Superman is the Man of Tomorrow, the symbol of hope and compassion in the DC Universe. He is one of the faces of DC Comics and the cornerstone of the Justice League. He tries to approach each situation with as much understanding as possible and avoid a fight until it's really necessary.
However, every once in a while Superman faces an enemy so vile and cruel that even Big Blue loses his patience. Sometimes, even Kal-El decides that his enemy deserves little mercy. There are just as many times where Superman, frankly, should lose his patience with a foe and doesn't.
10 SHOULD HAVE SNAPPED: When Superboy-Prime Killed Superboy Connor Kent
Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns is easily one of the grimmest DC stories ever printed, and the climax of this bleak story involves Superboy-Prime, an evil reflection of young Kal-El from another world, trying to recreate the Anti-Monitor's Tower to recreate the universe.
All hands are on deck to stop Superboy-Prime, chief among them is the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, Superboy Connor Kent. He is the most stalwart opponent of Superboy-Prime, and it cost Connor his life. Afterward, Superboy-Prime is taken prisoner by the Green Lantern Corps, but it seems like Superman should have been far more assertive in dealing with Superboy-Prime himself given the loss of Connor and the atrocities committed by this twisted reflection of himself.
9 ACTUALLY DID: After Joker Had Him Kill Lois Lane In Injustice: Gods Among Us
The story of Injustice: Gods Among Us by Tom Taylor is one of several iterations on the idea, "what if Superman were a bad guy?" It's also a prime example of Superman losing his patience and going berserk. The Joker drugs Superman, and he hallucinates that Lois Lane is the supervillain Doomsday. This causes Superman to go all out in attacking Lois, brutally killing her.
After coming to his senses, Superman snaps and attacks the Joker, ripping out the clown's heart with his bare hands.
8 SHOULD HAVE SNAPPED: When Lex Luthor Was Elected President Of The U.S.
Seeing his greatest enemy, Lex Luthor, becoming the president of the United States wasn't a good day for Superman. However, he had a pretty measured response all things considered. Superman isn't happy about it, but he also realizes that he can't do much about it without playing a dangerous game of politics and power.
Regardless, it seems like Superman should have done more to try and expose Luthor for the monster he truly is. In the end, it was Luthor's own fraying sanity from Kryptonite exposure that exposed Luthor to the public.
7 ACTUALLY DID: After Captain Atom Died During Kingdom Come
In Kingdom Come by Mark Waid, Superman goes into retirement after being disenchanted with the superhero scene. New heroes have become reckless, violent, and far more prone to in-fighting. Wonder Woman tries to coax Clark to get back into the game and steer the new generation in the right direction, but he's reluctant.
When Superman finally does put the suit back on, it's only to be challenged by a brainwashed Shazam and to witness Captain Atom killed. Captain Atom is a man of living nuclear energy inside a containment suit. His death triggered a massive nuclear explosion that killed everything for miles around--except Superman himself. This broke Superman, and he resolved to make things right and lead the new heroes down the right path.
6 SHOULD HAVE SNAPPED: When The JLA Was Exposed In Identity Crisis
Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer is another incredibly bleak story, and it shows the Justice League of America at its absolute worst. It involves Doctor Light raping Elongated Man's wife, the JLA's secret identities being exposed, and the JLA using Zatanna to mind-wipe Doctor Light and later Batman to cover up their mistakes.
Batman takes issue with this, naturally, and fights the Justice League after discovering their abhorrent actions. However, Superman isn't really part of this story but presumably still learns about all of this later on. It seems like Superman should have taken a lot of issues with the Justice League for doing this and maybe even tried to arrest some of them for this.
5 ACTUALLY DID: After Mongul Subjected Him To The Black Mercy
On Superman's birthday, Mongul ambushed the Man of Steel inside the Fortress of Solitude and attached the Black Mercy to Superman. The Black Mercy is a parasitic plant that feeds its victims visions of a perfect life while sapping their life force. Superman has dreams of the idyllic life on Krypton with his family.
Batman, Wonder Woman, and Robin arrive to challenge Mongul, and they're able to free Superman from the Black Mercy. Being fed this perfect life and realizing it was all a lie pushed Superman into a rage, and he almost beats Mongul to death before stopping himself. Robin attaches the Black Mercy to Mongul, and this ends the fight. Fun fact, this story took place in a Superman Annual written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons.
4 SHOULD HAVE SNAPPED: When He First Encountered The Suicide Squad
Superman first had an encounter with the Suicide Squad during the presidency of Lex Luthor. He took issue with the team and told Lex Luthor that he was playing a dangerous game. However, Superman never really does anything about the existence of the Suicide Squad.
While the Suicide Squad usually makes for some engaging comics, the concept would be an abhorrent thing to subject a person to. It seems like Superman and the Justice League should be constantly working to expose Amanda Waller for this and shut down Task Force X.
3 ACTUALLY DID: When Wonder Woman Killed Maxwell Lord
Just before Infinite Crisis, Maxwell Lord, former liaison to Justice League International and a powerful telepath, killed superhero Blue Beetle. In retaliation for this and other crimes, Wonder Woman snapped Lord's neck while the world watched.
After this, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have a summit on the Justice League Watchtower, and Superman is furious. He doesn't attack Wonder Woman at any point, but he's ready to see her put behind bars.
2 SHOULD HAVE SNAPPED: When Jor-El Took Away Jonathan Kent
The story of Jor-El's return as Mister Oz is a bizarre one, and he seemed to flip between good guy and bad guy regularly. However, while he was seeming to be more of a good guy, he asked to take Clark and Lois' son, Jonathan Kent, away for a while to train him and explore the Multiverse. Jon wanted to go, and Clark and Lois obliged.
Jon returned before long, but he had aged years in his time away and had experienced some hard times in his journeys. Surprisingly, Superman doesn't immediately attack his father for taking years of his son's life away from Lois and himself. In the end, a revealed conspiracy causes the newly-formed United Planets to send Jor-El back in time to the moment of Krypton's destruction as punishment.
1 ACTUALLY DID: When Darkseid Brainwashed A Fledgling Supergirl
In a retelling of Supergirl's first arrival on Earth, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman take it upon themselves to train Kara and help acclimate her to life on Earth with incredible superpowers. However, Darkseid takes notice and kidnaps Supergirl. He brainwashes Kara to become his most powerful soldier. Superman and Batman are narrowly able to free Kara and take her back home, but Darkseid follows.
This prompts Superman to fully unleash his power while fighting Darkseid, but it takes the combined efforts of Kal-El and Kara Zor-El to defeat the villain from Apokolips.
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