What is the worst version of Superman ever?

[carmine]

Honestly I didnt even like Animated Series Superman, but maybe its because Batman the animated series was so awesome that supes sucked (in comparasion)

-though I did like Mr.Myx in that series.

[Ruby Spears Superman]

Do you guys know why I think the 90´s version is better than John Byrne´s? Because Jurgens, Kesel, Stern, Ordway, Simonson etc wrote bad stories, but they didn´t destroyed the Superman character like Byrne did. So their Superman was still a loser, but they were writing what Byrne established and was editorial imposed. Also, they were - even before the Loeb´s revamp, Waid´s Kingdon Come and Morrison´s JLA -, trying to rebuilt a kind of Superman mythology. Not the classic one, but they tried to do something where Byrne left empty. There was some kind of failed reconstruction there. The Superman family. The kryptonian conection. The human interest stories. All failed, but they were trying to do something good.

Byrne just succeeded in destroy.

I suppose that's a fair argument. You have to work with what they give you, but I still think that some of those ideas were bad from the start like the electrical powers (I don't really know whose idea that was though). The long hair was kept for too long.

[Sword of Superman]

The electric version was the worst ever,even if Morrison in JLA make him sometimes interesting.

[Composite Superman]

The worst version of Superman is one that never saw the light of day (but has been much discussed): Tim Burton's aborted movie incarnation (black-clad, flightless, etc). As for the comics, Electric Superman is the worst. 

[davidelliott]

Anything that happened from the 1986 reboot to the IC reboot

[AMAZO]

How about the portrayal of Superboy and Kal-L in Infinite Crisis?

[JulianPerez]

What, a thread on bad Supermans has gotten 20+ responses...and not ONE of them have mentioned SUPERMAN III and SUPERMAN IV? Shame! 

There have been some pretty lousy versions of Superman, but I don't think there's ever been a single version of the character completely devoid of at least ONE good idea.

As lousy as LOIS AND CLARK was (and it was pretty bad...George Jefferson as the Toyman? Yeesh!) it had one interesting idea: it made Ma Kent a jeans n' t-shirt wearing, hip old lady, the kind that would do Tai Chi and occasionally skydive. She was much more vivacious and fun than the pie-baking stereotype/nonentity she was in so many other mediums, including the comics.

Mostly, LOIS AND CLARK offended me because it was a comedy, and it wasn't very funny.

My least favorite Superman ever was the rough 1960s Superman/Aquaman Hour. In KAVALIER AND CLAY, the creators of the Escapist had the indignity of their character entering another medium badly. They described all the characters behaving as if they were "slightly mentally retarded."

I laughed so hard at that, because I know what they mean. There was something dimwitted about Superman in "Superman/Aquaman."

The worst version of Superman is one that never saw the light of day (but has been much discussed): Tim Burton's aborted movie incarnation (black-clad, flightless, etc). As for the comics, Electric Superman is the worst.

Quoted for truth!

Somehow, Burton's version didn't horrify me quite so much as the insanely awful script that Keith Giffen wrote, which was Superman vs. Lobo as a "comedy." Giffen + "Comedy" = Destruction of Sanity.

[thomas]

Singing suicidal Superman.