If you’re trying to read all these wonderful comics I’m going to explore and you want options beyond “Track down a decade and a half of back issues,” this is the guide for you.
First, you can find almost all of these comics on DC INFINITE. But if you actually want to own these issues rather than subscribe, I’m going to go through all the formats, begining with Hardcovers.
Hardcovers and Omnibuses
If it helps, I’ve created a Community List for Post-Crisis /Triangle Era Superman Hardcovers on League of Comic Geeks.
The Byrne Years
John Byrne’s run on SUPERMAN, ACTION and multiple miniseries is collected (along with concurrent issues of Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway’s ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN) in a four-volume set called SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL. Most of these are out of print, but they all have Kindle options.
Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. All Amazon links on this page are affiliate links.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
The Pre-Triangle and Triangle Eras
These lead right to the ongoing Omnibus collections and they’re all still in print as of this writing. These don’t have Kindle options, however.
Superman: Exile and Other Stories
Superman: Brainiac Reborn
Superman: The Triangle Era Vol. 1
Superman: The Triangle Era Vol. 2
Superman: The Triangle Era. Vol 3
Those collections take you right up to early 1994. In case you’re curious. Because this era is known for some of the longer storylines, I’m going to give you a more detailed breakdown by collection of exactly what’s in them. To me, they represent the peak era of Superman, and certainly the essential stories to get if you’re into Post-Crisis Superman.
Superman: Exile and Other Stories
Collects THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #445-459, SUPERMAN #23-27, ACTION COMICS #643-646 and ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #2.
This volume starts with the material immediately after John Byrne’s departure, so there’s about a six-month leadup to EXILE IN SPACE. Following EXILE are a lot of standalone stories with serialized elements that start putting a lot of stories into place for later volumes, particularly the Eradicator and Brainiac plotlines as well as some problems for Jimmy Olsen.
This volume collects Superman #38-48; Adventures of Superman #461-471; Action Comics #647-658; Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography #1; L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #1; Superman Special #1; Adventures of Superman Annual #2; Superman: “” Under a Yellow Sun”
In terms of stories, this is THE BRAINIAC TRILOGY, THE DAY OF THE KRYPTON MAN, DARK KNIGHT OVER METROPOLIS, SOUL SEARCH, THE SINBAD TRILOGY and the crossover with L.E.G.I.O.N. in the annuals.
Superman: The Triangle Era Vol. 1
This volume collects Superman #49-64; Adventures of Superman #472-486; Action Comics #659-673; Superman: The Man of Steel #1-8.
This collection starts just ahead of the actual triangles on the cover, with KRISIS OF THE KRIMSON KRYPTONITE, the story that ends with Clark and Lois getting engaged. It also includes TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE RED GLASS TRILOGY, REVENGE OF THE KRYPTON MAN, and BLACKOUT, as well as the issues where Clark reveals to Lois he’s Superman and her reaction to it.
Superman: The Triangle Era Vol. 2
This volume collects Superman #64-77; Adventures of Superman #487-499; Action Comics #674-686; Superman: The Man of Steel #9-21; Justice League America #69; Superman: Legacy of Superman #1; Supergirl/Team Luthor Special #1; and Newstime: The Life and Death of Superman #1.
In storyline terms, this is PANIC IN THE SKY, The Superman/Robin teamup, THE BLAZE/SATANUS WAR, CRISIS AT HAND, THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND and everything in between. It also includes the Christmas story, “Metropolis Mailbag,” one of my all time favorites.
Superman: The Triangle Era. Vol 3
Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 3 collects Action Comics #687-697, Action Comics Annual #5 and # 500-510, Adventures of Superman Annual #5, Superman #78-88, Superman Annual #5, Superman: The Man of Steel #22-32, Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #2, and Green Lantern #46, plus the Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey miniseries written and illustrated by Dan Jurgens.
Translated into storylines, this is REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN, SPILLED BLOOD, SUPERMAN IN SPACE, SUPERMAN/DOOMSDAY: HUNTER/PREY, BIZARRO’S WORLD, and everything in between. The last issue is the final part of BIZARRO’S WORLD.
The inclusion of THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, and REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN within the Triangle Era volumes makes The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus something of a redundant collection, but I’m listing it here for completeness.
There is also Superman & Lois Lane: The 25th Wedding Anniversary, which collects – you guessed it – the wedding. The Omnibus series won’t catch up to this until somewhere around Vol. 6.
