About 10 years ago or so, I was in a bookstore that had one of those niche pop culture magazines on a stand and it had the greatest outer space superheroes of all time lost. Silver Surfer was #1, Green Lantern was #2 (both fair), and Superman was #19.
But Thor was #16.
I don't remember the rest of the rankings and was never able to locate that magazine again. But it got me thinking ... as an (allegedly) sci-fi character, Superman has had a lot of adventures in outer space.
Surely more than Odinson, right?
So let's construct the best of them in one comprehensive list, shall we?
Some ground rules:
1. No alternate universes. Has to be within one universe.
2. No other-dimensional realms. Hell (and any version of the afterlife) doesn't count.
That's it. Ok, I'll start us off with an extremely easy choice.
"Exile" (1988-1989).
Definitely the best Post-COIE Outer Space Superman story that I can recall.
We got Superman solidly dealing with the resulting trauma of willfully murdering the Pocket Universe Kryptonians.
We got the Post-COIE version of Mongul and Warworld.
We got an exceptional (IMO) reason for why ALL Kryptonians died.
Plus, Jerry Ordway and Dan Jurgens just hitting their artistic primes on this extended arc.
What other tales would make The Greatest Superman In Outer Space Stories Ever Told?