10 Moments When Superman Was A Real Jerk

Considering he's supposed to be a bastion of all that's right and good, Superman sure can be a horrendous dick sometimes.

Must There Be A Superman
DC Comics

Wouldn't it be great if there was a guy like Superman in real life - the sort of guy who makes it his life's mission to protect the weak in society? Well, maybe not. Because Superman is the strongest and smartest superhero there is, that means in addition to saving the world from time-to-time he can pick on anyone he wants without fear of them doing much of anything to him.

Just think: if you thought the bully who mistreated you at school was bad enough, imagine if he had superpowers. Though it's not as common as it was in earlier eras, Superman has a long history of being depicted as mean, cruel, and a flat-out jerk to even his closest friends in his comics. Most of these instances happened on the covers of his comic books and these covers were meant to be shocking in order to entice people to buy the issue.

Usually there was a logical explanation why Superman was being such a jerk within the story, or the cover was just exaggerating the situation in the comic. However, this wasn't always the case. Even when you read the context, Superman is sometimes just being a jerk because he thinks it's hilarious to mistreat his closest friends. Most of the time he's the only one laughing. Here are ten examples of when Superman was being a huge jerk despite being one of the world's most popular superheroes.

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Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.