10 Times Superman Just Quit
2. Kal-El Gets Tired Of Humanity And Takes Up Farming - Kingdom Come
Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come is a masterpiece of superhero fiction, laying out dual stories of how a future generation of superpowered individuals use their abilities like toys and how the icons of the DC universe came to start seeing themselves as gods, above the mortals they once swore to protect.
In the Kingdom Come storyline, the Joker kills the whole Daily Planet staff, including Lois Lane, and is on his way to trial. Magog, one of the new breed of hero, rises to public favour after finally putting an end to the Joker by killing him with an energy blast to the chest. Magog is tried for murder and, to Superman's disgust, is acquitted.
This finally convinces Superman that humanity is no longer worth fighting for, and he retreats to a virtual recreation of the Kansas farmland at the Fortress of Solitude as Kal-El. He spends ten years in isolation, having no contact with either humanity or his fellow heroes.
It is only the threat of the new generation of heroes tearing Earth apart that convinces him to come out of retirement, now bearing a black S-shield as a sign of mourning and of the darkness sweeping Earth.