Since his creation at DC Comics in 1938, Superman has been the standard-bearer of the superhero genre, something that has been made clear through his best stories. While he’s best-known for his solo adventures and Justice League tales, some of the hero’s greatest adventures revolved around team-ups and crossovers. Ranging from encounters with gods to crossing into iconic movie universes, the Man of Steel has proven himself a noble hero every time he’s needed.
Superman stands alongside superheroes like Captain America and Spider-Man for his endlessly-heroic character traits, relatable personal life and exciting adventures. With eighty years of history behind him, he has accumulated arguably the richest, most entertaining and interesting life in comics. While many readers prefer the gritty tales of Batman, these team-up and crossover comics prove the Man of Tomorrow is DC’s greatest hero.
10 Superman vs Aliens II: God War
Chuck Dixon, Jon Bogdanove and Kevin Nowlan
During the 1990s, Dark Horse launched a series of collaborations with DC and Marvel, leveraging their license to publish iconic franchises like Predator and Alien. One of the first of these was Superman vs Aliens. While the original miniseries was a good read, it pales in comparison to its sequel, God War. The four-issue miniseries follows the Man of Steel teaming up with the New Gods to fight Darkseid, who has bred a Parademon/Xenomorph hybrid army to overrun New Genesis.
Superman vs Aliens II takes one of the hero’s deadliest foes and blends him with one of cinema’s most terrifying monsters in the xenomorphs. Merging the epic cosmic war between Apokolips and New Genesis with the perfect killing machine and throwing Superman into the mix simply works, and it gave readers one of the hero’s most action-packed stories to date.
9 Superman: War of the Worlds
Roy Thomas and Michael Lark
DC’s Elseworlds imprint adapted the universe’s best heroes to new and dynamic settings, including works of classic literature. Where Batman was landed in the world of Dracula, Superman was given a War of the Worlds reimagining, channeling the best of HG Wells’ classic story into DC lore. Here, readers are taken back to Siegel and Shuster’s version of the hero as he defends America from the Martian invasion.
Superman: War of the Worlds is a brilliant example of writing a character into another universe without compromising either one. The Man of Steel taking on the alien tripods is perfectly befitting the 1940s Action Comics run, and the story makes a point of highlighting a weaker hero who tries just as hard as his god-tier modern self.
8 Superman/Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle
Chuck Dixon, Carlos Meglia and Dave Stewart
Superman’s story has been reimagined in a variety ways, from his upbringing in the Soviet Union to Apokolips. One of the best — and most creative — of these was Superman/Tarzan, a story that reimagines the origin of the Man of Steel in the jungles of Africa, rather than Ma and Pa Kent’s farm in Smallville. Just as the baby Kal-El is now raised by the apes, Lord Greystroke survives his shipwreck, and raised by humans, later becoming an explorer who crosses paths with the Kryptonian.
On its face, the idea behind Superman/Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle could be hard to pull off, but the Dark Horse miniseries does a great job of making it work. As a hero of the jungle, this version of Superman brings the same steadfast protection and kind-hearted nature he typically exhibits over Metropolis to rural Africa.
7 Superman vs Predator
David Michelinie and Alex Maleev
Like many iconic superheroes, Superman took on the Predator under Dark Horse. As told in the series Superman vs Predator, the Man of Steel travels to the jungle of South America to investigate a mysterious illness that has swept a group of explorers after discovering an ancient Yautja ship, whose inhabitants are in stasis. However, when one of the alien hunters wakes up, he hunts the group — and makes Kal-El his prime target.
Superman vs Predator takes what worked well about the classic 1987 movie and adds in the superhero genre, albeit with a weakened Superman suffering the effects of a virus. The story shows that, even weakened, the Man of Tomorrow is a resourceful hero, one who can fall back on his intelligence when his strength fails him.
