By Adam of @TalkingSuperman — Fans of Superman comics are some of the most fortunate fans in pop culture. For eight decades the character has been a coveted gig for some of the greatest talents in the comics industry. This has resulted in abundance of meaningful stories, interesting analysis of the character, and gorgeous pieces of pop art…so much that can be difficult to sort through it all at times. The goal of this list of the 100 Superman comics is to promote Superman Day (June 12th), but it is also to showcase some of the character’s greatest hits for new readers as well as hidden gems that even the more hardcore fans may have missed. It’s not a ranking or by any means a comprehensive list of every best story…it’s simply 100 stories that I personally would recommend to anybody.

Click here to check out picks #50 - #1!

100 Superman Comics

100. Mann and Superman. Superman and a struggling average Joe freaky Friday for a night. And guess what, both learn a lesson.

99. Superman: Where is thy Sting. An exploration of Superman’s relationship with death. Dialog could’ve come across pretty tacky but Liam Sharp art makes it feel like poem.

98. Superman Adventures #11-12: “The War Within”. Scott McCloud low key writes the best Lois Lane in this series. This story being a highlight of that.

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97. Superman Beyond #1 and #2. This one may intimidate some because it’s a tie-in to Final Crisis. But I read it before I’d read the event, and it totally stands on its own. Superman himself is shown to be the ultimate story of the multiverse in this two-issue tale.

96. Superman #149. This is the original death of Superman story, and it’s written by Superman creator Jerry Seigel. It also starts as a great Lex story and ends up going through what every character thinks of Supes.

95. What Lies Beneath. This is the debut story of the recent Greg Pak / Aaron Kuder run. It features extremely vibrant and energetic art, very creative new villains, and the best Lana Lang story ever.

94. Forever People #1. It gets buried under Jack “The King” Kirby’s long list to of accomplishments, but I really believe Jack Kirby is one of the best Superman writers. He was ahead of his time in how he explored the character on a deeper level.

93. Blue Beetle #15. Of course a big part of being the ultimate and premier superhero is being a good example to the newer folks in your field. My personal favorite example of this is with Jamie Reyes, aka the Blue Beetle.

92. Action Comics #332, #333, and #335. Luthor stops trying to physically beat Superman and just exclusively tries to gaslight him. One of the better examples of Silver Age stories focusing on the emotional problems of the physically unopposed, which was a rare approach in that era.

91. Legend of the Green Flame. This is to my knowledge the only time that Neil Gaiman has done a full Superman story. It’s all the imagination you’d expect from him, including what happens when Superman goes to Hell.

90. Injustice #30. From what I understand, Tom Taylor is a big Superman fan, but he just happened to be saddled with two separate books that starred an evil version of the character. This issue was a step back to show Supes as a simple sweetheart again, illustrating the value of that.

89. Superman Y2K. Obviously a dated title, but the story totally holds up. Brainiac is sold as the main feature of the story, and he definitely sticks out with an experiment (that in my opinion is no good) in a new art technique. But, most importantly, this story is secretly one of Lex’s best.

88. Superman: For All Seasons. You already know Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are one of the strongest teams in comics. This was an instant classic. Often regarded as the best interpretation of Smallville

87. Lost Hearts. What if Superman was in the roughest, poorest, parts of the mostly shining city of Metropolis? How is it different sparking hope there? These questions make for an excellent story.

86. Superman: Camelot Falls. One of the biggest criticisms of the character is that absolute morality is boring, too simple. Anybody who’s taken Ethics 101 knows it’s not. This story is Superman’s trolley problem.

85. Action Comics #554. Alien invaders erase Superman from existence. The cover says it best: “IF SUPERMAN DIDN’T EXIIST SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO CREATE HIM”…and who better than two kids, kids named Joe and Jerry.

84. Superman #4. It’s not the first appearance of Lex Luthor, but I think it’s the first step to his unique deeper personality. Anything you can do I can do better: Superman and Lex edition.

83. DC Comics Presents #61. OMAC is not the first hero that comes to mind to team up with Supes, but boy it works. If you love your superheroes to show their determination, this is the issue for you.

82. The Nail. Different than the majority of this list because Superman is largely absent, but that’s the story. What if the Kent’s didn’t find Clark? The answer is more creative than you’d expect.

81. Superman Secret Origin. This is my personal favorite origin. Largely because of the effort to acknowledge everything in the Superman mythos, including the Legion of Super-Heroes. It’s not just going through the checklist of important events in Clark’s life, it’s also an effort to explore what things mean thematically, both at the time and going forward

80. Action Comics Annual #2. The half naked Super-gladiator. What’s not to love. This story is just a whole lot of fun.

79. Action Comics #800. This is one of the strongest milestone issues in all of comics. It features excellent scenes of regular people being inspired by the idea of Superman.

78. Superman: The Man of Steel - Crisis at Hand. Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove recreate the famous sequence in which Golden Age Superman fights off a wife beater, but they do it while showing how tragic situations of domestic abuse are more complicated than simply throwing trash out a window.

77. Action Comics #484. In my opinion, this is the superior Lois and Clark wedding issue. It’s more on the scale of the characters, and it also acknowledges Clark’s duel heritage.

76. “3-2-1 Action.” if you’re one of those people that just doesn’t care about Jimmy, this may be the collection for you. Set at a time Jimmy had the power of showcasing his Silver Age transformations so he can handle a fight, but still a story about why Jimmy is great without violence.

