Supercorp
-Action Comics #1047-1049 (back-ups)
-Action Comics #1047-1050 (main stories)
-Superman #1-5
-Superman Annual 2023
-Superman #6-12

The Action Comics issues are included here as a bridge from the Warworld arc.  Technically, Action #1047-1049 are part of a crossover with Son of Kal-El #16-18, but no efforts were taken to actually coordinate the two series.  Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths most likely takes place on either side of Action Comics #1050, so there is not going to be a perfect chronological order going on.  I also skipped the Knight Terrors event.  There is a status quo change in Superman #1 (844) that is referenced in PKJ’s Action Comics issues, which can be placed in an optional volume between this and Absolute Power.

Absolute Power
-Absolute Power:  FCDB 2024 Special
-Action Comics #1064
-Superman #13
-Superman:  House of Brainiac Special #1
-Action Comics #1065
-Superman #14
-Action Comics #1066
-Superman #15
-Absolute Power:  Ground Zero #1
-Absolute Power #1
-Superman #16
-Batman #150 (back-up feature only)
-Absolute Power #2
-Batman #151-152 (main stories)
-Batman #151 (back-up)
-Superman #17-18
-Absolute Power #3-4
-DC:  All In Special #1

In a perfect world, DC would have produced a hardcover edition of House of Brainiac and then I would have included the FCBD special at the end of “Supercorp”, leaving “Absolute Power” in its own book.  For “Absolute Power” itself, I was only interested in the Superman and Batman tie-ins, so there are other issues that can be included.  I did not include the backup to Batman #152 because it leads into other tie-ins that I did not include.  Otherwise, it would have gone in around the same spot.  I also opted to keep the All In special as a flipbook, so this bound volume is a partial flip-book.

Phantoms
-Action Comics #1070-1081 (lead stories)
-Action Comics #1070-1081 (Supergirl back-ups)

All In
-Superman #19-20
-Action Comics #1075 (“Memory Lane” back-up)
-Superwoman Special #1
-Superman #21-23
-Summer of Superman #1
-Superman:  Lex Luthor Special #1
-Superman #24-27

The gap between Superman #27 and #28 is the only place in Williamson’s run to fit in any other stories between Absolute Power and DC KO.

Boy of Steel
-Action Comics #1087-1095

This is the beginning of Mark Waid’s Superboy run set in the past.  There is a scene in the first issue with Superman and Mayor Perry White that can anchor it to the present day.

Superman Unlimited:  Kryptonite Kingdom (TPB/HC)
-Superman Unlimited #1-6

Superman Unlimited:  This Looks Like a Job… (TPB/HC)
-Superman Unlimited #7-10
-Superman:  Chains of Love #1

There are plenty of context clues in the Superman Unlimited issues that place them all after Superman #27.  It is more cost effective to buy the official hardcovers than to bind the original issues.

We Are Yesterday
-World’s Finest #38
-Justice League Unlimited #6
-World’s Finest Annual 2025
-World’s Finest #39
-Justice League Unlimited #7-9
-Justice League:  Dark Tomorrow Special #1
-Justice League Unlimited #10-11
-Superman #28-30

The events of Superman #28-30 all take place during JLU #10-11, with the ending of both arcs being the same scene, which leads into DCKO in the next volume.  Justice League:  The Omega Act Special #1 can either fit at the end of this volume, or the beginning of DCKO.

Book 1 – Warworld Rising
Superman #29 (840)
Action Comics #1029
Superman #30-32 (841-843)
Action Comics #1030-1035
Action Comics Annual 2021
“Tales of Metropolis” stories from Superman #29-32, Action #1035-1036

Book 2 – Warworld Apocalypse
Superman and the Authority #1-4
Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1
Action Comics #1036-1042
Action Comics  Annual 2022
Action Comics  #1043 (main and backup stories)
Action Comics  #1044
Action Comics  #1044-1046 (backup stories)
Action Comics  #1045-1046
Superman:  Warworld Apocalypse #1

After this storyline came the “Kal-El Returns” event, up through Action Comics #1050.  Then the “Dawn of DC” initiative started a new direction with Action Comics #1051 and a new Superman #1.  Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths has to take place at some point between Action Comics #1046 and #1050.

Looking ahead, it’s still too early to develop a definite map of the Dawn of DC era, but there are some preliminary thoughts.

“Kal-El Returns” allegedly ran in Action Comics #1047-1049 and Son of Kal-El #16-18.  However, neither series references each other, and it is pretty clear that Action #1049 is supposed to continue directly from the end of #1048.  I would leave out the Son of Kal-El issues.

