Superman was the original superhero and is one of the most well-known characters on Earth! He has been published continuously from his debut in 1938 in Action Comics (1938) #1 through present day.
This page acts as an table of contents by chronological era of where to locate Superman and his titles throughout the Crushing Crisis Guide to DC Comics
- Pre-Crisis Superman
- Golden Age Superman (1938 – 1958)
- Silver Age Superman (1958 – 1970)
- Bronze Age Superman (1970 – 1986)
- Post-Crisis Superman
- Superman by John Byrne et al (1986 – 1990)
- Triangle-Era Superman (1991 – 2001)
- Superman (2002 – 2011)
- Post-Flashpoint Superman
- New 52 Superman (2011 – 2016)
- Superman in DC Rebirth and beyond (2016 – Present)
Golden Age Superman (Earth 2), 1938 – 1958
- Action Comics (1938) #1-240 (Jun 1938 – May 1958) – Guide to Action Comics – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age
- Superman (1939) #1-121 (Summer 1939 – May 1958) – Guide to Superman – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age
- World’s Finest Comics (1941) – While there is not a World’s Finest guide, these issues are generally collected alongside issues of Action Comics and Superman
Silver Age Superman (Earth 1), 1958 – 1970
The divide between Golden and Silver Age Superman is Superboy. Any Golden Age story featuring Superman and Superboy (or referring to Superman’s past as Superboy) retroactively became an Earth-One story.
- Action Comics (1938) #241-390 (Jun 1958 – Jul 1970) – Guide to Action Comics – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age
- Superman (1939) #122-232 (June 1958 – Dec 1970) – Guide to Superman – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age
Plus, the following Superman Family characters and titles:
- Brave and the Bold
- Lois Lane
- Jimmy Olsen
- Superboy
- Supergirl
Bronze Age Superman (Earth 1), 1970 – 1986
There’s no clean break between Silver Age and Bronze Age Superman the way there is between Golden and Silver.
However, we can draw a dividing line within Action Comics based on when the back-up stories switched from Supergirl or Legion of Super-Heroes to Superboy. That transition occurred after issues #391-392
- Action Comics (1938) #391-583 (Aug 1970 – Sep 1986) – Guide to Action Comics – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age
- Superman (1938) #233-423 (Jan 1971 – Sep 1986) – Guide to Superman – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age
Plus, the following Superman Family characters and titles:
- Brave and the Bold
- Lois Lane
- Jimmy Olsen
- Superboy
- Supergirl
Post-Crisis Superman by John Byrne et al, 1986 – 1990
In the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths, John Byrne streamlined Superman’s original in The Man of Steel (1986) #1-6 and then wrote all three Superman ongoing titles for two years.
At the close of that period, in 1988, Action Comics became “Action Comics Weekly” – an anthology title fronted by just a brief Superman story.
Afterward, from 1989-1990, the three Superman titles were tightly-coordinated to continue seamlessly from one issue to the next.
- Man of Steel (1986) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Action Comics (1938) #584-660 (Jan 1987 – Nov 1990) – Guide to Action Comics (1987 – Present)
- by John Byrne, #584-600 & Annual 1 (Jan 1987 – May 1988)
- in Action Comics Weekly #601-642 & Annual 2 (May 1988 – March 1989)
- Pre-Triangle Era, #643-660 (Jun 1989 – Nov 1990)
- Adventures of Superman (1987) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman (1987) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
Triangle-Era Superman, 1991 – 2001
In January 1991 with the release of a fourth Superman ongoing, the Superman line evolved into the now-legendary “Triangle Era” of Superman. Every ongoing Superman issue featured a small triangle on the cover styled after the iconic Superman logo. In the Triangle was listed the year and a number, indicating the absolute reading order of that issue in the year of Superman.
This era includes the biggest Superman story of all time, the Death and Return of Superman!
- Main Superman titles
- Action Comics (1938) #661-785, One Million, & Annual 3-9 (Dec 1990 – Nov 2000) – Action Comics (1987 – Present)
- Adventures of Superman (1987) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman (1987) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman: The Man of Tomorrow (1995) #1-15 – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Supporting titles
- Batman and Superman: World’s Finest (1999)
Plus, the following Superman Family characters and titles:
- Steel
- Superboy
- Supergirl
Post-Triangle Superman, 2002 – 2011
- Main Superman titles
- Action Comics (1938) #786-904 & Annual 10-13 (Dec 2002 – Aug 2011) – Action Comics (1987 – Present)
- Adventures of Superman (1987) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman (1987) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman: Man of Steel (1991) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman (1939 / 2006) #650-714 & Annual 13-14 – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Supporting Titles
- Superman / Batman (2003)
Plus, the following Superman Family characters and titles:
- Superman: World of New Krypton (2009)
- Superboy
- Supergirl
New 52 Superman (2011 – 2016)
DC’s New 52 reboot seriously compressed Superman’s history, from a decade or more into just five years.
That erased or obscured many of Superman’s in-continuity stories, and fundamentally altered the identities of his supporting cast.
As you can imagine, that created a lot of contradictions and paradoxes. It’s best not to think about the timeline of things too hard, since Rebirth rips the band-aid off this clumsy retcon – and does that the best for Superman out of all of DC’s heroes.
For a comprehensive guide to New 52 collections, including all of these titles, see DC New 52. Some titles also appear on an individual guide page of titles listed here in alphabetical order (since they all debuted within the same time-frame):
- Solo Comics
- Action Comics – Action Comics (1987 – Present)
- Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present) covers all of
- Superman (2011)
- Superman: American Alien
- Superman: Lois and Clark
- Superman: The Coming of the Supermen
- Superman Unchained
- Team-up Comics
- Batman/Superman
- Superman/Wonder Woman
- Superman Family titles
- Doomed
- Superboy
- Supergirl
Superman, Rebirth & Beyond (2016 – present)
Superman was the poster-child for DC Rebirth in many ways. The period focused specifically on streamlining his continuity after it was altered in New 52.
Then, Superman had the biggest relaunch of all of DC’s heroes with Brian Bendis joining DC Comics to take over both Action Comics and Superman.
And, after Bendis, the Superman line was streamlined to its tightest focus of all time – with Superman continuing to star in Action Comics and his son Jon starring in Superman.
- Superman – Clark Kent
- Action Comics (1938 / 2016) – Action Comics (1987 – Present)
- Man of Steel (2018) – This is covered in the Action guide
- Superman (2016) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman (2018) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Superman (2023) – Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)
- Team-Up Titles
- Batman / Superman: World’s Finest (2022)
- Jon Kent – Superson & Superman
- Super Sons
- Superman: Son of Kal-El (2021)
- Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent (2023)
- Superman Family Titles
- Jimmy Olsen
- Lois Lane
- Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow (2023)
- Supergirl
- Steelworks