75. For the Man who has Everything. This is another classic from the team that brought you Watchmen. Superman sees a Krypton that never blew up, but the Black Mercy is a monkey paw…

74. Superman Beyond. With the success of Batman Beyond, it was obvious the next step would be to show Superman in that future. The TV show just kinda gave us another brainwashed evil Supes, but this digital first comic was the exploration of what Superman and Metropolis are in that time.

73. Superman Smashes the Klan. This is the most recent release on the list. I can’t imagine you haven’t seen it recommend at least five times already, but it really lives up to the hype.

72. Grant Morrison’s JLA. I’ve been trying to avoid adding team books to the list, but this run really does have many of Superman’s greatest moments ever. In fact, there are so many go moments throughout the run that I can’t pick just one arc. It also has the most clever use of Electric Blue powers too, if that’s something you’re interested in.

71. Kamandi #29. The greatest Superman issue where Superman never shows up. This is another example of Jack Kirby being ahead of his time with the character. Kirby was the first to explicitly parallel Superman to a messiah figure. Plus, apes!

70. Brainiac. If you love Brainiac, you probably already know that this is the top Brainiac story. If you want to know why people like Brainiac, here ya go. If you want to know why Gary Frank is many people’s favorite Superman artist, right here. The amount of weight he can add to this sci-fi storytelling is incredible.

69. Superman #53. Krypton was not a big part of the Golden Age Superman stories. For many years it was just a couple panel explanation of Superman’s powers. It wasn’t until Batman creator, Bill Finger, came aboard that they explored the effects of what it means coming from a deceased planet

68. Adventures of Superman Annual #1. This marks the debut of long-time Superman artist Dan Jurgens. It’s another story of complicated moral philosophy, about how the character handles assisted suicide.

67. Worlds Finest #92. The appearance of Skyboy. The idea was a no brainer. Give Superman his own Robin. For whatever reason, it just didn’t stick. Just a fascinating story of a largely forgotten character.

66. Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #7. A cool thing about team-ups is that creators who are on less well known books who possibly won’t ever get their own Superman run can have a shot at saying what they love about the character. That definitely felt like it was the case here.

65. Superman Inc. Elseworlds stories where Kal’s rocket ends up in a more exotic time and place are pretty common. This one, however, does bring something new to the table. Instead of What If Superman Landed in X Country…it’s what if Superman used his powers to be Michael Jordan?

64. Rebirth Annual #1. One thing you learn reading Superman books is that his team-ups with Swamp Thing are always good. This one edged out the others on the list because of the incredible feat of visuals from Jorge Jimenez and Alejandro Sanchez. The sense of motion here is insane.

63. Superman Unchained. I really think Scott Snyder did for Superman here what he had done for Batman in Court of Owls. He brought a new debut for a new villain in an impressive way. Plus, this series has some of the strongest pure action scenes in all of comics

62. Superman #164. A notable issue contributing to Superman’s history of boxing, and it’s now generally considered a milestone Lex vs. Superman battle. This issue also has an appearance of the planet Lexor, a location that I think makes some of the most fascinating silver and Bronze Age stories.

61. Superman #140: The Son of Bizarro. Bizarro Lois and Bizarro no. 1 have their first child. Unfortunately he’s repulsive to the citizens due to looking like a typical baby. The result is he ends up in the same orphanage as Kara and hijinks ensue

60. Superman: Strange Attractors. This is the collection of writer Gail Simone’s only major work on the character (Action Comics #827-835), and it’s packed with a ton of great character moments specializing in bouncing off many other interesting characters both civilian and superhuman.

59. Superman 713-714. The last two issues of the Grounded story. Grounded as a whole, I find fans are split on. In my opinion, there’s many good moments but just too many really bad ones to include the whole saga on this list. However, the righting of the ship in the last two issues really made for some of the best content.

58. Adventures of Superman #2. In modern comics, there’s nothing that has the same vibe as Jeff Lemire’s written and drawn work, but Superman stories don’t seem like a natural fit for it. Lemire seems to be a creator who knows his strengths, and he delivers a beautiful story to match what he does well.

57. Superman: Man of Steel #80-83. Due to chronological kerfuffles, this title was tasked with going back to the Golden Age. The result is Simonson and Bogdanove frankly going farther into an actively Jewish myth Nazi fighter than the original ever did.

56. Superman/Batman #63. This is my personal favorite Superman/Batman story, and it’s a great one and done, where Superman is inspiring in Grodd’s bleakest dystopia. Plus, more comic book apes!

55. Superman: For Earth. This story is a hard stance for an environmentalist Superman, and it makes sense that a man who lost one planet would be so passionate in stopping us from destroying another.

54. New Super-man. It’s not the same character as the rest of the list, but it’s truly the best Superman content of its era. This comic explores what it means to be Superman in a completely new and interesting way.

53. Superman: Last Son. This story features the introduction of Chris Kent. It’s nice to see Lois and Clark in the same position as the Kent’s: adopting a child in need. Plus, it’s a great showcase of a lot of awesome villains. It’s absurd to me that people will still say Superman doesn’t have one of the strongest rouges galleries.

52. Escape from Bizarro World. Bizarro world issues are always a fun time, looking at opposite jokey versions of a bunch of characters you love. In this story, under all of that you still end up with a touching story that I recommend every year on Father’s Day.

51. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow. I know people want to talk about Alan Moore, but reflecting on this story again I think that it’s Curt Swan’s best work. This one is sold as the ending story of pre-Crisis Superman. I don’t think it would feel true without the irreplaceable charm of Swan’s art, though.

Click here to check out picks #50 - #1!

Adam runs the Talking Superman Twitter feed, which features daily discussions, great moments, and general fun things about Superman and DC Comics. You can find him on Twitter here.