10 Times Superman Was Forced To Kill
7. Mxzyptlk, Then Himself
Alan Moore has made a career out of deconstructing superheroes (and frankly we're getting a little tired of it), but his first - and possibly best - exploration of the modern mythical pantheon was probably Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?, billed upon publication as "The Last Superman Story." And for all intents and purposes, it was exactly that.
Remember the New 52 we mentioned a bit ago? That's something DC does a lot, and it started with an eighties crossover designed to slim down the company's forty year history a little called Crisis On Infinite Earths. After the event, everything got switched back to year zero, meaning decades of Superman continuity were wiped from the canon. Which meant Alan Moore had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with it - it wouldn't count in a month's time anyway.
Or at least that was the idea, but the story ended up becoming one of the most celebrated in the character's history. Drawn by long-term Supes artist Curt Swan and with assistance from editor Julius Schwartz, the story brought in many tropes and characters prevalent during the more innocent Golden and Silver Ages of the character, before giving them a lethal twist. Over the course of the two-part story, Clark Kent's secret identity is revealed and Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen, and Krypto all get killed by Brainiac and the Legion Of Super-Villains.
It transpires that this was all orchestrated by Mr. Mxyzptlk, a being from the fifth dimension who previously turned up as a fairly easy to deal with prankster. Having transcended time and space for a while, though, he got bored and bloodthirsty, deciding to turn his attention on his greatest foe. Transforming into a more formidable, mind-bending form, Superman realises the only way to stop Mxyzptlk is to trap him between two dimensions, effectively killing him. Having broken his oath never to take a life, Superman enters the "GOLD KRYPTONITE ROOM" of his Fortress Of Solitude, committing suicide.
Or did he...?