Post-Crisis Superman Collection and Reading Order

[Bob Galt]

Post-Crisis Superman Collection and Reading Order (Updated `10-11-2022)
This list is kind of an odd duck. I have been reading and collecting Superman (and other) comics for around twenty years. At one point or another I've read most of the out-of-continuity and Gold-Iron Age Superman stories, plus a random smattering of other stuff. I've been wanting to do a more chronologically correct reading of 'continuity' Superman in the post-Crisis era, and I put together this list to figure out what my collections subscriptions cover. As I said, this is a bit of an odd duck: it's not a comprehensive omnibus list (not even for post-Crisis), a few of the items on it are storylines I missed and haven't been collected (to my knowledge), and my goal is to read something of the major/better stories for a period, not to actually read every issue of every title (which is what I did for Bronze Age Superman, and took me years). Nonetheless, I'll share this as a post because someone else might find this useful.

I am currently on Superman: The Exile and Other Stories Omnibus (about 200p in), though I've read many of these stories before. You will probably notice, especially more recently, some glaring omissions: These are either things I have read thoroughly enough to exempt, that I can't find without hunting floppies, or which I decided to skip. Around 2020-present my collection becomes extremely spotty, it's basically 'whatever is on Infinite that I've noticed', so I left the final section fairly empty as (by the time I get there) I will probably have access to TPBs, and they might not be on Infinite anymore.

1. 1986/10-1987/4 Superman: The Man of Steel Omnibus (2020) Volume 1
2. 1987 World of Krypton
3. 1987 World of Smallville
4. 1987 World of Metropolis
5. 1987/5-12 Superman: The Man of Steel Omnibus (2020) Volume 2

• Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis replicates Action Comics Annual #1 (1987/10)

6. 1987/10-1988/3 Superman: The Man of Steel Omnibus (2020) Volume 3
7. 1988/3-5 Superman: The Man of Steel Omnibus (2014?) Volume 8
8. 1988/4-1990/10 The Power Within
9. 1988/6-8 Superman: The Man of Steel Omnibus (2014?) Volume 9
10. 1988/10-1989/10 Superman: The Exile and Other Stories Omnibus
11. 1990/3-4 Day of the Krypton Man
12. 1990/5-6 Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis

• All stories after Action Comics Annual #1

13. 1990/11-12 Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite (Story Arc)
14.
15. 1991/7 SUPERMAN: TEAM SUPERMAN #1 (Superman by Mark Millar)
16. 1992/2-4 Panic in the Sky
17. 1992/4-10 Superman and the Justice League America v1
18. 1992/10-1993/7 Superman and the Justice League America v2
19. 1992/11-1993/10 Death & Return of Superman

• A Death of Superman
• B Funeral for a Friend
• C The Wake
• D Superman - Day of Doom
• E Reign of the Supermen
• F Return of Superman

20. 1994/4 DC Retroactive Superman '90s #1
21. 1994/4-6 Superman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey (Superman/Doomsday Omnibus)
22. 1994 Superman: Under a Yellow Sun
23. 1994/9-10 Superman Zero Hour
24. 1995/9-10 Superman #104-105 (Adventures of Superman: Jose Garcia Lopez v2)
25. 1995/11-1996/1 Trial of Superman (Story Arc)
26. 1995/12 Doomsday Annual (Superman/Doomsday Omnibus)
27. 1996/12 Superman #118, Superman: The Wedding Album, Adventures of Superman #541, Action Comics #728 (Superman & Lois Lane 25th Wedding Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
28. 1996/12 Superman Plus the Legion of Super-Heroes
29. 1997/4-9 Superman Blue v1
30. 1998/8 Superman: Save the Planet
31. 1998/4-10 Dominus Effect (Storyline)

• 1999 Superman: King of the Earth (Dominus Follow-Up)

