The All-New, All-Awesome Adventures of Danny Baram: Blog of Steel: The Best Ever Superman Writers and Artists, as Superman Week Continues

Man, finally, a day to just come home and chill after a long day of work. Gotta rest up, because tommorow is gonna be huge. Work, dinner with the visiting Yanofsky family from CT, and then over to Universal Citywalk, to take in Superman Returns in full-on IMAX 3-D, baby.

The reviews for Superman have been pretty interesting. I notice that those who hold Donner's movies in the highest regard - aka those who were between 5 and 15 when the first Superman was released in theaters - have almost always given Bryan Singer's latest effort excellent reviews, often invoking nostalgic feelings for those old films that the new one evoked. Roger Ebert today gave the movie a fairly mediocre review, although at this point, Ebert's opinion is almost hard to take at face value - the guy seems to just be kind of marching to the beat of his own drummer at this point, and I don't mean that in a good way. Harry Knowle's hyperbolic review on Ain't It Cool was predictably laced with over the top fanboyish love for Superman Returns. His reviews are always fun reads, especially as a way of getting hyped up for a movie, but Harry's reviews are often totally written within such a specific context - in line with his own unique fetishes and sensibilities - that rarely on a movie like this one do you get a balanced review. Which is, often, great. I wish more reviewers would allow themselves to geek out on occasion and just rave about the utter coolness of a movie when appropriate. But with Superman Returns, I knew right away that Harry Knowle's love for the Donner movies would put his sensibilities in conflict with my own desire to see a reimagined Superman for the big screen that reflects the post-John Bryne/Man of Steel comic book era - the era that I've grown up reading and the one that taught me to love all things Superman.

So I have a pretty strong feeling that my own opinion will line up more with that of Aint It Cool's most balanced and sensible reviewer, Moriarity, who liked the movie but found a number of issues with its plot and overall direction that it set up for the relaunched franchise. I doubt I will dislike it as much as Ebert, but I already have enough issues with the characters and plot (Lex Luthor played for camp, the son, ties to the Donner movies, Bosworth as Lois, lack of action / superheroics, etc) that it will take a lot to win me over completely.

But dammit all, it IS Superman. When I hear that iconic John Williams score and suddenly believe again that a Man Can Fly, in 3-D IMAX no less ... well, that alone is gonna freakin' rock.

So anyways, as I did with Batman last year in honor of the seminal Batman Begins, I wanted to run down some of the best ever Superman writers and artists - pay tribute to the men who kept the Superman legacy going strong all these years. Unlike Batman, may of Superman's most memorable stories were published well before I was born, and many have a particular fondness for the strange and often surreal Superman stories of the 50's, 60's, and 70's (see Grant Morrison's current All-Star Superman for a modern spin on this era). So this list will definitely have more of a modern slant to it, though I will try to acknowledge some of the greats of the past whom I am familiar with.

THE BEST SUPERMAN WRITERS OF ALL TIME:

10. Joe Kelly - While Joe Kelly's early 00's run on Superman could almost be said to be more miss than hit, Kelly skyrocketed to the top of the Superman canon with the insta-classic Action Comics 775, one of the Best Superman stories -- ever. Kelly is a global thinker, interested in politics almost to a fault, but he created Manchester Black, the best new Superman villain of the last decade, and a worthy ideological opponent for the Man of Steal. With Action 775, he singlehandedly reminded us why we should give a damn about Superman in a post-9/11 world.

9. Mark Waid - Waid hasn't written much Superman - he is better known for his lengthy, acclaimed run on The Flash. But Waid went from cult fave to bonafide superstar with his work on Kingdom Come - the best Superman story ever, in my opinion. Waid wrote Superman as conflicted, losing touch with the times, but ready to reassert himself and reclaim his greatness. His Superman was, simply, awe-inspiring.

8. Jeph Loeb - After writing one of the best modern Batman stories in The Long Halloween, Loeb did the same for Superman with For All Season, one of the most heart-filled, character-driven, simple-yet-powerful Superman stories ever. While Loeb's widescreen, action-packed run on the mainline Superman titles had its ups and downs, his For All Seasons was a testament to his full potential as a writer able to humanize a character as iconic as Superman.

