By Filip Sablik
Here at Top Cow, we don’t publish a lot of straight up superhero comics. Most of the stuff we do is rooted more in other genres like horror, supernatural, sci-fi, espionage, and so on. Even the superhero style projects we do like Wanted or Twilight Guardian tend to be a bit left (or right) of center.
I (like almost all fanboys) grew up on a steady diet of superhero comics. My first love was The Uncanny X-Men during the Chris Claremont/Marc Silvestri/Jim Lee era. Years later, the 14-year-old part of me still can’t believe I’m working for one of the guys who initially got me excited about the art form. Thanks to George Perez and Marv Wolfman, I will always have a soft spot for The Teen Titans. But at some point in college I realized that my favorite superhero is Superman. Superman was the first superhero so that automatically makes him special. When was younger I often heard that Superman wasn’t “cool” because of his “truth, justice, and the American way” Boy Scout personality. Or that he was too powerful, so none of his stories had the threat of him failing. For my money, what makes Superman great is Clark Kent. It’s the man behind the power. It’s the idea that a god would choose to be a mere mortal. It’s because I get the impression that Clark Kent would still be “super” even if he wasn’t Kryptonian.
Here’s the thing though, I don’t own a lot of Superman comics. I’ve never really collected the Superman titles on a regular basis. When I look at the Superman books that I’ve read and kept, almost all of them are out of continuity stories like All Star Superman, Secret Identity, Son of Superman, and Red Son. Superman is an icon, a modern day mythological hero; because of that (and the more pragmatic licensing issues), he cannot change. He doesn’t really work for me in a serialized ongoing story. So here’s what I would do if I ran DC Comics – I would only put out stand-alone Superman stories by hit creative teams. If you want to run these stories consecutively in a comic series called Superman, I’m okay with that. But each time a new group of story-tellers comes on board the stage is reset to the basics – Clark Kent grew up in Kansas, he’s a reporter at the Daily Planet, he loves Lois, his boss is Perry White, his buddy is Jimmy Olsen, and he’s the best superhero in the world. Just start there and tell your very best Superman story without worrying about what came before.
What do you think, comic fans? What are your favorite Superman stories?
Take care,
Filip Sablik
Publisher Guy
Filip Sablik is the Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc. He’s been in the business for eight years and just officially entered his thirties. Occasionally, he does a bit of writing and drawing. He loves comics. Top Cow Productions, Inc. was founded by Marc Silvestri, co-founder of Image Comics. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I agree wholeheartedly, and would do the same for Batman.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Well, Jurgens told some great stories. It wasn’t as consistent towards the end, with the red and blue Superman, but he set the foundation to build upon
The best Superman issues came out at the turn of the millenium, with Loeb (when he was good), Kelly, De Matteis, Casey, and Schultz on the 4 books. Those stories were great, progressed Superman and expanded Superman by changing the things around him (which is the key thing to do with a character so iconic as Superman, since you can’t really change him).
They have them in trade, go read them. Great, great stories.
Action Comics #766, 768 and Man of Steel #118 are three of the best stories I’ve ever read in any form.
Then it turned to crap when Jim Lee and Brian Azzarello told a story that was not a Superman story. And THAT is the problem, too many writers get stuck trying to tell these stories about guilt and darkening Superman by putting him in morally challenging areas, and it just doesn’t work that way.
January 26th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I agree, I think certain characters are so iconic that it’s impossible to have real character growth or lasting status quo change in a serialized format. When I think of my favorite Superman and Batman stories almost all of them are either out of continuity or are TPBs that can be enjoyed on their own.
January 26th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I agree in every aspect. Superman is an icon and therefore it’s difficult to move him into anyone direction. I don’t know many people that read his book regularly. When they do pick it up they expect a certain set of things to still hold true to the character no matter what’s going on in the DCU.
Your idea makes a lot of sense and would help sales out a bit too.
January 26th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
@ Ken B. – thanks for the suggestions! I did read some of the issues during the Kelly, Casey, De Matteis, and Schultz era and have to say I did really enjoy a number of the issues. I also loved the original Man of Steel stories John Byrne told when he relaunched the character in the 1980s.