Action Comics #1050 sets up the new status quo.  There is an event in Superman #1 that is referenced in both series, so it clearly needs to take place before the next part of Johnson’s run in Action #1051-1060.  Other than there, there is no direct references between the two series during that year.  Narratively, there is no reason to alternate between Superman and Action Comics until House of Brainiac starts in Superman #13 and Action #1064.  If one ignores the Knight Terrors event, it’s very likely to create volumes like this:
-Action Comics #1047-1050, Superman #1-5, 2023 Annual, #6-12 (in this case, treating Kal-El returns as a flashback)
-Action #1051-1056, Doomsday Special, #1057-1060, 2023 Annual, #1061-1063

01 – From the City That Has Everything by Jurgens
02 – Never-Ending Battle by Tomasi

These are the final stories of the Rebirth run of Superman, prior to Bendis taking over both series.  These stories share pages, but would only be a concern if you’re trying to bind the Jurgens or Tomasi runs separately.

03 – An Enemy Within by Wolfman

The first four pages of this story repurpose art from an inventory story drawn by Curt Swan and Butch Guice.  Other pages of the story were previously retrofitted for Superman:  The Wedding Album.

04 – The Car by Johns and Donner
05 – The Fifth Season by Snyder

“The Car” is a tale set in the 1930s, about what happens to the car from the cover of Action Comics #1, so it would have to go in an anthology or alternate universe project.  These stories share pages.

06 – Of Tomorrow by King
07 – Five Minutes by Simonson

“Of Tomorrow” shows Superman billions of years in the future.  These stories share pages.  Otherwise, “Five Minutes” could fit in somewhere around the other present day stories, or possibly with stories circa 1992 when these creators worked on Superman (and he had short hair).

08 – Actionland by Dini

A story about Mr. Mxyzptlk, which can go almost anywhere.  I chose to place it at the end of the last Rebirth volume because of the theme of endings.

09 – Faster Than a Speeding Bullet by Meltzer

The only clue to placement of this story are Superman’s red trunks, which returned in this issue.  Therefore, the story has to take place at some point after Action Comics #999 and Superman #45 (811).  I placed it in the final Rebirth volume.

10 – The Truth by Bendis

The prologue to the Bendis run, this story takes place during his Man of Steel mini-series.  It’s best to be placed at the beginning of the run as flashforward as it can’t be neatly spliced into the corresponding scene in the mini-series.

-Volume 1 was the original Superman series that began in 1939, renamed to Adventures of Superman in 1987, reverted to Superman in 2006, and was ended at #714.
-Volume 2 was the post-Crisis series that ran for 226 issues between 1987 and 2006.
-Volume 3 was the New 52 series launched in 2011.  (#715-766)
-Volume 4 was the Rebirth series launched in 2016.  (#767-811)
-Volume 5 is the series relaunched by Bendis in 2018.

Unity
Action #1000 (last story)
DC Nation #0 (middle story)
Man of Steel #1-6
Superman #1-6 (except last two pages of #6) [812-817]
Action #1001-1006

Ideally, I would have liked to have put all of Superman #1-15 together, and then put Action #1001-1011 with the Leviathan special.  But the biggest kink in the continuity flow is the return of a character on the last two pages of Superman #6 which leads directly into #7.  Action Comics #1001 could possibly go before Superman #1, based on a character referring to a scene from Man of Steel #2 as yesterday.  However, I have come to the conclusion that Bendis considers anything that happened before today as “yesterday”.

Leviathan Rising
Action #1007-1011
Leviathan Rising #1
Superman #6 (last two pages)
Superman #7-15 [818-826]

Supergirl #31-32 were advertised as a crossover with Superman #12-13, yet neither set of issues references the other.  Plus, both series were released on the same day, so publication order does not even help.  Both series just show their title character’s perspective on the events going on, with no clean splicing opportunities. The Supergirl segment of Leviathan Rising says it takes place after Supergirl #32 and three months after Action #1009, so that part can only be explained as a flashforward.

Event Leviathan
Action #1012-1016
Year of the Villain #1 (middle story)
Event Leviathan #1-6
Superman #16 [827]

There’s really no good way to organize all of the plotlines going on in Superman, Action, and Event Leviathan.  Action #1012 opens with a scene that looks like it should take place in the middle of Superman #10 before he heads off to space.  At the beginning of Event Leviathan #1, Lois mentions Superman away on family business, which is a reference to Superman #7-15.  There’s another reference in Superman #10 before he goes into space where Lois says that she’ll handle Leviathan.  My handwave solution is to say that Superman goes off on his space adventure in Superman #10-15, returns for his adventures in Action #1012-1016, then off-panel, gets called back out to space for some aftermath which is why he’s absent from the first three issues of Event Leviathan.

Also, DC started the “Year of the Villain” event which tied into Scott Snyder’s Justice League run and ultimately led into Dark Knights:  Death Metal.  I have opted to skip all of that except for Death Metal.

The Truth
Superman #17 [828]
Action #1017-1021
Superman #18 [829]
Leviathan Dawn #1
Superman: Heroes #1
Superman: Villains #1

There are copious amounts of continuity notes within the issues, but it’s not clear if all of them are accurate. Most of them deal with a major event that occurs in Superman #18.  That event is referenced as “tomorrow” in Action #1017-1021, and as “this morning” in Leviathan Dawn #1.  There is a break halfway through Superman #19 that leads into Superman:  Heroes, but splicing would require scan-and-print.  I prefer to include it as a “prologue” in the next volume.

