Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Hey i'm new to this board.  From what i've read i've pretty much gathered that the majority of you are silver age superman fans.  Most of the superman comics i've read (and unfortunately liked) have been from the modern and golden ages.  I want to know what all the hype is about silver age superman comics.  The only silver age collections i've seen are showcase presents and I'm not to keen on getting something black and white.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

First I  would say go for the showcase issues, because of the price about 16.99 and you get over 500 pages
I agree with the black and white, but for the page count, hey it's a lot more to get the issues
If you wish books in color , try Batman, Superman in the 50's , 60's, etc
For my reading enjoyment, I would get the showcase items to see the art and stories
I like the Batman, Superman ,Justice League , Legion etc
For other books , that are in color ( and a bit more money ) the Archive editions
I just got the golden age of dr fate , just to read the storys ,since I like magic
I wish that DC would issues the digtal comics that Marvel has put out , maybe DC can put out Golden Age Batman,Superman that Silver Age
And also read the comics on line this site
Pick you're favorite comic that you like now, and just follow the evolution of that comic

The silver age collections I would recommend would be Superman in the Sixties and Superman in the Seventies. Both will run you about $20.00. Other then the Showcase volumes, I don't know if there are a whole lot out there that aren't well into the $50.00 range like the Legion of Superheroes Archives.

I'd recommend getting a few "reading copies" (Good to Very Good) of the various 80-Page Giants which are reasonably priced on eBay as shown here:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=80+page+giant&category0=

80 Page Giants are always a good idea, today or in the 1960s...

80 page Giants or simple Annuals before they were called 80 Page Giants are always a good bet especially in far from mint condition.

I recommend:

Superman in the 50´s 60´s and 70´s

Superman: THe Greatest Stories Ever Told

Superman: Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow?

The Superman Story (Martin Pasko)

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga

By Silver Age, do you mean the actual Silver Age Superman comics of the late 1950's to late 1960's? Or just pre-crisis Superman comics?

The the actual Silver age, I would strongly suggest the great Showcase Superman volumes, they are your best bang for your buck and pure silver age.

For color, Superman in the 60's. Skip the text, since it was written when DC still hated anything classic it's amazing that they even released this during this era.

There are two different Silver Superman Archives and a neat Silver Age Supergirl archive too. These cost the most.

The cheapest way to read silver age Superman comics is to start here at this very website!

1st read this to understand what is what: http://superman.nu/a/comics.php

then read the comics: http://superman.nu/a/tales.php

If you're really looking for a "sampler" to give you a feel for what SA Superman was all about, definitely go for the "Superman in the Sixties" collection.  It's as close to perfect as it gets, for my money.  There's Jerry Seigel's masterpiece "Superman's Return to Krypton," Edmond Hamilton's epic "Last Days of Superman," the truly moving Superboy story "The Impossible Mission," the historically important (if not that thrilling) "Superman's Mission for President Kennedy," the amazing "Showdown Between Luthor and Superman", plus goofy Bizarro tales, Jimmy Olsen as Turtle Boy, scheming Lois Lane, cute-as-a-button Supergirl and the last days of Ma and Pa Kent.  The art alone makes it a must-have: Wayne Boring, Kurt Schaffenberger, Neal Adams and the unbeatable combo of Curt Swan and George Klein.

If you read this book and don't find anything to like, then Silver Age Superman is not for you.  But if you do like it, you can always move on to the Showcases.  Or if you really hate black and white that much, the "Superman: Man of Tomorrow" Archives.

Thank you all very much for your recommendations.  I'll look into them all.  I was looking for the actual silver age comics.  I think I might start with superman in the 60s to get the feel of it and then check out the rest.

I definitely recommend The Great Darkness Saga from Legion of Super-Heroes and Who Took the Super Out of Superman.

I would recommend earlier comics than either of those, both are very "Bronze Age" in tone (and Age)...that is if you are really trying to see if you like the Silver Age. Both are pretty good though.

If you don't mind reading comics online, these are some good Silver Age stories:

http://superman.nu/tales/1960s.php
http://superman.nu/tales/1960s-2.php
http://superman.nu/tales/1960s-3.php
http://superman.nu/tales/1960s-4.php

I don't think any collection does the Age justice.  It was really one sweeping epic that took ten years to tell.