7. Karl Kessell - Kessell on Superman was simply rock solid. For years in the 90's, Karl Kessell was the most consistent, the most imaginative, the most fun to read of any of the many Superman writers of the era. With a love for the old Kirby-created characters, Kessell embraced Superman's crazier elements and ran with them. His ability to reinvigorate old characters like Guardian and the Newsboy Legion, while creating fan-fave new ones, like the cloned Kon-El, the latest version of Superboy, was unmatched. And in his great Final Night series, Kessell did one of the best ever depictions of a powerless Superman who was a hero with or without superpowers.

6. Dan Jurgens - Say what you will about Jurgens - his clunky dialogue, his participation as writer of a number of lackluster, event-driven "events," but the man knew what made Superman, and us as Super-fans, tick. Few others could have driven the Death of Superman and made it as epic, as attention-grabbing, and as, well, huge, as it was. It's funny though, because soe of Jurgens best work was in his smaller-scale, one-off stories. But he'll be remembered as the man behind the revival in Superman's popularity for the modern age.

5. Roger Stern - Like Kessell, Stern was simply a rock-solid writer. He was the lead writer of Superman comics for much of the 80's and 90's, and after John Bryne's departure he basically shaped the modern Superman canon. The modern takes on the Eradicator, Supergirl, Superman's first forays with time travel ... hell, Superman's relationship with Lois Lane and eventual engagement / marriage -- all stemmed from Stern's steady guidance of the superman mythos. For an excellent non-comics look at Stern's grasp of Superman, check out his great novelization of the Death and Return of Superman - the man knows his Superman, plain and simple, and knows how to make modern mythology in comics form.

4. Elliot S! Maggin - I admit that I haven't read a great deal of Maggin's work. But what I know of him tells me that he is one of the great writers of Superman from the 70's and 80's, a guy who wrote the kind of simple, iconic tales that kids will forever remember as being their favorites long into adulthood. Maggin was a real story guy, a guy who for years put Superman in new situations, introduced him to new and strange characters, and was a real creative force that elevated Superman stories to an as-of-then unprecedented quality and sophistication.

3. Jerry Siegal - What can one say about one half of the team who started it all? The writer of the Siegal-Schuster duo, Jerry Siegal crafted one of the most enduring characters of all time, up there with Odysseus, Zorro, and Moses himself.

2. Alan Moore - Again, what can one say about Alan Moore? The man is bar none one of the best WRITERS of the 20th century, and we as Superman fans are lucky to have his contributions to Superman. Moore simply understands good storytelling - how to conjure emotion, to draw on nostalgia, and yet how to give us something we've never, ever seen before. Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tommorow?" is an amazing piece of storytelling - for many the best Superman story ever told. In fact, the handful of Superman stories Moore has written are all among the character's best and most memorable. If you've never read "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tommorow" or "For the Man Who Has Everything," go to a bookstore, buy the Best of Alan Moore DC Universe collection, and enjoy.

1. John Byrne - Byrne is a controversial guy of late. But in the 80's, the man could do no wrong. As a writer and artist, he came off of the definitive run on X-Men and then made it his mission to reinvent Superman in 1986. And twenty years later, John Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries is still THE definitive template for the modern day incarnation of Superman. Who is Superman vs. Clark Kent? Lois Lane? Lex Luthor? Lana Lang? Jonathan and Martha Kent? How does Superman feel about Batman? Byrne gave new answers to these questions and totally reshaped Superman ... for the better, giving us a more relatable, cooler, Superman - where Clark Kent was the real guy and Superman the facade. Where Lex Luthor was a power-hungry businessman. Where Lois was a modern woman who could hold her own. Without John Byrne's Man of Steel, there'd be no Lois and Clark, no Smallville, and Superman would still be stuck in the 1930's.

Honorable Mentions: Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Marv Wolfman

THE BEST SUPERMAN ARTISTS OF ALL TIME:

10. Stuart Immonen - In the 90's on Action Comics and to this day, in works like Superman: Secret Identity, Stuart Immonen presented an almost photo-realistic Man of Steel with a hint of painterliness. With realistic forms yet almost etheral textures, Immonen is one of the defining modern artists when it comes to Superman.

9. Ed McGuinness - Combining traditional American comicbook style with the exaggerated proportions and kinetic energy of Japanese manga, McGuinness has been a breath of fresh air to Superman in te last several years. Often teaming with writer Jeph Loeb, Ed's over the top style suits Loeb's blockbuster action-movie storylines to a T.

8. George Perez - As penciller of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, Perez drew hundereds of characters with an unprecedented, almost insane level of detail. But he also got to draw some of the all-time iconic and memorable Superman scenes and covers. His Crisis cover with Superman holding a slain Supergirl, as tears roll down his eyes, is one of the greatest and most imitated comic covers of all time. And his depictions of Supermen of multiple earths are classic. Perez's classical, quintissential comicbook style is perfectly suited for the quintessential comicbook character in Superman.

