One of the most recognisable superheroes of all time, Superman turns 75 this year. He doesn’t look it. Blame the Kryptonian DNA. Check out our series of the top five Superman comics to prep for the upcoming Man of Steel.

Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder

“I’ve seen my share of monsters, son. And you’re no monster.”

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The last son of a doomed world, sent to a distant planet by his scientist father, crash lands and is raised by kindly farmers, develops vast powers, moves to the big city, becomes a journalist and superhero.

Only this time, he works with Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Oh, and he’s a shapeshifting alien sent to subjugate Earth for an alien Empire.

It’s a pretty typical subversion of the story, even touched on within the Superman mythos, most notably in Smallville. Kryptonians might not have been very nice people. Kal El may have been sent to Earth for less than noble reasons. And in those stories, more often than not he is a willing party to the plan. Most of the time it’s played for a shock twist ending. The beauty here is that Virtue (our Superman stand-in) doesn’t want to crush humanity beneath his bootheel. He was raised here, he considers himself human. He outright rejects his father’s plans.

All too often, people try to make Superman a symbol, rather than a character. He is placed on a pedestal, and not allowed to be fun. This? This is fun. Some of the humour is a bit mean-spirited, but it’s a Spider-Man book, mean jokes are the main dish. Add in some riffs on the Superman mythology (Lois Lane/Laurie Lynton, glasses), some chilling moments with mob bosses, drug dealers and superpowered assassins, and it’s a really interesting take on the Superman story, with some great Spider-Man moments thrown in for good measure. Two superheroes for the price of one!

Donal O’Connor