When the movie Man of Steel hit theaters in 2013, comic book fans complained about the movie’s ending with Superman killing his opponent. but In the comics, Superman never killed? Let’s find out the occasions on which Clark Kent has betrayed his morals.
Action Comics #2
After debuting in Action Comics #1 in 1938, Superman didn’t waste too much time before committing his first murder: as early as Action Comics #2, in fact, Clark Kent first kills an enemy soldier throw it away several hundred meters, and after that causes a military plane to crash. As explained in the article on all the times Batman killed in the 1930s and 1940s before the creation of the Comics Code Authority, it was common for comic book superheroes to kill their opponents.
Action Comics #583
After Superman “adopted” his new moral code in the 1950s, he actually didn’t kill anyone for years until 1986: in the two-part story.”What happened to the man of tomorrow?“, by Alan Moore and Curt Swan, Superman lets Mister MXYZPTLK die who attempts to escape to his original dimension in an attempt to escape the projector operated by Clark Kent that would have locked him in the Phantom Zone, but ends up being ripped in two. Although it was an accident Superman later admits that he planned it allconfessed that he voluntarily broke his rule.
Superman Volume 2 #22
Zod is maybe the only character to be killed multiple times by Superman. Written and illustrated by John Byrne, Clark finds himself in an alternate universe where Zod and his minions have decimated the population of Earth, whose survivors are led by Lex Luthor. After Luthor manages to stop the Kryptonians, he makes Superman swear not to allow the same thing to happen to his universe. Back in his dimension Superman keeps his promise by eliminating the evil Kryptonians.
Superman Volume 2 #75
In 1992 the famous story “The Death of Superman“sees Clark Kent in a comic that was also one of the inspirations for Zack Snyder’s second Man of Steel film (here’s our Batman V Superman review). Superman manages to kill Doomsday albeit at the cost of his own life.
Action Comics #782
at the crossover”Our worlds at war‘, released in 2001, a being called Imperiex threatens to absorb the energy of the entire universe and destroy it. The heroes and villains of the DC Universe then join forces to try to stop the opponent: all except Brainiac, who allies with the enemy. The threat is foiled by Superman who, after receiving a power-up from Lex Luthor, sends Imperiex and Brainiac back to the time of the Big Bang. killing her in the explosion that created the universe.
Justice League Volume 2 #22
We’ve seen how, despite his morals, over time Superman was willing to break his rule if the need arose: he killed villains, he killed parade monsters, and he also slew a Kryptonian dragon (in Superman Vol. 3 #13). Actually, Superman also killed a hero: during the crossover “Trinity War“, set in the New 52 reality, Clark Kent beheads Dr. Light with its caloric vision. It is later revealed that Superman’s erratic behavior was caused by a piece of Kryptonite inserted into his optic nerve by a villain.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Although so far we have only looked at the adventures of the “canonical” Superman, it is impossible to say conclusively, the alternate universe of Injustice: Gods Among Us, which features the most iconic evil Superman. Inspired by the video game NetherRealm Studios, this miniseries sees the Joker manipulating Superman, which led him to kill a pregnant Lois Lane while destroying the city of Metropolis. It is therefore not surprising to see an angry Superman who is merciless pierces the Joker’s chest with one punch, who dies without stopping laughing. The assassination of the Joker in this universe will only be the first in a long line of crimes in which Superman will indiscriminately eliminate heroes and villains.
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