felt neglected by his absence during his stay on New Krypton.
- Superman: Reign of Doomsday: Lex Luthor uses Doomsday to hunt Superman's sidekicks in an effort to keep the Man of Steel himself away from foiling his mission to find the Black Lantern ring.
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Early Years: Post-Final Crisis exploration of young Clark Kent's adventures with the Legion of Super-Heroes.
- Superman: Action Comics Book One: Superman and the Men of Steel: Reprinting the opening storyarc of Action Comics (series volume 2), which features the Post-Flashpoint version of Superman's origin where the Man of Steel himself struggles to get along with humanity.*****
- Supergirl Book One: Last Daughter of Krypton: Post-Flashpoint origin of Supergirl.
- Superman Beyond: Man of Tommorow: Adventures of the Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-12 Superman. A must-read for Batman Beyond fans.
- H'El on Eath: H'El plans to restore Krypton, but the Superman family plan to stop him as his attempts may threaten the people on Earth.
*Regarding stories reprinted for Superman in the Fifties feature the same mainstream incarnation of Superman, note that it wasn't until the late 1960s and 1970s that DC Comics confirmed that there were then in fact two mainstream versions of Superman within canon continuity: the Pre-Crisis Earth-Two Superman (whose history accounts for all the canon Superman stories from the late 1930s to early 1950s, except the Superboy adventures, but places them on a real-time scale as opposed to sliding timescale, which applies to Pre-Crisis Earth-One) and the Pre-Crisis Earth-One Superman (whose history accounts for all canon Superboy stories from 1944-1986 as well as much of the canon Superman stories from the 1938 through the mid-1980s).
**Superman in the Eighties contains not only Pre-Crisis Earth-One Superman stories, but also stories featuring the Post-Crisis Superman.
***While Clark Kent does marry Lois Lane after the "Zero Hour" event, their marriage was later erased from the main Superman history by the universe merger that occured in Flashpoint (Vol. 2).
****The re-erger of New Earth in Infinite Crisis reinstated General Zod in Superman's mainstream history after the Kryptonian villain himself was previously erased out of existence by the COIE merger.
*****This storyarc implies that Superman's Superboy career have been erased from his main history a second time.
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