Superman stories that doesn't involve him turning evil or dying

[AquaLantern]

With the Death of Superman getting an animated adaptation (again) and the popularity of the Injustice series, I've heard that the only way for Superman to be interesting is to make him evil or have him die. And it's like saying the only way an origin story for anyone in media to be good if it has a dead mom in it.

I never bought into it and thought these overused methods are the cheap and laziest ways to get people to care about Superman. I don't see how making him an constant antagonist suppose to get him fans nor having him dead.

I wanna know about stories that don't include the following

1. Superman being evil or the bad guy
2. Superman dying
3. Superman losing a fight to Batman (throwing this in because that's becoming too frequent)

[GreatKungLao]

You need all 3 in one or at least where one of the subjects is not followed? Because if it is the latter, then

1. All-Star Superman.

1 and 2. Superman: Secret Identity, Superman Earth-One (so far), Superman: American Alien, Superman: Secret Origin, Superman: For Tomorrow. Entire DC Rebirth run so far.

3. Can't remember any and it is a really bad sign.

[AquaLantern]

You need all 3 in one or at least where one of the subjects is not followed?

All of the above.

[Kuwagaton]

Action comics has about 1000 issues by itself, Superman as a self titled series has like 800. Those numbers don't include at least half a dozen other ongoings over the last 80 years, any specials, or limited series. To lowball we can say that total is half of the main titles, so that's 2700. Stories where he dies, just starts out, becomes evil/antagonizes others, or loses to Batman in some fashion would have to be 10% at the very most.

[Soubhagya]

Do you want a list or you want to discuss a bit about them? I am ready to talk about a few of my favorites. I loved your query.

I can understand stories of Superman dying. It is testing for any hero. During such tests the best of one's character is brought forward. Good writing can make such stories stellar.

Injustice guy is interesting? I never found that. Injustice is popular due to the gore and an interesting storyline. That guy was not interesting in my opinion. Those who think he was interesting may have a taste of seeing something dark or they maybe substituting dark for realistic. Grim and darkness does not equate realistic. I found that guy to be unrealistic. Christopher Reeves in films who would bring cats down from the trees makes complete sense if one uses a little common sense (becoming rarer nowadays). The only evil Superman story that i have both read and enjoyed, hence recall is Red Son. Dark Knight Returns is a Batman story.

From my limited reading(fan after Rebirth) i can bring up quite a number of issues. Without touching GreatKungLao's books (which i have read except for Earth One are fantastic) i can speak of a few books which are my favorites: Kingdom Come, Birthright, Man Of Steel, Issues from Superman Adventures( I have not read the whole run. It includes one arc of him dying. A personal favorite is #41). Hitman #34 "Of Thee I Sing", "Action Comics 775, Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow, Superman For All Seasons, For The Man Who Has Everything. These are some of the classics that i have read by now.

Some other great reads: Superman/Batman #1-6 (Public Enemies), Superman: Peace On Earth, DC One Million, Escape from Bizarro World, Superman #1(Yes. No 1 which has Action Comics #1).

There are a lot of books i have to read with eyes on JLA run of Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns' Braniac, Legion of Superheroes, Emperor Joker, etc. If i make a list of such books it would not be fair. You can find recommendations easily. (And i have not read them to discuss).

I have not read Pre-crisis except for the two mentioned as well as New 52 (Superman #39 is an absolute favorite. One of the four books i have read by now from that period). And Post Crisis is a work in progress with a humble beginning in Bryne era. I am loving almost every issue i am reading from there.

I would absolutely love to discuss those issues as well as why i find Superman fascinating. My favorite over the years were Batman and Wolverine due to some awesome shows and films. On reading comics i am finding Superman to be my absolute favorite. That by reading practically nothing if you consider almost 80 years of continuous publication.

The thing working against him is that many writers can't figure out what to do with him. Understandable considering that he has undergone a lot of reboots and continuity changes and an almost unhealthy obsession of going back to his origins again and again. Feel free to discuss this. A very interesting topic for a Superman fan.

[Zero Hunter]

Superman and the Legion of Superheroes (Action Comics 858-864) Superman get brought to the future by his friends in the Legion to help them after things go very bad. The villains have turned the Earth's sun red so Superman does not even have his powers for most of the storyline.

[AquaLantern]

Do you want a list or you want to discuss a bit about them? I am ready to talk about a few of my favorites. I loved your query.

I'm interested and thank you.

To me it doesn't matter how well how someone uses those plots, it gets boring if all they can do is constantly telling his origin or killing him off.

[Soubhagya]

Will you be happy with only a plot outline like Zero Hunter?

[Soubhagya]

If you don't want origins you have missed some great stories. Man of Steel, Birthright, Secret Origins, American Alien, Superman for All Seasons are all origin stories. Each of them are good to great. I have not read Earth One so can't say about it.

[AquaLantern]

Will you be happy with only a plot outline like Zero Hunter?

I'm curious.

[Soubhagya]

I am speaking of four for now. I won't go into details in case you want to read and enjoy them. I will post more later.

1. Superman Adventures. This was a run based on the continuity of Superman The Animated Series. It is surprisingly good for a tie in book. I have not read it completely. There are a lot of gems here. I don't know if it was fully collected as trades. All issues are available digitally. My recommendation is issue #41. '22 Stories in a Single Bound'. Written by Mark Millar the issue has a single story in every page. I can say this to be a contender for the definitive issue of Superman. Villains, supporting characters all get a chance to shine. It shows the impact of Superman on everyone. Mark Millar's run in Superman Adventure is one of the best runs of Superman. I am giving an attachment. (Which is but a snapshot from Wikipedia). Since you don't want Superman dying i can't recommend #11 and #12. But it was a great mini arc.

