What Are the Darkest Edgiest In-Continuity Superman Runs?

[SuperCrab]

A lot of people make reference to the 90s being a darker edgier time for comics in terms of story-tone. Did this bypass Superman completely, or are there some runs on particular comics where things got intense and edgy, with shocking swerves and whatnot? I've read some things from the 90s that seem to fit that description more than the Rebirth Superman does, but since the Rebirth Superman is aiming for the opposite, that's not saying a lot!

Can anyone think of anything off the top of their head that might fit that bill? I really only got into comics during the New52 era and worked my way backwards to specific things, so like I've read a ton of Superman stuff from various different eras (And am "in progress" actually reading some other runs people have recommended to me as money and time allow from all different points in the Superman timeline), but not the way some people who were actually following along month to month and issue to issue in the moment for decades now have. I guess I'm a lifelong Superman fan in a sense- I saw the movies at a young age, watched Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (Dean Cain, Terri Hatcher])on TV, etc.. But I came to comics kind of late (Albeit several years ago now. I watch to say maybe 2012, which would be five years ago, but I don't really remember. I know it was after the beginning of the New52, but not *right* at the start.).

The first thing that occurred to me when I thought 90s and dark and edgy was Superboy Prime. I've read Infinite Crisis, but I think it was literally the second thing I read- the first being Crisis on Infinite Earths (After the two Crisises, I went forward to Flashpoint and then launched into New52 Superman several years ago)- when I got into this stuff, so I would have just understood Superboy Prime as an evil Superboy or Superman from an alternate universe (A concept I'd have already been familiar with from my lifelong enjoyment of science fiction novels and television shows- all the alternate universe stuff was a draw and didn't cause me to miss a beat), but I probably wouldn't have really "gotten it" in the sense of understanding just who this guy is in precise terms and the tropes and meta commentary that he would have represented to the fan base. I think I'd get it now. So, I'm actually going to re-read that soon- the 7 issues I already have, and also "Countdown to Infinite Crisis", which I didn't read at the time, but which is free on Comixology.

Anything else dark and edgy from that time period involving Superman?

[Kuwagaton]

They tried just a little back when he was brought back to life. The death of Adam Grant was like getting the feet wet. Michelinie brought some of his late stage Spider-Man stuff to the table. Like Bloodsport the racist and "I'm losing my miiiind" from Dead Again, bit of death (naturally) and destruction from the Death of Clark Kent. It got pretty '90s, but not really dark or with a sustained edge.

After that the turn of the century got kind of weird. Lots of awkward nine eleven-ish trauma to the world around him that left him feeling bad. This can be seen in some of Kelly, Verheiden, Seagle, Austen, Azzarello, and Rucka. Rucka is so generally good I consider myself privileged to have even gotten the chance to tell Rucka how much I enjoyed his Punisher run... but Superman is not the Punisher. You can argue this extends to Camelot Falls.

[RedWhiteAndBlueSupes]

I don't think Superman was ever really as dark in the 90's as some folks say he was. After his death and return he started to be somwhat darker, I suppose you could say "our worlds at war" is somewhat dark, Trial of Superman/Death of Clark Kent kinda stand out as overly "90s" Emperor Joker maybe? But really when I think of the "darkest" like overly dark Superman I think more 2000 and onward. Like in "For Tomorrow" where he straight up causes a big chunk of the worlds population to vanish, and fails to heal a priest with cancer. It's also stated a young Clark stopped going to church when he was like 14 or something. Pretty much everything from "For Tomorrow" to "Sacrifice" is pretty dark dreary Supes.

[FishyZombie]

somewhere I imagine between this
the_stupidity_of_superman_by_maltian-d91v32q.jpg
and this
4582499-9441543267-45672.jpg

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Chuck Austen's run tries really hard to be edgy. One of the worst runs ever on the Superman books.

It's a crossover, not a run, but Lost Hearts is also up there as one of the worst Superman stories, tries really to be edgy and dark.

Any Superman comic featuring Bloodsport II would also count.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

I don't think Superman was ever really as dark in the 90's as some folks say he was. After his death and return he started to be somwhat darker, I suppose you could say "our worlds at war" is somewhat dark, Trial of Superman/Death of Clark Kent kinda stand out as overly "90s" Emperor Joker maybe? But really when I think of the "darkest" like overly dark Superman I think more 2000 and onward. Like in "For Tomorrow" where he straight up causes a big chunk of the worlds population to vanish, and fails to heal a priest with cancer. It's also stated a young Clark stopped going to church when he was like 14 or something. Pretty much everything from "For Tomorrow" to "Sacrifice" is pretty dark dreary Supes.

Agreed, except for one little detail. It's not that he failed to cure cancer, he actually didn't know whether he could or not. And he outright told Leone that he wouldn't try.

Yep, For Tomorrow, Sacrifice, and the crapfest called Truth.

For Tomorrow RULES.