This time out I'm starting a new series that will run irregularly through 2026 called Many Lives, Many Origins. Superman has one of the best origins in comics. It's up there with Batman and Spider-Man as having a backstory that is timeless and just about perfect. Rocketed as a baby when his home world exploded, found by a kindly couple and raised as their son, Superman discovered that he possessed powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men and decided to use those powers to help mankind. Those basic elements have been part of Superman's backstory since his first appearance in Action Comics #1.

While those elements and that basic overview have been a constant in Superman's life, the particulars of those elements have changed. Evolved in some cases, regressed in others. The names of his birth parents have undergone small changes. The names of the kindly couple that found him have changed. Is Krypton a pulp, science fiction wonderland full of rhondors and jewel mountains or is it a cold, sterile place that "deserved to be blown up"? Was Superman ever Superboy? Did he have his powers as a baby, or did they take years to develop? The differences are what I find fascinating, and I thought it would be fun to look at those origins, whether it's in comics, in live action, in animation, in audio, or prose, and a do a deep dive into them.

To kick things off, I decided to look at Superman: Birthright. Published from July 2003 to July 2004 and written by Mark Waid with art by Leinil Francis Yu, this 12 issue maxi-series was supposed to be a new origin for a new age. I wasn't the biggest fan of this series when it first came out, but over the years I've softened on it and this most recent re-read really opened my eyes to how good this retelling of Superman's origin was, so I thought it would be a good way to kick this series off.

In this first part of a two part look at the series I go over what was going on with Superman in the comics when the series was published, Waid and Yu's take on Krypton, the idea of Superman being a lonely character, how this version balances that loneliness with Clark's desire to help people, Jonathan and Martha Kent, the new take on Lois, Superman's grand reveal, his first confrontation with Lex in costume, and more. Or, more succinctly, I talk about the first five issues of the series.

Below are the covers to those issues.

Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can.

The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound.

Next time: I finish my analysis of Superman: Birthright. Spoiler warning...I really liked it.

Fifty years ago Marvel and DC teamed up to bring their, at the time, flagship characters together. Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man was a tabloid sized comic that saw Superman and Spider-Man not only fighting each other, but also taking on the titanic team-up of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this book and to, down the road, ride the coat tails of the new version of Superman and Spider-Man teaming up I did a team-up of my own. Joining me to talk about this book is my good friend and co-host of The Overlooked Dark Knight, Andrew Leyland. Andy is one of the biggest Spider-Man fans I know and this seemed like it would be a fun time.

And a fun time it was. Andy and I go over how this wasn't the first crossover between Marvel and DC, how the book came together, how Stan Lee is a lot wordier than Carmine Infantino, the writing, the art, the bits that eventually ended up in Superman The Movie, how Spider-Man's hero identitification was a bit lackluster, the weird way Lex and Doc Ock escape from prison, the parts they liked, the parts they didn't like, and what it's like when Spider-Man notices how hard Superman has become.

(snicker)

Feedback for It All Comes Back to Superman can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can.

The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensd from Shockwave-Sound.

Next time: The start on an irregular series called Superman: Many Lives, Many Origins where I look at the various tellings and retellings of Superman's origin (it's in the name) starting with Superman: Birthright.

It's a new year, so I'm going to start things like I did last year...by looking back at the previous year.

It's worked pretty well for the past few years and I actually put out a bunch of shows in 2025 and a certain film came out, so there's actually stuff to talk about, which, as you can imagine, makes putting out this episode a lot easier.

Anyway, in this off the cuff, unscripted, and increasing congested episode I talk about watching the final few episodes of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, why I stopped watching Season 7 of Smallville, why I let new books stack up for months before reading them, why I liked the whole Superwoman storyline, the stuff I re-read for shows this year, the podcasts I guested on and more.

I also take about 20 or so minutes and get real honest about what happened to me as a Superman fan towards the end of the year. I know that not everyone is into this sort of thing, so I give plenty of notice before I launch into the naval gazing, so if you want to bail before that I understand. But through this part of the episode I talk about my current thinking on how I want to approach this show and my (lack of) plans for 2026.

Next Time: No clue, but it will be out in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for listening. And eat your Kellog's Pep. If you still have some.

Forty years ago DC Comics published Crisis on Infinite Earths. That twelve issue series (plus a handful of crossover issues) was part celebration of DC's fiftieth birthday and part house cleaning. Worlds lived, worlds died and the DC Universe was never the same.

To celebrate what was, at one point, a holy text to my generation of comic book fans I thought it would be fun to look at what the Superman family was up to during the story. Joining me on this journey is three time Eisner award winning journalist (for Women Writing About Comics) Cori McCreery. Cori and I have been friends for years and I thought it was high time that I had her on the show, especially considering one of the Super Family members we discussed. See, Cori loves Supergirl and considering Crisis was a big story for the OG Kara Zor-El it seemed like "sitting down" with Cori would be a good idea.

While the bulk of the episode (the back half, as a matter of fact) concerns Supergirl, we also discuss two Supermen and a Superboy. We go over my love of the Earth-2 Superman, how the Earth-1 Superman didn't play a huge part in this extremely important story, and the introduction of the Superboy of Earth-Prime, who also didn't play a huge part in this Crisis, but would go on to be part of another Crisis two decades later where things...happened. Then we go into Supergirl and why her death in this story was so important. We also go on a few tangents, which is almost required on one of my shows.

Many thanks to Cori for coming out to play on this one.

Welcome to a "starting a new universe is what the cool kids are doing" installment of the podcasting maxiseries called Moving Kryptonian Images: The Live Action and Animated Adventures of Superman! The purpose of this series is to celebrate the release of the new Superman film, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor!

