Why do we love Superman?
Is it because he’s immensely powerful?
Because he stands for the American Dream?
Because he exceeds his stories and is an icon?
A symbol?
Perhaps, yes, but most of all, it’s because he’s good.
According to comic critic Tegan O’Neill, that’s greatest super power - his ability
to always do good, no matter what.
It shows us that humans can be right and good ourselves - a ‘perfect’ inspiration to
look up to, to strive for, despite never actually being able to be that good.
So, all things considered, why do we LOVE evil Superman stories so much?
Superman becomes more human, more like us - he’s not perfect, he makes rash decisions,
some of which, influenced by what he’s capable of, and the fact that he is unstoppable, can
cause grand scale turmoil and trouble.
So today, we’re taking a look at some of the most intense versions of the sinister
takes on the man of steel outside of DC’s comics, with our list of the top 10 scariest
alternate superman stories.
We’ll be covering alternate ‘superman’ comics from an array of publishers, all of
which aim to take the idea and character of Superman, twist it on its head, and give us
something we can’t look away from.
So let’s get
to it.
10 Supreme (Image comics) Supreme is a character created by Deadpool
creator Rob Liefeld, and is a egotistical, violent Superman-esque character.
Since he first came to be, the character was an angel of vengeance who quoted the bible,
but has since more commonly seen himself as a god rather than following one.
His origin plays out like this – in 1937, a man named Ethan Crane went to jail when
he killed two men in retaliation for the rape of a 15 year old girl.
In jail, he’s offered a chance to participate in an experimental process.
He died like all the rest, except, he woke up in a strange world, discovering he had
new abilities.
All in all, he was less of a menace and more of an asshole.
Alan Moore would later reinvent the character altogether, noting that he felt the character
in its initial iteration was, I quote, “not very good.”
9 Gladiator (Marvel and Phillip Wylie) Let’s start off our list by looking at a
character from Marvel Comics – Gladiator, otherwise known as Kallark, who was created
by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum as an homage to DC’s Legion of Superheroes.
Compared to many of the other superheroes on this list, he isn’t a baddie, although
a few times, he found himself up against the heroes of Earth, who at one point believe
him to be a Skrull.
He’s also fought the likes of Thor and X-Men member Canonball.
And, fun fact, the name Gladiator actually comes from the Phillip Wylie novel Gladiator
from 1930 – the novel that Superman was partially based on.
That novel really is more of a horror story when it comes to the superman archetype.
In it, a scientist invents an alkaline free radical serum to improve mankind, granting
them Superman-esque powers, with his son being given the serum, hiding his abilities for
most of the duration of the narrative.
8 Count Nefaria (Marvel) Count Nefaria is a Marvel villain, a foe of
the Avenger’s who first appeared in Avengers issue 13 back in 1965.
He’s a wealthy Italian aristocrat who seeks power.
He’s paralyzed Captain America, he’s attempted to take control of the US NORAD base, he’s
responsible for killing X-Men member Thunderbird and is just overall no bueno.
But here’s the thing – he’s mortal up until he ends up teaming up with one of Baron
Zemo’s scientists, who turn him into a being with the combined strength of various villains,
amplified a hundredfold.
He’s one of the physically strongest beings in the Marvel universe, and can even resist
the attacks of someone as powerful as Thor, who threw Mjolnir at him with no avail.
What else can he do?
He’s immortal, invulnerable, can fly, has superhuman strength, speed, endurance, agility,
stamina, senses and reflexes, can heal, can manipulate ionic energy, can create constructs,
teleport, is basically an energy vampire, and on top of all that, he’s a genius whose
charming AF.
7 Invincible Robert Kirkman’s Invincible features a superman-esque
character named Omni-Man – the title character Invincible is an alien superhero who is the
son of Omni Man who inherited his dad’s abilities, using them to protect the Earth.
Omni Man is considered to be Earth’s greatest superhero, and arguably fits the bill when
it comes to being an anti-hero and super villain as well.
Omni Man came to Earth in the 1980s, initially being sent to conquer the planet for his home
race the Viltrumites – something he lied about, since he claimed he was there to help
advance human technology and protect the planet from galactic dangers.
After the truth comes out, he beats the crap out of his son, pretty much leaving him for
dead.
The Viltrumites at one point capture him for failing on Earth, being held for execution,
but is later saved, and by the end of the series, ends up becoming the ruler of the
Viltrumite Empire.
6 Superior Superior is a series created by Mark Millar
and Leinil Francis Yu for Marvel owned Icon comics - it’s the tale of a bitter 12 year
old boy named Simon who has multiple sclerosis, and gets granted a single magic wish by an
alien monkey named Ormon.
