Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 New 52 Superman Moments

Welcome back to the final New 52 Top Five Fridays. If you didn't know I have been making lists for the new 52 Trinity. We first started with the Dark Knight, more specifically Scott Snyder's run on him (click HERE), then we followed it up with a top five of Wonder Woman's best moments (click HERE). It's time to finish this Trinity of lists by going to the most important member of all: Superman. Sadly his final days weren't actually a metaphor, and he is no longer with us, leaving a spot for our time displaced Man of Steel to fill in. Before we truly say goodbye, let's send him off with a list of his Top 5 moments. As always this is an opinion based list, so if you didn't see something you liked, I apologize. Enough dilly dallying! Let's wrap this up!

5: Superman vs Brainiac

Let's look back at the beginning of the new 52. more specifically at Action Comics by Grant Morrison. At the end of the first arc, superman finds himself on an alien vessel overlooking the planet while trying to save metropolis. Unlike the Pre-flashpoint version, this metropolis is still getting used to this superpowered being, most of its citizens mistrusting him. However while in that little bottle that you see Superman going up against their captor, a giant menacing caterpillar version of Brainiac, and realize that he is the hero this city needs. Not just while stuck in a little bottle, but when they're large too. It's a battle where we see the man wearing a T-shirt and jeans become the protector he is meant to be. And how can we show that visually? Give him the Kryptonian armor!! Yes, I legitimately liked the Kryptonian armor for his costume. It projected the image that Superman was a knight ready to protect the world at a moment's notice, just like he did in his first adventure. 

4: Superman Gets Rid of Brains and Brawn



During the Doomed event, the Man of Steel was infected by the Doomsday virus and was told to leave the planet. The moment he did, Brainiac (I know back so soon?) invaded and began the usual encapsulate everything plan. Super doom arrives, and with the help of Braini-Lois, they are able to free the people of earth trapped by Brainiac's psionic powers. However when Brainiac gets the upper hand, causing Lois to send them to Superdoom (creating as comicstorian put it Superbranidoom), Clark realizes that he and Brainiac are too dangerous to be kept here. He grabs him and speeds them both into a black hole. This is where it feels like superman. As Brainiac begs to be pulled out, he informs superman that he'd be trapped as well. Superman not only knows this, but accepts that he has to, and will always do it for his home. Strange how people still beg for the old Superman but never talk about this moment during the debate of New 52 Supes. 

3: The First Super Flare

I know I'm a broken record when it comes to the super solar flare, but let's be real, it was a pretty cool introduction to a power! We have a villain who is on par with superman in terms of power, with the added ability to absorb energy. It's already tough for superman to fight another Kryptonian, but now a person who has proven himself a match and still has the advantage?! Well for this comparison I'm going to head towards an entertainment medium that people my age probably have had more experience with: Anime. In an anime or Manga, the hero often has to overcome the obstacle at hand with a massive attack, often stemming from an iconic one. This usually makes the battle more iconic and memorable. Sound familiar? In one brief moment, superman pulled out a new power to defeat a dangerous adversary while looking badass as all hell in one page. I'm going to miss this move, but if it does return, I welcome it with open arms... And beg the writers not to overuse it 

2: Goodbye



This one actually came out this week and it made me and Jim tear up like a pair of babies. After all the adventures, not just within the pages of the Superman series but in all of the New 52, it's time to say goodbye to one of the heroes always near the center. One of the trinity. Thankfully it isn't like the last time he exploded into energy (All-Star Superman), but a more private and personal version when he died against Doomsday. He made sure he saved the day, but this time, he got to say goodbye to all his friends and family that helped him during the final days and most of the New 52 as a whole. I'll be honest: when I read the solicits to Action Comics in June, it mentioned Clark Kent and a bit of me grasped to the hope that he would have lived. He could have finally been with someone and live a normal life... But it wasn't meant to be. 

1: Superman vs Brainiac God

Yes, I know this really isn't in a superman book. Yes, I know it's the third thing on this list that involves Brainiac. But for this one I have one question to ask you: What makes this Superman different from Pre-Flashpoint? I don't mean physically, but morally. Does New 52 not protect people? I mentioned above there were multiple occasions of him guarding people's lives. Does he find himself above the law? When his heat vision went off during Trinity War, he turned himself over to ARGUS to be jailed until proven innocent. Something Batman and Wonder Woman wouldn't do. Is he selfish? Are you joking? Doomed, Horrorville, H'el on Earth, The first part of Truth in Action Comics, etc. Time and time again he has proven himself to be just as good a Superman as the Pre-Flashpoint, which leads me back to this. He has been out of the game due to the atrocities during the war with E2, but that doesn't stop him from flying back to save the world when the others can't. Brainiac God is a villain that has grown throughout every iteration of the DC Multiverse. With all that time he has grown into something that nothing should be able to stop, and he nearly wasn't. That's where New 52 Superman comes in. He flies back in and takes him down. When he punches him, we see every version of Brainiac falling with the God, proving that no matter what iteration, Superman will always protect Earth, defeat the tyrants, and inspire hope where there is none. 

That's it for this week's Top 5 Friday! What was your favorite Superman moment of the New 52? Leave a comment and... See you in 3 weeks, because Reggie and Chris taking over while I'm out of town!