What is your favorite version of Superman?

[Johnny Thunders!]

Bronze Age Comic:

“Superman flashes through the limitless darkness...the glittering stars in all their majesty become mere luminous blurs...one after another the barriers fall... Superman bursts the very bonds of infinity! ‘In sanity’s name, what have I done?’”

[Sacred Knight]

Its an amalgam that I'm not even sure has been put to page. Visually I think Jose Garcia Lopez. Characterization-wise I think Golden Age/Fleischer/New 52. Lore-wise I think Silver/Bronze Age.

[Kuwagaton]

For me it’s Bronze Age Superman, he’s the leader of the Justice League, he’s in a shaggy haired version of the legion, he’s may or may not have had a billion red kryptonite and imaginary stories, they’re making movies about him, he has huge tabloid size books, and it’s all face value, no irony, capital S, Superman! Even his Clark Kent has a back up feature.

That was a good quote, too.

For all the visuals I love (like how that gritty Swanderson art rendered the bizarre in a plain style which makes it look even more absurd) the writing was pretty equally fun


Cary Bates is my favorite comic writer in large part because of Superman. To do the weird and fantastic across so many stories with such a good balance is crazy to me.



But my favorite style of Superman is really from Dorfman's last years of stories. I like how being older I guess, it's less traditional superhero stuff but still feels so epic with that weird sense of relevance.

[Johnny Thunders!]

Yeah Cary Bates And Elliot S! Maggin, they didn’t seemed stumped by Superman. Cary Bates created Terra Man, he and Maggin are like a Lennon and McCartney on the character. He created Terra Man, he co wrote Who Took the Super out of Superman, and he has an equally epic Flash run. I love The Miraculous Return of Jonathan Kent but a Bates Superman comic is gold standard. I’m surprised he started so early almost late Silver Age. Dorfman wrote Superman Red and Superman Blue, the original. One of the fathers of All Star Superman really. Guys like Jonathan Hickman or Jason Aaron Thor owe something to Leo Dorfman. I think Swan is an all timer, so good it’s invisible almost, I think his 60s stuff are his best. I particularly love the Legion when he and Shooter were a team. Superman strolling through the Adult Legion memorial room, the Death of Superman books, Curt Swan!

[stargazer01]

probably All Star Superman

[bat39]

This is a tricky one!

The Superman I was first exposed to was the DCAU version, as well as the Post-COIE version, so in many ways those formed my base template of what the character is like.





But over time I've come to appreciate a lot of different incarnations of the character across media. Some of my favorites include Cavill Superman from the movies, Morrison's New 52 Superman, and American Alien.

[stargazer01]

I was raised on Donner Superman, so I like some amount of silver age stuff in his stories, but I also like some of the realism of the Man of Steel film. I love a hopeful, commanding, powerful, confident, romantic, optimistic and friendly Superman that tries to connect with the people, but who also has challenges like any other person. Only his challenges are bigger in scope trying to balance his own personal life with saving the world.

[Falcon16]

Superman TAS version, with Fleischer Superman as a close second. Those series are so good!!

[JAK]

This.
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[Jim Kelly]

The two Superman writers from the 1950s and early 1960s that I know the least about are Robert Bernstein and Jerry Coleman. There's a little more info on Bernstein (from Wikipedia)--he also worked for E.C., Archie and Marvel--and he was a concert impresario and playwright. Coleman, I got nothing.

[Quinlan58]

Always liked the few Bernstein Superman stories I read. That King Superman vs Clark Kent Metallo issue lives rent-free in my head.

[manwhohaseverything]

The pulp fiction superman..The original "i fight for those who cannot fight for themselves" kickass champion..

[DABellWrites]

It's a tie between Siegel and Fleischer. Jerry Siegel because I see so much interesting characterization you can do if you work on the character, rather than making him this mean, tough guy bully. Siegel's Superman is compelling in many ways, I don't see him as a power fantasy like so many describe him. I see him as a character limited by Jerry Siegel writing. No, I don't care too much for Morrison's Superman. Fleischer just got it right, if you ask me. It's fun, thrilling, Superman is Superman. Lois Lane is the reporter trying to get that big story to prove she can hang with the boys. Ah, I can go on.

These two are my faves.

[Falcon16]

It's a tie between Siegel and Fleischer. Jerry Siegel because I see so much interesting characterization you can do if you work on the character, rather than making him this mean, tough guy bully. Siegel's Superman is compelling in many ways, I don't see him as a power fantasy like so many describe him. I see him as a character limited by Jerry Siegel writing. No, I don't care too much for Morrison's Superman. Fleischer just got it right, if you ask me. It's fun, thrilling, Superman is Superman. Lois Lane is the reporter trying to get that big story to prove she can hang with the boys. Ah, I can go on.

These two are my faves.

Imagine if Brainiac had existed in the '40s. I think Fleischer would've loved him.

[exile001]

The Loeb/McGuinness version is my all-time favorite

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