Superman is one of the greatest superheroes in the history of the comic medium. Superhero comics as they're known today wouldn't exist without Superman — the biggest selling comic character for years. Since 1938, Superman stories have entertained and inspired millions, creating moments that are etched into the memories of comic fans worldwide.

Superman is as timeless as the mythological heroes of old. The best Superman stories are as entertaining as they are uplifting, turning him into an icon like few other comic characters. With so many different interpretations, all kinds of amazing stories have been told — revealing Superman's greatest qualities along the way.

Updated on December 29th, 2023 by David Harth: Superman is the first superhero and some would say he's the best. Over the years, there have been many brilliant Superman stories. Recent years have seen a Superman renaissance of sorts, with more great Superman stories coming out. Superman is the gift that keeps on giving to the discerning reader.

15 Superman: Space Age Is A Retro Superman Masterpiece

Superman stories from around the DC Multiverse have always been great. One that revels in the Man of Steel's Silver Age heyday is a recipe for success. Superman: Space Age is a masterpiece of a miniseries. The story chronicles the life of Superman, culminating in his life as an adult in the 1960s. Superman falls in love with Lois, battles Lex Luthor, forms the Justice League, and eventually runs into a strange young man named Pariah, who informs the Man of Steel that the world is going to end in 1985.

That is the premise of Russell and Allred's three issue Superman epic. Superman: Space Age proved DC's Black label was about more than umpteen gritty Batman tales, instead telling an excellent retro-futurist epic. Everything about it is brilliant, and the stakes keep getting bigger and bigger with every issue. The ending is a bit of a mind-twister and will leave fans feeling like they've run a marathon through the Man of Steel's life.

14 Superman: Lost Tells A Unique Sci-Fi Superman Tale

Writer Christopher Priest is one of the under-praised greats of the comic industry. Priest has worked on multiple brilliant comics, and his return to DC in 2022 gave readers two great long form series on two of DC's most powerful characters: Black Adam and Superman. The comic Superman: Lost is a universe spanning epic that kicks off when Superman and the Justice League respond to an emergency involving a crashed spaceship. The ship's star drive is going critical, which could form a black hole that will devour the Earth. Superman figures out a way to stop it, but in doing so, throws himself across the universe. The League believes him dead and mourns him, but Superman returns several weeks later, telling them it took him decades to get home.

That's a winner of a premise and the book delivers on it. Superman: Lost focuses on a more vulnerable Superman as the story flashes between him trying to get home, his powers wrecked, and dealing with the reality of his situation in the present. Time dilation caused time to pass differently for Superman as he traveled at the speed of light home. Making things more complicated, Superman ends up stopping several times to save planets, intertwining his life with many others and making promises he can't hope to keep. In the present, Lois has to deal with her distant husband, asking for help from Lex Luthor, which creates a brand new situation. Priest is in rare form here, and Pagulayan gives readers brilliant Superman art that will stand the test of the time. Superman: Lost is a journey and one readers will be glad they went on.

13 Action Comics #1050 Kicks Off A New Era Of Superman Comics With Aplomb

Technically, Action Comics #1050 is the final part of the story that dealt with Superman coming back to Earth after defeating Mongul on Warworld, but it's good enough to read completely on its own. Lex Luthor has come up with a way to devastate the Man of Steel. Luthor uses the telepath Manchester Black to wipe the world's mind of Superman's secret identity, but there's a deadly catch. Anyone who learns Superman's true identity dies of a heart attack. Luthor uses the machine, killing Black, and begins his attack. Meanwhile, the Kent family is about to meet Perry White for dinner when the wave hits. It doesn't affect the family in the farmhouse thanks to Justice League tech, but does work on Perry.

Clark and Jon are called away to deal with a disaster and when they return in costume, Perry has a heart attack. From there, Superman discovers the truth about the situation and who is responsible. What follows is the best Superman and Lex Luthor fight ever, especially when the villain reveals why he did what he did. Action Comics #1050 sets in the motion in the latest Superman status quo and it's all around excellent.