This time out I am joined by award winning author Keith R.A. DeCandido to talk about Superman: The Man of Tomorrow from 2020. This film launched a new animated cinematic universe and did so by showing us the early days of Superman. Keith and I cover a lot of ground during our conversation including, but not limited to, the many origins of Superman we've seen since 2004, why I really don't care for Lobo, the Martian Manhunter's role in the film, Lois Lane, jerk Perry White, and even a little bit of Spider-Man right there at the end. I also share my unfiltered feelings on Max Landis's Superman: American Alien.

I want to thank Keith for coming on the show. Be sure to check out his website, especially for his upcoming novel Supernatural Crimes Unit NYPD - Book 1: The Thin, Blue Ley-Line. Keith and I both have essays in Jack of All Comics!: A Fan Conversation About the King of Comics, published by Becky Books, so be sure to check that out as well.

Feedback for It All Comes Back To Superman Series 2 can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. At the end of this series I will be doing a feedback special going through all of the emails and comments that are left or sent!

You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or stream it through Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Audible.

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network is on Patreon. It's mostly a tip jar as I have no time at the moment to produce exlcusive content, but if you like the content I do produce please consider contributing a dollar a month.

The opening and closing theme to the show is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound.

Next Time: Moving Kryptonian Images continues in two weeks with Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons.

Welcome to a "down with the bourgeoisie, up with the proletariat" installment of the podcasting maxiseries called Moving Kryptonian Images: The Live Action and Animated Adventures of Superman! The purpose of this series is to celebrate the release of the new Superman film, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor!

Greetings, comrade, and welcome to a podcast for the common man. This time out Henry Bernstein (he of Songs of Experience: A Bob Dylan Podcast, Superman and Lois and Pals, and Funny, They Don't Look Jewish) joins me to talk about Superman: Red Son, the animated adaptation of the Elseworlds comic of the same name. Henry and I have a wild, tangent filled conversation that somehow manages to come back to the subject at hand. We talk about the movie, our feelings on the original comic series, Jason Isaacs, Bob Dylan, My Chemical Romance, period pieces, and how awesome Diedrich Bader is. Henry also asks me questions that I don't have the best answers to, and I give my answer to the question, "I've just seen the new Superman movie, what should I read?" It was a lot of fun.

Feedback for It All Comes Back To Superman Series 2 can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. At the end of this series I will be doing a feedback special going through all of the emails and comments that are left or sent!

You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or stream it through Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Audible.

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network is on Patreon. It's mostly a tip jar as I have no time at the moment to produce exlcusive content, but if you like the content I do produce please consider contributing a dollar a month.

The opening and closing theme to the show is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound.

Next Time: Moving Kryptonian Images continues Keith R. A. DeCandido joining me to talk about Superman: Man of Tomorrow.

Welcome to an "it's reigning men" filled installment of the podcasting maxiseries called Moving Kryptonian Images: The Live Action and Animated Adventures of Superman! The purpose of this series is to celebrate the release of the new Superman film, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor!

This time out I am talking about the 2020 film Reign of the Supermen, which is the adaptation of the Superman story...Reign of the Supermen.

I mean...if the name works, why change it?

Anyway, I am joined by legendary comic book artist Jon Bogdanove to talk about the film since he has more than a passing knowledge with not only the story, but also with the character of Steel. We have a great conversation about what about the film worked and the few things that didn't and how my opinion of the film has changed over the years. We also talk about how Jon came to be part of the Superman creative team, his approach to drawing the character, how one of his stories has now become a popular meme when discussing fascism, and how the Zero Hour crossover issue of Superman: The Man of Steel nearly broke Jon but also made him a better artist.

I cannot thank Jon enough for coming on the show to talk about this movie. It was a lot of fun and a great follow-up to my talk with Jerry Ordway.

Feedback for It All Comes Back To Superman Series 2 can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. At the end of this series I will be doing a feedback special going through all of the emails and comments that are left or sent!

You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or stream it through Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Audible.

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network is on Patreon. It's mostly a tip jar as I have no time at the moment to produce exlcusive content, but if you like the content I do produce please consider contributing a dollar a month.

The opening and closing theme to the show is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound.

Next Time: Moving Kryptonian Images continues Henry Bernstein joins me to talk about Superman: Red Son, both the movie and the comic.

Welcome to a very special, off the cuff, and completely spoiler filled installment of the podcasting maxi-series called Moving Kryptonian Images: The Live Action and Animated Adventures of Superman! The purpose of this series is to celebrate the release of the new Superman film, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor!

This time out I am solo to discuss my first (and second) impressions of the new Superman film. I cannot express how spoiler filled this episode is. I talk about key moments and plot points from the film, so if you haven't seen it, you might want to hang on to it until you have.

Are you cool with that?

Good.

So...yeah. I talk about what I thought of the movie. I go through the very few problems I had with the movie and everything I loved about it. Superman. Lois Lane. Lex Luthor. The Daily Planet staff. Lex's people. The Justice Gang. The themes of the films. The score. I go through everything in the most off the cuff and unedited way possible.

Again...spoilers.

Feedback for It All Comes Back To Superman Series 2 can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. At the end of this series I will be doing a feedback special going through all of the emails and comments that are left or sent!

You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or stream it through Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Audible.

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network is on Patreon. It's mostly a tip jar as I have no time at the moment to produce exlcusive content, but if you like the content I do produce please consider contributing a dollar a month.

The opening and closing theme to the show is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound.

Next Time: Jon Bogdanove joins me to talk about the animated Reign of the Supermen movie. Promise. It's recorded and everything.