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Look, up in the sky!

It's a man!

It's a plane!

It's Superman Day!

If you asked 100 random people to name one superhero it's safe to say that probably more of them will say Superman than any other character. That's just how it is. (As I'm writing this the song Land of Confusion by Genesis is playing. No lie. I'm only mentioning it because of the line that goes "Superman where are you now?" That will show you just how ubiquitous the Man of Steel is.)

Of course everyone knows about the Last Son of Krypton, his origin as the sole survivor of a doomed planet, his Midwest upbringing, his milquetoast alter ego Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Daily Bugle, etc., etc,......

So I ask you, my comic book brethren, what are your Top 5 Superman comic book covers?

Here are mine, in no particular order:

Avengers/JLA #4
Let's just be serious here for a moment, if this doesn't make your inner fanboy or fangirl quiver then you need your Nerd Card revoked!


Superman #75
Yes, I am aware that this isn't the actual cover but dang - what an iconic image! I picked this up directly off the stands when it came out. Got two actually, 1 to open and 1 to leave pristine. The Doomsday storyline was very well done I thought. Never believed for a second that DC would permanently kill off their cash cow but it was a fun ride. Got some great new characters out of it as well: Superboy (Conner Kent, Steel, Cyborg Superman and Eradicator).


Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
This one is just a powerful image. Strongest being on Earth (and a lot of other planets) just in utter grief while holding the battered body of his cousin. Shout out to George Perez for his outstanding talent.


Superman #8
Gotta admit, I'm a sucker for John Byrne! This is an homage to another John Byrne cover (Fantastic Four #249 anybody?) and it perfectly showcases the sheer strength of Kal-el. He can totally destroy the Legion of Super Heroes and even crack a smile while doing it. Can't remember exactly what happened here, he was either mind controlled or it was a misunderstanding or something. Either way, I like the cover!


Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #98
I like monkeys.


There we have it! I showed you mine now you show me yours!

Howie's "What's Your Top 5?" Part 1 - Comic Book Characters
Howie's "What's Your Top 5?" Part 2 - Stan Lee Cameos
Howie's "What's Your Top 5?" Part 3 - Horror Comics
Howie's "What's Your Top 5?" Part 4 - Thanksgiving Sides/Desserts
Howie's "What's Your Top 5?" Part 5 - Sword Wielding Comic Characters
Howie's "What's Your Top 5?" Part 6 - Marvel/DC Crossovers You Want To See

I don't think I've ever tried to pick my favorite Superman covers, but I have several hanging on the walls around my house. It's not a fair sample, though, because many of them are cardstock or gimmick covers that don't fit nicely when I'm binding the comics into hardcover books. Most of the rest are prints from the George Perez portfolio special that DC put out a few months (or years) ago.

Action Comics #1000


Detective Comics #1027 (Jim Lee variant)


Crisis #8


DC Universe #0


Action Comics #643


Superman #123

This one is the actual comic framed, since I used the non-enhanced version in binding. I put this next to my lamp, so it gets charged up quite a bit during the day, and glows all night.

And really, Electric Superman wasn't bad. I just think the timing was a bit off. There seemed to be a lot of retro flavor going on around that time (like the Pulp Heroes annuals) that would have better suited the traditional power set. Additionally, the regular writers spent most of their time trying to replicate the old powers with the new. Meanwhile, Grant Morrison was running laps around them in JLA having Superman use his new powers in creative ways that he couldn't use his old powers.