The House of Kent
Superman #19-28 [830-839]
Action Comics #1022-1028
Checkmate #1-6

There is a major continuity confusion with the arc in Superman #19-22 and the Villains one-shot, specifically the fight with Mongul.  In Superman: Villains, we see Mongul the son kill Mongul the father and then go off to fight Superman.  It’s heavily alluded that this leads into Superman #19.  But at the end of Superman #22, there’s an editor note directing the reader to Superman: Villains for the fate of Mongul.  It’s never clear if the Mongul in the Superman arc is the son or the father in the Villains special.  I choose to go with the sequence of events that the son kills the father and then goes to fight Superman, hence this mapping.

Greg Rucka wrote a Lois Lane series and Matt Fraction wrote a Jimmy Olsen series around this time, but they are almost impossible to mesh with the Bendis run.  It’s best to leave those off to the side, with the possible exception of Lois Lane #6 as an epilogue to Event Leviathan.  There are some nice concepts and theories that get introduced in the final issues of Lois Lane that go along with the meta-reboot of the DCU, but ultimately the narrative just doesn’t fit.

The Checkmate mini-series was originally planned by Bendis as a sequel to Event Leviathan that would have come out around the same time as Superman #21-26.  Due to various editorial reasons, it was postponed until the second half of 2021 (six months after Bendis left the Superman titles).  There’s some clunky timeframe captions in the series to accommodate the change in release schedule, but nothing in the series ties itself to a specific time during the Bendis run.  I have opted to include it here at the end so it doesn’t appear abandoned.  An alternative would be to end the final volume with Action #1028 and then pick up Checkmate in an official collected edition.

Recommendations for binding methods:
As usual, oversewing will work for just about anything.  But certain binders charge extra for that method.  Around this time, DC switched their comics from glossy paper to a matte paper that will probably be more acceptable for gluing methods.  The “Unity” volume mostly has issues that are still on glossy paper, so that one is probably best suited as oversewn.  Also, the standard covers Superman #4 and Action Comics #1004 featured foil enhancements, but those covers are still thin enough to be bound.  Everything in the “Leviathan Rising” and “The House of Kent” volumes is on matte paper, so a gluing method would work.  The only glossy pages in “Event Leviathan” are the eight pages from the “Year of the Villain” special.  The only special concern in the “Truth” volume is the acetate cover on Action Comics #1017.  If you want to glue that book, I recommend either skipping that cover or finding a digital image to print out to replace it.

This map covers the Tomasi and Jurgens runs of Superman and Action Comics, and the volumes are specifically designed to work around (and sometime share) volumes in the larger DC Rebirth set that follows the larger meta-narrative of the reboot.

To clarify the volume numbers of the Superman series:
-Volume 1 was the original Superman series that began in 1939, was renamed to Adventures of Superman in the 80s, reverted to Superman in 2006, and was ended by the launch of the New 52 in 2011.
-Volume 2 was the post-Crisis series that ran for 226 issues between 1987 and 2006.
-Volume 3 was the New 52 series that began in 2011.
-Volume 4 was the Rebirth series that began in 2016.
-Volume 5 is the series relaunched by Bendis in 2018.

Unless otherwise noted, any Superman issues in this map are from volume 4.  Issue numbers in parentheses are the legacy numbers, adding the various volumes of a series together.

Convergence
Convergence:  Superman #1-2
Superman:  Lois and Clark #1-8

The backup story from Convergence:  Superman #2 can be cut out.

The Final Days of Superman (HC)
Superman #51 (765)
Batman/Superman #31
Action Comics #51 (955)
Superman/Wonder Woman #28
Batman/Superman #32
Action Comics #52 (956)
Superman/Wonder Woman #29
Superman #52 (766)

The issues in this book are from the New 52 volumes and feature the New 52 Superman in the lead, although the post-Crisis version makes an appearance.

DC Rebirth #1 occurs here.

Rebirth
Superman Rebirth #1
Justice League #52 (last issue of New 52 JL series)
Action Comics #957-962
Superman #1-6 (767-772)
Justice League Rebirth #1
Superman #7-9 (773-775)

The order of the opening arcs here is determined by Superman’s facial hair.  He still has a beard in Superman Rebirth #1, shaves it in Action #957, and doesn’t have it in Superman #1.  Justice League #52 is a story by Dan Jurgens focused on Lex Luthor, setting up his role in Action Comics, and could have just as easily been released as “Action Comics Rebirth” #1.  Justice League Rebirth #1 is optional, but included as it shows Superman learning to integrate with the Justice League.  It’s placed here based on an indirect reference to the League in Superman #7.  Justice League vs. Suicide Squad likely fits in between these volumes.

