The Most Terrible Things Superman Has Ever Done

For all of the good that Superman's done — and, over the past 80 years, he's done a lot of
good — he also can be kind of obnoxious.
But there's a difference between passive-aggression and outright supervillainy, and while Superman
rarely crosses it, he often toes the line.
Sometimes, Superman thinks he's acting in humanity's best interest, and just makes a
bad judgement call.
Other times, he's pushed to extremes.
"Bad dog!"
Occasionally, it's mind-control or some alternate dimension zaniness.
And every now and then, as rare as it is, the Man of Steel just gets downright nasty.
Here are just a few of the worst things Superman has ever done.
Get out of town
When Superman first appeared, he was less of the inspirational figure that fans know
and love today, and more of a rough-and-tumble progressive who tackled social issues.
In his first appearance in Action Comics #1, Superman declares himself "the champion of
the oppressed" and spends most of his time fighting crooked landlords and domestic abusers.
By Action Comics #8, Superman tackles juvenile delinquency by… getting Metropolis bombed?
After the local underprivileged teens don't seem too interested in reforming from their
criminal ways, Superman exhibits an extremely flawed understanding of basic sociology, and
blames these kids being jerks on their ramshackle homes.
With the true culprit clearly identified, Superman is inspired by a devastating Florida
hurricane and goes to work, demolishing the slums with his bare hands.
This catches the attention of the army, who inadvertently finish Superman's job by dropping
bombs on the Man of Steel.
Ultimately, the government replaces the slums with a series of nice, modern apartment buildings,
thereby gentrifying the neighborhood and forcing Metropolis' poor out of town.
But hey, at least crime is down, right?
Hitting a nerve
While growing up in Smallville, Clark Kent had two close friends: Pete Ross, who knew
Clark was secretly Superboy, and Lana Lang, his on-again off-again love interest.
Pete ended up becoming proof that even if you're best friends with the most powerful
being in the solar system, your life can still fall apart pretty quickly.
In DC Comics Presents #13, Superman runs across the Nyrvnians, an advanced warrior race of
conquesting aliens who abduct Pete Ross' son Jonathan, and it's up to Superman to rescue
him.
Easy stuff, right?
But before Superman can make his move, the Legion of Superheroes arrive from the future
and tell the Man of Steel to back off.
Little Jonathan Ross is destined to become Nyrvn's greatest warrior, instrumental to
the course of future events and galactic peace.
It all adds up, and Superman leaves the kid with the scary aliens.
Needless to say, Poppa Pete doesn't take Superman's news very well.
He goes berserk, and eventually ends up locked away in a mental institution, spending all
of his time ripping up posters of Superman.
Baby bumped
It's pretty obvious that the bodies of humans and Kryptonians are very different.
They may look the same, but Superman can fly and carry cars around without breaking a sweat;
we grunt with exhaustion when we reach for the remote on the other side of the couch.
And when it comes to Superman and Lois Lane making little half-human, half-alien babies…
those conversations are best left to the sweaty back room of the comic shop.
Well, there… and Adventures of Superman Annual #3.
In the story, a mysterious being named Waverider takes a glimpse into Clark Kent's future,
and makes a shocking discovery: after Lois and Clark get married, their unborn child
kills Lois by giving her a superpowered womb kick.
Seriously.
In his despair, Superman flees the planet, essentially attempting suicide.
It doesn't work, of course.
After getting blasted by an alien missile, Superman is rescued by Maxima, an alien warrior
princess who has the hots for him.
Their eventual romance leads to an alien invasion of Earth, and Superman leaving Earth for good…
but not until he makes out with his new girlfriend on his wife's fresh grave.
Classy.
Take it sleazy
Years before Paris Hilton's naked night-vision romp made the front page, Superman tried to
make the celebrity sex tape a thing, with a little help from one of Darkseid's former
lieutenants, the aptly named Sleez.
Sleez, by the way, was banished from his home planet by the most evil being in the universe...for
being too much of a perv.
In Action Comics #592, Superman tracks fellow hero Big Barda to Metropolis' very own Suicide
Slum, where Superman discovers that Barda been brainwashed by Sleez to produce a line
of popular adult films.
Superman tries to rescue Barda but ultimately falls under Sleez's control too.
And Sleez does exactly what you'd expect: he takes Barda and Superman to the local pornographer
and makes some naughty videos.
Then Big Barda's husband shows up.
To Superman's credit, his sense of morality is pretty strong even while under mind control,
so their production doesn't make it much further than the opening moments, and the director
complains that Superman has "all the sex appeal of a side of beef."
Still, the sight of his wife sucking face with the Man of Steel is enough to set Mr.
Miracle off, and he frees both heroes from Sleez's mind control.
Neither one totally knew what happened, and neither one wanted to talk about it, but thankfully,
no Superman-looking babies popped up in the DC Universe nine months later.
Murder and madness
Like lots of superheroes, Superman has a strict no-murder policy.
But how did he arrive at that stance?
The answer lies in Superman #22, one of the most controversial Superman stories ever told.
Superman finds himself in a pocket dimension where a trio of Kryptonian soldiers — including
an alternate-reality version of General Zod — have wiped out all life on Earth, except
for Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor, and a synthetic life form who goes by Supergirl.
Superman and his allies put up a valiant fight, but Superman is forced to take drastic measures.
First, Superman robs them of their powers using Gold Kryptonite, but that's not enough.
Powered or not, Zod vows to track Superman down and destroy his Earth.
Superman doesn't take the threat lightly.
He decides abandoning the villains on a dead world isn't enough.
He has to kill them.
Superman looks on as the three Phantom Zone criminals beg for their lives in the face
of deadly green Kryptonite, then returns home.
Eventually, a guilty Superman decides to never kill again, but it's too late for Zod.
The damage has been done — mostly to Superman's mind.
In the following days, he's plagued by guilt.
He's not sleeping well and blacking out in the middle of missions.
Meanwhile, a masked crimefighter named Gangbuster has been picking up Superman's slack, using
much harsher methods.
Unlike Superman, Gangbuster has no problem beating goons within an inch of their lives.
The vigilante's one-man war on crime ultimately pits Gangbuster against the Guardian.
If you've read comics before, it's not hard to see where this is going.
In Adventures of Superman #450, Gangbuster's costume is ripped in half, revealing Superman's
suit underneath.
As it turns out, Superman's guilt drove him a little nuts and split his personality in
two.
Confused and angry, Superman heads to space for a few months to clear his head — proving
without a doubt that his real superpower is not having to keep a steady job.
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The Most Terrible Things Superman Has Ever Done

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