Superman is the original superhero. If you love superheroes, he’s the reason they exist. He’s existed for almost 90 years now, and is more popular than ever, thanks to some stellar comics and 2025’s Superman film. It’s an amazing time to be a fan of the Man of Steel. Looking back over his long history, there are some amazing stories and ideas. DC Comics has often put the best talent possible on its comics, taking readers on adventures that enthralled entire generations. Superman may not star in the bestselling comics anymore, but he’s easily the most popular fictional character of the 20th century, and is part of a legacy of heroes that stretches back to Gilgamesh and Hercules.
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Fantastic things have happened in the Superman comics, but it hasn’t always been amazing. There have been some very bad times to read the Man of Tomorrow’s comics. These seven things are the worst parts of Superman’s comics, dragging the high-flying hero down.
7) Electric Superman Red/Superman Blue
Once upon a time, there was an imaginary story (what they called non-canon stories back then) that saw Superman split into red and blue versions. It was fun, it ended, and it was often brought up as a wild Silver Age story. However, it was eventually resurrected in the years after “The Death of Superman”. DC became obsessed with event-driven Superman stories, and that led to him developing electromagnetic-based powers.
This was an unpopular gimmick, but it got worse when the hero was split into a red and blue version. This story killed any excitement that fans had for the Superman comics and spelled the end of Dan Jurgens’ legendary run on the character.
6) The Tomasi/Gleason Superman
DC Rebirth was wildly successful at first. Fans were tired of the New 52, and the publisher fixed that by bringing back pre-Flashpoint ideas. This led to the reintroduction of the post-Crisis Superman and Lois Lane, along with their son Jon. Superman was relaunched by the Green Lantern Corps/Batman and Robin team of Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason (along with fill-in artist Doug Mahnke). Fans loved this book, and it definitely has its moments, but the problem is that Tomasi wrote him in a very conservative manner. This Superman felt like the version we got in the late ’80s, a jingoistic character that just never felt right.
On top of that, the book ran out of steam after “Superman Reborn”, with the last story arcs being okay at best. It was great they brought back the actual Superman, but it just felt like a rehash of Byrne’s version of the character (more on that next).
5) John Byrne’s Changes to Superman
Crisis on Infinite Earths changed DC forever, and a big part of that was Superman. Writer/artist John Byrne was given the character and completely rebooted him. Byrne ejected every that wasn’t American about the character. Krypton was changed into a cold, antiseptic society; the various Kryptonian survivors of the Silver Age didn’t exist; Kal-El was born on Earth when he arrived in the United States, taking away his immigrant status. He was also no longer a man of the people, but a Reagan-era conservative, which is hilarious when you think about the original, almost socialist Superman stories.
Then there was the issue where Byrne used Big Barda to disrespect Jack Kirby, with whom he was feuding (Barda was based on Kirby’s wife, and Byrne had her brainwashed and put into porn). The art was great, it was popular, but it damaged the hero for years to come.
4) The Death of Earth-Two Superman
Earth-Two Superman was the original version of the hero. He was the blueprint, the greatest of all-time, and he got everything he deserved. He became editor-in-chief of The Daily Star (the Golden Age version of The Daily Planet), married Lois, raised his cousin Kara as Power Girl, worked with the Justice Society, and defeated the Anti-Monitor, saving all of existence with one mighty punch. He and Lois went to a paradise dimension. It was perfect.
Then, he returned in Infinite Crisis, helped save existence again, and died at the hands of Superboy-Prime. Earth-Two Superman should have stayed alive. There’s something about him that’s so perfect, and having him around would have been awesome. He’s my favorite version of the character, and one day I hope DC gives him back to me and his fans.
3) Brian Michael Bendis’s Superman
Brian Michael Bendis was Marvel’s most popular writer of the ’00s and ’10s, and went to DC in 2018. The publisher handed him anything he wanted, and the Cleveland native (same town that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the Man of Steel in) got Superman and Action Comics. Bendis wrote the character well and introduced multiple interesting villains like Rogol Zaar, Synmar, Red Mist, and the Invisible Mafia.
However, Bendis also aged up Jon Kent and told a lot of really boring stories. His run came after the hot DC Rebirth runs of Superman and Action Comics, and fans abandoned the books in droves as time went on. It cooled Superman off immensely. While it has its moments, it took years for the hero to get back to where he was before Bendis got hold of him.
2) Superman & Wonder Woman Dating
There is exactly one time that Superman and Wonder Woman dating was okay, and that was Kingdom Come, mostly because Lois was dead. Superman and Wonder Woman are basically babies’ first ship: They’re powerful, they’re leaders, they should be together. However, it’s a relationship with nothing more than that “perfect on paper” appeal.
Clark and Diana are too similar to work as an interesting couple. There’s a reason why Lois Lane is perfect for the Man of Steel: they fit like puzzle pieces; Superman and Wonder Woman don’t. The New 52 made this relationship canon, even giving them a team-up book, and it was so bad. Wonder Woman tends to get overshadowed by male heroes, and putting her with Superman, the ur-superhero, is a perfect example of that. It didn’t do anything good for either character and was actively damaging to Wonder Woman.
1) The New 52
The New 52 was a failure for most characters, especially Superman. While the Grant Morrison Action Comics run is one of the greatest Superman runs of all time, most of the rest of the New 52 was terrible for the character. Superman was bad from the beginning, and it wouldn’t get “better” until Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr. got on the book. Even then, it wasn’t exactly great, just better than the bottom-barrel stories readers were getting up until then, in the book’s mid-30s. There’s the aforementioned Wonder Woman relationship.
“Doomed” is the worst Doomsday story of all time. Things got a little better towards the end when he lost his powers, but it was too little, too late. It was a dark time for the first superhero, and it should be almost totally ignored (except for Morrison’s time on the book).
What is your least favorite part of Superman? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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