32. 1998/11-1999/1 Superman: Doomsday Wars (Superman/Doomsday Omnibus)
33. 1999/6 SUPERMAN 80-PAGE GIANT #2 (Superman by Mark Millar)
34. 1999/8 DC ONE MILLION 80-PAGE GIANT #1,000,000. (Superman by Mark Millar)
35. 1999/12-2000/3 Superman: The City of Tomorrow
36. 2000/3 Action Comics #763 (Superman vs. Brainiac)
37. 2000/4-8 Superman: The City of Tomorrow vol. 2
38. 2000/9-10 Superman: Emperor Joker
39. 2001/1-3 President Lex
40. 2001/3-2002/9 Return to Krypton
41. 2001/9-12 The Adventures of Superman #594, Superman Vol 2 175 (Superman/Doomsday Omnibus)
42. 2002/11-12 Superman: Ending Battle
43. 2003/2 Superman – Lost Hearts (Story Arc)
44. 2003/3 SUPERMAN VS. DARKSEID: APOKOLIPS NOW! (Superman vs Darkseid)
45. 2003/8-2004/5 Batman-Superman-Wonder Woman – Trinity Deluxe
46. 2003/9-2004/9 Superman: Birthright
47. 2003/10-2004/10 Superman/Batman v1
48. 2004/4-5 Superman: Godfall
49. 2004/6-2005/5 Superman: For Tomorrow
50. 2005/1-2006/6 Superman/Batman v2
51. 2005/5-2006/3 Superman Strange Attractors
52. 2005/8-10 Superman Sacrifice
53. 2006 Superman/SHAZAM! First Thunder (Flashback tale)
54. 2006/9-2007/1 Superman: Camelot Falls v1 Superman #654-658
55. 2006-10-2007-10 Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer Deluxe Edition
56. 2006/12-2007/8 Superman/Batman v3
57. 2006/12-2008/10 Superman the Last Son
58. 2007/5-2008/1 Superman: Camelot Falls v2
59. 2007/8-2008/8 Superman/Batman v4
60. 2007/11-2008/2 Justice League of America v3 Injustice League
61. 2007/12-2008/5 Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes
62. 2008/3-7 Justice League of America v4 Sanctuary
63. 2008/4-6 Countdown to Final Crisis #3-2, DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #8 (Superman vs Darkseid)
64. 2008/8-12 Superman: Brainiac
65. 2008/8-12 Justice League of America v5 Second Coming
66. 2008/9-2009/10 Superman/Batman v5
67. 2008/10-2009/1 Superman: New Krypton v1
68. 2009/1-3 Superman: New Krypton v2
69. 2009/1-3 Superman-Supergirl Maelstrom (Miniseries)
70. 2009/1-8 Justice League of America v6 When Worlds Collide
71. 2009/5-9 Superman: New Krypton v3
72. 2009/10-2010/4 Superman: New Krypton v4
73. 2009/12-2010/10 Superman/Batman v6
74. 2009/12-2010/5 Justice League of America v7 Team History
75. 2010/6-7 Superman: War of the Supermen
76. 2010/8-2011/6 Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 1-2 (Collected)
77. 2010/9-10 Justice League of America v8 Dark Things
78. 2010/11-2011/3 Justice League of America v9 Omega
79. 2010/11-2011/10 Justice League of America v10 Rise of Eclipso
80. 2011 DC Comics Presents Superman #1
81. 2011/3-10 Reign of Doomsday
82. 2011/9-2012/6 Superman Action Comics v1 Superman & the Men of Steel
83. 2011/11-2012/4 Justice League v1 Origin [N52]
84. 2012/5-10 Justice League v2 Villain's Journey [N52]
85. 2012/7-12 Superman Action Comics v2 Bulletproof
86. 2012/12-2013/5 Superman Action Comics v3 At the End of Days (N52)
87. 2011/11-2012/4 Superman v1: What Price Tomorrow? (N52)
88. 2012/5-10 Superman v2: Secrets & Lies (N52)
89. 2012-6-2013-10 Justice League Trinity War [N52]
90. 2012/11-2013/4 Superman v3 Fury at the World's End (N52)
91. 2012-12-2013-4 Justice League v3 Throne of Atlantis [N52]
92. 2013/5-2013/12 Superman v4 Psi-War (N52)
93. 2013/5-2013-10 Justice League v4 Grid [N52]
94. 2013/8-2015/1 Superman: Unchained (N52)
95. 2013/8-12 Batman/Superman v1: Cross World [N52]
96. 2013/10-2014/5 Justice League v5 Forever Heroes [N52]

• 2013/11 [N52] JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.1! (Superman vs Darkseid)

