Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Can anyone document Superman stories where he killed characters?  I've only read about 10 pre-1946 stories and he was gruff, threatended to drop people, folks could often be afraid of him, but did he ever deliberately kill anyone?

There was an early issue, maybe Superman #3 or so, where Superman is in a foreign country plagued by war.  At one point a fighter plane makes a strafing run, if I remember right, and Superman grabs the plane, stands on the ground holding the plane over his head like a toy, tells the pilot, "Say your prayers!" and throws the plane over the horizon, where it crumples into a heap, presumably killing the pilot.  I don't think the stories had titles in those days.  I'll look it up if I remember tonite; I know it's in Volume 1 of the Archives, and also in the first Superman-themed, tabloid-sized "Limited Collector's Edition" from the early 70s (where it made a big impression on me as a youngster).

There was also a moment in the newspaper strip where Lois is about to be roasted alive in some heat chamber or other and in getting her out, Superman knowingly causes the deaths of two villains by their own device.  His attitude is "they had it coming."

There's probably a few other examples.  I never thought early Superman was as bloodthirsty as most pulp heroes, but he did have what I'd call a pretty reckless attitude when it came to the lives of crooks.

Thanks.  Anyone else have a story?

I do remember the plane incident, though the dialog doesn't ring a bell (I had that Superman volume too).  I don't remember even wondering what happened to the pilot.  Still, not too bloodthirsty.  I still think that the Golden Age "rep" of Superman is overblown. The newspaper story reminds me a bit of very early Batman and the Spectre.

Read this, I have been updating it on and off again for a LONG time:

http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Superman#The_Relationship_with_the_Law-Enforcement_Establishment

it is still not done, but that period is covered.

Nice chronicle...the dude was a definite vigilante but its amazing through all of that how no one is actually murdered.

Yes, definitely the first appearance of Luthor, I'm pretty certain Superman is killing people, but they're soldiers, so does it count?

Depends how you look at it.  I'm thumbing through the Archives now and here's a few moments that stand out:

- Superman #1, second story: Superman interrupts a uniformed torturer working for a foreign power.  

Torturer: "Let me go! What are you going to do to me?"
Superman: "Give you the fate you deserve, you torturing devil!"
Captions: For an instant Superman poises the deadly torturer overhead...Then tosses him away as tho he were hurtling a javelin! The torturer vanishes behind a grove of distant trees with a pitiful wail --"

Sounds like lethal force to me.

- same story, one page later, an aviator flies his plane at Superman, guns blazing.  Superman sticks out his hand, shatters the propellors and "the airplane falls to its doom!"  Not sure whether the man inside isn't mentioned to spare the sensibilities of kids, or because the airplane is considered the greater loss!  :)

- Superman #2, second story: Superman peels open the fuselage of a plane in mid-flight, enters and accosts two racketeers.  The pilot gets up, promising to get what Superman's after if Superman will take the controls of the plane.  When he does, the pilot wrecks the controls with a gunshot and parachutes to safety.  Superman, with a mad on, leaps out of the plane after him, leaving the two other men in a plane with wrecked controls. It crashes but they miraculously survive, no thanks to Superman.  

But don't worry, he's not finished yet. A couple pages later, he drops a number of aircraft bombs by hand onto a munitions factory, which is "destroyed amidst terrific carnage!" (Just to be sure, I checked my Websters: "Carnage: the slaughter of a great number of people, as in battle; butchery; massacre.")

A dirigible intervenes.  Superman rips it apart and "it falls to its doom!" (along with its crew, who again get no mention)

Later, a villain threatens to hurl to the floor a vial containing a "terrible gas."  Superman struggles with him for the vial, which falls to the ground.  The villain is killed while Superman looks on approvingly.  "One less vulture."

- Interestingly, in the very next tale, "Superman and the Skyscrapers," Superman comes upon a man sabotaging a construction site, and when the man (whose actions are designed to cause destruction and death, and who has just tried to shoot Superman dead) falls from the skyscraper, Superman is quick to fly after him.  "Got to save him!" he says.  Why?  Apparently Superman took his "no killing" oath off-panel between these stories.  Or maybe Harry Donenfeld called and told him to clean up his act or collect a pink slip.

Or maybe it's just that Superman needs information from the guy.  Either way, it's a moot point.  The fellow croaks from heart failure.

That's as far as I got tonite.  Basically GA Superman makes Batman look like a Flower Child.

LOL... ;D

Actually, I don't have any preference, was just wondering.  I often see reference to the Golden Age Superman as a killer but I rarely have seen the specifics. Thanks for the info.

Superman's ruthless brand of justice in some of the early stories is a bit reminiscent of Charles Bronson in the Death Wish films ...

There is a site or an article out there somewhere listing every use of a gun by Batman.  Maybe we should compile the early Superman murders leading up to the first mention of his oath?

The archives should by now have included them all by now.