@ Andy – I agree. I think this approach would work for Batman and Wonder Woman.
Thanks for reading, gang!
Filip Sablik
Publisher Guy, Top Cow Productions
Read a full free issue of Witchblade at http://www.topcow.com/witchblade
January 26th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
My favorite Superman story isn’t really a Superman story at all. It’s “The Greatest Green Lantern of All,” featured in Superman #257 (October 1972). It tells the story of the Xudarian Green Lantern, Tomar Re’s ultimate failure in saving the planet Krypton. Re felt it was his greatest failure, but, at his retirement ceremony, the Guardians of the Universe tell Tomar that if he had saved Krypton, there never would’ve been a Superman, the universe’s greatest hero. It’s a touching story and makes you feel proud of not just Superman and his role in the universe, but also for Tomar Re, whose redemption leads him to become the greatest Green Lantern of all.
January 26th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I love Birthright. It’s my favorite Superman story actually featuring Superman. Keep in mind that I’m waiting for the Absolute on ASS, and that I don’t count Secret Identity as an actual Superman comic.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Interesting notion.
The Superman books have been pretty hit or miss over the years. The Byrne-Ordway era and the current Johns run have been the highlights for the last couple of decades in the monthlies. Before that, the early Schwartz books were fine but inconsistent. Loved Pasko and Bates; the rest not so much.
Tough character to write? Or editorial interference? Or indifference?
Maybe when the monthlies DO go away, we’ll find out.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I tend to agree. The best Superman stories I’ve read were Secret Identity, All-Star, Red Son. I actually really liked For Tomorrow until it dissolved into a fist fight. It looked at his humanity. I tend to also think that his interactions with the Legion are prime material that’s good, because that too looks at him having friends people he can feel comfortable around.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Superman was the first superhero so that automatically makes him special.
erm..not really.My favourite superman story is ‘Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow’ mostly because of the Kara and the legion scene it has to be said
January 26th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I’ve really been enjoying both superman books of late and personally prefer lois and clark being married because i could never get my head around the idea that she couldn’t figure out his secret. it was maddening. the same with batman and detective, and while i’ve also enjoyed final crisis (don’t hurt me!) i wish that it didn’t have to affect these four titles. i liked detective being done in one stories and batman being random morrison-ness and action being johns and frank updating the superman mythos and robinson examining clark as a family man. i think they’re all the best they’ve been for a long time. except for tony daniel. sorry, just don’t like it.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Geoff Johns and James Robinson (aided and abetted by Sterling Gates) are making Superman great again.
That said, Superman fails as a concept when folks come in to tell stories that happen to have Superman in them, rather than tell Superman stories. Superman stories at their core are about a guy from the Midwest fighting for what’s right–even if that happens to be in outer space.
I’m not sure I’d want to see Superman as a series of disconnected stories. I’m not a continuity hound, but I like subplots that develop over time.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I think this is a great idea, Filip… It’s certainly the kind of thing All Star Superman could be. An ongoing book that gets a different take each time a different creative team comes onboard.
To be honest, I love Supes in theory, but not so much in practice. I don’t like a lot of the in-continuity stuff I’ve read, although I do have a soft spot for the Byrne reboot/Man of Steel stuff. I also liked Exile, For Tomorrow (so sue me), and All Star Superman (too bad Morrison didn’t quit Batman and stick with All Star Supes instead). One sotry you didn’t mention, but might be my favorite Superman story of all is Loeb & Lee’s Superman For All Seasons. If you’re only ever going to read one Superman story, that’s the one I recommend the most.
I liked Kurt Busiek’s recent Superman run, I just felt he left the book too quickly and I haven’t liked where it’s gone since then. Johns has done good work in Action, but both Johns’ run and Busiek’s runs were plagued with delays that messed things up quite a bit. I think I liked Busiek’s run better, on the whole, though.
