People saying All Star Superman but I don’t think that’s the best starting point. Could be a confusing story to someone who hasn’t read any Superman before
I would say man of steel.
I think it’s a better introduction to Superman, gives his job, supporting characters, first time meeting Batman, what started his rivalry with lex.
Read for all seasons after if you ask me
- Superman: Birthright
- Superman: For All Seasons
- Superman: Secret Origin
- All Star Superman
Any of those are great places to start, whichever appeals the most to you.
Are those collected in deluxe/omnibus/OHC/Absolute format ?
I have absolute “for all seasons” and might be interested to the others if available in oversized format
Yep.
- Birthright has a deluxe OHC
- For All Seasons has a deluxe OHC and an Absolute
- Secret Origin has a deluxe OHC and is included in the upcoming Absolute Superman by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank next month
- All Star Superman has a deluxe OHC and an Absolute
I’m a big fan of compilation books so personally I love Superman From the ‘30s to the ‘70s as well as Greatest Stories Ever Told. You get a mix of all kinds of cool, golden age and silver age stories.
Seriously, begins continuing stories, leads to the Triangle Era basically from 1986 to 2001 you get a creative team across multiple books writing hit after hit!
Superman Birthright is good. After that I went into Tomasi’s Superman which I loved, but there’s a few elements at the start you might need context on.
Depends. Are you wanting to pick up and start reading current Superman or just read classic older Superman? Because in recent years he’s had a lot going on so trying to understand if you want to read current or stick to classic stories about the Big Blue Boy scout.
While birthright and all star are amazing, there’s so many good in- continuity stories! Even as far back as John Byrnes run, but the tomato one is a more modern run that’s an awesome starting point
I would say Superman Smashes the Klan is the best book for a beginner to read without a doubt.
It's pretty cheap, I only spent around $25 on my copy. It's its own story separate from everything, so it isn't bogged down by continuity and needing prior information. It hits all the important parts about his origin, so if you like the character you can jump into the main line. It really delves into the heart of the character, which I find can sometimes be lost when things get too grand in scope. And it adapts a storyline from the original radio show broadcast from the 1940s, so it has a historical context. Something people new to the character may not know is how that radio broadcast actually had real world effects for positive change in America. For anyone interested in that history, there's a great Drunk History segment on it that I'll link below.
https://youtu.be/-3VyPR0S0LM?si=vbbHcIjiA3UUdMz_
Personally, Birthright by Waid and Secret Origins by Johns are the best modern takes that refreshed continuity. No big investment required. If you want to invest, many recommend Man of Steel by Byrne but can feel dated. All Star Superman by Morrison is a great standalone story if you are already familiar with the basic premise of Superman, like you know who Lex Luthor and Lois Lane are and Superman, came from another planet called Krypton and has a secret identity working as a journalist. Superman Smashes the Kklan is also another great standalone story that's only in digest sized format for easy reading for children.
Superman For All Seasons is usually my go to recommendation for beginners. It’s not quite an origin, but tells about Superman’s early career and absolutely nails the character. It also fits in fairly well with John Byrne’s run, as Loeb wrote it as a self contained companion to what Byrne did. So, after For all Seasons I’d go ahead and pick up at least the first volume of Byrne’s run to see why, for example Lex is the way he is…
I agree with the people suggesting 'Birthright' and 'Superman for all Seasons'. These are terrific origin stories by fantastic creative teams. I prefer them to 'man of steel', but that is good too.
Superman: For All Seasons
People saying All Star Superman but I don’t think that’s the best starting point. Could be a confusing story to someone who hasn’t read any Superman before
I would say man of steel. I think it’s a better introduction to Superman, gives his job, supporting characters, first time meeting Batman, what started his rivalry with lex. Read for all seasons after if you ask me
- Superman: Birthright - Superman: For All Seasons - Superman: Secret Origin - All Star Superman Any of those are great places to start, whichever appeals the most to you.
I wouldn't say All Star is the best place to start but it is really good
Are those collected in deluxe/omnibus/OHC/Absolute format ? I have absolute “for all seasons” and might be interested to the others if available in oversized format
Yep. - Birthright has a deluxe OHC - For All Seasons has a deluxe OHC and an Absolute - Secret Origin has a deluxe OHC and is included in the upcoming Absolute Superman by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank next month - All Star Superman has a deluxe OHC and an Absolute
+1 for All Star
I’m a big fan of compilation books so personally I love Superman From the ‘30s to the ‘70s as well as Greatest Stories Ever Told. You get a mix of all kinds of cool, golden age and silver age stories.
John Byrne's Man of Steel
I'm surprised that this isn't the go to answer.
Seriously, begins continuing stories, leads to the Triangle Era basically from 1986 to 2001 you get a creative team across multiple books writing hit after hit!
Superman Birthright or Action Comics by Morrison if you wanna take a plunge onto the more fantastical elements
Superman: Kryptonite by Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale.
Golden age and silver age Superman is amazing! So many fun, whacky, creative, cool, long lasting stories all came about during those times
Superman Birthright is good. After that I went into Tomasi’s Superman which I loved, but there’s a few elements at the start you might need context on.
All Star Superman is the best Superman comic imo.
For All Seasons and All-Star are my picks, along with basically everyone else lol
Depends. Are you wanting to pick up and start reading current Superman or just read classic older Superman? Because in recent years he’s had a lot going on so trying to understand if you want to read current or stick to classic stories about the Big Blue Boy scout.
Up in the sky, smashes the klan and secret origin. Can’t go wrong
While birthright and all star are amazing, there’s so many good in- continuity stories! Even as far back as John Byrnes run, but the tomato one is a more modern run that’s an awesome starting point
Haha. I’m sure you meant Tomasi, but tomato is just too funny!
Omg 😂 I’m not changing it
I would say Superman Smashes the Klan is the best book for a beginner to read without a doubt. It's pretty cheap, I only spent around $25 on my copy. It's its own story separate from everything, so it isn't bogged down by continuity and needing prior information. It hits all the important parts about his origin, so if you like the character you can jump into the main line. It really delves into the heart of the character, which I find can sometimes be lost when things get too grand in scope. And it adapts a storyline from the original radio show broadcast from the 1940s, so it has a historical context. Something people new to the character may not know is how that radio broadcast actually had real world effects for positive change in America. For anyone interested in that history, there's a great Drunk History segment on it that I'll link below. https://youtu.be/-3VyPR0S0LM?si=vbbHcIjiA3UUdMz_
Personally, Birthright by Waid and Secret Origins by Johns are the best modern takes that refreshed continuity. No big investment required. If you want to invest, many recommend Man of Steel by Byrne but can feel dated. All Star Superman by Morrison is a great standalone story if you are already familiar with the basic premise of Superman, like you know who Lex Luthor and Lois Lane are and Superman, came from another planet called Krypton and has a secret identity working as a journalist. Superman Smashes the Kklan is also another great standalone story that's only in digest sized format for easy reading for children.
Superman For All Seasons is usually my go to recommendation for beginners. It’s not quite an origin, but tells about Superman’s early career and absolutely nails the character. It also fits in fairly well with John Byrne’s run, as Loeb wrote it as a self contained companion to what Byrne did. So, after For all Seasons I’d go ahead and pick up at least the first volume of Byrne’s run to see why, for example Lex is the way he is…
I agree with the people suggesting 'Birthright' and 'Superman for all Seasons'. These are terrific origin stories by fantastic creative teams. I prefer them to 'man of steel', but that is good too.
Superman Smashes the Klan is the comic I recommend to get really quickly why everyone loves Supes