Men of Steel
Action Comics #963-972
Superman #10-11 (776-777)
Superman Annual #1
Superman #12-17 (778-783)

There are probably a few different ways to organize the arcs between the two series up to this point, but the only significant chronology placement is that Superman #12 needs to take place at some point after Action #966.

Superman Reborn
Action Comics #973-974
Superman #18 (784)
Action Comics #975
Superman #19 (785)
Action Comics #976
Trinity #8
Action Comics #977-978
Supergirl #8 (minus last three pages – “Days Later…”)

This volume is also part of the DC Rebirth event map.  The backup feature of Action #975 can remain in place.

“The Button” occurs here.

Black Dawn
Superman #20-26 (786-792)
Action Comics #979-984
Superman #27-28 (793-794)
Action Comics #985-986
Superman #33-36 (799-802)

Superman #29-32 are fill-in arcs that feel more like they should go with other series such as Green Lantern and Deathstroke, so I opted to skip them.

The Oz Effect
Action Comics #987-991
Detective Comics #965-968
Action Comics #992-998
Superman #37 (803)
Supersons #11
Teen Titans #15
Superman #38 (804)
Supersons #12

This volume is also part of the DC Rebirth event map.  The Detective Comics arc is “A Lonely Place of Living”, and spins out of the ending of Action #987, although the arc doesn’t feature Superman.  The Oz Effect Aftermath in Action #992 continues directly into the “Booster Shot” arc that runs in Action #993-998.  The last five issues of this volume contain the Super Sons of Tomorrow crossover, which picks up on plot threads from the first two arcs in this book.

“Dark Nights:  Metal” occurs here.  Not specifically part of the Rebirth narrative, but back story for the ultimate conclusion in Death Metal.

These last few volumes went through a number of revisions as I kept figuring out how all of the various arcs fit together.  Here’s all of the continuity notes:
-”Imperius Lex” in Superman #33-36 was referenced as already having happened in Action Comics #997 (part of “Booster Shot”).
-”A Lonely Place of Living” in Detective Comics #965-968 spins out of the conclusion of Action Comics #987 (part 1 of “The Oz Effect”).  While that arc doesn’t feature Superman, it does set up the plotline for “Super Sons of Tomorrow” (beginning in Superman #38).
-”The Oz Effect Aftermath” in Action Comics #992 continues directly into “Booster Shot” in Action #993-998.  Technically, there could be a break between Action Comics #991-992 to fit other Superman stories in, but it would be a big stretch based on how Superman’s acting in Action #992.
-Writer Scott Snyder is on record saying that “Dark Nights:  Metal” takes place after “A Lonely Place of Living” and “The Oz Effect”.
-The only clue to place “Super Sons of Tomorrow” after “Metal” would be the publication order of the Teen Titans series (#12 is part of “Metal” and #15 is part of “SSoT”).  But my logic is that if “Super Sons of Tomorrow” had been published as a standalone mini-series, I would have no problems placing it before “Metal”.  Since Teen Titans #15 was not written by the regular writer and I don’t plan on collecting any further issues of the series, I don’t have a problem with those issues being out of publication order.

Family of Steel
Superman #39-44 (805-810)
Action Comics #999
Superman #45 (811)
Action Comics #1000.09 (Meltzer/Cassaday story)
Action Comics Special #1 (main story only)
Superman Special #1 (main story only)
Action Comics #1000.01 (Jurgens story)
Action Comics #1000.02 (Tomasi/Gleason story)
Action Comics #1000.08 (Mxyzptlk story)

The backup features from the specials should probably be left out of this volume.  Action Comics #1000 started off with two stories by the outgoing creative teams that should be included in this set.  The final story in the book was a prologue to the Bendis run and should be included in that set.  The rest of the stories are anthology type stories.   Some could fit in current continuity and I have added them.  Others should be set aside for other specials.  There’s a couple of stories that might be able to fit here but share pages with stories that aren’t in continuity, so I dropped them.

“Heroes in Crisis” and “Doomsday Clock” occur between this run and the Bendis run.

The title page was the cover image from Action Comics #1 with “Superman Through the Ages” replacing the Action logo.

The Golden Age (1938-1955)
Title page:  Alex Ross painting of Superman #1

-Superman #1 (Millennium Edition reprint)
-Superman #76 (Millennium Edition reprint)
-Superman: 3-Dimensional Adventures (1997 reprint from Red/Blue)

Special features:
-Supermen of America ad from Superman #1 printed on a single page (scanned from Millennium Edition, due to middle text being lost in the gutter)
-two page spread of early Superman memorabilia scanned from the 1988 Overstreet comic guide.

The Silver Age (1956-1970)
Title page:  image of Superman with Krypto, with small reproduction of Superman Annual #7 in corner.

