BEST versions of Superman!

[GreatKungLao]

I seriously thought that I would be the only one to list DCEU among the best versions of the character. Glad to be wrong!

By the way, while we are on topic, I was checking out my shelf and spotted Secret Identity, which was a very interesting take on Superboy Prime and the character of Superman in general. I would call it one of the best versions as well, because that Clark Kent was a normal human for the most of his life and when he got his super powers, he handled it like a true Superman.

[Flash Gordon]

George Reeves' Superman, for sure.

Morrison's AC Superman

I'll add more later.

[superduperman]

I loved Secret Identity. It's Earth Prime Superboy done right! To read that book and then look at what they turned Prime into later on just makes me sad because it's so much wasted potential. I didn't really "get" All Star when it first came out because I've never really liked Morrison's "meta" references but as time has gone on, he makes more and more sense to me. My only real hang up with him today is that you can't really fit him into mainstream continuity because he and Lois were clearly never married in that universe. Which means if I wanted to take a mainstream Superman story and shoehorn it into the All Star universe, it can't be one that references the marriage. But Morrison was clearly going for classic Superman with that one at a time when the mainstream books were kind of a mess. My first real exposure to Alan Moore was For The Man Who Has Everything and I couldn't believe they didn't just stick him on the mainstream books and give him carte blanche to just do whatever he wanted! I honestly believe the entire reboot could have been avoided altogether if they had (granted, I'm not sure there was any other way to avoid it at that point). I knew after reading that story I had to read Watchmen! Interestingly enough, I actually have the following annual that has the letters column for FTMWHE and fans were just stunned this kind of story could be done with Superman! What's also great about it, is that it also fits neatly into it's own continuity. Yes, it's pre-Crisis but it doesn't necessarily need to be. It works great as a stand alone story. I could easily see something like this being inserted into an Adventures of Superman or Sensation Comics type of anthology series. One of the funnier stories that I had heard was that years after Rob Liefeld's company had folded, Liefeld found some of Moore's ideas for things like Supreme and wondered why they never got off the ground and somebody else told him that it was because he ran his own company into the ground.

Another version that I don't think gets enough credit but definitely fits into the "classic" narrative is the Generations series. It's the Golden, Silver, and "Dark" ages all rolled into one. I would love to see someone take this universe back up, even if it's not Byrne himself. I see it as Byrne not so much "making amends" for the reboot so much as him just getting to have fun with the character he didn't get to have with the reboot.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Morrison's: Extending through his Action run (hell, I'll even fold in Pak's work as an extension of that), JLA, Final Crisis, and All-Star, since he's made clear he intends that all as one character.

Strange Visitor (from Adventures of Superman #16)

Birthright

American Alien: Not what I'd want the main take to be, but if you're doing straight-up Superman As One Of Us, this is how.

Bronze Age: Silver Age had a better batting average, but this is where he really starts to take shape as a *character* under Maggin, Kirby, Bates, and Moore.

Fleischer

Ennis's take in Hitman

George Reeves' Superman

Secret Identity (insomuch as he counts)

The current CW version

Very good choices (of those I've read and seen).

Morrison is for my money the best Superman writer ever. Despite in many ways being the opposite of his approach, I also think the triangle era version of Superman is pretty underrated.

[Soubhagya]

My previous post was based on my little experience with comics. This one is on other media. And my experience here is even shorter. For instance i am yet to see: Lois and Clark, Smallville, George Reeves, the older cartoons including Fleischer. I have a lot to catch up starting with Fleischer.

Christopher Reeve's Superman: Even here i have seen only the first two. And Reeve is simply magical. We are indeed fortunate to see his performance. He is the closest to Superman we could ever have. And his dual role is endlessly entertaining. So much has already been spoken about him. The supporting cast is great. Margot Kidder has to be my favorite Lois Lane. Marlon Brando gives a great performance as Jor-El. Seriously, how could someone be so good in a role one is bored of? Gene Hackman as Luthor is entertaining to watch. The smaller roles like Perry White, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent are nice. The films are entertaining even now, though they have some dated elements.

Timmverse Superman: I love Superman The Animated Series and Justice League. People always tend to forget Superman. Batman was a groundbreaking series. It still feels fresh and innovative today. Justice League was an event. Sandwiched in between them Superman is not talked so much. Which is a shame really. It is a show of really high quality. As a kid i was totally impressed by its thrilling action sequences. As a grown up it is still great. Its supporting cast is fantastic. Dana Delany as Lois Lane is perfect. I can't decide which Lois i love the most. Margot Kidder or Dana Delany. The villains are great. Whether Luthor who is one of my favorites, or Toyman who is genuinely creepy. I bet this is the best view of Darkseid we can ever hope to have. And its tie in comics Superman Adventures has no right to be as good it is. I have not read the series completely but there is some genuinely great material here.

