10 Messed Up Superman Storylines You Won't Believe Exist

Actions Comics #775 begins with the bloody destruction of a colossal cyborg gorilla, and only proceeds to get weirder from there. The comic introduces the Elite, who are not in fact a wrestling team in the DC universe, but rather a group of superpowered individuals who are, for all intents and purposes, entirely lawless.

But they're portrayed by the Daily Planet's rival news company, The Star, as entirely heroic, as they take down largely terrorists and other criminal organisations. It's important to note however that The Star avoids talking about how badly they needlessly torture them, meaning they're beloved by the general public.

Superman often deals with threats to his physical safety, but it's a rare thing that we see him confront any challenges to his moral beliefs. To see this dealt out to the Man of Steel by a brit with a union jack flag and a purple hairdo is completely surreal, but also profoundly interesting - enough that the comic would be adapted into the animated film Superman vs. The Elite, anyway.