-Action Comics #252 (Silver Age Classics reprint, Metallo and Supergirl stories)
-Adventure Comics #247 (reprint from Adventure  Comics #0)

The Bronze Age (1970-1986)
Title page: promo art from the Kryptonite Nevermore hardcover

-Superman: RetroActive 1970′s (includes reprint of Action Comics #484)
-insert page:  Action #484 cover on front, image of faces drawn by Curt Swan on the back
-Superman #400
-insert page:  Perez/Ross Crisis on Infinite Earths cover painting/Brian Bolland art for Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow
-Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (90′s trade reprinting Superman #423 and Action Comics #483, including the summaries of both series up to that point)

The Post-Crisis era (1986-2011)
Title page:  background with a collage of various post-Crisis comics, with Byrne art and the cover to Man of Steel #1 (back is cover painting from Superman: Man of Steel #1 by Bogdanove)

-Action Comics #800
-Adventures of Superman Annual #7
-Superman Man of Steel Annual #4
-Superman Special #1 (Walt Simonson)
-Superman: RetroActive 1990′s (minus the reprint)
-Superman Secret Files #1
-Team Superman Secret Files #1

New 52 (introduced in 2011)
Title page:  Terry Dodson variant of Action Comics #17/921
-Secret Origins #1 (Superman and Supergirl stories)

Special feature:  Superman 2000 – the proposal for a reboot of Superman by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Mark Waid, and Tom Peyer.

Gallery
No title page, just used the wraparound cover of the first book as the divider

-Superman Gallery
-gallery pages from Superman Special #1
-house ads for Action Comics Annual #2, Action Comics #643, Superman:  Man of Tomorrow #1, and Millennium Giants
-Superman: The Man of Steel Gallery
-interview with Siegel and Shuster, scanned and resized from 1988 Overstreet Guide.
-Superman/Batman Annual #1 (just for fun)

Notes:
-Superman #1 contains the stories from Action Comics #1-4, so it was a better option for this book.  Action Comics #1 has other features and the Superman story ends on a cliffhanger.
-The post-Crisis section is not chronological by publication, but by story.  Action Comic #800 and the two annuals each expand on the first three issues of Byrne’s MOS, but do not neatly splice into those stories.  I added the Secret Files to showcase the electric blue Superman, and because it would not work with any of the main volumes due to pacing.
-I did not include the 1980′s RetroActive special because it focused too much on the post-Crisis era, and I had enough material for that.
-The Superman Special from 1992 by Walt Simonson was included mainly because I had already bound the books that went around it in the main Superman collection.  But it fits here, since it was a retelling of an earlier story.
-I glued in one of those small pockets that libraries used for check out cards (back in the day) to the inside back cover.  That’s where I store the 3-D glasses.
-If I had done this book in 2018 or later, the majority of Action Comics #1000 would have been included.  However, I might have excluded Action Comics #252, 484, and 800, as they appeared in the 80 Years of Superman hardcover.
-I wanted to include a few other key moments, like Superboy #1, but couldn’t find a decent reprint or even image.  At a certain point, I had to cap the book since it had started as a place for odds and ends.

Zero Hour
Showcase ’94 #8-9 (lead stories)
Batman #511
Superman: Man of Steel #37
Zero Hour #4
Superboy #8
Superman #93
Zero Hour #3
Zero Hour #2
Adventures of Superman #516
Action Comics #703
Guy Gardner: Warrior #24
Zero Hour #1
Zero Hour #0
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31
Detective Comics #678
Robin #10
Showcase ’94 #10 (last story)

Determining the placement of some of the tie-ins were tricky for this crossover, as the main action of Zero Hour took place over a 32 hour period, as specified by the captions in the main ZH mini-series.  Several tie-ins just dealt with generic time anomalies that did not necessarily have to occur within the 32 hours chronicled in the main Zero Hour series.  Also, all of the issues that came out during the final week of the event all ended with everything fading to white and have to be placed prior to Zero Hour #1 (as #1 continues directly into #0).

-Batman #511 and Man of Steel #37 were easy to place, because they share scenes with each other and the early part of Zero Hour #4.  By the time Batman #511 ends, there’s only 24 hours left until Zero Hour.

-SOTB and Detective both have generic time anomalies.  SOTB #31 makes a reference to the Batgirl they met “a few nights ago” in Batman #511, which obviously cannot fit in during the timeline established for the main event.  Detective #678 deals with Batman conducting a calm patrol of Gotham.  I have a hard time assuming that Batman would find the time to break away from the chaos of Zero Hour just to patrol Gotham and then study open cases at the Batcave.  Therefore, I opted to move both of those issues after the main event, with the assumption that even after the heroes fix the timeline, there are still a few residual aftereffects occurring.

-Superboy #8 has the message from Superman to all heroes that occurs in the middle of Zero Hour #4, and we see replayed at the beginning of Superman #93.  An argument could be made for putting the issue on either side of Zero Hour #4.