12 Superman And The Authority Is Grant Morrison's Final Superman Story

Grant Morrison has been wowing DC fans for over thirty years. Morrison has told stories with all DC's greatest characters, and made legends out of Z-listers. Morrison has written multiple best of all time Superman stories, and for their last one at (at that time), the writer deals with Superman at his weakest. Superman And The Authority is the story of an older Superman whose powers are on the wane. To make up for his fading powers, the Man of Steel gathers a new team, beginning with his enemy Manchester Black.

From there, Superman recruits Apollo, Midnighter, OMAC, Lightray, Enchantress, and Steel to help him battle his oldest foe and his greatest foe. Superman And The Authority is a brilliant Superman story. Morrison always does an amazing job with the Man of Steel, and this is no different. The story subtly changes Superman history, and prepares him for the future. Superman And The Authority is integral to the current Superman renaissance, as its ending kicks off the best Superman story of the last decade.

11 Warworld Saga Is A Sprawling Superman Epic

Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson took over Action Comics and Superman after Brian Michael Bendis left the books and would begin planning his Superman masterstroke. He laid down the beginning of "Warworld Saga" and established the weakening Superman. Johnson continued writing Action Comics after Superman's cancellation and the story began in earnest. The story followed Superman and the Authority as they tried to free Warworld from Mongul's clutches.

Of course, things go terribly awry, and everyone is captured by Mongul. Superman isn't through, though, as he continues to foster resistance to Mongul as a gladiator. The "Warworld Saga" is an epic in every sense of the word. It electrified readers and is the story that is truly began the current Superman renaissance. This action-packed tale exemplifies everything amazing about Superman.

10 Kingdom Come Focuses On Superman To Tell A Story About The Power Of Heroes

Kingdom Come, by writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross, is officially a story about DC's greatest heroes, but it's a Superman tale at its heart. The Man of Steel is the story's the most important character. His retirement spurs the other heroes of his generation to abandon the world to the next generation and his return sees them come back to help him clean up the world.

Kingdom Come is a legitimate masterpiece of the comic world. Its tale of timeless heroism follows multiple heroes and highlights the impact Superman has on the world at large. It's the kind of book that can make anyone love Superman and the DC Universe.

9 Superman And The Legion Of Superheroes Is Their Best Modern Team-up

Geoff Johns's run on Action Comics has several gems and one of its high-water marks is Superman And The Legion Of Superheroes, with art by Gary Frank. Superman is pulled into the 31st century to help an older team of Legion of Superheroes deal with the racist Earth Man and his Justice League of Earth. With a red sun shining down on Superman and the Legion at their lowest ebb, the heroes have their work cut out for them.

Post-Infinite Crisis, Superman's origin with the Legion was reinstated, making this their first team-up since. It also brought back the most beloved version of the team, older versions of the pre-Crisis team that proves why the Legion is timeless, if a little labor intensive to get into. Johns and Frank are a skilled team and craft a story which has all the hallmarks of a great Superman tale.

8 Superman: Red Son Presented A Very Different Kal-El

Superman: Red Son, by writer Mark Millar and artists Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett, is an Elseworlds classic and the best one starring Superman. Instead of landing in Kansas, young Kal-El lands in Russia. His life turns out very differently, becoming a symbol of Stalin's Soviet Russia and battling against the evils of capitalism.

Superman: Red Son is one of Millar's finest works. It hits all of the right Superman notes, despite telling the tale of a communist Superman raised by Stalin trying to make the world a better place in his way. Johnson and Plunkett do a great job on the art, bringing the story to life.

7 The Death Of Superman/Reign Of The Supermen/The Return Of Superman Saga Is One Of The Highlights Of '90s

The Death Of Superman was a landmark of '90s DC and kicked off a Superman saga unlike any other in the Man of Steel's history. For Superman, death was only the beginning. Soon four different people wearing the big red "S" showed up in Metropolis, all claiming to be the real deal. Eventually, one of them shows their true colors proving the one true Superman had returned.

