Superman is the first superhero, and easily one of the most popular. There was a time when the hero was the most popular on the planet, and even today people who have never experienced a Superman story know who he is. DC Comics has been publishing the character’s adventures for almost 90 years now, and those adventures have formed the seeds for every story starring the Man of Steel in different media. In those almost hundred years, there have been numerous eras of the Last Son of Krypton, each one giving readers some of the best superhero stories ever, with some of these eras changing the tenor of comics forever.
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The various eras of the Man of Steel have given readers some of the coolest comics ever. They have changed the character in a number of ways and given readers the kind of stories that have made him into the greatest hero in comics. These five eras of Superman comics are the best of them, each of them giving readers some wonderful stories and ideas.
5) Bronze Age Era
The Bronze Age of Comics spanned 1970 to 1986, with the blockbuster Crisis on Infinite Earths marking its end. The Bronze Age was quite different from the Silver Age; while younger readers were still the target audience of comics, the books got more mature and serious. Superman in the Bronze Age was no exception. Comics like Superman, Action Comics, and Superman Family gave readers a different take on the Man of Steel than they’d gotten in the wild years of the Silver Age, one that played up the more serious aspects of the character. The Superman in the Bronze Age collected editions have some amazing stories in it, showing off why this era was so great. On top of that, we got Earth-Two Superman back, and Power Girl was introduced during this period. Elliot S! Maggin’s stories are the best of the era, although there are several Alan Moore stories that you should check out, like Superman Annual #11, DC Comics Presents #85, and, of course, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, the last Earth-One Superman story.
4) Post-Infinite Crisis Era
Infinite Crisis undid the changes of Crisis, bringing back a lot of Silver/Bronze Age ideas, especially to Superman. In the immediate aftermath of the event, Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek were named writers of Action Comics and Superman respectively, kicking off with the co-written “Up, Up, and Away!”. There time one the books led to some of the coolest Superman stories ever like “Camelot Falls”, “Last Son”, “Superman and the Legion of Superheroes”, “Brainiac”, Superman: Secret Origin, and the New Krypton arc. This era began in 2006, and lasted until the dawning of the New 52 in 2011. On top of that, we got All-Star Superman during this period, as well as Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, and Final Crisis itself (which was a pretty Superman-centric event), with Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3-D being one of the coolest Superman stories of all time.
3) The Early Triangle Era
After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman and Action Comics were joined by Adventures of Superman (which picked up the numbering of Superman (Vol. 1)) and Superman: Man of Steel, leading to the Triangle Era starting in 1991. The entire era lasted until 2002, with the early years, from ’91 to ’95, being the best of them. This period gave readers the classic “Death of Superman”, “World Without a Superman”, “Funeral for a Friend”, “Reign of the Supermen”, and “Return of Superman”, one of the greatest Superman sagas ever. During this period the Superman titles had a bevy of amazing talent — Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Roger Stern, Tom Grummet, Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Jerry Ordway, and Jackson “Butch” Guice — and it made for some amazing stories. Superman line editor Mike Carlin helped keep the whole thing on the rails, allowing all four titles to tell coherent stories every week of the month. This era brought a lot of readers to the Superman books, and it remains beloved by fans.
2) Current Era
Honestly, there’s been some pretty great Superman comics over the last nine years, since DC Rebirth brought back the pre-Flashpoint Superman. However, the Rebirth and Bendis runs, which lasted from 2016 to 2021, have their problems. After Bendis left, the current era kicked off, with Superman and the Authority and “Warworld Saga” taking readers on a wild ride that would go down as a modern classic. From 2021 to right now, Action Comics and Superman have been top notch, with creators like Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Daniel Sampere, Riccardo Federici, Mikel Janin, Grant Morrison, Joshua Williamson, Jamal Campbell, Rafa Sandoval, Dan Mora, Jason Aaron, Gail Simone, Eddy Barrows, John Timms, Mark Waid, Skyler Patridge, Clayton Henry, and more all supplying brilliant yarns. We also got Superman: Up in the Sky, Dark Crisis: World Without a Justice League: Superman, Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum, the current volume of Supergirl, Absolute Superman, and numerous Superman one-shots and anthology books. The last four years of Superman comics have been hot fire, giving readers brilliant stories from the Man of Steel.
1) Silver Age Era
The Silver Age was the most amazing era of Superman ever, bar none. This era of the character lasted from 1956 to 1969, 13 years of some of the wildest Superman stories ever. Characters like Brainiac and Supergirl debuted, and we got the insane sci-fi years of Superman from this time period. There are a lot of great creators on Superman and Action Comics of the time; Otto Binder was easily the greatest Superman writer for a long time and artists like Wayne Boring and Curt Swan gave readers some of the greatest Man of Steel art ever. Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane had their own books, and we got the awesomeness that was the jerk Superman covers. The Silver Age hasn’t always aged well, but it is an amazing time for fans of the Man of Steel.
What’s your favorite era of Superman comics? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