-I originally placed Adventures of Superman #516 before Zero Hour #2 until I realized that only 11 minutes pass between Superman’s appearances in ZH #3 and ZH #2, and the events around that gap are not conducive to Superman leaving the main action and having a side adventure.  There is enough of a gap between ZH #2 and #1 for Superman to have two adventures, especially if he’s getting shunted into alternate timelines where time could move at a different pace.

-Robin #10 has a fade-to-white ending, and I originally placed in between Zero Hour #2 and #1, where there is enough of a narrative gap (roughly six hours based on the captions) for Robin, who appears in both issues alongside Batman, to get back to Gotham to have his  adventure, which includes a young Dick Grayson. Robin going back home for a brief spell can be explained away simply as Batman sending Robin back to keep an eye on Gotham, but then Gotham starts disappearing, thus forcing Robin to return to the main action in New York.  However, I ultimately opted to put Robin #10 at the end with the other Batman tie-ins, because it felt like less mental work to explain the narrative that way.

-Guy Gardner:  Warrior #24 guest stars Steel, Supergirl, and the time displaced Batgirl, and it leads directly into the opening scene of Zero Hour #1.

-Showcase ’94 #10 is supposed to take place at the same time as the end of ZH #1, but it would ruin the tone and pacing if placed there, so I use it as an epilogue.

-In an earlier version of this map, I included the three Justice League related books (Justice League America #92, JL Task Force #16, and JL International #68) right after Zero Hour #2.  The three books form one linear story that ends with a fade to white.  I have since dropped that arc from the map, because I just didn’t care that much for it, and it really slows the pacing down.

DC One Million: The Core Story

Chronos 1,000,000 (prelude) (and sets up the time gauntlet pay-off at the very end)
DC One Million 1
DC One Million 2
Superman: Man Of Steel 1,000,000
Superman 1,000,000
Superboy 1,000,000
Batman: Shadow Of The Bat 1,000,000
Nightwing 1,000,000
Detective Comics 1,000,000
Impulse 1,000,000
Starman 1,000,000
JLA 1,000,000
DC One Million 3
Batman 1,000,000
Catwoman 1,000,000
Robin 1,000,000
Wonder Woman 1,000,000
The Power Of Shazam 1,000,000
The Flash 1,000,000
Aquaman 1,000,000
Green Lantern 1,000,000
Martian Manhunter 1,000,000
Action Comics 1,000,000
The Adventures Of Superman 1,000,000
Superman: Man Of Tomorrow 1,000,000
Resurrection Man 1,000,000
DC One Million 4

Whew! That wimpy trade paperback DC put looks pretty lame right now, doesn’t it? The rest of the DC1M issues are completely standalone and could be (if so desired) bound separately in any order (actually, I take that back: the Legion & Legionnaires issues might tie together, but someone else will have to confirm that):

Azrael
Chase
The Creeper
Green Arrow
Hitman
Legion of Super-Heroes
Legionnaires
Lobo
Supergirl
Young Heroes in Love
Young Justice

There is also a DC One Million 80-Page Giant that you do a few things with:

-Take the Grant Morrison pages out and add them to the end of the main book, or if you don’t mind a thicker book, use the whole thing.
-If you bind the standalone issues in their own volume, put it at the beginning.

Chris Roberson revisited the 1M timeline in Superman/Batman #79-80, and would be a great addition as well.

I just bound the core story, but there are definitely options for those who want everything.

In 1999, the Superman titles saw a massive overhaul in creative talent, probably for the first time since Byrne took over. (Before that, it was just one or two creators changing at a time.) As a result, the series take on a different tone, and sometimes it’s hard to believe that we’re reading the same Superman, especially once we get past Infinite Crisis.

I start getting away from the “completest” mentality during this era. As the titles unlink and several fill ins get tossed in the mix, I found a lot of issues to remove to create a smoother read.

The City of Tomorrow
Superman #151-152
Adventures of Superman #573
Superman:  Man of Steel #95
Action Comics #760
Adventures of Superman #574
Superman:  Man of Steel #96
Action Comics #761
Superman #153
Adventures of Superman #575
Superman:  Man of Steel #97
Action Comics #762
Superman:  Y2K #1
Superman #154
Adventures of Superman #576
Superman:  Man of Steel #98
Action Comics #763

Already out of exact triangle number order. I don’t know why the Y2K special wasn’t released immediately before parts 2-5. Anyway, I originally had the trade for Y2K – called Endgame – but flawed binding led me to bind it.

