Podcast
It All Comes Back to Superman
Hosted by Michael Bailey · EN
Michael Bailey likes Superman. A lot. So much so that From Crisis to Crisis, the other Superman show he co-hosts with his friend, was not enough to contain his fandom for the Man of Steel. This erratic reaffirmation of Michael's Kryptonian faith covers everything about Superman that Michael loves about the character. Comics. Animation. Live action. Prose. Everything is on the table because no matter what it all comes back to Superman.
18episodes
Episodes
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Episode 42 - Marvel Treasury Edition #28 Featuring Superman and Spider-Man
3w ago01:46:19Tap to summarizeThis time out Andrew Leyland joins me once again to talk about a team-up between Superman and Spider-Man. Marvel Treasury Edition #28 came out in April of 1981 and not only heralded the return of the Marvel/DC team-ups but once again had Superman and Spider-Man teaming up as well. This time they join forces against Doctor Doom in a plot that could be described as the title of an album from the English rock band Slade. (In case you're curious, that album was called Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply. To be fair, the original title was The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome, but that doesn't work for the bit.) This action packed crossover has it all. Peter Parker finds he's in the doghouse with J Jonah Jameson and heads to Metropolis! Superman slams the hammer down on the Incredible Hulk! Doctor Doom hopes that The Parasite is ready to explode! Wonder Woman is left high and dry! My oh my, this story, by Jim Shooter, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott, and a host other inkers, is so much fun. Andy and I had a ball discussing the finer points of the story, the art, and even the house ads at the end of the book. During the first segment I referenced several entries from the late Jim Shooter's blog, which is thankfully still live on the net. You can find those three entries here, here, and here. Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: Swear to God, the final chapter of Moving Kryptonian Images! Not only do I go over all of the feedback I've gotten during this series, but I also rank the various Superman films!
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Superman Day 2026 Special - Superman on the Ones!
Apr 1801:48:05Tap to summarizeAnother year, another Superman Day, another Superman Day Special! This year I decided to finally pull the trigger on an idea I've had for some time now and even planned to do last year but since I tend to be a work sky fop I never got around to it. It happens. A lot. I'm working on it. Anyway, Superman has had a number of series over the years. Because of that he has had a lot of number one issues. I thought it would be fun to look through the ones for his various ongoing series and talk about them a bit and here we are. I start all the way back with Action Comics #1 from 1938 and continue to Superman #1 from 1939, Superman #1 from 1986, Superman: The Man of Steel #1 from 1991, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1 from 1995, Superman: Confidential #1 from 2006, Action Comics #1 from 2011, Superman #1 from 2011, Superman #1 from 2016, Superman #1 from 2018, Superman #1 from 2023, and Superman Unlimited #1 from 2025. I have never typed "Superman #1" so many times in a row in my entire life. Over the course of an hour and forty-eight minutes I talk about why editor Vin Sullivan chose Superman for the first issue of Action Comics, why the first Superman #1 was historic, how my feelings on the 1986 issue one have changed over the years, why Superman: The Man of Steel #1 is so special to me, why I was so excited for Superman: Confidential when it came out, some thoughts on Superman in the new 52, why Superman Unlimited #1 was the perfect book for a new Superman fan, and more! I hope everyone has a great Superman Day. See you in June for the other Superman Day. Well, I'll see you before that but still. Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: The final chapter of Moving Kryptonian Images! Not only do I go over all of the feedback I've gotten during this series, but I also rank the various Superman films!
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Episode 41 - Moving Kryptonian Images Part 24 - Superman (2025)
Mar 401:54:32Tap to summarizeMoving Kryptonian Images reaches its penultimate chapter...finally. Yes. I know. It's been a minute. I feel a bit bad about that, but life got weird towards the end of last year. Anyway, I finally get to the film that inspired this series in the first place. Superman, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, came out last July and, by just about every metric, was a success. In terms of meeting box office expectations (despite what some people have tried to say) to bringing in new Superman fans to giving the world a Superman film that appeals to the widest possible audience, this new version of the Man of Steel did everything it needed to do and there is a lot to say about it. Joining me to do that is Michael French, one of the founders of Retroblasting, the premier video channel specializing in humorous analysis and deconstruction of 1980s vintage toys and classic cartoons. Michael and I cover this film from stem to stern. From how the movie dealt with Superman to the lack of Clark Kent to why this was one of the best Lois Lanes we have ever gotten to the pros and cons of this version of Lex Luthor. We also go into how the Kents were portrayed, the role the other heroes played in the film, why Jimmy's hijinks took us out of the film occasionally, the costume, the comic book influences, and the one real issue I had with Krypto. And yes, we do go into the "controversy" about Jor-El and Lara. Because we had to. The Internet wouldn't allow us to do otherwise. I'd like to thank Michael for joining me for this episode. If you haven't already, check out his YouTube channel Retroblasting, which has some of the most fun and objective looks at classic lines you will find on the Internet. Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: The final chapter of Moving Kryptonian Images! Not only do I go over all of the feedback I've gotten during this series, but I also rank the various Superman films!