CW Superman: Tyler Hoelchin as Superman is pitch perfect. If i would imagine Superman now he would be like him. His Superman and Clark Kent are both perfect. I want that Superman show with him as the lead. I would prefer it over the Krypton series any day. The last episode of the season left a bad taste. But that is forgivable due to the writing and the purpose for which he was brought here. Reeve's Superman is also not free of this stuff like the infamous kiss or towards the ending of Superman 2 when he beat up the guy who beat him before. Superman is supposed to be better then us. But Reeve's performance is fantastic. Same is here with Hoelchin. I really love his performance. DC shall give Superman his own show in his 80th Anniversary. And Tyler Hoelchin shall be the lead. If there can be two Flashes why can't there be two Supermen?

From the animated movies i will mention two.

1. All Star Superman: This is a wonderful adaptation. I have some minor complaints here like the lack of Superman Squad, the prison scene with Luthor was problematic and Superman appears a bit flat. But as an adaptation it is really good.

2. Superman vs The Elite: This is my favorite Superman movie. I love this more then any other live action movies. It is a movie which in my opinion improves the source material. 'What is so funny about Truth, Justice and The American Way?' is loved by a lot of fans. It is one of the best stories of Superman. I agree. But somehow it did not work for me as well as for other fans. The story was too short. The villains simply appeared to challenge him and be defeated. Superman seems a bit off to me. And in my opinion it was foolish to even try to show Superman's way is better then the then popular 'Authority'. It would be an acknowledgement.

But the adaptation finds all time to address this. When the Elite arrive Superman tries to extend his hand of friendship. And they seem to admire him and want to work with him till the inevitable clash. The end battle was truly fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the final fight. It is rare to see Superman go for broke. And it is a thrilling sight. I really love this film. And Lois Lane is fantastic. That voice of Pauley Perrette with some good writing gives a memorable Lois Lane.

Special mention has to be made for DCEU Superman. GreatKungLao has touched upon this wonderfully. At the first viewing of 'Man Of Steel' i loved the action, the flight sequence and the ending. But it left me cold. The film is divisive. And after subsequent viewing of this and its sequel i have conflicted feelings. I like something. I dislike something else. But as Superman the character this is really good. Just like GKL mentioned there are consequences of his actions and decisions. And he deals with it. He is just a guy who wants to help others because it is the right thing to do. How can that sentiment not be of Superman?

Try to see him as Superman who is trying to find his way and one can love him. Amy Adams as Lois Lane is great. She is another favorite Lois Lane of mine. I think it would have been better if she would not have known Clark Kent as Superman. I don't buy the explanation that this makes her appear foolish. He is Superman. He can do everything including fooling the smartest person in the world. If you go down this route even Luthor can find out his identity(oops!). It appears that this Superman is not as good at hiding his identity as almost every other version of Superman. I would rather have Clark revealing his identity by himself to Lois or Lois figuring it out on her own after sometime. There are some good performances. While i completely oppose this Jonathan Kent, i can't deny the performance of Kevin Costner. Jor-El, General Zod, Martha Kent are all pretty good. I like Eisenberg's performance as Luthor. He is supposed to be the guy you hate. I hope they shall improve Superman in subsequent films. I hope for a more balanced portrayal in the next films. The film series has ambition which is good but something seems to be lacking.


As a footnote Injustice game. The game is really enjoyable and the time when the real Superman shows up and beats up his Regime counterpart is the closest that i can have to a good Superman game.

More Superman in other media would be added after i see them.

[Ascended]

I've never seen Justice League Action. Is it any good? It sounds of a Justice League version of Batman Brave and Bold.

I just bought the first season on blu-ray for my kids just last week. And yeah, its largely Brave & The Bold with a wider cast, though Batman still gets more play than anyone else.

It's fun. Not on the level of the original DCAU or Young Justice, but it's solid. My daughter enjoys it; the episodes are only 15 minutes long or so and she's only 4 so its perfect for her attention span.

There's an episode called "Under A Red Sun" that's all about Superman, and it's probably the best treatment I've seen him get in larger media in years. I won't spoil it, but it's a perfect example of why Superman is the biggest badass in the universe.

