THE TOP 25 GREATEST SUPERMAN COVERS OF ALL TIME

THE TOP 25 GREATEST SUPERMAN
COVERS OF ALL TIME

By
John "THE MEGO STRETCH HULK" Cimino

SIMPLY SUPER!

Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appearing in Action Comics #1 (1938), Superman (real name Kal-El) is the last son of the doomed planet Krypton. He was rocketed away as an infant by his father Jor-El who believed that the planet was about to explode. Arriving on Earth, the child was taken in by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised him as their own child. As he grew up, he discovered that due to this solar system's yellow sun, he had gained almost unlimited powers, of flight, speed, strength, endurance and enhanced senses. The name "Superman" was given to him by reporter Lois Lane, with whom he would come to love and work with at the Daily Planet in his civilian identity as Clark Kent. 

As Superman, the character carries the most respect of any superhero the world has ever known and he has become the standard all others are measured by. He lives by the traditional moral values instilled in him by his foster parents. He is often pictured with a sense of unbounded idealism mixed with restraint provided by his sense of fairness and compassion for others. He is a man with an incredible depth of feeling, often struggling with the differences between the right answer and the practical one. Devoted to promoting "truth, justice, and the American way", Superman has proved over and over that he is a true hero, capable of whatever bravery or self-sacrifice is necessary to right a wrong or save a life. He is above our common human character flaws; he doesn't feel greed, prejudice, resentment or bias.

While he is one of the most popular and powerful superheroes ever created, Superman is without any doubt the most important. Being the archetype superhero character model for all the others, his relevance and entire comic-mythos are without equal. With a career that has spanned almost 80 years within the pages of thousands upon thousands of comics, creating a list of his most memorable covers was by no means an easy task because, let's face it, Superman comics are the standard of superhero comics. His comic book covers have continued to intrigue and influence generation after generation. While all fanboys/experts/fans have their favorite Superman covers, I based my picks and rankings on how memorable they were to me (especially as a kid growing up in the '70s and '80s). When I look at these covers, I see Superman portrayed the way he should be; proud, strong and in the throes of superhero action! Plus, I wasn't too picky about which Superman incarnation was on the cover. You might see Superboy or an alternate-future Superman here and there because they still represent Superman in all his glory to me. Maybe my favorites won't be yours, but you'll still enjoy the 25 that I've selected. So ladies and gentlemen, Super-fanboys and Super-fangirls of all ages get ready for my greatest Superman covers of all time... "This looks like a job for SUPERMAN!!"

25.) SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI (1978)

24.) GIANT SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1 (1963)

23.) SUPERMAN/BATMAN #3 (2003)

22.) THE INCREDIBLE HULK VS. SUPERMAN (1999)

21.) THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #4 (1986)

20.) ACTION COMICS #594 (1987)

19.) SUPERMAN #178 (2002)

18.) ACTION COMICS #1 (1938)

17.) SUPERMAN #14 (1942)

16.) JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #10 (2007)

15.) ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #1 (2006)

14.) SUPERMAN #6 (1940)

13.) JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #11 (2008)

12.) WORLD'S FINEST #198 (1970)

11.) ADVENTURE COMICS #247 (1958)

10.) SUPERMAN #1 (1939)

9.) ACTION COMICS #863 (2008)

8.) SUPERMAN #199 (1967)

7.) SUPERMAN #8 (1987)

6.) SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #4 (2010)

5.) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #137 (1976)

4.) JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA KINGDOM COME SPECIAL: THE KINGDOM #1 (2008)

3.) DC 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #6 (1971)

2.) DC 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #13 (1972)

1.) SUPERMAN #233 (1971)

Agree? Disagree? Let's hear it fanboys and let's see your lists!

Check out other Hero Envy "Top 25 Greatest Covers" Lists:

  Spider-man
http://hero-envy.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-top-25-greatest-spider-man-covers-of.html  

Hulk
http://hero-envy.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-top-25-greatest-hulk-covers-of-all.html 

John Cimino

John Cimino is a Silver and Bronze Age comic, cartoon and memorabilia expert that runs a business called "Saturday Morning Collectibles." He buys, sells, appraises and gives seminars on everything pop culture, so if you got something special, let him know about it. He contributes articles to ALTER EGO, RETROFAN, BACK ISSUE and THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR from TwoMorrows Publishing, runs the Roy Thomas Appreciation Board on Facebook and has appeared on the AMC reality show Comic Book Men. He also represents some of comicdoms biggest stars and brings them to a Comic Con near you. John likes to think he's the real Captain Marvel, people just don't have the heart to tell him he's just an obsessed fanboy that loves to play superheroes with his daughter Bryn. Contact him at johnstretch@live.com or follow him on Instagram at megostretchhulk.