My 10 Least Favorite Superman Comics

Last weeks to celebrate Action Comics #1000 I spent a lot of time talking about my favorite Superman stories. FYI, Action #1000 was fantastic and is worth the money. So is the excellent book that came out with it!

So after all that gushing it’s only fair to mention a few that weren’t quite as good. Like last time, these aren’t The WORST Superman stories per se, just the one’s that I did not enjoy. Course there are plenty more than 10, but this is what I came up with. They can’t all be gems and these stories sure aren’t.

 

Here are ten awful Superman stories, in my opinion anyway




Superman #405

I said before that Superman titles before the Crisis reboot seemed stuck in the Silver Age. This one is a great example of what I mean. Superman blows a Pan flute at a local museum, and grows horns! Yes, really. And this was made in the 80’s! In order to not be seen that way he wears a Batman cowl to cover up his head, but can’t pull off Batman’s shtick.






Action Comics Annual #2

I touched on this one in the other article because I loved the issue which officially concluded this arc. Partly because it meant this awful arc was over. When Superman develops a split personality and decides he is a danger to people on Earth, he exiles himself. At first it’s not so bad but it goes on forever and turns into this story about is Kryptonian legacy which I still don’t understand. Action Comics Annual #2 where the story wraps up is one the most indecipherable comics I ever read. I know what happens thanks to callbacks but man that issue is a chore!






Superman at Earth’s End

What can I possibly say about this that no one else has? The Superman elseworld’s stories vary in quality but this one is a special kind of stupid. The whole plot is idiotic and Superman using a giant chain gun? Next please.







Action Comics #587&588

Ok I’ve talked about this before and I wanted to have no team-up’s, but how could do a list like this not have this cheery little issue on it? I mean, Superman doing a porno with Big Barda?? Why would anyone think this was a good idea? I’ve raved about John Byrne’s run on Superman but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make mistakes. This is a big one. I did kind of like the villain Sleez, but having him run the underground porn industry of Metropolis seems like a weird choice.






Adventures of Superman Annual #3

I’ve talked before about the Armageddon 2001 tie-in’s, and how I though whole the event was a fail I really did enjoy the annual’s. I nearly put one of them on my list last week. However, there is one exception. This story is so stupid. We see a future where Lois dies carrying Clark’s child, and so anguish Superman leaves Earth and gets involved with a lot of nonsense which I wont even dignify here. Stupid idea.





Superman Special #1

Usually a random special with no tie-in is a bad sign. It means it’s a rejected issue for the regular title that the creators didn’t know what to do it so they just released it on its own. And this issue sure feels like that, with a crazy story about Lex Luthor creating a Kryptonite Man (Yeah basically it’s just Superman IV just without all the Nuclear Weapon garbage) and that horrible artwork by Walt Simonson. Sorry not a fan.






Superman: Power Within

You may remember I mentioned there was a time when Action Comics was Weekly, and featured anthologies. One of those was a regular Superman feature. It was collected into a trade paperback and I finally read it. It was soooooooo boring! The story was about a cult who worshiped the Man of Steel but I did not enjoy it.  Could be because originally the story was done two pages per issue, that’s all got Superman got when it was Weekly, but either way it sucked. Yeah Roger Stern is a great writer and yes Curt Swan’s art is always great but I hated this story so much I literally through the trade away




Superman:Red Son

This is the one that most will disagree with me one. It’s a good idea, what if Superman landed in Russia as a baby, but there is just something about it I couldn’t get into. I blame the writer, Mark Millar, who just may not be my cup of tea. Not the worst on this list, and unlike the others I didn’t destroy the trade I still do have it, but not my favorite.




Electric Blue/Red Superman

There are stupid ideas, and then there are STUPID idea’s. Full disclosure, I never read these issues the idea enough was stupid enough to keep me away and there was just no way I could leave this list without a mention of this idiocy. Deprived of solar energy, Superman developed energy based abilities which made him wear a blue and white containment suit. Yeah this happened. Want more more info look it up.





Superman:Grounded

I said last time that I enjoyed seeing Superman do small, everyday things. It’s good to see him do that and stay in touch with the people he is sworn to protect. You’d think then I’d be all over this storyline since that is the basic premise. Getting back down to Earth and helping regular people out. Did he have to be a gigantic ass while doing it? Good idea, botched execution.






So am I missing one you feel should be on here? Comment and let me know.