When we see Superman flying across the universe and effortlessly pushing planets back into orbit, it's easy to forget that he was created by two Depression-era kids from Cleveland who lived most of their lives in poverty. It's not so easy, however, when you read the early Superman stories that those two kids actually wrote and drew, in which the Man of Steel was less of a big blue Boy Scout and more of a raging anti-establishment maniac in red underpants who spent more time destroying property than catching criminals. Think we're kidding? Check it out:

5 Superman Destroys an Entire Poor Neighborhood (Action Comics No. 8, 1939)

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Right off the bat, here's Superman threatening to drop some children to their deaths:



"Sir, I've got my hall pass right here!"

And, as you'll find is typical in this article, the context only makes it worse. In that 1939 issue, Superman steals those kids away from the police as they're being arrested for attempted burglary, then tries to scare them straight by threatening to drop them so that they'll be "crushed to a pulp."

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But then it occurs to Superman that the slums they grew up in are really to blame for their criminal behavior. But what can he do about that? Suddenly, a newspaper headline gives him a deranged idea.