4. The rise of the Supervillains began early in Superman’s career
It didn’t take long for Superman’s creators to realize that ordinary run-of-the-mill criminals in and around Metropolis didn’t stand much of a chance against the powers of Superman. In the earliest issues of the comics, Superman treated the criminal element harshly, sometimes even abusively, before editors at what became DC Comics ordered the writers to tone down overt violence. In order to create and maintain tension in the stories, Superman needed enemies who could have a reasonable chance of prevailing in their evil schemes. The first such enemy, the precursor of what became the supervillains, was created by Jerry Siegel and appeared in Action Comics in July, 1939. He was The Ultra-Humanite, a criminal genius in a crippled body, paralyzed from the waist down. His backstory was deliberately kept secret by his creator.
The Ultra-Humanite uses his vastly advanced intellect in criminal schemes covering several stories in 1939 and 1940. In one, Superman must stop a plot to take over Metropolis’s taxi industry, in another the evil genius attempts to extort millions from a shipping line. The Ultra-Humanite and Superman battled each other in both Action Comics and Superman until early 1940, when the villain was killed in another failed battle against the Man of Steel (though he would be resurrected decades later). By then Siegel had created a new arch-villain to oppose Superman, who would make his first appearance in April, 1940, in Action Comics #23. At first, known only by his last name, and sporting a thick mane of red hair, the villain was called Luthor.