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DC Universe Surgery

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17:25 / 26.04.04

OK, this is what I'm curious about.

There seems to be a lot going on with Superman right now, all of which sounds thrilling and fascinating in concept, but I find reading the actual comics so painful. This is what I know from looking at covers and splash pages in the store, and making a few regretful purchases:

All of a sudden, Silver Age Krypton is coming back in repressed memories, threatening to prove John Byrne false, right? And Krypto is back? Details?

There are actually two current Supergirls, I think: Kara Zor-El just showed up again, but there's also one from the 10-cent Adventure, with a short brunette cut. What's up with the latter? Who is she?

How many Kryptonians are running around right now? Kryptonians now in the mainstream DC universe from variant timelines and universes count.

Is there a Bottle City of Kandor again? What's its status -- bottled or non-bottled?

As if all this weren't enough, what is up with Birthright? It's bringing the mythos in line with Smallville, correct? What are the key divergences between Birthright and the other prominent origin stories, and where do you think this is all going?

Is Superman/Batman some kind of strange inside joke for Apollo/Midnighter fans, where we get to see the trademark icons alternately bicker with and love on one another? Because that's what I got from the issue I bought.

If someone could give me an accurate recap of the past few years and/or juicy tidbits about what the next year will or might bring, it would make me so happy.

17:37 / 26.04.04

He has a son now? With a different last name?

Yeah. The kid was born "out of wedlock", as they say.

Oh, dude. That's perfect for the character.

And you know that whole "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" thing with Superman?

Sex with Plastic Man. That'd rock.

21:49 / 26.04.04

All of a sudden, Silver Age Krypton is coming back in repressed memories, threatening to prove John Byrne false, right? And Krypto is back? Details?

Krypto is from an alternate-universe Krypton, accessible by the Phantom Zone. The Silver-Age memories thing was related. It's all moot, since Superman: Birthright is the newest origin.

There are actually two current Supergirls, I think: Kara Zor-El just showed up again, but there's also one from the 10-cent Adventure, with a short brunette cut. What's up with the latter? Who is she?

Superman's daughter, from an alternate future, now erased.

How many Kryptonians are running around right now? Kryptonians now in the mainstream DC universe from variant timelines and universes count.

Three, I think. Supes, the new Supergirl, and that guy who just escaped from Kandor.

Is there a Bottle City of Kandor again? What's its status -- bottled or non-bottled?

Yes, and it's still bottled.

As if all this weren't enough, what is up with Birthright? It's bringing the mythos in line with Smallville, correct? What are the key divergences between Birthright and the other prominent origin stories, and where do you think this is all going?

It's the new origin, replacing all others. While it doesn't necessarily make Smallville in-continuity, it does make the series a better fit. Basically, it's a very quiet reboot.

Is Superman/Batman some kind of strange inside joke for Apollo/Midnighter fans, where we get to see the trademark icons alternately bicker with and love on one another? Because that's what I got from the issue I bought.

No, it's a remarkably successful attempt to sell more comics.

23:08 / 26.04.04

Sex with Plastic Man. That'd rock.

would he have to use only water based lube or could he get away with oil based lube?

A

04:11 / 27.04.04

Metropolis and Gotham City and New York City are all New Yorks in the DCU, somehow. Coast City was an extra LA, but it was destroyed by one of the phoney Supermen in the Death of Superman thing (which lead to GL Hal Jordan goin' nuts and becoming a supervillain).

(For some reason, I'm now imagining Andrew WK singing "I love Gotham City, whooah, yeah, Gotham City").

Dan Fish - @Fish1k

07:29 / 27.04.04

All of a sudden, Silver Age Krypton is coming back in repressed memories, threatening to prove John Byrne false, right? And Krypto is back? Details?

It was all a plan to weird out Superman, carried out by B13 (An evolved Brainiac), with the help of the phantom zone and some DNA info from baby Kal-Els rocketship. The Jor-El and Lara that he met were not REALLY his parents, though they were 'Just as good as the real thing'. Krypto was the only escapee of this world, it ended with Jor-El becoming all powerful and closing off their world from outside influences.

I just borrowed this book from the Library, and though easier to follow than other recent Superman collections, it was still nothing to write home about.

11:37 / 27.04.04

Re: Plastic Man, Elastic Man, Elastic Lad etc.
They did all team up in Action Comics Presents once. It was very bad.

Uatu.is.watching

16:34 / 27.04.04

Speaking of Kryptonians hanging about, didn't Zod appear at some point recently? Was he from an alternate future Krypton, too?

17:37 / 27.04.04

He's not Kryptonian. He's a metahuman who, somehow, was possesed by a spirit with some knowledge of Krypton (possibly the Zod from the same Krypton as the new Krypto).

No, it doesn't make sense to me, either.

17:44 / 27.04.04

More info (from Usenet):

Zod was the child of Soviet cosmonauts, conceived while his parents were on the Russian space station. The station was destroyed by a meteor shower that appeared out of a time warp. Zod's parents escaped in a space pod and Zod was born after the pod crash-landed. The KGB came and took the infant for study.

Radiation from the meteors (kryptonite?) mutated Zod so that he got weaker in sunlight and stronger under red sun radiation. In fact, the red sun radiation gives Zod the exact same powers that yellow sunlight gives Superman.

(...)

During a session of deep meditation, a presence that hated Superman and knew all his secrets came to Zod and told him everything. The presence called itself Zod, which this Zod took as his own name as well.

