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Superman (sometimes called Superman (volume 1) and for a time published as Adventures of Superman) began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with cover-date June 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled Adventures of Superman while a new comic book used the title Superman. As of November 7, 2007, the series has reached issue #670.

Whereas Action Comics at the time was an anthology featuring stories of several different characters in addition to Superman such as Zatara and Tex Thompson, the Superman comic only contained Superman stories.

The Superman comic book began being published quarterly, soon going bimonthly and in the late 1950s turning monthly. Twelve Annual issues were published between 1960-1986, and three Special issues were published between 1983-1985. This initial Superman series went on a three-month hiatus with issue #423 (Sept. 1986), as did sister title Action Comics, while the new Man of Steel limited series was published, introducing the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman.

• The cover of Superman #1 (1939) is one of the most referenced comic covers, including:
  • The cover to Action Comics #643 (July 1989) by artist George Pérez, in homage to Joe Shuster's classic image.
  • References in Superman Returns.
  • A panel in Kingdom Come

The creators who have worked on Superman over the years have received a number of awards and nominations, including the 1969 Alley Award for Strip Most Needing Improvement, the 1970 Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division), for Dennis O'Neil for his work on Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, and a 1986 Jack Kirby Award nomination for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons for Superman Annual #11 (1985).

The death of Superman and its aftermath ran through a number of issues of the Superman comics in 1992–1993 (Adventures of Superman #499. Cover art by Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood).

The survivors of the Crisis are about to enter into the paradise dimension. Cover of Adventures of Superman #649 (April 2006), by Ivan Reis, the "final" issue of the series under that title.

After the Man of Steel limited series, Action Comics returned and Superman (Volume 2), #1 was published. A new title, Adventures of Superman premiered with #424, continuing the numbering of the original Superman series. The initial team working on the renamed title was writer Marv Wolfman and artist Jerry Ordway.

Adventures of Superman was numbered from issue #424 (January 1987) to issue #649 (April 2006), for a total of 228 monthly issues (including issue #0 (October 1994) published between issues #516 and #517 during the Zero Hour crossover event and issue #1,000,000 (November 1998) during the DC One Million crossover event) and nine Annuals published between 1987 to 1997.

The plots of the Superman books were often linked during the first few years of the series run. To coordinate the storyline and sequence of event, from January 1991 to January 2002, "triangle numbers" (or "shield numbers") appeared on the cover of each Superman comic book. During these years the Superman story lines ran with the story continuing through the titles Superman, Action Comics and later in two further series, Superman: The Man of Steel and Superman: The Man of Tomorrow. After February 2002, the integration between the Superman titles became less frequent, and the remaining issues of Adventures of Superman commonly carried self-contained stories. The final issue (#649), however, was part of a three-part crossover with Superman and Action Comics, an homage to the Golden Age Superman in the wake of events in the limited series Infinite Crisis.

For its last few years, Adventures of Superman was written by Greg Rucka. Notable plots included the villain Ruin, the attempted assassination of Lois Lane and a number of well-regarded Mxyzptlk appearances.

Issues #501 through #503 of the series were a part of the story The Reign of the Supermen which won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story for 1993.

Superman #650, the modern restart of the title's first volume. Art by Terry and Rachel Dodson, colors by Alex Sinclair.

Superman (Volume 2) reached issue #226 (April 2006) and was then cancelled as part of the companywide Infinite Crisis storyline. Adventures of Superman was returned to its original title, Superman, with issue #650 (May 2006). Action Comics had continued publication normally.

As of summer 2007, the current creative team on Superman is Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. The book recently participated in the Up, Up and Away! eight-issue crossover with fellow Superman title Action Comics. The most recent issue of Superman to reach publication (as of May 2007) was #662. The most recent arc by Busiek and Pacheco was titled "Camelot Falls". It has yet to be fully completed, though the first half of the storyline (#654-658) has been collected in a hardcover.

The annual editions after the retitling back to Superman (Volume 1) will be continued starting with Annual #13 released November 28, 2007 (cover dated Jan. 2008) (the last annual issue prior to the 1987 retitling was Annual #12 in 1986). The Annual issue's lead story was the finale to the "Camelot Falls" arc by Busiek and Pacheco.

The book has also been participating in the weekly series Countdown, giving a different perspective on certain events that are shown in the book, such as the events preceding the death of New God Lightray.

• Superman #1-423, #650- (Summer 1939 - Sept. 1986; May 2006- present)
  • Annuals 1 - 12 (1960-1986), 13 (2007)
  • Specials 1 - 3 (1983-1985)
• Adventures of Superman #424-649 (Jan. 1987 - April 2006), #0 (Oct. 1994), #1,000,000 (Nov. 1998)
  • Annuals 1 - 9 (1987-1997)

• List of Superman comics
• List of DC Comics publications