One other story I’d add (probably my close second): As a kid, I loved the first Lori Lemaris story. It captured the sort of haunted pathos that was an essential component of the 1950s Superman perfectly.

John Byrne retold it during his run and I thought he did a magnificent job of it– plus, this was the height of Byrne’s ability to draw beautiful women and Lori was gorgeous as well!

It’s a really sweet story about fathers and sons having that one last chance to connect. It really moved me as a 10 year-old. Still does today. And it even has a totally silly hippie villain who gets what he wants by saying “Please!”. For my money it’s as good as any issue of All -Star Superman (in fact one issue of All-Star pretty much goes to the same territory, only with lesser effect). And it’s written by Cary Bates, the most underrated writer in the history of DC comics.

“The man who has everything”
“Superman for all seasons”
“What’s so funny about…”
“Red Son”
Hitman/JLA & Hitman #34

regarding “Superman For All Seasons”, I’ve liked every Loeb/Sale story I’ve read; one of the best parts of the book was the reuse of layouts and shots in the various chapters, tying them together visually — the most interesting being, Clark’s room at the farmhouse in chapter 1 & 4 and his Metropolis apartment bedroom in chapter 2.

But Hitman #34 and now JLA/Hitman #2 have given me the best takes on the character I have ever seen. While I don’t think Ennis could ever write Superman as a character, I think he does the best job of writing about Superman as a concept.

There you go. I told you it was weird I liked it so much when I generally have a disdain for Loeb. That explains it.

Thanks.

Honourable mentions to Red Son and Secret Identity

The moment where Lana thinks Clark is going to propose? I don’t recall that in Man for All Seasons, but if it’s there, Loeb cribbed it from Man of Steel, since the exact same thing described by the person voting for that moment happened there.

Like every Loeb books, I’m sure EVERY good part of Superman for All Seasons is directly cribbed from a superior previous story, while all the illogical parts are 100% Loeb contributions. There’s a pretty good, consistent test you can do to tell if a Loeb scene is cribbed: is it good? Probably cribbed. Does the sequence make sense and last more than three consecutive panels without a plot hole popping up? Cribbed. The test has 100% success rate so far, I find.

Anyone voting for Whatever Happened to…? Should read Superfolks. Moore borrowed liberally from that for a lot of the early portion of his career, and it’s rarely more obvious than in WHttMoT, where the twist ending is exactly the same.

Superman #400 is great, though I’m not sure why people would vote for only a section of it (or why DC insists on only reprinting part of it). The story is best experienced as a whole. It’s a very moving portrait of Superman as symbol

Anyway, my vote goes tot he story from Action #1 or 2 where Superman traps greedy mine owners in their own dangerous mine. It would take until Ellis’s Stormwatch and John Cumberland for Superman to ever be that cool again (Miracleman was a little to facist).

My favorite title for a Superman story, meanwhile, is a lot easier: “Swear to God, This Time We’re Not Kidding”

There’s a lot of weird ones I like that aren’t quite Superman stories. Steve Gerber’s Phantom Zone mini-series, and I… I… well, I think the pre-Crisis Superbaby is the funniest thing ever.

But SuperMAN stories? Tougher. I got a soft spot in my heart for Brave and the Bold 150, probably Bob Haney’s last great issue.