Also, another great version of Superman I didn't list earlier.....Rebirth Superman. Now, how we got to that point was a clusterf**k people deserve to lose their jobs over, but the Tomasi run was absolute gold for the first year or so, with some stand-alone issues to rival Pak's Bizarro World or Morrison's Krypto and Action #0 issues. The family dynamic was a lot of fun (if a little too Norman Rockwell for my tastes) and I am surprised by how much I came to love them living on a farm and how much I miss it now that it's done. Really just a solid title, with a nice blend of Triangle era character development and Bronze Age high-fi adventure.

[BBally]

Silver/Bronze Age Superman

This is the Superman I grew up with, the Silver Age with its over the top elements and the Bronze Age with the way it toned down those elements but not too much, the Bronze Age is a good example of giving Superman interesting stories without depowering him. Also this gave us the most multi dimensional version of Lex Luthor particularly when written by Elliot S! Maggin.

Superman Rebirth

This seems to be DC's attempt of make a composite Superman and all his different eras and I love it, we got the Post Crisis stories back, we still have parts of the New 52, heck some stories brought back some Pre Crisis elements.

The Donner/Christoper Reeve Superman

To me, Christopher Reeve was not only the best actor to play Superman but the best actor to play a superhero period, the first movie still holds up quite well and is still my favorite Superhero movie. Among all the live action actors, Reeve provided such a convincing portrayal of differentiating Superman and Clark Kent that in my opinion no other live action actor was able to capture since.

Post Crisis Superman

Like the Silver/Bronze Age Superman, I grew up with the Post Crisis era too especially stories from the Triangle Era, this Superman especially from John Byrne's run was also the most accessible for many newcomers to the character. My first Superman comic was the post crisis debut of our favorite imp Mxy and I clearly remember the ruckus caused by the time when DC decided to kill the Man Of Steel "for real". This era also gave us more emphasis on the supporting cast.

All Star Superman

From my favorite Supeman story, this captured the wonders of the Silver Age but with a modern twist, I've read and heard many comments that say they never cared for Superman until they read this story.

The Radio Serial and Fleischer Superman

Both voiced by Bud Coyller, both the radio serial and the animated shorts gave the Man of Steel his biggest exposure at the time and the radio series introduced elements that would become part of Superman lore such as Superman's ability of flight, the Daily Planet, characters such as Perry White and Jimmy Olsen and even Kryptonite, the show also had Superman take on the forces of intolerance like the KKK. The shorts are possibly one of the more faithful comic adaptations ever. Coyller gave both Superman and Clark Kent distinctive voices that help differentiate the characters, which is something I feel many voice actors fail to do.

Golden Age/Pre-Crisis Earth 2 Superman

True this Superman is rugged, the stories are simple, but this was the beginning and the stories were just simple pulpy adventure fun. The Bronze Age issue where E2 Superman and Lois Lane got married was a great issue.

Smallville Season 11

The comic continuation of the Smallville TV series was just a genuinely good comic series that even those who hate the TV show liked the comic and this comic's Superman was well written to the point that I wished this was the New 52 instead of what we got, he even had a better trunkless suit.

Secret Identity Superman

Basically the life Superboy Prime would've had if not for Crisis on Infinite Earth.

New 52 Superman

This Superman was screwed over by mishandling done by DC's editorial, his character was so inconsistent, at one point he would come across as the Superman we all know and love except with a different suit, at other times he was written under that "This isn't Daddy's Superman" gimmick. I loved Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics, I enjoyed Greg Pak's run, Geoff John's run and Scott Snyder's Unchained but other stories just gave this version of the character a bad rep among several long time Superman fans.

[Adekis]

There's an episode called "Under A Red Sun" that's all about Superman, and it's probably the best treatment I've seen him get in larger media in years. I won't spoil it, but it's a perfect example of why Superman is the biggest badass in the universe.

Under A Red Sun from Justice League Action is one of the best Superman stories ever. The whole show is generally phenomenal but that episode specifically sticks in my mind as above and beyond the rest. I totally love it.

Actually, it's so good that it actually makes other stories look bad to me. You ask me if I like the film Man of Steel and I'll usually say that it's not the version of Superman I'd most like to see a film about, but it's pretty close to perfect on Lois Lane, Superman's pretty damn well done, Zod is awesome, Krypton's unique and fascinating- I generally love it! But if I've just seen Under A Red Sun, my answer to "do you like Man of Steel" is closer to "well, er, technically-- nah."

[Dispenser Of Truth]

There's an episode called "Under A Red Sun" that's all about Superman, and it's probably the best treatment I've seen him get in larger media in years. I won't spoil it, but it's a perfect example of why Superman is the biggest badass in the universe.