Attachment 55573


2. Hitman #34 is awesome. Hitman was an anti-hero in DC during the 90s. It was a really great run by Garth Ennis and John McCrea. Superman was in issue 34. It is named as 'Of Thee I Sing'. It has no action except for a flashback. Angsty heroes are in trend nowadays. This shows Superman as this friendly guy you can easily talk and relate to. He can be a contrast to the other heroes in these times. You need someone brighter when everyone is practically frowning and wants to fight for barely any reason. A more meditative issue, Superman reflects upon his impact on the world and how they see him. He thinks of this after a failure. ( I have heard about a JLA/Hitman. I have heard it is really good. Would like to hear from a fan who liked it. It is in my list to read).

3. Superman #39 is another favorite issue of mine. It was during New 52 run so i can't say everything clearly. In this issue Superman is without his powers for 24 hours due to a power called solar flare. He revealed his secret ID to Jimmy Olsen in the earlier issue. And he spent the day as an ordinary guy. Even without his powers he was every bit a Superman. Still putting himself at risk to protect lives. Helping out in his capacity. If you remember Captain America The First Avenger when Steve was simply a skinny guy with a big heart you can understand what i feel about this issue. It had many good lines but the last line which Clark says about how he felt about not being Superman for a day really clinches it for me.

4. DC One Million: This was a DC event during the year 1999. This is my number one story of Superman. Grant Morrison wrote the story of Superman achieving the impossible. There are many great issues here. It can't be strictly called Superman because it touched the entire DC universe, but it can be called so because the event was centered around Superman. And he is the hero who touches the entirety of DCU. In this story Justice League of the 853rd century travel back to the past i.e. our present. They invite the Justice League to their time to celebrate the return of Superman Prime from his self imposed exile to the sun. He was apparently the same Superman who was alive even in 853rd century. The future JL was to take care of the world in the original's absence. But there was a conspiracy and both teams were trapped in those times and had to fight to survive. It is a bit esoteric. Not everyone loves this because Grant Morrison has these grand ideas which is not for everyone's taste. I loved it wholeheartedly. It had a gimmick. For a month every single issue published by DC was numbered as issue number #1000000. Which was supposed to represent the one millionth month after the publication of Action Comics #1 in 1938. The main story is in four issues. The whole event is collected. There are a lot of good issues for this event.

I will be back.

[adkal]

In Exile

Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite

Time and Time Again

[Jackalope89]

Do you want a list or you want to discuss a bit about them? I am ready to talk about a few of my favorites. I loved your query.

I can understand stories of Superman dying. It is testing for any hero. During such tests the best of one's character is brought forward. Good writing can make such stories stellar.

Injustice guy is interesting? I never found that. Injustice is popular due to the gore and an interesting storyline. That guy was not interesting in my opinion. Those who think he was interesting may have a taste of seeing something dark or they maybe substituting dark for realistic. Grim and darkness does not equate realistic. I found that guy to be unrealistic. Christopher Reeves in films who would bring cats down from the trees makes complete sense if one uses a little common sense (becoming rarer nowadays). The only evil Superman story that i have both read and enjoyed, hence recall is Red Son. Dark Knight Returns is a Batman story.

From my limited reading(fan after Rebirth) i can bring up quite a number of issues. Without touching GreatKungLao's books (which i have read except for Earth One are fantastic) i can speak of a few books which are my favorites: Kingdom Come, Birthright, Man Of Steel, Issues from Superman Adventures( I have not read the whole run. It includes one arc of him dying. A personal favorite is #41). Hitman #34 "Of Thee I Sing", "Action Comics 775, Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow, Superman For All Seasons, For The Man Who Has Everything. These are some of the classics that i have read by now.

Some other great reads: Superman/Batman #1-6 (Public Enemies), Superman: Peace On Earth, DC One Million, Escape from Bizarro World, Superman #1(Yes. No 1 which has Action Comics #1).

There are a lot of books i have to read with eyes on JLA run of Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns' Braniac, Legion of Superheroes, Emperor Joker, etc. If i make a list of such books it would not be fair. You can find recommendations easily. (And i have not read them to discuss).

I have not read Pre-crisis except for the two mentioned as well as New 52 (Superman #39 is an absolute favorite. One of the four books i have read by now from that period). And Post Crisis is a work in progress with a humble beginning in Bryne era. I am loving almost every issue i am reading from there.

I would absolutely love to discuss those issues as well as why i find Superman fascinating. My favorite over the years were Batman and Wolverine due to some awesome shows and films. On reading comics i am finding Superman to be my absolute favorite. That by reading practically nothing if you consider almost 80 years of continuous publication.

The thing working against him is that many writers can't figure out what to do with him. Understandable considering that he has undergone a lot of reboots and continuity changes and an almost unhealthy obsession of going back to his origins again and again. Feel free to discuss this. A very interesting topic for a Superman fan.

Superman/Batman Public Enemies has actually been done. Slightly differently from the comics, but it was.

[TheCape]

Camelot Falls.
The Return of the Krypton Man.
Kryptonite Nevermore.

[PyroTwilight]

The Novel- Miracle Monday

The Pocket Universe Saga/The Supergirl Saga