what's up birdwatchers? now that my adventures with superman is on hiatus, i thought i'd use my powers of Being A Very Big Nerd to get you started reading comics! with 80 years of material it can feel kind of intimidating to get into, but the best way to do it is just dive in and follow your curiosity from there
i've structured these recs around our friends in the daily planet newspaper morgue. any superman story is going to have his girlfriend and his pal there to support him, but i've also made sure to throw in some solo stuff for lois and jimmy so they get a chance to shine too
Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman
Superman Smashes the Klan (2019) - written by Gene Luen Yang, with art by Gurihiru
a sweet little graphic novel based on a 1946 radio serial with a badass real life story behind it. makes me cry. i yell at everyone to read this whether they're superman fans or not. also they weren't lying superman really does smash absolute klan AND punches a nazi
i also encourage everyone to read the historical backstory at the end of the comic. it does a good job laying out superman's jewish origins and tells a pretty dope story about the time he fought the kkk in real life
Superman for All Seasons (1998) - written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale
a fairly classic take on a young superman. the tone is pitch perfect and tim sale's character designs are to die for
Superman: American Alien (2015) - written by Max Landis with various artists
so this is a weird baby superman story tone and characterization-wise and i'm going to advocate pirating this bc max landis is a sex creep, but it's so much fun i'm still going to recommend it. it's a good mix of serious pathos from clark's childhood and absolutely iconic shenanigans as he moves into young adulthood
Lois Lane: Enemy of the People (2019) - written by Greg Rucka with art by Mike Perkins
first time comic readers are going to need to keep an open mind when random in-continuity crossover stuff cuts into the plot, but learning to roll with that stuff for the sake of a good story is part of getting into the medium! and it's so, so worth it to see lois on a solo adventure surrounded by lesbians with clark only popping in from time to time for moral support. there's a subplot about how the public thinks lois is cheating on clark kent with superman bc they can't keep their hands off each other in public. she fights ICE. it's amazing
Superman: Lois Lane #1 "Nostalgia" (2014) - written by Marguerite Bennett with art by various artists
a version of lois's relationship with her family that i'm particularly fond of. it goes into her childhood with lucy, the loss of her mother, and the way that impacts them both as adults
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: "Who Killed Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen?" (2019) - written by Matt Fraction with art by Steve Lieber
what you need to understand about jimmy olsen is his solo shit from time immemorial has been really, really weird. just perpetually weird. remember what i said earlier about new comics readers needing to learn to roll with random stuff they don't understand for the sake of a good story? this is a good story that is nothing but random stuff you have to roll with. this has been the nature of superman's pal jimmy olsen since the silver age. it's a great time tho fr
Superman #158 (1962) - written by Edmund Hamilton with art by Curt Swan
some old school silver age hijinks that have lived on through all kinds of reboots and retcons over the years. this is the origin of nightwing (best known as dick grayson's mantle post-robin) and of course our beloved flamebird. it's just fun and i think it's important for everyone to know jimmy was the first flamebird
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021) - written by Tom King with art by Bilquis Everly
you haven't met kara zor-el yet, but a voice actor HAS been cast for her so you definitely will. kara zor-el is kal-el's cousin who was 14 years old when krypton was destroyed. when she was sent away, she was supposed to find her baby cousin on earth and take care of him, but her ship was caught in the phantom zone and she was left in stasis until he was grown. she remembers everything that was a mystery to him, and this story in particular does a gorgeous job exploring that. it's one of my favorite comics ever written
Action Comics #1-10 (1938-9) - written by Jerry Siegel with art by Joe Shuster
the og! i'm tossing these in here because they're genuinely a really fun read. the closer you get to world war ii the more they dip into old-timey yellow peril racism, so content warning for that (although i don't remember if that's in the first ten issues tbh), but they're genuinely a fun read and some of the politics are surprisingly radical even for today
your local comic book shop does of course sell comics, and they'll even order stuff for you if they don't have it in stock. if your library has hoopla, you can likely borrow most of these comics digitally and for free (and of course you can check your library's physical collection as well)
if those don't work, well... i'm not gonna blow up my spot but if you install a good adblocker (ublock origin is my fave), fire up duckduckgo, and search "[comic title + issue number (if applicable)] read comic online" then that should get you where you need to go. happy reading!
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