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Episode 40 - A Conversation With Mark Waid
Feb 2501:08:57Tap to summarizeThis time out I finish my look at Superman: Birthright by having a conversation with the man who wrote it! That's right, I got the chance to sit down (so to speak) with Mark to talk about Birthright. We talked about other things as well, but most of the conversation was about that series. We go over why DC wanted a new origin in 2003, why Mark kept the Kents alive despite his personal feelings on their deaths in previous versions of the origin, why Clark and Lex were friends during their time in Smallville, the "controversy" over making Clark a vegetarian, his take on Lois Lane, and what it was like seeing parts of this series end up in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. You'll also get to hear the sad story of what happened to his first comic book collection, which of his stories he might want to see adapted into audio form, and which friend, Jimmy Olsen or Pete Ross, is the better friend to Clark. I'd once again like to thank Mark for agreeing to be on the show and being so generous with his time. Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: If I can find the time this week I might have a fun episode dropping this weekend. If not, you'll hear the penultimate installment of Moving Kryptonian Images!
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Episode 39 - Many Lives, Many Origins Installment 2 - Superman: Birthright Part 2
Feb 1801:32:49Tap to summarizeMany Lives, Many Origins, the series exploring the various versions of Superman's origin that I'll be doing off and on throughout 2026, continues with the second part of my look at Superman: Birthright. Which, as I said during the last episode, is my favorite version of Superman's origin. Full stop. After a bit of housecleaning where I talk about the promo poster that was released to promote this series (which I really should have done last time but didn't) I get into issues six through twelve of the series. I talk about a scene involving a school shooting which I am surprised hasn't gotten more traction on social media, the pitfalls of Clark's secret identity, the origin of this version of Lex Luthor, Lex's plan to turn the world against the Man of Steel, a "Kryptonian" invasion, and the final battle in Metropolis. I also go into why I prefer to version of the origin over the 2013 film Man of Steel. Along the way I get into Lex's Silver Age origin, the fact that the Kryptonian writing no longer translate to literal gibberish, some of the fun Easter eggs Waid threw into the story, the covers, and why I used to be completely wrong about Leinil Francis Yu's art. Shows promoted during this episode. Justice Society Presents The Sandman Slept Here - Hosted by Ryan, Paul, and Max Doomspeak -Hosted by Alan Middleton Marvel Star Wars: From Empire to Jedi - Hosted by Shag Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: I close out my Birthright coverage with an interview with Mark Waid!
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Episode 38 - Many Lives, Many Origins Installment 1 - Superman: Birthright Part 1
Feb 1001:04:47Tap to summarizeThis time out I'm starting a new series that will run irregularly through 2026 called Many Lives, Many Origins. Superman has one of the best origins in comics. It's up there with Batman and Spider-Man as having a backstory that is timeless and just about perfect. Rocketed as a baby when his home world exploded, found by a kindly couple and raised as their son, Superman discovered that he possessed powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men and decided to use those powers to help mankind. Those basic elements have been part of Superman's backstory since his first appearance in Action Comics #1. While those elements and that basic overview have been a constant in Superman's life, the particulars of those elements have changed. Evolved in some cases, regressed in others. The names of his birth parents have undergone small changes. The names of the kindly couple that found him have changed. Is Krypton a pulp, science fiction wonderland full of rhondors and jewel mountains or is it a cold, sterile place that "deserved to be blown up"? Was Superman ever Superboy? Did he have his powers as a baby, or did they take years to develop? The differences are what I find fascinating, and I thought it would be fun to look at those origins, whether it's in comics, in live action, in animation, in audio, or prose, and a do a deep dive into them. To kick things off, I decided to look at Superman: Birthright. Published from July 2003 to July 2004 and written by Mark Waid with art by Leinil Francis Yu, this 12 issue maxi-series was supposed to be a new origin for a new age. I wasn't the biggest fan of this series when it first came out, but over the years I've softened on it and this most recent re-read really opened my eyes to how good this retelling of Superman's origin was, so I thought it would be a good way to kick this series off. In this first part of a two part look at the series I go over what was going on with Superman in the comics when the series was published, Waid and Yu's take on Krypton, the idea of Superman being a lonely character, how this version balances that loneliness with Clark's desire to help people, Jonathan and Martha Kent, the new take on Lois, Superman's grand reveal, his first confrontation with Lex in costume, and more. Or, more succinctly, I talk about the first five issues of the series. Below are the covers to those issues. Feedback for the show can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: I finish my analysis of Superman: Birthright. Spoiler warning...I really liked it.
