An influence on early Superman stories is the context of the Great Depression

In 1986, DC relaunched Superman under writer and artist John Byrne, initially in a six-issue weekly series The Man of Steel (1986). A special "direct-sale-only" cover of #1 featured the iconic chest "S" symbol of Superman's costume. Superman vol. 2 debuted hat year, running through 2006. After it was canceled, The Adventures of Superman was retitled Superman, as Adventures had maintained the issue numbering of the first volume of Superman. Another series, Superman: The Man of Steel, had been launched in 1991, running until 2003, while the quarterly book Superman: The Man of Tomorrow ran from 1995 to 1999. Superman as appeared in numerous other titles throughout the early 21st century.

In 2011, DC Comics again relaunched the Superman comics, along with the rest of the company's series.[34] Superman and Action Comics were canceled and restarted with #1 issues.[35] Superman's costume was redesigned to look more like armor and the red shorts over his tights were removed.[citation needed] As of 2013, ongoing publications that feature Superman on a regular basis are Superman, Action Comics and Justice League. The character often appears as a guest star in other series and is usually a pivotal figure in DC crossover story arcs.

Influences

An influence on early Superman stories is the context of the Great Depression. The left-leaning perspective of creators Shuster and Siegel is reflected in early storylines. Superman took on the role of social activist, fighting crooked businessmen and politicians and demolishing run-down tenements.[36] Comics scholar Roger Sabin sees this as a reflection of "the liberal idealism of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal", with Shuster and Siegel initially portraying Superman as champion to a variety of social causes.[37] In later Superman radio programs the character continued to take on such issues, tackling a version of the Ku Klux Klan in a 1946 broadcast.[38][39] Siegel and Shuster's status as children of Jewish immigrants is also thought to have influenced their work. Timothy Aaron Pevey has argued that they crafted "an immigrant figure whose desire was to fit into American culture as an American", something Pevey believes taps into an important aspect of the American identity