Superman Day!

Today is Superman Day!

What is Superman Day, you ask? Well, today is a day to celebrate a certain Man of Steel, the Metropolis Marvel, the Man of Tomorrow. 

Why on this day? Well, this day was originally created by DC Entertainment themselves as part of the lead-up to the release of the film "Man of Steel". Comic book retailers celebrated by giving out free copies of All-Star Superman Special Edition #1. In the years since, fans have continued to celebrate Superman and his nearly 90 years of existence now.

As such, I'd want to shout out some of my favorite Superman stories:

All-Star Superman (2005-2008)
- Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (artist)
This non-canon 12 issue maxi-series draws heavily on the Silver Age/Bronze Age take on Superman and his mythos. This series tells the tale of a dying Superman attempting to achieve his Twelve Labors. Morrison clearly had a ton of fun with the character, and although Quitely's art isn't quite my personal cup of tea, it's still required reading that really gets the Man of Steel.

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes (2007-2008)
- Geoff Johns (writer), Gary Frank (artist)
This story helps restore the connections between Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes that were erased by the Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne's Man of Steel. It tells of the Man of Tomorrow and the Legion joining forces to help stop a group known as the Justice League of Earth from causing a war between Earth and the United Planets. A criminally underrated story in my opinion.

Last Son (2006-2008)
- Geoff Johns and Richard Donner (writers), Adam Kubert (artist)
Before he wrote comics, Geoff Johns was an assistant to Richard Donner, so it seemed appropriate for the two to collaborate on a Superman story. Clark Kent stops a pod from crashing down in Metropolis. The pod contains a young Kryptonian boy, with a shocking parentage. This is another criminally underrated story in my opinion, and I want it to get some more love, hence my shouting it out here.

What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way (2001)
- Joe Kelly (writer), Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo (artists)
This one-shot story was written in response to the rise and growing popularity of more violent and "adult" anti-heroic characters like The Authority. In this one-shot, a group of such "heroes" known as The Elite impose their own brand of "superheroics", seemingly making the more classic heroism of Superman obsolete. In the end, Superman is able to show that his way of heroics still matters, and in fact, is more needed than ever.

And those are some of my favorite Superman stories. I hope you give them a read and enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked them, show them off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!