What were your 3 favorite Silver Age Superman tales?

[Last Son]

Of all Superman stories produced in the Silver Age (for Supes, this means: 1961-1970), what were your three favorites and why?

Rank them from  #3 ("least") to #1 ("best"), and tell us why you picked those stories and why you ranked them in that way. Multi-issue stories (if there are any) count as ONE tale. Imaginary Stories ARE eligible.

Let's hear which Supes tales from that era you love best, and why!

[Adekis]

This is tough... um... there's one where a guy named Harry Winters is dressed like Superman and does Super-feats with Clark Kent's help while making sure crooks are convinced that he is, in fact, Superman, but I think that was late 50s, not that I think it's fair to call the Silver Age a single decade...
So how about this:
1) How Luthor Met Superboy! - This is one of my favorite Luthor stories. I always prefer a mildly heroic Luthor vs. a Superman whom he view as a villain. I could be wrong, but I do think this is the first real example of that. Its only real flaw, from my point of view, is that during the Silver Age, Luthor had brown hair instead of red. Oh well.

2) The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman! - And if the last story was the first heroic Luthor, I think this is certainly the best heroic Luthor. He gives up the chance to defeat Superman and be a hero for it, his dearest ambition, in order to help people. Superman and Luthor both get what they want.

3) The COMPLETE SAGA of SUPERMAN and JIMMY OLSEN as NIGHTWING and FLAMEBIRD - this was the FIRST SUPERMAN COMIC I EVER READ. It was reprinted in a Giant-Sized Jimmy Olsen, and while I knew who Superman was, this new kid Jimmy was a surprise, and he seemed to be the second coolest guy in the universe, after Superman himself. It was my first real introduction into Superman's world. I read it when I was six or seven, at my Grandpa's house. It sat in a pile of comics Grandpa had bought my Dad and his brothers and sisters when they were kids, and I tore into it. Everything was there, and it was all cool. They had everything! Spider-Man! Batman! Superman! A JLA/JSA crossover!

But the first one I read was the Jimmy Olsen special. The kid didn't interest me much until he started shape-shifting into werewolves and Elastic Lad and the like. But the stories that really captured my imagination were the ones that took place in Kandor. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what happened to that comic. If I ever find it, I'm scanning every page and reprinting all of it.

While I don't remember all the mysteries and mayhem the two got into, I remember a series of panels that will probably stay with me for as long as I love Superman - Superman walks through the door of a Kandorian scientist's lab. He's a fairly prominent recurring character. Superman believes he sees his parents for a split second saying something to the effect of "-gulp- Jor-El and Lara- my parents! But that's impossible!" before realizing that it's merely a hologram, set up in honor of them by the scientist, who was a friend of theirs. Doubtless a long talk would have occurred on the subject, but there was no time. Superman and Jimmy had crime to fight, and duty had to take priority.

The second panel I remember had Nightwing and Flamebird trying their jet-packs out in an aerial fight for the first time. Jimmy was thinking how fast and slick they operated, how cool it felt to be able to fly! Superman was thinking how awkward and clumsy they were compared to his normal flight, and how he wished he was faster, in order to more easily defeat the Kandorian criminals.

That is easily the most important memory I have of the Silver Age.

[nightwing]

SUPERMAN IN KANDOR:  This one had everything; battles with super-powered foes, Superman and Jimmy adopting the Nightwing and Flamebird personas, the (temporary) enlargement of Kandor and some of the most gorgeous art produced by the (for me) never-surpassed team of Swan and Klein.  Easily the favorite single issue in my collection.

THE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN LUTHOR AND SUPERMAN: More Curt and George, the first hints of a heroic side to Luthor, and Superman surviving on wits and courage when all else is taken from him.

The last spot is hard to nail down, but it would be between THE LAST DAYS OF SUPERMAN, a moving tale demonstrating Superman's far-reaching influence in space and time, albeit marred by a "D'Oh!" denouement, THE SAGA OF SUPERMAN RED AND SUPERMAN BLUE for similar reasons (it's still the best "last chapter" to the Silver Age Superman mythos) and THE COMPOSITE SUPERMAN, because it blew my mind as a youngster and remains burned into my brain 40 years later.

As you can tell, I have a definite preference for Ed Hamilton stories.

[BBally81]

As you may have already figured, I'm not all that fond about the Silver Age Superman era, but there are great stories in this era, my top 3 picks are:

1. The Last Days Of Superman

2. The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman!

3. Superman Under The Red Son

Honorable Mentions: The Strange Death Of Superboy (and most of the Superboy series), The Man Who Destroyed Krypton, The Composite Superman arc, Superman's Race With The Flash, The Super Duel In Space, The Girl In Superman's Past, How Luthor Met Superboy, Superboy's Big Brother, The Death Of Superman, Superman's Return To Krypton and the majority of Legion of Superheroes stories.

[DBN]

Bronze Age:

3. "Where No Superman Has Gone Before" DC Comics Presents #27-29

2. "Who Took the Super Out of Superman"

1. "For the Man Who Has Everything"

Silver Age:

3. "Superman Under a Red Son"

2. "Return to Krypton"

1. "The Son of Bizarro"

[MatterEaterLad]

More obscure issues that I read until they fell apart...

3. "The Four Element Enemies" (Superman #190)- First appearance of Amalak, Superman fights and fights despite being at half power and getting creamed by monsters able to sum the powers of the Greek elements.

2. "Superman: Weakest Man in the World" (Action #321)- A charming story where Superman has to use his brain rather than brawn on a planet where everyman is a superman except for him. He attracts a woman who likes physically weak men and learns a lesson in love.

1. "Krypton Lives Again" (Superman #189)- A tale of Superman seemingly finding Krypton in modern times (including all his family and Lyla Lerrol) but given the bonus of a truly weird mystery that only a recording of Jor-El can explain.