Superman Help

[Ricky Shay]

Hey everyone. I am trying to get into Superman, but have totally lost touch with the "status quo" of the current Action Comics and Superman runs. I don't mind going back a year or so on the issues for both runs to catch up, but I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions on the issues for both runs that will help? Thanks all!

[kman]

All Star Superman's pretty great. I'm not a superman aficionado or anything like that, but I found it to be a pretty great read. They have the first 11 issues out in a TPB now.

[sdowner]

Kman:
Just the first six, actually. Issue 12 came out a couple weeks ago and the series ended, so they'll collect 7-12 soon, I imagine.
I totally second the recommendation, BTW. All-Star Superman is made of awesome.

You've read Superman: Birthright, haven't you? Not all that new, and I don't think it was part of either ongoing series, but a very good reimagining of Superman's origin, and I believe it's the new "official" origin story. If you haven't read it, start here.

Kurt Busiek's Superman: Up, Up and Away collects the stories dealing with Superman's return after the Infinite Crisis and One Year Later events, so that would be an excellent place to begin with Action Comics.

After that Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Len Wein and Gerry Conway wrote Superman: Back In Action , and it's a thing of beauty in every way. An outstanding three-issue story with a couple sweet classic reprints to round it out. I heartily recommend it.

I also recommend the TPB of Superman And The Legion Of Superheroes. It collects a very recent run of Action Comics and it's quite good.

[Crimson Spider]

I third the recommendation for All-Star Superman.

And if you haven't already done so, check out Superman: Red Son and Kingdom Come. Also, Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" two-part story is excellent.

[jacon]

superman: red son, ftw

[Crimson Spider]

Another great Superman story can be found in Hitman #34.

[hadesillustrations]

Wow - I don't know any of the titles mentioned. The last Supes book I picked up was ages ago, but it was a great series: Man Of Steel, by John Byrne. He was, and always will be, my favorite Superman artist.

[Popninja]

Man Of Steel, by John Byrne. He was, and always will be, my favorite Superman artist.

Ditto.

Plus, his Action Comics and Superman runs from the 80's are fantastic stuff, as well. I believe these have all been collected in trades.

[FIG]

Red Son is awesome, great work indeed.

[Chris Major]

But not in-continuity, which seems to be what Ricky's looking for.

Unless of course he just wants to read good stories with Supes, in which case Red Son is mandatory reading.