He wishes to be transformed into the superhero he idolizes, Superior.
Turns out that the alien monkey is actually a demon incarnate, and in order for Simon
to remain as Superior, he needs to sell his soul to the devil.
That’s not all either - the demon approaches a bully of Simon’s, offers him the chance
at being Superior’s fictional nemesis Abraxas, if he pledges himself to Satan.
Simon then must choose between saving the planet from Abraxas, or keeping his soul.
Simon ends up defeating Ormon, and Abraxas, with Ormon failing to collect his soul thanks
to Superior being immortal.
Ormon is dragged back to Hell for failing, and Simon returns to his regular body, with
the world believing that superior was killing in battle.
5 Hyperion (Marvel) Hyperion was literally created in the image
of Superman - he first appeared in The Avengers issue 69 as a member of a group called the
Squadron Sinister - an evil team that parodying DC’s Justice League, with Hyperion being
the stand in for the man of steel.
Another version of Hyperion would appear two years later in The Avengers, with a heroic
team called Squadron Supreme that caused some confusion.
Two more iterations of the character were published, with the newest appearing in The
Avengers vol 5 issue 1, hailing from another universe.
Let’s look at the version of Hyperion from Earth 712 though - he’s the last known Eternal
left on his Earth, ends up getting trapped in an inter-dimensional zone and is impersonated
by the Squadron Sinister version of himself, who he then fights to the death.
While he walks away from that battle, he ends up going blind from his injuries.
4 Brightburn One of the most recent Superman inspired stories
to be released is the James Gunn produced Brightburn, which tells the tale of a super
powered alien with the same origin as DC’s man of steel, except, he begins to see humans
as inferior.
Brightburn takes place at a pivot moment in super powered Brandon’s life - when he turns
12, hitting puberty - a time in which, in Kal-El and the Kents’ case in the comics,
was when Clark learned to not see himself as superior to everyone else.
Instead, Brightburn’s parent characters end up telling him he’s special, that it’s
okay to indulge every now and then - while it’s in the context of things that ‘good’
parents would tell their children growing up, their child is no regular child, and in
the scope of his abilities, his logic is objective - there’s no reason that he shouldn’t
seen himself as superior.
He becomes a sociopath.
It’s a different, more violent and gorey take on the Superman origin story, one that’s
more of a horror film than a superhero movie.
3 The Homelander (The Boys) The Boys has a series from 2006 from Garth
Ennis and Darick Robertson that followed a super powered CIA squad known as the Boys
who were in charge of monitoring the superhero community.
The world of The Boys depicts superheroes corrupted by their celebrity status, leading
to potential safety hazards when they engaged in reckless behaviour.
The Homelander is a superhero whose public origin story is similar to Superman’s, but
in reality, he was grown in a corporation called Vought-American’s lab, and his childhood
was wrought with tragedy.
He’s entitled, a megalomaniac, has committing mass murder and rape, and is only kept in
line by Vought-American’s financial support.
He’s a part of the hedonistic superhero group called the Seven, similar to the Justice
League - and the Seven are known for being particularly bad.
2 Irredeemable Irredeemable is the tale of the Plutonian,
considered the world’s greatest superhero, who takes a turn for the worst and begins
killing innocent people.
Whole populations really.
He’s killed millions.
The concept behind Irredeemable is what would happen if you went from someone like Superman
to someone like Lex Luthor – what is that process like?
What path does a character need to go down to become a villain?
The Plutonian is exactly that – volume 1 sees him slaughtering not only his super powered
allies, but destroying a whole city, lobotomizing his former sidekick, and sinks Singapore into
the ocean.
We later find out that the reason he’s turned evil is because of his involvement with a
virus responsible for killing hundreds of children.
He attempts to conceal his involvement, growing resentful towards humans, and snaps when his
sidekick discovers the truth.
The story follows the rest of those superheroes trying to figure out a way to stop Plutonian’s
rampage, which only gets worse and worse.
1 The Reign of the Superman (1933) Before Superman came to be in 1983 in Action
Comics issue 1, another Superman created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel was published
in Siegel’s self published science fiction magazine called The Reign of the Superman.
It followed the story of a impoverished man named Bill Dunn who was tricked by an evil
scientist to take an experimental drug that then gives him a plethora of super powers
- mind control, mind reading, and clairvoyance.
He ends up using his powers for his benefit, making a profit, until the drug wears off
and makes him powerless once more.
There wasn’t much in common between this super-man and their later archetypical man
of steel - he was a telepathic villain.
But he has immense power, power that he ends up using to attempt to rule to world.
There we have it friends!
What scary alternate Superman stories freaked you out the most, and why?
Give us a shout in those comments below and let us know!
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