This multi-year saga carried through all four Superman titles running at the time. In a decade when other multi-year epics were on the rise, The Death of Superman showed the rest how it should be done, presenting an epic story about the death and life of the Man of Tomorrow.

6 Superman: Last Son Of Krypton Is The Best Superman Vs. Zod Story

Superman: Last Son Of Krypton, created by Geoff Johns, legendary Superman director Richard Donner, and artist Adam Kubert, is essentially Superman II. A young Kryptonian shows up in Metropolis, is taken in by Superman and Lois, and an epic series of events gets set into motion. Before long, Bizarro and Lex Luthor become involved — later joined by Zod, Ursa, Non, and other Phantom Zone criminals.

Zod is one of Superman's greatest enemies and this is the modern story best captures his essence. Johns and Donner made a great team and Kubert's art on this project is some of the best of his long career. Superman: Last Son Of Krypton was Johns's first story on Action Comics and remains his best.

5 Superman: Up In The Sky Presents The Man Of Steel At His Best

Tom King is one of DC's top writers whose psychological method of storytelling wouldn't seem like a good fit for the Man of Steel. That's one of the reasons Superman: Up In The Sky is such a triumph. Superman takes a trip across the universe to save a kidnapped girl in a story that illustrates just what kind of hero he is.

Tom King doesn't do his usual psychological deconstruction in Up In The Sky, writing a straight Superman story. King understands Superman and presents him as the remarkable man the world has come to love. Kubert's art is top-notch as always, drawing Superman like he was born to do it.

4 Superman Annual #11 Is A Single Issue Masterpiece

Superman Annual #11, by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, is a stone-cold classic. Titled "For The Man Who Has Everything...," it showcases Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman bringing Superman his birthday gifts, finding him in the grips of a parasitic flower with Mongul waiting in the wings.

Meanwhile, the Last Son of Krypton is fighting his own battle against the life of his dreams. Moore and Gibbons are one of comics' greatest teams and this story reveals why. Superman Annual #11 is a comic every Superman fan needs to read, revealing just how much Superman will sacrifice to save the day — including the life he'd always wanted.

3 Grant Morrison's Action Comics Run Is A Mind-Bending Superman Epic

Even though they worked on only one ongoing Superman series, Grant Morrison's worked proved themselves one of DC's most prolific writers. Morrison got to helm Action Comics for its New 52 reboot, along with artists Rags Morales, Andy Kubert, Ben Oliver, and Travel Foreman.

Writing issues #1-18 and a special zero issue, Morrison's run is one long story, with each part immediately connected to the issue before. Finally coming together at the end, Morrison's mind-bending thriller and the talent of the artists present one of the strangest Superman epics ever.

2 Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? Was The Last Story Of The Pre-Crisis Superman

With Crisis On Infinite Earths underway, DC wanted to say goodbye to the version of Superman that fans had grown up with since the Silver Age. Writer Alan Moore demanded to be the person to write that story, producing Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? with artists Curt Swan and George Perez.

In an indeterminate future, Lois Lane shares the story of the last days of Superman to a Daily Planet reporter. Detailing how his enemies stepped up their attacks, Lois reports how a new Brainiac/Luthor team-up besieged Superman and his friends in the Fortress of Solitude. Alan Moore is an amazing writer, and Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? is one of his best DC stories. Swan, the man whose art defined the pre-Crisis Superman, is simply perfect.

1 All-Star Superman Is The Quintessential Superman Story

Writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman is an undisputed classic. The story starts off with a bang, as Superman stops Lex Luthor from destroying a mission to the sun. However, that was all part of Luthor's plan, causing Superman to receive a lethal dose of solar radiation.

Facing his mortality for the first time, Superman sets out to make the world a better place before he dies. All-Star Superman is a perfect Superman story. Morrison and Quitely are an amazing team and the story they tell is the definitive Superman tale, along with possibly the greatest comic ever.