So, here are my favorite versions of Superman from... everywhere. One caveat I did give myself is that I wouldn’t include main continuity versions of Superman. So, no Golden Age, no Post-Crisis, no Grant Morrison New 52 version, and no Rebirth. If I do say something from main continuity, it won’t be the main Superman. I’m also not just looking at alternate stories from the comics either. There are a crapton of TV shows and movies that feature the character and his world. So, in saying all that, let’s get the dictators out of the way!
13. Red Son Superman – We’ve gotten a few “evil” versions of
Superman over the years… heck, they're mostly in this century. The best of the bunch in
my opinion is the Red Son Superman, though I don’t think you could perceive
him as straight-up evil. You definitely can say that about Overman (Nazi
Superman) and Injustice Superman. Kal-L from Red Son had a completely different
backstory in that he landed in Soviet Russia during the 1930s. After Stalin
dies, he becomes the leader of the Soviet Union and does some messed up things.
Even though he wasn’t too altruistic, you did see points where the regular Superman
shined through. I still haven’t seen the animated movie, but I will soon.
12. Injustice Superman – Now, when it comes to the Superman
from Injustice, he’s definitely evil. After suffering some tragic losses,
Superman and most of the Earth’s heroes decide to take out villains
permanently. Superman even takes it further though by basically becoming
Earth’s dictator. It ends up taking other heroes led by that Earth’s Batman as
well another heroic Superman to take that evil version down. While I’m not the
biggest fan of what was done with this Superman, I gotta say that he is pretty
good at being bad.
11. Superman from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of
Superman – Yeah, Dean Cain has made it to the list. It’s quite an achievement.
While he might actually be like the jackass he played in that episode of A
Different World, his Superman was interesting. Actually, his Superman kinda
sucked. He wasn’t bad in the role, but something felt lacking. The thing that
made Cain stand out was his portrayal of Clark Kent. The show took quite a few
cues from the original George Reeves show, and this was one of them. This show
was the reason I like a more natural, down-to-earth version of Clark than the
version who is just a klutz.
10. Earth-2 Superman (Val-Zod) – The new Earth-2 updated classic characters like Alan Scott and Jay Garrick to modern times. It
also introduced some new variations of characters, and one of them was Val-Zod.
Adopted by the El family and rocketed off to Earth with Kal-El and Kara,
Val-Zod ended up being kept by the government for years. When Earth was in
danger from the forces of Apokalips, Val-Zod decided to take on the mantle of
Superman. Unlike most Supers, he really wasn’t keen on violence, but that
doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. Him being black is even more icing on this cake.
9. Max Fleischer Superman – If you want to see the closest
thing to a Golden Age Superman in action, then you can’t go wrong with the Max
Fleischer Superman. It may have been short-lived, but it left an impression on
a young boy. The cartoons are 8 to 10 minutes of fun action. You may not get
Superman saying much, but actions speak louder than words. It also helps that
the animation from that time looks beautiful.
8. Earth-23 President Superman – While it’s not the first time we’ve seen a President Superman, it definitely was the first we got of a black President Superman... I think. We haven't gotten much of him, but seeing him show up is always cool. Inspired by Barack Obama, this Superman (President Calvin Ellis) first showed up in Final Crisis. Even though the New 52 came, this Superman stuck around and even led the Multiverse’s Justice League Incarnate. If that’s not cool to you, I can’t help you.
7. DCEU Superman – What Superman Returns didn’t bring, Man
of Steel brought. I was ready for a new take with Superman in live-action, and
what we got was good. Henry Cavill felt right as Superman even though he’s more
of the silent type. Hey, I like it since I’m a quiet dude myself, and as I said
earlier, actions speak louder than words. Seeing him in a world that’s much
more real and sometimes dour was interesting. It showed that even in the
darkest times, he could still rise to the occasion and be the hero. Here’s
hoping the Snyder Cut is decent and that we get more of Cavill’s Superman.
6. Superman: Secret Identity - Now, this was a fresh take on
the character. One day, a young Clark Kent wakes up with the powers of
Superman, who in this story is just a fictional character. Yeah, this Clark was never a Kryptonian immigrant, and his parents were apparently douches for naming him after Superman. We get to see Clark
actually grow as a person through the miniseries. We see him rise, fall, get
married, deal with the government, become a father, and grow old. Yeah, it
doesn’t have the supervillains or the big theatrics, but it’s as valid as any
Superman story.
5. All-Star Superman – I’m not the biggest fan of the Silver
Age Superman, but All-Star Superman helped win me over if only a little. We have a character as close to a demigod in that story, and all he does is
help people. Even when he’s klutzing it up as Clark Kent, he’s doing something
to help folk. When he realizes that he’s about to die, he does all he can to
help folk through his labors. Who does he think he is? Hercules? Anyway, it’s a
good rendition. Grant Morrison can almost do no wrong. Just almost.
4. Donner Superman – Yeah, you know Christopher Reeve gotta
be on here. He’s the first thing folk think of when someone says Superman.
Reeve just sold the character. He was able to show all the best qualities of
Superman. I’ve said this before, so I don’t need to say it again. Even though
I’m not the biggest fan of his Clark Kent and some of the movies weren’t that
good, Reeve was one of the reasons I became a fan.
3. Smallville Superman – Before anyone says that Tom Welling wasn’t
Superman… shush! The dude had the role of Clark/Kal-El/Superman for ten years
straight (over 200 episodes), wore some cool renditions of the suit, and did
wear the suit in the end. He’s Superman in my book! Also, there’s Season 11 to
consider if you want to get more technical. This was another thing that got me
more invested in the character. We got to see Clark grow over 10 years. I liked
that we got to see this Clark screw up and grow from those screw ups. This did
what the Superboy comics did for folk back in the day. I also loved that the
creators didn’t just stick to what was done before and did their own thing.
2. Kingdom Come Superman – Of all the alternate Supermen
we’ve got over the years in comics, this is probably my favorite version. This
Superman left the civilized world when humanity wanted a more brutal type of
superhero. He only comes back when a tragedy strikes and he can’t take any more
crap from vigilantes doing whatever they want. Kingdom Come takes this version
as well as other heroes down a path where the right thing may not be the best
thing, and even Kal-El (he abandoned his human name for a while) has to learn
some tough lessons. There’s a reason why I think this is one of DC’s best.
Also, that suit was the bomb!
1. DCAU Superman – Finally, we got what is, to me, the
definitive Superman in other media. This beats all of the live-action series,
movies, and other cartoons. While this version of Superman wasn’t the most
powerful, he had everything that makes Superman work. He was earnest, bold, and
had a nice solid uppercut. It also helped that Tim Daly and George Newburn did
some dang good voice-acting over the various shows. It was always cool to see
either of them return in other animated properties.
……………………………………………….
I know there are more versions out there, but I gotta stop somewhere. If any of your favorites didn’t make the list, let me know. Now, if you excuse me, I gotta put the finishing touches on this Truth storyline. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.
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