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I really enjoyed the Kingdom Come graphic novel as well as Superman: Peace On Earth. Although Peace on Earth is a Christmas story it is still really well done, and anything done by Alex Ross is worth picking up. Both show Superman pitted against his greatest enemy: the darker aspects of human nature.

Superman: Red Son is an interesting twist on the Superman story line, where Superman is raised in Russia instead of on the Kent farm.

The Superman: Man of Steel volume set by John Byrne is a nice introduction, but I personally feel it is really short and lacking in a lot of detail.

The Death of Superman is quite good too, and I would highly recommend picking it up; the final pages are really hard for me to get through, but that might just be me.

Superman: Secret Identity isn't technically about Superman, since it takes place on Earth-prime (a world where superheroes exist only in comics, kind of like our world), but I love how this graphic novel portrays humanity...

I hope that helps. If I can think of any more graphic novels I'll be sure to list them in an edit. Good choice on Birthright though, you won't be disappointed.

Also, I know you had mentioned that you wanted to steer away from the new 52 for now, but they are going to be coming out with volume sets here soon, so if you wanted to you could start off with Action Comics Volume 1. This way you could experience Superman as he becomes the greatest hero the world has ever known.

In addition to the ones suggested by others. The following are origin stories and each are pretty good in their own right.

• Secret Identity - Brilliant story about a real life guy named Clark Kent who is sick of the comparison.
  
• Man of Steel Byrne remake - This is the Superman I grew up with. Super relatable. Limited power set.
  
• Birthright - Mark Waid's stab at updating and combining the origins of the silver age & byrne reboot.
  
• Earth One vol 1 and 2 Cool other universe story. Shane Davis is fantastic.
  
• Secret Origin Geoff Johns's attempt at a soft reboot a few years after Waid's Birthright.
  
  The following are pretty good at diving into what makes the character great
  
  
• Kingdom Come - This is an awesome Mark Waid Elseworlds / What If kinda story that has a lot of different themes going on in it. Alex Ross at his best.
  
• Search for Krypronite - This gives a good example of the dynamic between Supes and Bats and Shane Davis's art is amazing.
  
• 'Til Death Do Us Part - Story's a little cheesy and the art is an acquired taste but this shows a nice peek into the Lois / Clark relationship
  
• Critical Condition - The first half of this book is awesome as Batman helps a sickly Superman find a missing Lois. Beautiful characterization. The second half is kinda lame.
  
  

Red Son is fantastic, but if you are not too familiar with Superman then you may not appreciate it as much. All Star is great too as a standalone, alternate story.

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But it all depends on what kind of stories you like. If you like origin stories, then get Byrne's Man of Steel, Waid's Birthright, Johns's Secret Origins and Loeb's For All Seasons.

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If you are familiar with Superman in general, then you may want to get into the alternate versions like Red Son, Earth One, Secret Identity, Last Son of Earth (an interesting twist on Last Son of Krypton), The Nail, Superman - Batman Generations (I think there were 2 or 3 series of this), Kingdom Come.

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If you want stories contained in continuity then Time And Time Again, Superman: Exile, Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen, Return of Superman. These are all great reads

Although it's not the current continuity, a good start would be John Byrne's Man of Steel (1986), which began the 1986-2011 pre-New 52 continuity. This is the series that originated

• Clark as the "real" person, a farm boy from Kansas, and not Superman
  
• Superman and Batman not being super best friends the way they had been for decades
  
• Kryptonite being incredibly rare, and not something every two-bit crook had in his back pocket as anti-Superman insurance
  
• Lex Luthor as a ruthless and super-brilliant billionaire businessman
  
  You should be able to find the six issues inexpensively at your local comic book store.
  
  After you've read enough Superman books ("enough" will be up to you), new and old, read Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. Also highly recommended are the first several years of the 1996 JLA reboot. After reading more books, including the hilarious Showcase black-and-white Supeman paperback collections of 1960s Silver Age comics, then you may venture into Alan Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, the very last pre-Byrne Man of Steel Superman story.

Superman Peace on Earth. Probably my all time favorite story. This is also the story I used to explain to my wife my fascination with Superman.

http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Peace-On-Earth-Comics/dp/1563894645

Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson is fantastic and hasn't been mentioned. Its Superman is wonderful as well.

The Death and Return of Superman is alright. I have a sweet spot for that story line, but its not the best. Sub-par writing even if its a 'super' awesome story. Such is adaptions.

I'd recommend Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years. It has stories from his very first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938 all the way up through the start of the New 52 in 2011. Sounds like this might be the kind of thing he's looking for.

Edit: For future reference, if he's interested in other characters, there are "Celebration of 75 Years" books for Batman, Joker, and Lois Lane, also.

Last Days of Krypton and Enemies and Allies by Kevin J Anderson were good. And It's Superman by Tom De Hevan was awesome.

Some standalones:

• Action Comics #775 ("What's so funny about truth, justice, and the American way?")
  
• Kingdom Come
  
• Red Son
  
• Secret Identity
  
• Trinity
  
• Superman For All Seasons

I also have these novels, but haven't had a the chance to read them yet.

Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero by Larry Tye

It's Superman! by Tom De Haven

Interesting, it seems like this version of All star superman already hasthe first 12 issues of the original. Sounds like a pretty good buy. Missing one that the first volume of the Chronicles has but i think i can manage.

Not too sure about comics but there's a really good book called The Last Days of Krypton that chronicles those events.

