5 Things You May Not Have Known About These Heroes

Comic books tend to shift and twist stories over the years; recreating origins, changing alliances, renewing old friendships and so much more. It's part of why we enjoy comics, to read and experience the stories. Because we love the comics, we like to think that we know the whole story, but that isn't always true. Here are 5 things you may not have known about these iconic characters:

Superman was a villain originally.

In 1933 when Jerry Siegle dreamed up the concept for Superman in the form of a short story "The Reign of the Superman", the titular character was actually a villain. During the illustration process, Superman had a closer resemblance to Lex Luthor rather than the Superman we all now know and love. It wasn't until years later that he was rewritten as a hero.

Spider-Man wasn't actually an orphan.

His story has always alluded to the idea that Peter Parker was orphaned at a young age and raised by Uncle Ben and Aunt May. The truth is that his parents, actually CIA operatives left Peter with Ben and May to protect him while they went deep undercover.

Aquaman is no pushover.

Proverbially mocked, Aquaman always seems to be on the receiving end of all the hero jokes for his seemingly useless powers. Yet the truth is that Aquaman possesses enough strength to hold up a ten story building and bullets barely leave scratches on his Atlantian skin. Add into that the fact that he's the undisputed ruler of 70% of the Earth.

Green Lantern has a pretty silly weakness.

Originally, Green Lantern - a character with powers only limited by his own willpower, could be defeated in the craziest of ways. In the original run of the character, his powers wouldn't work on anything yellow or made of wood. He could be defeated easily by dressing in a yellow costume and beating him with a stick.

Cyclops' dad didn't actually die.

In one of the earliest stories about Cyclops, Scott Summers, it was said that he was orphaned at a young age when his father died in a plane crash. The plane was actually attacked by the Shi'ar Empire and Cyclops' parents were taken by the Shi'ar. Scott's mother was killed by Emperor D'Ken and his father was sentenced to work in the mine pits. He escaped and became Corsair of the Starjammers.

[Source : Gizmopod]