97. 2013/12-2014/5 [N52] Superman-Wonder Woman v1 Power Couple (N52)
98. 2014/1 to 2014/7 Superman v5 Under Fire (N52)
99. 2014/1-6 Batman/Superman v2: Game Over [N52]
100. 2014/6-10 Superman-Wonder Woman v2 War and Peace [N52]
101. 2014/7-2014/12 Superman: Doomed (N52)
102. 2014/7-2015/4 Justice League v6 Injustice League [N52]
103. 2014/7-12 Batman/Superman v3: Second Chance [N52]
104. 2014/8-2015/5 Superman v6 The Men of Tomorrow (N52)
105. 2014/9-2015/6 Batman/Supermanv4: Siege [N52]
106. 2014/11-2015/6 Superman-Wonder Woman v3 Casualties of War [N52]
107. 2015/5-2016/2 Batman/Superman v5: Truth Hurts [N52]
108. 2015/6-2015/11 Superman v7: Before Truth (N52)
109. 2015/6-2016-7 Justice League Darkseid War: DC Essentials Edition [N52]
110. 2015/7-12 Superman-Wonder Woman v4 Dark Truth [N52]
111. 2015/12-2016/2 Superman v8: Return to Glory (N52)
112. 2016/1-6 Superman-Wonder Woman v5 A Savage End [N52]
113. 2016/3-2016/6 Batman/Superman v6: Universe's Finest [N52]
114. 2015/12-2016/7 Superman: Lois and Clark [Rebirth]
115. 2016/7-11 Justice League v1 Extinction Machines
116. 2016/9-12 Superman Action Comics Rebirth Deluxe Book 1
117. 2016/12-2017/2 Justice League v2 Outbreak
118. 2017/1-9 Superman Action Comics Rebirth Deluxe Book Book 2
119. 2017/3-9 Superman: the Rebirth Deluxe Edition v2
120. 2017/4-6 Justice League v3 Timeless
121. 2017/7-9 Justice League v4 Endless
122. 2017/10-2018/5 Superman Action Comics Rebirth Deluxe Book 3
123. 2017/9-2018/2 Superman: the Rebirth Deluxe Edition v3
124. 2017/10-12 Justice League v5 Legacy
125. 2018/2-2018/6 Superman: the Rebirth Deluxe Edition v4
126. 2018/2-4 Justice League v6 People vs the Justice League
127. 2018/4-6 Justice League v7 Justice Lost
128. 2018/7-9 Man of Steel by Brian Michael Bendis
129. 2018/8-11 Justice League v1 The Totality #1-7
130. 2018/9-2019/2 Superman v1 Unity Saga Phantom Earth (2019)
131. 2018/9-2019/3 Superman Action Comics v1 The Invisible Mafia
132. 2018/12-2019/1 Justice League v2 Graveyard of the Gods #8-12
133. 2019/2-4 Justice League v3 Hawkworld #13-18
134. 2019/3-8 Superman v2 The Unity Saga House of El
135. 2019/4-7 Superman Action Comics v2 Leviathan Rising
136. 2019/5-8 Justice League v4 Sixth Dimension #19-25
137. 2019/8-12 Superman Action Comics v3 Leviathan Hunt
138. 2019/8-2020/3 Justice League v5 Doom War #26-39
139. 2019/10-2020/3 Batman Superman v1 Who are the Secret Six
140. 2020/1-8 Superman Action Comics v4 Metropolis Burning
141. 2019/12-2020/5 Superman vol 3 The Truth Revealed
142. 2020/4-2021/2 Superman Vol. 4: Mythological
143. 2020/4-8 Justice League v6 Vengeance is Thine #40-47
144. 2020/4-2021/2 Batman Superman v2 (2021)
145. 2020/9-11 Justice League v7 Galaxy of Terrors #48-52
146. 2020/8-2021/2 Superman: Action Comics Volume 5: The House of Kent
147. 2020/11-2021/1 Justice League v8 Death Metal #53-57
148. 2020/12 Justice League v9 Endless Winter
149. 2021/5-6 Superman: The One Who Fell
150. 2021/5-11 Batman Superman v3 Archive of Worlds (2021)
151. 2022 Superman and the Authority
152. 2022/1 Batman-Superman the Authority Special 1
153. 2021/6-2022/11 Superman Warworld Storlyine
154. 2022/5-11 Batman-Superman - World's Finest 1-7

 

[flickchick85]

Hell of a first post. Welcome.

