10 Superman Moments That Shocked The World

6. Purposely Paralysing A Football Star - Action Comics #4

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DC Comics

The famed Golden Age of Comic Books is still reflected on kindly to this very day, but some of those stories most definitely struggle to hold up when looked at through modern eyes. Case in point: 1938’s Action Comics #4.

In this particular one-shot deal, Superman purposely paralysed a young football hopeful so that he could take his place on the team. Classy, right?

For poor Tommy Burke, his dreams of making it as a football star were temporarily put on hold after the Big Blue Boy Scout injected him with a substance that paralysed him. Making the most of this, Supes made himself up to look like Tommy before taking his place on the team and scoring a load of touchdowns.

Somewhere in all of this was some paper-thin plot involving mobsters and an underhand football coach, but this was one of those stories where nobody came out of it looking good. Well, apart from Tommy Burke, for the exploits of his all-powerful doppelganger managed to get him his girlfriend back. It’s just a shame that he had to undergo temporary paralysis for all of this to happen, mind.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.