That was great - Jason Lewis might be turning out to be just about my favorite Superman voice actor. Alongside that though, yesterday morning's episode with Grodd had a serious contender for my favorite Superman moment of the year, a throwaway bit where he's flying around the world to build up momentum for a gigantic blow spoilers:

and Pa distractedly calls out "Hi, Clark!" as he blasts over the Kent farm at Mach 20.

end of spoilers (Really, don't look at that if you haven't see the episode yet, it's great and deserves to actually be viewed as intended.)

[Ascended]

I looked at the spoilers. I'm not going to watch any new episodes until they come out on blu-ray, and then only as long as my kids are still interested in the show. Other than Young Justice Im not a big cartoon guy. So spoilers away!

But that scene does sound awesome.

Quick question; has Mister Terrific shown up yet? He's on the show's opening credits and he's on the blu-ray case, but I didn't even see him in backgrounds during the actual show. Made me sad; I was really looking forward to seeing him.

Though Firestorm does make up for that. Heat is ON!!

EDIT: on a fun side note, the only reason I bought that blu-ray is because my daughter and I were watching Black Lightning cartoon shorts on YouTube, which we thought were from JLAction.....turns out they were from some Cartoon Network thing. So my little girl is convinced there's extra episodes Im not letting her watch.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

To paraphrase an old quote, a great depiction of Superman is like pornography, it's not easy to define it, but I know it when I see it

The perfect Superman exists in our heads, pieced together from all the various incarnations and distilled into one impossible to fully articulate version of the character that is unique to each person.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I looked at the spoilers. I'm not going to watch any new episodes until they come out on blu-ray, and then only as long as my kids are still interested in the show. Other than Young Justice Im not a big cartoon guy. So spoilers away!

But that scene does sound awesome.

Quick question; has Mister Terrific shown up yet? He's on the show's opening credits and he's on the blu-ray case, but I didn't even see him in backgrounds during the actual show. Made me sad; I was really looking forward to seeing him.

Though Firestorm does make up for that. Heat is ON!!

EDIT: on a fun side note, the only reason I bought that blu-ray is because my daughter and I were watching Black Lightning cartoon shorts on YouTube, which we thought were from JLAction.....turns out they were from some Cartoon Network thing. So my little girl is convinced there's extra episodes Im not letting her watch.

Justice League Action is fantastic. It's a shame it looks like the show hasn't caught on and won't be renewed.

Mr. Terrific has only showed up once from the episodes I've seen, but he is prominently featured in a two-hander with Firestorm.

Strange that he'd be so prominently featured in the advertising, but only showed up once. Same with Green Lantern.

[manduck37]

Yes! A best versions thread!

Morrison/All-Star: From Morrison's perspective, all his versions are the same guy. So I'm including the whole of his work.

Bronze Age: Some great stories here, including Moore's work.

Reeve/Superman: The Movie: My introduction to Superman as a kid. Still has the most convincing Clark/Superman portrayal. Reeve made them feel like two different people.

Birthright: A pretty influential and fantastic update to Superman's origin.

Fleisher Cartoons: Beautiful and awesome. Well worth seeing.

President Superman Calvin Ellis: For an alternate world take, this guy is my favorite. I wish there were more stories about him.

Superman Rebirth: Finally, an interesting and natural progression for the character.

Golden Age: Where it all started. A rough and tumble Superman that's fun.

[Agniwolf]

superfriends superman: this one is the first superman i ever watched and still has a place in my heart, he was just so funny and versatile

TAS superman: this one was the superman with a struggle, i still think that jl and jlu did injustice to him, he was not as resourcefull as in tas

N52 superman: this was the guy that hooked me into the comics, i was able to read superman/clark as a person with all the flaws and qualities. i liked his proactiveness more especially under pak, soule and morrison and feel real sad to have him erased because the editorial used him as a stunt and sabotaged him, this was the superman that shoud have lasted the next 20 years. a pity it will never be so

MOS superman: this one made me fell a contextualizated superman, altho i also like reeves i never understood why so many criticize him when he makes sense to our actual standards

C.Reeves superman: im also one of the people that grew with this version and i like what he stand up for, but again he does not fit the "actual" time anymore, but i love what he represent especialy given his context at the time

[KC]

Silver/Bronze Age Superman: I love the characterisation of this Superman. Also, this era had many great and fun stories.

All-Star Superman's Superman: This version of superman shows everything that is great about the character.

Tyler Hoechlin's Superman: Hoechlin's Superman is earnest, kind, honest and funny. Every time he was on screen, I had a massive smile on my face.