7. Max Fleischer - not a comicbook artist, but one of the artists responsible for some of the most amazing Superman art of all time - the original Superman animated series from the 1940's. using ahead-of-its-time rotoscoping techniques, Fleischer gave his Superman ultra-realistic animation, but infused his cartoons with an ultra-stylized, art-deco aesthetic that to this day, is simply mesmerizing to behold.

6. Joe Schuster - Again, what can you say? The man created one of the most iconic images of our time - the classic red and blue costume, the spit-curl, the origin, the green planet krypton with its red sun. Superman was the artistic template by which countless other heroes come. Visually, Schuster pretty much invented the modern superhero - one of the great American artistic creations of all time. Though his art could be crude and simple, Schuster's skill as a cretor and artistic visionary is indisputable.

5. Tom Grummett - Grummett, in my opinion, is one of the great underrated artists. Perhaps it's because his style isn't particularly flashy, almost a throwback to an earlier era - but for my money, this guy along with Dan Jurgens is perhaps not only the definitive Superman artist of the 90's, but maybe the definitive DC Comics artist. Look at his work. It's so smooth, so seamless - with the pristine qulaity of a Disney animation cell, yet the detail and cool factor of the best modern comic artists. His Superman is just right - traditional yet modern, realistic yet perfectly cartoony. During the 90's, Grummet had to draw all kinds of crazy stuff, yet always brought a workmanlike consistency and quality. It's a testament to how good the guy is that he was literally the ONLY artist who could actually make the electro-blue Superman suit look cool, and THAT is quite the achievement.

4. Dan Jurgens - Like Grummett, Jurgens was consistent as hell in the 90's. But Jurgens gave his superman that little extra oomph that Grummet lacked - a little more muscle, a little more energy, and a real sense of kick-ass coolness. Superman never looked cooler than when Jurgens drew him in the 90's. Jurgens made Supes' fight to the death with Doomsday a truly epic event, all because of the larger than life art and sense of scope it brought to the story. Jurgens' art was just crackling with power. When he drew Darkseid preparing to fight Doomsday in Superman / Doomsday, Hunter / Prey - it was a real holy $#&% moment. And Dan Jurgens did those huge, intense moments better than anyone.

3. Alex Ross - At this point, for me, THE definitive image of Superman is Superman as painted by Alex Ross. Ross' dramatic, iconic style is perfect for the Man of Steel, and his paintings of Superman in works like Kingdom Come and Peace on Earth are simply awe-inspiring. PErhaps my all-time favorite Superman comic book panel was the Alex Ross painting on the last page of Kingdom Come # 1. Talk about Superman Returns - if there was ever a moment in a comic that gave me chills from the ART ALONE - this may have been it. Nobody does Superman like Alex Ross - he paints Superman with the same reverence and gravitas that the great renaissance painters reserved for any of their subjects.

2. John Byrne - Yup, not only was Byrne the reshaper of Superman's mythos as a writer, he also drew those same stories himself and was one hell of an artist. For many, Byrne's cleanly drawn, dynamic version of Superman from the 1980's is THE definitive rendition. Byrne redefined Superman, Lex, Lois, Smallville, and Metropolis not only as a writer but as an artist - putting a modern, yet timeless, sheen on the classic characters. Take a look at the Man of Steel by Byrne ... the bold design, the iconic character designs, the clean lines, the personality inherent in the characters -- this is a canonical version of Superman, no question - an artistic template that would stand for years and stands to this day.

1. Curt Swan - Think Superman. Think classic. Think of Superman talkign with Jerry Seinfeld in that TV commercial from a few years back. More than likely, you're now thinking of Superman as drawn by the late, great Curt Swan. Swan just had that classic sense of dynamism and motion - that simple, elegant, yet instantly identifiable take on Superman that became closely associated with Superman to the point of practically being THE artistic depiction most recognized around the world. Before I discovered Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tommorow," I mostly though of Swan as an old-school penciller whose Superman was dated and not for me. But after seeing how amazingly Swan's art fit Moore's dark yet nostalgic, hopeful yet melancholy epic, I changed my tune ... this guy was the real deal, then or now - THE Superman artist of the 70's, 80's, or any age for that matter. Curt Swan's Superman is a classic that will forever be associated with the world's original superhero.