6 The Incredible Hulk vs Superman
Roger Stern, Steve Rude and Al Milgrom
As one of the most iconic of all the DC/Marvel crossover comics, The Incredible Hulk vs Superman reimagines the two heroes as coexisting in the same universe. When Thaddeus Ross and Lex Luthor unite in an effort to control the Hulk’s immense power, the latter manipulates the Green Behemoth into fighting Superman. What follows is one of the most epic comic book battles of all time, as the two heroes smash their way through buildings and mountains alike.
The Incredible Hulk vs Superman showcases Superman’s intelligence, compassion and value for human life, making a point of him ensuring their destruction doesn’t claim any innocent lives. In the end, it’s through his empathy and reasoning that the Man of Steel is able to talk down the Hulk, and bring Bruce Banner back to control.
5 Superman/Shazam: First Thunder
Judd Winick and Josh Middleton
Superman/Shazam: First Thunder follows the Man of Steel teaming up with Captain Marvel when their respective nemeses, Luthor and Sivana, team up. After foiling a series of crimes and battling a group of giant robots, the two wholesome heroes deal with a mystical cult after they summon a group of monsters.
First Thunder pairs up DC’s two most wholesome, all-American heroes on an exploration of their respective cities and rogues galleries. Blending science fiction with magic and fantasy, the team-up is everything a fan of either character could want in a crossover, one that shirks the classic trope of having two heroes fight.
4 Superman/Spider-Man
Jim Shooter, John Buscema and Joe Sinnott
Superman vs Spider-Man follows an alliance between Doctor Octopus and Lex Luthor, who use a mind-controlling device called the hypno-blaster to trick the heroes into fighting. After realizing they’ve been fooled, Peter and Clark take on their foes, culminating in a brilliant showdown aboard a space-based satellite.
Thematically speaking, few superheroes from rival companies share as many of the same themes and character traits as Superman and Spider-Man, something that made for a perfect crossover. While their power levels did have to be adjusted to make the story work, the crossover does a great job of establishing the heroes as natural partners.
3 Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator
Mark Schultz and Ariel Olivetti
Superman and Batman vs Aliens and Predator follows the discovery of a crashed Yautja ship in a volcano, and the efforts to investigate it. With Batman dispatched to represent Superman to the alien hunters, things take a turn when the beings believe thee Man of Steel to be a sun god. With the two heroes forced to weigh the value of the lives of the very aliens, both xenomorphs and Yautja, their differing philsophies come into focus.
A crucial part of this crossover comes when, much to the consternation of Batman, Superman insists on even protecting the lives of the xenomorphs, despite their dangerous nature. Here, the Man of Steel’s unending value of life is made clear, and readers get some great moments like Predators in the Fortress of Solitude to make things interesting.
2 Batman/Superman: World’s Finest
Mark Waid and Dan Mora
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest follows the shared adventures of the Man of Steel and Caped Crusader as they take on a series of threats. Beginning with the action-packed “Devil Nezha,” the series immediately handed readers some instant classic moments between the friends, such as the Super-Bat merger.
While Waid and Mora’s series does cover a variety of stories, it’s best enjoyed as its own thing, serving as a callback to a lighter age of DC. The series does a great job of showing the contrast between the brooding Dark Knight and hopeful Man of Tomorrow, and deserves praise for including some of the universe’s most obscure heroes.
1 Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness
The 2003 Superman/Batman series quickly handed the World’s Finest some of their best stories, beginning with the instant classic story arc “Public Enemies.” The debut arc takes place in an America where Lex Luthor has been elected President of the United States. Refusing to comply with the billionaire’s regulation of meta humans, Superman and Batman become outlaws, fleeing Luthor’s team of superheroes. When they discover that a Kryptonite meteor is headed for Earth, the duo resolve to save the world — both from destruction and Luthor’s lust for power.
“Public Enemies” is one of the best examples of Superman’s commitment to the American Way trumping his loyalty to the government, recognizing the threat Luthor poses — even if he is elected. While the story does a good job of reminding readers of Batman’s intelligence, it also shows that, ultimately, The Dark Knight is nothing without the Man of Steel when it comes to planetary threats.