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Episode 37 - The Battle of the Century! Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man
Jan 2601:28:25Tap to summarizeFifty years ago Marvel and DC teamed up to bring their, at the time, flagship characters together. Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man was a tabloid sized comic that saw Superman and Spider-Man not only fighting each other, but also taking on the titanic team-up of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this book and to, down the road, ride the coat tails of the new version of Superman and Spider-Man teaming up I did a team-up of my own. Joining me to talk about this book is my good friend and co-host of The Overlooked Dark Knight, Andrew Leyland. Andy is one of the biggest Spider-Man fans I know and this seemed like it would be a fun time. And a fun time it was. Andy and I go over how this wasn't the first crossover between Marvel and DC, how the book came together, how Stan Lee is a lot wordier than Carmine Infantino, the writing, the art, the bits that eventually ended up in Superman The Movie, how Spider-Man's hero identitification was a bit lackluster, the weird way Lex and Doc Ock escape from prison, the parts they liked, the parts they didn't like, and what it's like when Spider-Man notices how hard Superman has become. (snicker) Feedback for It All Comes Back to Superman can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible. This show is part of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network, which is on Patreon. This is a tip jar as I have no time for extra content at the moment, but if you like content I produce please consider contributing a dollar a month if you can. The opening and closing theme is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensd from Shockwave-Sound. Next time: The start on an irregular series called Superman: Many Lives, Many Origins where I look at the various tellings and retellings of Superman's origin (it's in the name) starting with Superman: Birthright.
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Episode 36 - Mike's Year In Superman (2025 Edition)
Jan 1201:15:31Tap to summarizeIt's a new year, so I'm going to start things like I did last year...by looking back at the previous year. It's worked pretty well for the past few years and I actually put out a bunch of shows in 2025 and a certain film came out, so there's actually stuff to talk about, which, as you can imagine, makes putting out this episode a lot easier. Anyway, in this off the cuff, unscripted, and increasing congested episode I talk about watching the final few episodes of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, why I stopped watching Season 7 of Smallville, why I let new books stack up for months before reading them, why I liked the whole Superwoman storyline, the stuff I re-read for shows this year, the podcasts I guested on and more. I also take about 20 or so minutes and get real honest about what happened to me as a Superman fan towards the end of the year. I know that not everyone is into this sort of thing, so I give plenty of notice before I launch into the naval gazing, so if you want to bail before that I understand. But through this part of the episode I talk about my current thinking on how I want to approach this show and my (lack of) plans for 2026. Next Time: No clue, but it will be out in a couple of weeks. Thanks for listening. And eat your Kellog's Pep. If you still have some.
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Episode 35 - The Superman Family in Crisis
Dec 1602:21:09Tap to summarizeForty years ago DC Comics published Crisis on Infinite Earths. That twelve issue series (plus a handful of crossover issues) was part celebration of DC's fiftieth birthday and part house cleaning. Worlds lived, worlds died and the DC Universe was never the same. To celebrate what was, at one point, a holy text to my generation of comic book fans I thought it would be fun to look at what the Superman family was up to during the story. Joining me on this journey is three time Eisner award winning journalist (for Women Writing About Comics) Cori McCreery. Cori and I have been friends for years and I thought it was high time that I had her on the show, especially considering one of the Super Family members we discussed. See, Cori loves Supergirl and considering Crisis was a big story for the OG Kara Zor-El it seemed like "sitting down" with Cori would be a good idea. While the bulk of the episode (the back half, as a matter of fact) concerns Supergirl, we also discuss two Supermen and a Superboy. We go over my love of the Earth-2 Superman, how the Earth-1 Superman didn't play a huge part in this extremely important story, and the introduction of the Superboy of Earth-Prime, who also didn't play a huge part in this Crisis, but would go on to be part of another Crisis two decades later where things...happened. Then we go into Supergirl and why her death in this story was so important. We also go on a few tangents, which is almost required on one of my shows. Many thanks to Cori for coming out to play on this one.
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Episode 34 - Moving Kryptonian Images Part 23 - Superman: The Man of Tomorrow
Aug 1101:37:32Tap to summarizeWelcome to a "starting a new universe is what the cool kids are doing" installment of the podcasting maxiseries called Moving Kryptonian Images: The Live Action and Animated Adventures of Superman! The purpose of this series is to celebrate the release of the new Superman film, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor! This time out I am joined by award winning author Keith R.A. DeCandido to talk about Superman: The Man of Tomorrow from 2020. This film launched a new animated cinematic universe and did so by showing us the early days of Superman. Keith and I cover a lot of ground during our conversation including, but not limited to, the many origins of Superman we've seen since 2004, why I really don't care for Lobo, the Martian Manhunter's role in the film, Lois Lane, jerk Perry White, and even a little bit of Spider-Man right there at the end. I also share my unfiltered feelings on Max Landis's Superman: American Alien. I want to thank Keith for coming on the show. Be sure to check out his website, especially for his upcoming novel Supernatural Crimes Unit NYPD - Book 1: The Thin, Blue Ley-Line. Keith and I both have essays in Jack of All Comics!: A Fan Conversation About the King of Comics, published by Becky Books, so be sure to check that out as well. Feedback for It All Comes Back To Superman Series 2 can be sent to itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com. At the end of this series I will be doing a feedback special going through all of the emails and comments that are left or sent! You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or stream it through Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Audible. The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network is on Patreon. It's mostly a tip jar as I have no time at the moment to produce exlcusive content, but if you like the content I do produce please consider contributing a dollar a month. The opening and closing theme to the show is titled Journey and was composed by Pontus Rufelt. It is licensed from Shockwave-Sound. Next Time: Moving Kryptonian Images continues in two weeks with Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons.
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