Absolute Editions
So far there are only two Absolute Editions that fall under the Post-Crisis era that this blog covers.
Superman: The Man of Steel by John Byrne: Absolute Edition
This collects only The Man of Steel mini-series that kicked off the Post-Crisis era, along with some extra features.
The Death of Superman Absolute Edition collects the entire Death of Superman storyline, which spans Superman #73-75, Adventures of Superman #496-497, Justice League America #69, Action Comics #683-684, Superman: The Man of Steel #17-19, Newstime: The Life and Death of Superman #1.
I own this one and it has extras galore!
- Over 200 pages of never-before-seen artwork, including reproductions of all of Dan Jurgens pencil layouts for Superman #75. We also see his original pencils for the Death of Superman poster, and the original pencils of many of the other atists
- Brand-new essays, scripts, retrospectives,
- A trading card gallery.
- This edition is housed within a resealable black polybag marked with the bleeding S, and features a funeral box with replicas of the memorabilia included with the Superman #75 Memorial Edition – the Death of Superman poster, Superman’s obituary, postage stamps, the black mourning armband, and collectible card.
- a remastered reproduction of Newstime: The Life and Death of Superman.
- New in-world artifacts from the event!
DC Finest Collections
DC has just announced a DC FINEST: SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL series.
DC Finest: Superman: The Man of Steel
This first volume comes out in November and will contain The Man of Steel #1–6; Superman #1–6; Adventures of Superman #424–429; Action Comics #584–588; Legends #6, and pages from Legends #1-5 and Hawkman #10.
Presumably, there will be two subsequent volumes to re-collect all of the Byrne Era, but they haven’t been announced yet.
DC Finest: Superman: Time and Time Again essentially collects the first half of The Triangle Era Volume 1 Omnibus: Superman #49–56, Starman #28, Adventures of Superman #472–479, and Action Comics #659–666.
In terms of storylines, that’s KRISIS OF THE KRIMSON KRYPTONITE, TIME AND TIME AGAIN, and THE RED GLASS TRILOGY.
Trade Paperbacks
But what if you had a hankering to hunt down a LOT of out of print trade paperbacks? I don’t know why you would, but below is a list of every Post-Crisis Superman trade. You can also check out the Community List I made of these on Comic Geeks.
Not all of these are out of print, but many of them are and can only be found on the secondary market. Several of them also have Kindle options. Some of them are redundant with each other and I’ll note those cases as they arise.
The same material in those 4 MAN OF STEEL hardcovers is collected in a 9-volume trade series.
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Those trades are old and out of print, but still available digitally.
If you’re a fan of Curt Swan, his art on the two-page Superman feature from ACTION COMICS WEEKLY is collected with his work on THE SINBAD CONTRACT in The Power Within.
From here on out, the trades are mostly based on story arc, so there are gaps between them and it’s not as complete a reading experience as the Omnibus Editions.
Superman: Exile
Superman: Eradication
Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis
World’s Finest
Superman: Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite
Superman: Time and Time Again
Superman: Panic in the Sky
Superman: Panic in the Sky – 2027 Edition
Superman: They Saved Luthor’s Brain
This brings us to The Death and Return era of Superman. Those storylines have been collected a number of times so I’m going to list all the editions chronologically.
The Death of Superman
World Without a Superman
The Return of Superman
Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey
Superman/ Doomsday Omnibus (collects Hunter/Prey, The Doomsday Wars and Doomsday Annual 1.)
This next 2016 series of trades is the most complete version in that format, as they collects every issue in the storylines (including some missing in the trades) and has both Doomsday minis and the Doomsday Annual.
The Death of Superman
Funeral For a Friend
Reign of the Supermen
The Return of Superman
Doomsday
There is also The Death and Return of Superman Compendium, which is the contents of the Omnibus, but in trade format. This is the material in the first four of those five trades listed above.
Bizarro’s World
Superman: Zero Hour
The Death of Clark Kent
Superman vs. Aliens
Dark Horse Comics/DC Comics: Superman (Contains BOTH Superman/Aliens miniseries)
The Trial of Superman
The Wedding & Beyond
Superman vs. The Revenge Squad
Superman: Transformed
Superman: Blue Vol 1
That last one was intended to be the first of four trades collecting the Electro-Superman storyline but the other three were never published. Also everything in the Transformed trade is also found in the Blue trade.
Leave a Reply