What stories have improved the most upon re-reading?

[DrNewGod]

The first dozen or so issues of Action Comics. The genre's conventions hadn't yet emerged, and those stories were more Saturday Matinee Serial sci-fi/crime stories more than superhero stories. In several of the early issues issues, Superman hardly appeared in costume at all. What's more, S&S were not at all timid about going after corrupt institutions.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

What reading order?

I read them in the order they appear in the TPBs.

That is the reading order. If you buy the individual issues, things can get muddled.

[Hol]

Brightest Day. I am not saying it is good but I enjoyed it quite a bit when I re-read it and I did not like it the first time. The only reason I even re-read it was because I was skimming through back issues and just love those covers. Got pulled in.

[superduperman]

The first dozen or so issues of Action Comics. The genre's conventions hadn't yet emerged, and those stories were more Saturday Matinee Serial sci-fi/crime stories more than superhero stories. In several of the early issues issues, Superman hardly appeared in costume at all. What's more, S&S were not at all timid about going after corrupt institutions.

He also killed people on occasion. Or at least allowed them to die. And took glee in it.

[DrNewGod]

He also killed people on occasion. Or at least allowed them to die. And took glee in it.

...of if not glee, without remorse. He had a lot more in common with Guy Gardner or Adrian Chase back then.

[Jim Kelly]

Yeah, but you can probably count on one hand the deaths that Superman was directly responsible for. Accidents do happen and some characters died by accident but the Action Ace wasn't all cut up about it. He was probably responsible (if not criminally) for some meeting deaths that he had caused through misadventure. And all these deaths were in 1938 and 1939, before Whitney Ellsworth became the editor. That isn't the most important thing about those stories for me.

The three main things I noticed, the last time I re-read those early tales, were that 1. Superman stages his own morality plays intended to teach folks a lesson 2. there's a developing rivalry between Clark Kent and Lois Lane as they pursue the same story 3. the stories are set up to show off spectacular deeds of the Man of Tomorrow, with each new story wowing the readers with another amazing feat. The folks that happen to get in the way don't always end up alive by the end, but they were just there to assist in the stories accomplishing these three main goals.

[DrNewGod]

Yeah, but you can probably count on one hand the deaths that Superman was directly responsible for. Accidents do happen and some characters died by accident but the Action Ace wasn't all cut up about it. He was probably responsible (if not criminally) for some meeting deaths that he had caused through misadventure. And all these deaths were in 1938 and 1939, before Whitney Ellsworth became the editor. That isn't the most important thing about those stories for me.

The three main things I noticed, the last time I re-read those early tales, were that 1. Superman stages his own morality plays intended to teach folks a lesson 2. there's a developing rivalry between Clark Kent and Lois Lane as they pursue the same story 3. the stories are set up to show off spectacular deeds of the Man of Tomorrow, with each new story wowing the readers with another amazing feat. The folks that happen to get in the way don't always end up alive by the end, but they were just there to assist in the stories accomplishing these three main goals.

Cool insights.