8 Comic Book Characters That Broke Superman

1. Lex Luthor - Justice Lords

The Justice League series of the early noughties is all kinds of brilliant, and one of the absolute best storylines involves an alternate reality where Superman wanders into the Oval Office, and murders president Lex Luthor. Superman and co. then rebrand themselves as the Justice Lords, and get swanky new outfits in the process.

Of course, there's a lot to unpack there - and not just the 'swanky new outfits' part. For added context, the Justice Lords timeline involves a reality where Lex Luthor successfully runs for president of the United States, and uses his power to execute the Flash and position the country in a devastating global conflict. This sets Superman off the edge, and well, hey presto, the Super-Friends are now goose-stepping to the works of Leni Riefenstahl.

The Justice Lords timeline would eventually come back to haunt the conventional Justice League in Justice League Unlimited, where Cadmus learn of the reality and decide to arm themselves against the team.

The regular Superman comes close to mirroring his alternate-reality counterpart as the series progresses, but emerges the other side as a better hero, proving that - while he may occasionally falter - the Man of Steel is still a hero we can all depend on.