Mostly, I’d just like to see Supes really put his powers to full use more often. People complain about him being “too powerful” but to me it always seems like writers go overboard in trying to power him down or making him hold back. I think Superman, for being THE GUY in the DCU, seems to get his ass handed to him way too often. It’s been true in the comics and animated shows alike, either he loses his powers or he simply gets overpowered by the villains (or even other heroes) far more often than necessary. That’s when I get frustrated with Superman books.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Oh, Filip, while you’re here… When can we expect more Madame Mirage? That first series was great stuff!
January 26th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
I agree with Ken B. about that particular time of the Superman serials. They had great stories, like the Y2K Brainiac, the kryptonite poisoning and some parts of Our Worlds at War. And don’t forget President Luthor. I liked it.
Stand-alones: All-Star, Red Son, Secret Identity… A publisher can’t be wrong!
January 26th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
All this is suggesting is to write Superman for the trades instead of for a monthly. The only difference that you suggest is to put rotating artists & writers on the book. This would just be DC ripping off what Marvel is doing for Spider-Man. Don’t get me wrong: what Marvel is doing works. Maybe your idea has merit…
January 26th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
The reason I think Superman is great can be summed up by the first (and greatest) Superman movie.
Why? It literally made me believe that the impossible could be made possible. Forget the special effects and the casting for a moment. Although important, that’s not what I’m talking about.
In life sometimes bad things happen. Disasters kill thousands, real life madmen plot to kill innocents and sometimes it just seems that the inevitable bad thing will happen and nothing can stop it.
My 12 year old eyes saw the helicopter crash. A girl is hanging by a thread. She falls followed by the helicopter, potentially killing hundreds of onlookers below. It’s inevitable, right? Disasters happen all the time. Then out of nowhere a man flies UP to the falling girl and helicopter, defies probability (and physics) and forever changes what is “doomed to happen”, and all of a sudden hope becomes real. The evil that would ordinarily have been inevitable and would have been disastrous is defeated.
As a kid who was picked on daily for being too short, too thin, having glasses, for liking to read – who just wasn’t “cool” – who was going to bow to the inevitable fact that the world was just cruel and thats the way it was going to be – Superman the Movie literally gave me hope that you don’t HAVE to accept cruelty. That the impossible could be made possible and that hope for something better DID exist.
I know a lot of people just see an actor in blue tights in front of a bluescreen. To my 12 year eyes I saw hope in the fact that I didnt have to accept the world as it was. That one person, whether he was a “strange visitor from another planet” or not COULD make changes in the world for the better.
I know that’s pretty heady stuff but honestly, THAT’s why Superman will ALWAYS be the coolest.
And I still cheer and smile uncontrollably during the helicopter scene every. Time. I. Watch. It.
January 26th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
…I have to agree with the premise here.
I read the Super-books from the Byrne era through the Death of Superman and for a few years after that, and I liked them, but I can’t point to a particular story from those years that I could single out as movie-worthy, or iconic, or one that I would lend to a friend looking for a good Superman story. It’s not like X-Men where the great stories are in-continuity. Again, the candidates have been mentioned: Red Son, All-Star, For All Seasons. I would add Kingdom Come, which should count as a Superman story. I would add Birthright. Single issues: Action #775 is up there.
I do really enjoy Johns’ current run, though. Loved the Legion and Brainiac stories, though a bit lukewarm on New Krypton so far. Maybe this will be a run that generates some classics.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I don’t read Superman stories to see him change, but to see him be challenged and overcome adversity. And to care about the challenges, the reader needs to have an emotional connection to him, and for that connection, it helps to have a sense of continuity. (Though if you’re Kurt Busiek, you can make us feel for a character in just a handful of pages…see Secret Identity and the Astro City: Beautie special for a couple of examples.) As good as All-Star Superman was, the big weakness for me was it that wasn’t about “the” Superman but a “temp”.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I’m a huge Superman fan, but I think most of the last 20 years have been mediocre to terrible for the character, at least in his regular monthly books. Even generally decent writers like Busiek, Waid, Robinson, etc seem to misfire badly.
