10 Times Superman Was Humiliated

9. He Had His Jaw Broken - King Takes Pawn

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War Superman Raven
DC Comics

Not only did Actions Comics #779 have Superman bested in battle, the Man of Steel was bested so badly that he was dragged out of battle for fear of being killed.

This all came about as Supes and his 'family' - as in Supergirl, Superboy, and Kelex donned in Steel's armour - came to the rescue of Pokolistan in the King Takes Pawn story. With the country under threat, an all-out battle erupts between the Supers and the sinister line-up of Faora, Kancer, Ignition and a hefty army.

Once these villains are joined by a mysterious masked figure, said stranger punches Superman so hard that he breaks the Boy Scout's jaw. Luckily, Kelex manages to teleport Big Blue and the team out of danger, with him doing so because one more punch from this mystery man would be like Doomsday all over again - implying that we'd get something similar to 1993's Death of Superman tale.

It would eventually be revealed that Superman's attacker here was Zod. Well, not that General Zod, but instead a second General Zod - a Zod who was the son of a couple of Russian astronauts who were hit by radiation.

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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.