Critical Condition
Superman #155
Adventures of Superman #577
Superman:  Man of Steel #99
Action Comics #764
Superman #156
Adventures of Superman #578
Superman:  Man of Steel #100
Action Comics #765
Superman #157
Superman: Metropolis Secret Files
Adventures of Superman #579
Superman:  Man of Steel #101
Action Comics #766
Superman #158
Adventures of Superman #580
Superman:  Man of Steel #102
Action Comics #767
Superman Annual #12
Superman #159
Adventures of Superman #581
Superman:  Man of Steel #103
Action Comics #768

Emperor Joker (TPB)
Superman #160
Adventures of Superman #582
Superman:  Man of Steel #104
Action Comics #769
Emperor Joker #1
Superman #161
Adventures of Superman #583
Superman:  Man of Steel #105
Action Comics #770

Lex 2000
Superman #162-163
Superman:  Man of Steel #106
Adventures of Superman #584
Action Comics #771
Superman:  Man of Steel #107
Action Comics #772-773
Superman #164
Lex 2000 #1
Adventures of Superman #586 (pages 1-4)
Superman:  Man of Steel #108
Adventures of Superman #588 (birth excerpts)
Superman #165
Superman:  Man of Steel #109
Action Comics #774
Superman:  Man of Steel #110
President Luthor Secret Files #1

At this point, the creators basically said they weren’t going to be following the strict linkage and triangle/shield numbers. Adventures of Superman causes a bit of a problem here because it’s trying to tell its own continuous story, but still links in with various ongoing plot points. That’s why I dumped it except for the pages dealing with Lex 2000 and the birth of Ron and Lucy’s baby to wrap up that subplot.

Return to Krypton
Action Comics #775
Superman #166-167
Adventures of Superman #589
Superman:  Man of Steel #111
Action Comics #776
Superman #168
Detective Comics #756
Adventures of Superman #590
Superman:  Man of Steel #112
Action Comics #777
Superman #169
Adventures of Superman #591
Superman:  Man of Steel #113
Action Comics #778
Superman #170
Adventures of Superman #592
Superman:  Man of Steel #114
Action Comics #779

Our Worlds at War
Superman #171
Green Lantern:  Our Worlds at War #1
Adventures of Superman #593
Batman: Our Worlds at War #1
Superman:  Man of Steel #115
Action Comics #780
Superman #172
JLA: Our Worlds at War #1
Our Worlds at War Secret Files and Origins #1
Adventures of Superman #594
Superman:  Man of Steel #116
Action Comics #781
Superman #173
Adventures of Superman #595
Superman:  Man of Steel #117
Action Comics #782
World’s Finest: Our Worlds at War #1

With OWAW, I was trying to keep the book as Superman-centric as possible, but still keep in the tie-ins I found interesting – like Batman, which actually did feature Superman at the end and tie in quite well with several Superman plotlines. Wonder Woman was getting a lot of good reviews at this time, but a lot of those issues recap what was going on in the Superman issues, so they ultimately got dropped, since there was no clean way to insert them. I had toyed with the idea of spreading out the Secret Files issue, but realized that it works well after the JLA special, at the midpoint of the story.

Starting with the books below, I decided to move away from my completist mentality. Once the books unlinked, there were a lot of filler issues. Plus, with the books going in four different directions, stories were a bit all over the place.

Casualties of War
Superman #174
Adventures of Superman #596
Superman:  Man of Steel #118
Action Comics #783
Superman #175
Adventures of Superman #597
Superman:  Man of Steel #119
Action Comics #784
Superman #176
Action Comics #785
Superman #177
Action Comics #786
Adventures of Superman #600
Superman #178-183
Action Comics #792
Superman #184
Adventures of Superman #606
Superman:  Man of Steel #128
Action Comics #793

For the next few volumes, I had to give up on strict chronology between the different books. I liked keeping them separate for the most part, especially Casey and Seagle’s runs, but occasionally, there were some overlaps. The main issue is the Luthor presidency which ends in Superman/Batman #1-6, and the Cir-El Supergirl, who debuts at the beginning of Seagle’s run, but supposedly disappears after Superman #200. My solution to all of this is to take the plot element of a time storm from the books circa Superman #200, and use that to explain why the chronology might not line up so well. Hence, Cir-El still appearing in the first Superman/Batman arc, even though I have placed it after Superman #200. This can also smooth out how almost an entire year takes place in each of these books, as Action #810 is a New Year’s Eve story, and Adventures of Superman #623 is a Christmas story, both from 2003…following 2002′s Lost Hearts crossover, which is set around Christmastime. I have even linked the first three together in cover design, using the Kryptonian font to faintly spell out “time storm” on the back cover of each.

Lost Hearts
Superman #186
Adventures of Superman #608
Superman:  Man of Steel #130
Action Comics #795
Superman #187
Adventures of Superman #609
Superman:  Man of Steel #131
Action Comics #796
Superman #189
Adventures of Superman #611
Superman:  Man of Steel #133
Action Comics #798
Superman:  Man of Steel #134
Superman vs Darkseid #1
Action Comics #801-805
Action Comics #809-810
Superman/Batman Secret Files

The first 8 issues are the Ending Battle crossover, which got included in this volume when the TPB fell apart.

Metafictional
Adventures of Superman #612-623

Future Shock
Superman: The Ten-Cent Adventure
Superman #190-200

Majestic: Strange New Visitor (TPB)
Action Comics #811
Adventures of Superman #624
Superman #201
Majestic #1-4

I didn’t care much for the Godfall storyline and there’s enough going on in this book to explain Superman coming back. Really, I don’t feel there’s much of an explanation needed.