My favorite Superman comics are:
1) the first year or so by Siegel and Shuster, both in comics and the newspaper strip, when the concept was pure, the scale of action was small enough for lifting a car to be thrilling and Superman was a radical vigilante crusader for social justice–knocking down slums, roughing up war profiteers. Casey (?) did an interesting, sad take on the original conception of the character out of place in the modern world, late in his run a few years back.
2) the Weisinger era with its’ barely disguised Freudian underpinnings; particular favorite are Superboy comics featuring Krypto, many of which were misunderstandings leading to abandonment issues (i.e. “Sob! Why does my master want to kill me?”)
3) All-Star Superman & DC One Million: Morrison’s love letter is the best modern take, by a country mile
4) Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #29–”The Legend”, about a tribe of superstitious intelligent gorillas on post-”Great Disaster” Earth who worship the misremembered legend of Superman, and keep his empty costume as a religious icon. I don’t know if it’s intentional, but it’s the perfect critique of what superhero comics and their fans were becoming even as early as the 1970s.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Personally, my all-time favorite Superman story is “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?”
And I can’t believe no one’s mentioned “For The Man Who Has Everything” yet. One of the best Superman done-in-ones ever.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:34 am
I got to the third paragraph and realized that not only did I agree, but I’d actually written a similar blog about Spider-man. I really like the format you suggest. Good on you, Filip!
http://jakeekiss.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-spider-man-should-be-more-like.html
January 27th, 2009 at 1:24 am
It’s interesting to me that many of the stories mentioned above–Byrne’s Man of Steel, Waid and Yu’s Birthright, and Loeb and Sale’s Superman for All Seasons–are variations on Superman’s origin.
The most successful adaptations of Superman into other media are arguably the Richard Donner Superman film and Smallville (particularly its first few seasons)–both of which are also variations on Superman’s origin.
Why is Superman’s origin so compelling, but the continuing adventures of Superman are less so?
January 27th, 2009 at 2:18 am
I think it’s a great idea. Concentrate on telling a good Superman story and not have to worry about all the baggage that comes with trying to keep up with the latest big “Final Crisis.” I would definitely go out and buy a Superman comic more if it meant I didn’t have to read 30 others to get the full story.
January 27th, 2009 at 5:31 am
You’ve got a point there, Filip. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that should be the approach to the classic superheros. Look at all the mess marvel and dc have been doing with their events/crossovers. They should look for consistency in their character portrayals – you know, Superman should act like Superman and so on. THAT’s the real continuity, not having every character tied up in some universe or multiverse nonsense.
January 27th, 2009 at 6:48 am
I actually enjoy the monthly Superman titles a good bit. I think that DC has been right on by putting Johns, Robinson, and Busiek on those books. Johns especially, being the big Superman fan that he is, not only makes the character compelling but also keeps him in character by realizing that the right thing to do isn’t the easiest. I love most incarnations of Superman (All-Star Superman, the Bruce Timm cartoons, Smallville, Superman For All Seasons, etc…) but I still feel that the ongoing titles need to keep the character a consistant HERO and not necessarily make sales inspired changes to compete with the times.
January 27th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Favorite Superman stories? I never really thought about it. But then, I’ve never really read Superman up until the One Year Later bit. He just didn’t appeal to me.
But these past few years, with Kurt and Geoff, and later Geoff and James, have gotten a lot of great stories.
My favorite of them is probably Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. It does a great job of being both a Superman story as well as a Legion story, distilling both characters down to their most basic essences to show why they’re important, and why they’re important to one another.
Other favorites….Up Up, and Away, Brainiac, New Krypton (can’t wait to see where this is going next), The Third Kryptonian, and Camelot Falls. All standalone, in continuity Superman stories.
January 27th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
With all due respect, Mr. Sablik, I think your idea is a complete and utter cop out and perpetuates the myth that Superman is somehow too powerful, too big, too iconic to tell good stories with.
Disgusted by the current incarnation of the character (how many times can the guy loose his powers and cry in one year!?) I’ve gone back and started to re-read Byrne’s post-Crisis reboot.