I second the Secret Identity thing and raise you Max Landis' Death & Return of Superman skit, his Regarding Clark video, and (If you have time which you probably don't but trust me it's worth it) his idea for a reboot of Death & Return of Superman he pitched to DC 2 years ago. I wouldn't say I was 100% on the Superman's-a-dick-bandwagon before seeing/reading these but I never really cared about him, much less thought of him as the most underrated comic book character today.
(P.S., when Landis shits on stuff you like, he's doing it for comedic effect. Honestly, he's probably more of a geek about it than you)

Didn't mean to be dismissive. It just sounds to me like someone made a faster edit of the movie for those with a short attention span. I'm sorry if that sounds smug to you, but I'm equally as offended by the idea that a narrative can't take its time. Just this morning I finished watching the 3-hour cut of Superman: The Movie and it's great. But I can't imagine anyone under the age of 25 being able to sit through it.

There was a 75 anniversary book that came out a few years ago, that was a collection of some of the most popular comics.

When I first heard they were doing this, I hoped it was based off The Last Days of Krypton, by Kevin J. Anderson. One of the best portrayals of Krypton in my opinion. Too bad this will be nothing like that.

For any interested: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Days-Krypton-Novel/dp/0062219855

amazon link for those asking for more info.

I've seen it on the shelf and considered reading it. My opinion on "canon" is that it's as much canon as Red Son is...

In the comic world, canon is dependent on which run you're talking about. Sometimes there are just one shots or six issue stories that stand on their own. This novel likely falls into that category.

Amazon Links: Volume 1 / Volume 2

Superman The Movie: Extended Cut & Special Edition 2-Film Collection [Blu-ray] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075TDZV1P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_TSNbAbHDJJ8F0

Time and Time Again

Whom Gods Destroy I don't know that this one was ever released as a trade but I always thought it was a rather bizarre and interesting story.

I haven't yet. I'm currently reading The Death and Life of Superman by Roger Stern. But as soon as I'm done with that, I have All-Star Superman, The Death of Superman saga and Red Son waiting for me. I've also started reading the most recent run of Superman. There are only 2 issues out, but I've enjoyed it thus far.

All Star Superman is available as a single paperback volume, all twelve issues. Here's the Amazon link but it's available everywhere.

http://www.amazon.com/September-11th-2001-VOL-02/dp/1563898780

Volume 1

and

Volume 2 (where this cover comes from).

Was it this?

Literally the first two search results for "Superman: Exile Collection"

http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Exile-Roger-Stern/dp/1563894386

http://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/superman-exile

Birthright

it was a short story in a larger hard cover book.

i believe is in this one

My favorite short battle was between Wonder Woman and a mind controlled Superman. She slit his throat with her tiara.

I usually get my comics by the volume, rather than the individual comics. That comic was only 5 books long, so it was compiled into one volume. Here's the volume of that series.

Edit: Oh hey, it's on the sidebar.

I started with this:
http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Chronicles-Vol-Jerry-Siegel/dp/1401207642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374713886&sr=8-1&keywords=superman+chronological

Action Comics #1, New 52.

This is one of the best single episodes of Superman written in a very long time.

Purchase link:

http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Action-Comics-Vol-Steel/dp/1401235476/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417750864&sr=8-1&keywords=action+comics+new+52+1

Also, Superman Earth One vol 1:

http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Earth-J-Michael-Straczynski/dp/1401224687/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417750894&sr=8-2&keywords=superman+comics

When he gets older, and is mature enough to handle darker superman stories:

Injustice:

http://www.amazon.com/Injustice-Gods-Among-Us-Vol/dp/1401245005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417751011&sr=8-1&keywords=injustice+comics

Death of Superman:

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Superman-Dan-Jurgens/dp/1401241824/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417751075&sr=8-1&keywords=superman+death+of+superman

Superman: Whatever happened to the Man Of Tomorrow ? It's the last Superman story before the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot! http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1401227317/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ynXz0DmPL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL300_SR300%2C300_&refRID=0NTBQBHBP4Z2N0MJ9V0M

It's Superman is a good one, The Death and Life of Superman that /u/ddub74012 mentioned is also a possibility. You could try the novelization of Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Elliot Maggin too.

There is also Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson, about the meeting of Superman and Batman for the first time in the Cold War.

Try "The Death and Life of Superman", a non-graphic novelization of the Death of Superman story arc from 1992/93 - http://www.amazon.com/The-Death-Life-Superman-Novel/dp/055309582X

1. I'd cut the Krypton sequence in the beginning in half, and Jor-El out of the rest of the movie, or explain him on the ship at the end better. They missed a perfect opportunity to say something like "My image and voice are being generated by Brainiac, an artificial intelligence built on Krypton" or something like that. This could have be the starting point for the JL movie, have Brainiac slowly infect his way through Earth's computers and take over.
   
   
2. Superman needed to be more aware of his surroundings and the people in danger. Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow spent time in Avengers helping people who were trapped, that goes a long way. Superman: Birthright did this well.
   
   
3. Jonathan Kent dying is okay, but it has to be in a way that Clark really can't do anything to save him, that's why a heart attack is the perfect death, with all Clark's powers there is nothing he can do. This is an important lesson for him to learn.
   
   
4. Superman killing Zod. This is where the movie lost me from "it's okay, but not great" to "this is a bad Superman movie". Swap Superman out and put in a brand new hero and this movie is an average action flick. We can debate back and forth whether Superman kills (he has, but they have been retconned away several times, except Doomsday), but the fact is he doesn't, and shouldn't. True, he did kill Doomsday, but throughout that whole story we saw Superman (and the JLA) do everything in their power to stop Doomsday, protect innocent people and try to get things under control. To me, I think if Superman killed Doomsday in battle after all that he wouldn't have been in the wrong. If he hadn't died, but Doomsday had, he would have been devastated over the fact that he took a life. The scenes that followed the neck-snapping in MOS were so weird and jarring, they should not have been in the movie. Superman killing Zod in MOS was lazy writing. I still can't believe DC and WB said that was okay.
   
   (This was me holding back and only focusing on the major issues I had with MOS)