The best Superman stories of the modern era

[DragonPiece]

The early 2000's era of Superman is such a fan era, it's hard to recommend because there aren't many defining singular stories, but I wish DC would collect some of them in a omnibus format or something.

[K7P5V]

Another thing about Emperor Joker is, I'm a fan of someone's villain popping up somewhere else. It shouldn't be overdone, just every now and then. And the chemistry has to be there, which Superman and Joker have. When it works it can be really fun. I'm looking forward to the Leviathan stuff for that reason.

And yeah, Speeding Bullets is kinda one of those forgotten about stories. I always liked it.

Thank you for your insightful response. It is greatly appreciated.

Jumping on the overlooked/forgotten time period conversation, I'll throw Loeb's Superman/Batman run out there. I enjoyed that and it might actually be the standout for me from that little era. So I'm adding Public Enemies to my list.

Great addition. I love everything about Public Enemies, especially the Loeb/McGuinness reunion.

[Kuwagaton]

Public Enemies is probably my least favorite from Loeb, as the characterization in that story was off and it was a weak way to end Pres Lex. I liked the rest of S/B, especially with Ed Mcguinness drawing still.

There were some neat trades of the stories from then but they're kind of hard to read as stand-alone stories. Ir was still a point in time where stories had past and future plot seeds present.

But that's just word stuff. I thought Kuwagaton was alluding to something in the structure of the story-telling and the sequential art form. And I don't think someone reading a comic for the first time would know how a page is supposed to be broken down or how the action is supposed to be paced, in order to see that something is not right with the times.

Oh, yeah, I just meant the word stuff. From what I know comics rarely possess the sort of storytelling that people above teenaged have an issue working out.

[Jim Kelly]

You have to know that you're supposed to read from left to right, top to bottom, and which dialogue balloon (or caption) to read first in the panel. And there's still a lot of comics that trip me up--especially with the kind of breakdowns some artists like to do. Give me a good old grid pattern like in WATCHMEN or THE NEW FRONTIER.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

On the other hand though, that very feature might be why no one really remembers that run. There’s like a huge gap in the collective memory between Triangle Era/Loeb and when Johns/Busiek took over.

I think that gap is why Casey was even able to get away with it. DC Editorial knew that Superman was going to get a soft-reboot anyway after Infinite Crisis, so they let him do whatever he wanted, which was pretty much the exact opposite of what many Superman readers were looking for--a Superman who doesn't punch anyone. However, as a creative experiment, I really enjoyed it while it lasted. I'll take well-intentioned experimental Superman comics over the bland superhero soap opera that the vast majority of Superman's comics are any day of the week

[Kuwagaton]

I had just started coming around at the time and the big thing then was Birthright. Where we definitely saw BR creep into Seagle's story, Adventures in 2003 just seemed to be pure Joe Casey finally free of the triangle. And maybe it was the help of Palmer, but Berganza was really on point.

[ngroove]

Brainiac (Action Comics #866-870) and Grounded (Superman #701-714).

[madmodpoetgod]

I would addd Joe Casey's pacifist Superman... the meta-fictional masterpiece.

[marshal88]

the dominus effect where superman got split into 4 eras - golden age , silver age , bronze age and 2999.

superman king of the world

[Kuwagaton]

Thanks for bringing that up, marshal. It's my favorite and a pretty significant achievement in serial storytelling.

I guess two oversized collections from Superman Forever to King of the World will never happen, but it's a pretty great epic and kind of interesting given the popularity of "Evil Superman."

[superduperman]

If modern era refers to the 21st century I would say American Alien, Secret Identity, the Smallville Season 11 comic, Trinity, Earth One, and New 52.

[The Frozen Reptile]

I am partial to the New Krypton storyline. Imagine if all of a sudden this culture shock happened, and suddenly you weren't unique anymore? How Superman handled it was spot on for me.

[dancj]

Secret Identity
Red Son
Superman and the Legion of Superheroes
Braniac
American Alien

I actually count Emperor Joker as one of the worst.

[Vordan]

I am partial to the New Krypton storyline. Imagine if all of a sudden this culture shock happened, and suddenly you weren't unique anymore? How Superman handled it was spot on for me.

It was full of so much potential that I’m sad didn’t really get to have the conclusion they were originally working towards. We instead got the last minute slapped together editorially mandated conclusion to reset the status quo.

But a three way war between Zod, Lex, and Brainiac with Supes caught in the middle between Earth and New Krypton? Bloody brilliant opportunity there to push Supes to his limits.

[Ascended]

I would addd Joe Casey's pacifist Superman... the meta-fictional masterpiece.

Man, I struggle with that concept so much. On one hand, it's a really cool way to approach the character and I totally see the appeal. It's pretty fascinating. But on the other, Clark's a man of action, always has been, and I adore that two-fisted dispenser of justice from the Golden Age who wasn't afraid to throw his weight around.

And of course there's the challenge of writing a pacifist in a genre that's all about violence.

I think it's a fantastic idea for "future Superman" but not something you can really pull off in the "ever-present now."