Are they the greatest stories ever told? No, but they have pacing, they have character development, and they have consistency (we’re talking writing here, not art) that successfully created an entertaining run. And this run – fun serialized, interlocking stories that built on each successive issue continued with Stern and Jurgens and well into the late 90s with DeMattis, Schulz, Casey, and Loeb.
These guys prove that serialized stories with this character can work and work well. These guys showed, each month, why Superman is an icon.
The funny thing is that the current crop of writers, beginning with the misguided Lee/Azzarello books on through Buseik and to an extent Johns, seem to subscribe to your theory (or fear of writing an icon).
The books have been parsed out gimmick-driven trades-in-waiting for years, which each story having little to no impact on Superman or his supporting characters; or, in the case of New Krypton storyline, affects everyone but Superman who occasionally shows up to cry or complain or give up his powers.
And now DC has essentially given up trying to tell any decent stories by tossing the character aside and presenting us with, *yawn* another origin story; a staple of writers looking for a quick way to make their mark before people realize they have no imagination.
Personally, I would love it if DC took the character back 15 years or so and had a steady on-going serialized book with complimentary one-shots to showcase the “icon” aspects for both the adoring and casual fan.
There is no reason why there can’t be both.
January 27th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Superman is at his greatest when he pulls at your heartstrings. He is not human, but defines humanity’s best qualities. Superman shows us how to be better people.
If we all had just a sliver of the goodness that superman radiates, the world would be a very different place.
January 28th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Hi Everyone,
Wow! Thanks for all of the feedback. Apparently Superman strikes a chord with Newsarama readers and that’s really cool to see.
Thanks for the suggested reads and pros/cons outlooks regarding my suggestion. In a way I look at it like James Bond. For the most part the Bond movies are not connected (Casino Royale & Quantum of Solace are exceptions). The only constant is Bond and his supporting cast of characters (Q, M, Felix, etc). Once you have that foundation, the writer and director pick the story they want to tell and run with it. Does the lack of story continuity make Bond any less interesting or entertaining? Not for me, but I’m sure some folks would disagree.
@CAMO: Sure you could have both. I’m not saying that Superman CAN’T be done as a regular serialized series of stories with continuity. I just think the best Superman stories are the iconic ones. A good writer can work within almost any confine and make it work. Personally I don’t want good stories, I want the best:)
@Shaun: More Madame Mirage will be coming later this year. Keep your eyes peeled for more news in the near future.
Take care,
Filip Sablik
Publisher, Top Cow Productions
Read two issues of The Darkness at http://www.topcow.com/darkness
February 4th, 2009 at 6:40 am
The best Superman stories were during the Mort Weisinger era of the 1950′s and 1960′s. Even at that time, Superman was iconic, but Weisinger knew that there were areas that could still be developed. As a result, we got the original Kandor, the Fortress, Mon-El, the Legion, the exploration of Krypton’s past for the first time, etc.
For the first time, Superman became more than just a strong man. He became a tragic, lonely figure loaded with tons of survivor guilt (although surrounded by a super girl, dog, monkey, horse …). Even though he was a nearly omnipotent character, he could never change the past, save Krypton, or even save the Kents. True, the stories were juvenile and often repetitive, but within that framework, Weisinger was obsessed enough to hammer out some amazing concepts.
I really couldn’t stand the Byrne “Man of Steel” era. That wasn’t Superman, and many of us knew it – it was like a powered-down Elsewheres version plunked into place and made canon for awhile. When John Byrne’s antiseptic version of Krypton exploded, I for one was glad it was gone. Weisinger made Krypton a wonderful place that you could never go back to, like a lost childhood. That’s the difference.
Well look, you don’t make Superman interesting by powering him down. You make him interesting by telling good stories with emotional resonance. All Star Superman did exactly that.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:13 am
But these past few years, with Kurt and Geoff, and later Geoff and James, have gotten a lot of great stories…
August 10th, 2010 at 4:15 am
These guys prove that serialized stories with this character can work and work well. These guys showed, each month, why Superman is an icon.
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