10 Words Popularised By Comics

In Superman #38, Lex Luthor prepared to take over the world by using his latest weapon; a molecular impulsion beam that could melt the strongest metal. After the Man of Steel swooped in to save the day, Lex hurled an explosive pellet at him as a last-ditch effort to kill his nemesis. Unsurprisingly, the pellet had little effect and the spit-curled superhero sent Lex to jail.

As straightforward as this story is, it was the first Superman comic to be censored. The little pellet that Lex hurled at Superman was called an "atomic bomb". Although it's a simple explosive rather than a nuclear weapon, the US Defence Department panicked when they learned about the issue.

Y'see, this story was written ONE YEAR before the creation of the A-bomb. Because the Manhattan Project was top secret, US officials stopped the comic being released until five months after their nuclear weapons had detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Of course, when it became common knowledge the atomic bomb was the world's most destructive weapon, it wasn't long before it became the "go-to doomsday device" in comics.