I've been gradually making my way through the Triangle Era over the last year or so, so this is much appreciated!

 

[Bob Galt]

Hell of a first post. Welcome.

I've been gradually making my way through the Triangle Era over the last year or so, so this is much appreciated!

I've read a heck of a lot of it, but all out of order, as floppies or TPBs. It took DC a long time to put out systematic, remastered copies of the stuff I want, but now that they have, it's starting to become possible to read a fairly continuous run of Superman from 1938 to today - not as continuous runs, but with a lot of vignettes or arcs collected into TPBs and HCs. The weakest representation seems to be the mid 1990s, the Silver Age (especially the 1960s) and the Bronze Age (especially anything outside the major arcs like Kryptonite Nevermore).

Though I've read a lot of the Byrne stuff before, I'm starting to appreciate Stern more (The Power Within from Action Comics Weekly is the most hilariously awesome Superman story ever, we meet a very polite Superman worshipper and his enemies!) and I notice that, contrary the meme synopsis of post-Crisis Superman, a ton of bizarre science fiction and Silver Age (redesigned) tropes found their way immediately back into the Superman comics.

 

[Bob Galt]

I updated it, added a couple of small books I'd missed before (Superman-Supergirl Maelstrom) and the BM Bendis runs between Rebirth and PKJ.

This is only continuity books, there are plenty of out-of-continuity, one-shot, etc. books which are (for all intents and purposes) Post-Crisis/current era Superman between '89-2021, but only a few of these seem to be regarded as canon: The Earth Stealers, maybe Superman and the Authority (it can be read as a sort of hypertime parallel to Future State and PKJ Superman, so I included it). Under a Yellow Sun is so synched to canon Superman I won't exclude it, though part of it is in-universe fiction, and the same can be said for Superman: Save the Planet. Other than that and some event one-shots I skipped, though, I don't think most of the stuff printed outside continuity line books is canon.

 

[Babillygunn]

I love this post. And I’m inspired to jump onto infinite to read some Superman comics.

I may have missed them, but I didn’t notice Superman Up in the Sky or Superman Smashes the Klan, both of which are absolute gems.

 

[Bob Galt]

I love this post. And I’m inspired to jump onto infinite to read some Superman comics.

I may have missed them, but I didn’t notice Superman Up in the Sky or Superman Smashes the Klan, both of which are absolute gems.

I got about 90% of the way through the 900 page Superman Exile omnibus. I love Jurgens Superman, but I decided to skip forward and read Superman: The City of Tomorrow v1, which leads into the Loeb era and early 2000s Superman. I just finished that, so I'll go back and continue with the Exile omnibus.

Up in the Sky is a book I only recently read, but I don't know that it's in continuity for Post-Crisis/Rebirth Superman. Then again, Rao only knows what is. I'm not going to have a fight between my headcanon and whatever DC's monthly editorial policy is regarding continuity, but I wanted to focus on books explicitly involving the 'mainline' Superman in the monthly titles, as opposed to Superman in general. Lots of great out of continuity exist in the post-crisis publishing catalogue.

Bronze Age/Elliot Maggin Superman is my absolute favorite (Silver Age is a second), my personal taste is more for the Elseworld and one-shot versions than for most of the post-crisis continuity book versions. All-Star Superman, Red Son, Kingdom Come and, for that matter, Alan Moore's Supreme and Mister Majestic runs, are more my speed when it comes to the Amazing Stranger.

Nonetheless I do like post-Crisis continuity Superman (especially when he power bombs that little snarky wanna be Superboy through a sun in Infinite Crisis, or beats Darkseid blind) and I put this list together to have some idea of what kind of post-Crisis Superman eras I have access to. There are a lot of side characters (in pre and post-Doomsday Superman books) that I have missed over the years, and it's been really cool to see Bibbo coming into the early 90s books. He's always been one of my favrit.

 

[Bob Galt]

I added in four volumes of Justice League/America (2006, N52, Rebirth, current JL). Although some of the issues are tangential to Superman's life, Superman is the core of most versions of the JL/A.