Public Enemies (TPB)
Superman/Batman #1-6

Supergirl (TPB)
Superman/Batman #8-13

Road to Ruin
Superman Secret Files 2004
Adventures of Superman #627-638, 640-641

I thought about getting the Prelude to Infinite Crisis trade to cover the Secret Files, but it wouldn’t fit into the books I’ve already bound. Binding it here keeps the Mxyzptlk story by Rucka in the Superman collection.

For Tomorrow (TPB)
Superman #204-215

There were several options with the Infinite Crisis tie-in era, since the Infinite Crisis plotlines kept weaving in and out of the Superman books.  After creating my own Infinite Crisis set that focused as close to the main plots of that event as possible, I created a Superman volume that could work in the context of the ongoing adventures, which does have some duplication, including the entire IC mini-series.

Crisis Counseling
Superman #217
Superman/Batman #19
Action Comics #827-828
Superman #218-219
Action Comics #829
Adventures of Superman #642
Wonder Woman #219
Adventures of Superman #643
Superman #220-221
Action Comics #830-831
Adventures of Superman #644
Superman #222
Adventures of Superman #645
Infinite Crisis #1
Superman #223
Adventures of Superman #646-647
Superman #224
Infinite Crisis #2-3
Superman #225
Infinite Crisis #4 (opening sequence)
Adventures of Superman #648
Infinite Crisis #4 (rest of issue)
Infinite Crisis #5 (up to Superman smashing the car)
Superman #226
Action Comics #836
Adventures of Superman #649
Infinite Crisis #5 (rest of issue)
Infinite Crisis #6-7
Superman/Batman #26

-I did skip the Superman/Captain Marvel three parter, since that was already collected in the Day of Vengeance trade, and doesn’t really impact the ongoing series much.
-The opening sequence of IC #4 could either be the first two or six pages.
-I thought it would be cool to use the original issues of Infinite Crisis in this book, while using the trade version in the main IC project, but speculators due to an announced Blue Beetle movie ruined that plan as prices for IC #3 and #5 shot through the roof overnight.  If you do manage to get the original issues, I would recommend the Perez covers for #1 and 5, and the Jim Lee covers for #2-4 and 6 as those are the most Superman-centric.  Either cover for #7 can work.

For comparison, my complete Infinite Crisis map is here.

The Superman map continues with One Year Later up to the Flashpoint reboot.

Titans/Young Justice:  Graduation Day
small TPB containing the 3 issue mini

Identity Crisis (HC)
I just got the hardcover for this one.  I tried it before with tie-ins added…sort of screws with the pacing.

Identity Crisis:  The Fallout
Flash #214-216
JSA #67 (minus the epilogue)
Flash #217
Teen Titans #20-23

Teen Titans/Outsiders:  The Insiders
Outsiders #21-23
Teen Titans #24
Outsiders #24
Teen Titans #25
Outsiders #25
DC Special:  The Return of Donna Troy #1-4
Outsiders #28
Teen Titans #26

The OMAC Project
Countdown to Infinite Crisis
OMAC Project #1-3
Superman #219
Action Comics #829
Adventures of Superman #642
Wonder Woman #219
OMAC Project #4
Wonder Woman #220
Adventures of Superman #643
OMAC Project #5-6

Villains United (TPB)
#1-6

Power Girl (TPB)
includes JSA Classified #1-4

JLA:  Crisis of Conscience (TPB)
#115-119

Rann-Thanagar War
Adam Strange #1-8
Hawkman #46
Rann-Thanagar War #1-6

Day of Vengeance (TPB)
Action Comics #826
Adventures of Superman #639
Superman #216
Day of Vengeance #1-6

Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis #1
Teen Titans #29
Infinite Crisis #2
Infinite Crisis #3 (up to end of WW scene, then the last two pages of Superman in the Batcave)
JSA #82
Infinite Crisis #3 (Lex Luthor scene and last 6 pages)
Day of Vengeance:  Infinite Crisis #1
Infinite Crisis #4 (first 6 pages)
Nightwing #116
Adventures of Superman #648
Infinite Crisis #4 (remaining pages)
Rann-Thanagar War:  Infinite Crisis #1
Infinite Crisis Secret Files
Infinite Crisis #5 (up to Blue Beetle in Batcave, the TT page is skipped because it is expanded in the Annual)
Teen Titans Annual #1
Infinite Crisis #5 (Earth-Two scenes up to Superman smashing the car)
Superman #226
Action Comics #836
Adventures of Superman #649
Infinite Crisis #5 (rest of issue)
Teen Titans #33
Infinite Crisis #6
OMAC Project:  Infinite Crisis #1
Villains United:  Infinite Crisis #1
Infinite Crisis #7

I actually got the Infinite Crisis TPB and cannabalized that for this book, hence the lack of page numbers.