Different Takes On Superman

In Alan Moore's Watchmen, Superman was a fictitious character but comic books changed from superheroes to pirates when there were costumed adventurers in the real world.

In Miracleman, a young boy has seen the first Superman film and we learn that a Captain Marvel comic inspired Emil Gargunza to create the Miracle Family.

In Smallville, Clark Kent will become Superman but, because this TV series was so successful that it ran for ten seasons, many other characters and situations were introduced much earlier than in previous versions of the Superman story.

Watchmen is a single graphic novel whereas Miracleman is an as yet uncompleted comics serial and the Smallville title continues in a comic book sequel to the TV series, even though Clark is by now in Metropolis and has adopted his Superman role. Although Superman has meanwhile returned in a feature film series, I regard Miracleman and Smallville as the two most important conceptual sequels to the original Superman.