By
Derek Faraci
Published 1 hour ago
Derek is the Training Lead for ScreenRant. Before his current position, he spent 20 years working in games, TV, and film while also writing for several entertainment sites.
Derek is also the co-host of three pop culture podcasts: Across the Omniverse, The Bad Batch, and Watch Men.
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Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
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The life of a superhero is always hectic, and for Superman, there's no true work/life balance. Between his job at the Daily Planet, the endless Justice League meetings, and the constant need to stop alien invasions or erupting volcanoes, the last time the Man of Steel had a day off was when he died.
So, it's important that Superman surround himself with people he can count on. People who really know him. With so little time to unwind, the Metropolis Marvel really loves the little moments he gets with his friends, family, and even, on occasion, his greatest foe. These people mean more to Superman than anything else in the universe, and with good reason.
10 Conner Kent
Is he Superman's little brother? Or his illegitimate son? How the relationship between Superman and Conner Kent works depends on the day. Whatever the case, Conner means a good deal to Kal-El, even if there's some unease between them.
Superman has certainly welcomed Conner into the Super Family, but there's always a lingering element that makes the bond unstable: Conner is a clone made up of Superman and Lex Luthor DNA. Like any good soap opera, having a child with your arch rival is a sure way to create boiling tension, and because of that, Superman and Conner Kent have never been as close as they probably should be.
9 Perry White
The man who gave Clark Kent his big break, Perry White was not just the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, he was a gruff father figure to his employees. He also has nothing but the greatest respect for Superman, and Superman felt the same about Perry. These are two men who put the truth above all else, and that belief connected them.
These days, Perry White is the mayor of Metropolis, but he's still close to Clark Kent and Lois Lane. And, obviously, the mayor is going to have a lot to talk to Superman about. But like any father figure, there's always a bit of distance.
8 Ma & Pa Kent
Jonathan and Martha Kent, the lovely couple who discovered a baby in a spaceship, raised the greatest hero of all time. Thankfully for the multiverse, they raised their adopted son to be kind, courteous, and, above all else, to help those who need it. Their life lessons continue to shape Superman well into his adulthood.
But, as a wizened sage once said, "parents just don't understand." There are things in a person's life that they just can't talk to their mom or dad about because it would be far too uncomfortable. This is often truer for adopted children, and is certainly true for an adopted child from another planet. Superman loves Ma and Pa, but they will never fully understand him.
7 Supergirl
The Bottle City of Kandor aside, Supergirl was the first time Superman was able to really talk to someone from Krypton. His older cousin, Supergirl had memories of their homeworld and of his parents, giving the Man of Tomorrow insight into his family that no one else could. She also shares the same powers as her "little" cousin and understands how hard it can be to walk among the humans.
But these very things that bring Kara and Kal close also create a barrier in their relationship. For Supergirl, there is a little envy that her younger cousin gets to be the greatest hero, not to mention the PTSD of being old enough to remember Krypton before it exploded. For Superman, she is a reminder of a life he will never experience. They love one another, but aren't as close as they could be.
6 Jon Kent
Jon Kent, the Son of Superman, is the apple of his father's eye. Superman likely loves his child more than anything in the multiverse, and would do anything to protect him. After all, that's how any good parent feels. But, fathers and sons, no matter how close they are, always have a wall between them.
It doesn't help that Jon Kent went on a galactic road trip with his grandpa and came back years older. Superman missed some of the most important years in his son's life, and no amount of talking or playing catch with asteroids will ever make up for that lost time. There will always be a piece of Jon that Superman won't know.
5 Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman and Superman share a lot of life experiences. They are both children who, for different reasons, left their homes and became great heroes. They each have worldviews that no human can truly comprehend. And their powers will always keep them slightly distanced from just about everyone they come into contact with. And while they have so much in common, they are still vastly different people.
Wonder Woman, the creation of divine intervention, sees everything through the lens of magic, and gods, and faith in a higher power. Superman, a man of science, sees how everyone is connected not through spirituality, but through, as Lex Luthor put it in All-Star Superman, "the machinery and wire connecting and separating everything since it all began... It's all just us, in her, together."
4 Batman
The saying "opposites attract" is no more evident than in the friendship of Superman and Batman. These two heroes are so different, it defies logic that they would be such great friends, but you don't earn the moniker "World's Finest" without being close confidants. And while the two heroes have nothing but the greatest of respect for one another, their world views couldn't be further apart.
Batman looks for the worst in people, while Superman sees the good in everyone. Batman is just a man. Superman is as close to being a god as any mortal could be. One works in shadows, the other shines a light on the world. As close as they are, they will never be fully aligned because they can't imagine the world the way the other one sees it.
3 Jimmy Olsen
It may seem odd that Superman's best pal is a young photographer who can't stay out of trouble, but upon closer inspection, it all makes sense. Jimmy Olsen is everything Superman loves about humanity in one package. He is kind. He is curious. He is full of life in a way almost no one else ever has been or will be.
On Monday, Jimmy is a giant turtle. On Tuesday, he's stealing the Batmobile to prank the Dark Knight Detective. On Wednesday, he's getting as close to an invading Khund army to get the best pics possible. On Thursday, he's looking for the best hot dog in Metropolis. Jimmy Olsen is everything that makes mankind great, and Superman loves him for it.
2 Lex Luthor
No one knows you better than your worst enemy, and that is almost true for Superman and Lex Luthor. These two men, one of steel and one of brains, have been the greatest of enemies and the closest of allies, all in a single (though often rebooted) lifetime. No one has spent as much time thinking about Superman as Lex Luthor has, and vice versa.
And, at the heart of it all, Lex and Superman share the same passion: to be the best person they can be. While their ideas of what that means are very different, it is what drives them each and every day. At this point, neither one can imagine living in a world without the other, driving them to be more than they are today.
1 Lois Lane
At the end of a long day, when Superman goes home and hangs up his cape, there's only one person he wants to talk to: Lois Lane. A romance as great as any put on paper, there is no Man of Steel without the World's Greatest Investigative Journalist. Lois Lane keeps Superman honest. More than that, she loves him not for his heroics, but for the moments no one else sees.
Through it all, through every crisis event and accidental recreation of reality, Superman and Lois Lane have found one another. Their love for one another, even when they aren't in love, is a constant, an anchor that helps stabilize reality. From Action Comics #1 to today, there has never been someone who means more to Superman than Lois Lane.
Superman
Created By
Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel
First Appearance
Action Comics
Alias
Kal-El, Clark Kent, Jonathan Kent
Alliance
Justice League, Superman Family
Race
Kryptonian
Franchise
D.C.
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Superman
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