20:53 / 27.04.04

damn, that's a lame origin.

nothing beats Zod in black in that flippy mirror version of the Phantom Zone.....

21:34 / 27.04.04

Bit more on that Zod origin: The Zod story was dragged out for something like two years, and right up until the end it looked like Zod was going to end up being an alternate-timeline version of Kal-el who had crashed in Eastern Europe instead of Kansas, had generally dreadful formative experiences, and been afflicted with Kryptonite poisoning for most of his childhood, making it possible for him to suffer merciless abuse from various quarters, all of this leading to him growing up to be one bitter, vengeful bastard rather than, you know, Superman (there had been several big crossovery storylines involving time travel, alternate universes/timelines, etc. in the couple of years prior to Zod's appearance, any of which could've been used to explain his presence). There was a LOT of evidence to that effect dropped in the various Zod-related storylines. But then, when the big reveal finally came down, they pulled out the (rather lame) space station story, and the assumption among fans was that the editors chickened out at the last minute and threw together a less potentially controversial origin for Zod on the fly.

06:30 / 28.04.04

three Batman-related questions:

1) what's the story behind the big penny in the Batcave?

2) Gotham was basically levelled by a big quake in No Man's Land. this quake also caved in a lot of the Batcave, no? but Bats has a Batcave currently - how did he get it dug out? the whole reason the cave and the mansion weren't earthquake-proofed in the first place was because he couldn't risk having workers come and accidentally stumble on something they shouldn't, so how did he unearth the cave?

3) who built the Batmobile and all the other Bat-vehicles?

14:25 / 28.04.04

1) See World's Finest #30, "The Penny Plunderers" (or the reprint in Batman #256).

2) This is a new cavern that he found below the old one. It's laid out differently, too.

3) Post Zero-Hour, the first Batmobile is a Wayne Enterprises design that Bruce "borrowed" and modified. Harold the Hunchback built some later models.

There was an animated series episode that told of a mechanic who builds the Batmobiles (after Batman saved his life) but the closest comics story is about a race-car driver named Jack Edison who helped build a few (but not the original).

These days, I assume Bats does it himself.

14:31 / 28.04.04

Wow, that Joe Kelly Zod story was crap. As much as I like the idea of re-introducing Zod to the current Superman universe, it was really, really bad.

Hal Jordan's back as Earth's main GL in the fall, reports Newsarama today, FYI. No word on what will become of poor Kyle yet...

15:42 / 28.04.04

Aw. I like Kyle. I hope they don't kill him off.

01:16 / 01.05.04

Whatever happened to Congorilla/Congo Bill, and Roy Raymond, TV Detective? Have we seen them Post-Crisis?

02:16 / 01.05.04

Congorilla showed up in Grant's run on Animal Man, as I recall.

17:34 / 01.05.04

Correction, that was B'wana Beast.

Steve Englehart did a Congorilla mini in the 90's

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

18:46 / 01.05.04

Is Superman/Batman some kind of strange inside joke for Apollo/Midnighter fans, where we get to see the trademark icons alternately bicker with and love on one another? Because that's what I got from the issue I bought.

Back in the 50's, Superman and Batman teamed up in "World's Finest", and continued to do so through most of the rest of that comic's history until the Crisis. Since World's Finest was selling poorly (since it became a dumping ground for either talent too new to know how to do decent comics or people who had LONG since passed their freshness date but were still under contract....or both working together), DC decided that one of the effects of the Crisis would be that Superman and Batman didn't much like each other.

This has faded over time, and with DC's recent "return to the Silver Age" push, a Superman/Batman book was pitched where they would team up all the time. It's been a huge hit, mostly because people have forgotten that World's Finest sold poorly for almost 15 years before being canceled and have ordered for both Superman and Batman readers.

22:23 / 01.05.04

It's currently the #1 seller in comics, actually. Michael Fathom Turner variant covers seem to have an incredible effect for some reason.

01:38 / 03.05.04

But, Batman and Superman are lovers, right?

16:12 / 04.05.04

But, Batman and Superman are lovers, right?

12:58 / 06.05.04

Where the hell is that from?!

13:43 / 06.05.04

from the heart

17:38 / 06.05.04

That is so freaking beautiful.

Let's hit the cobbles and rap, everyone!

18:09 / 06.05.04

It's from World's Finest. During the 70s, World's Finest was simply the most amazing comic. Not only did it frequenty feature "The Sons of Superman and Batman" (yes, those two hipsters you see above are their non-continuity sons Clark Jr. and Bruce Jr.), but the covers were total pop art gems that often depicted Bats and Supes acting bitchy, goofy, and sometimes a bit well... gay.

I'm particularly fond of one where Superman and Batman are forcing Jimmy Olson and Robin to dig their own grave.

More great World's Finest covers: http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/gallery/gallery.php?topic=worldsfinest-1970s-comics

04:10 / 09.05.04

Let's teach those cobbles a lesson!

15:22 / 19.05.04

More on the "what city is where" question comes from this awesome Flash site. (You gotta see the entries on the Black Racer and Dark Flash.)

Anyway, there's a lot of shifting borders with Jay Garrick's Keystone City and Barry Allen's Central City -- after Crisis, they wound up across a state border from each other, whereas before, they were in different regions of the country.

Keystone City was apparently (and I don't have a source for this one) originally supposed to be in Pennsylvania (a.k.a. the Keystone State), which fits with most of the Golden Age Flash stories I've read. Central City was always clearly in the Midwest, specifically Ohio. Flash #228 (August 1974) placed it where Athens, Ohio sits in the real world.

to

Finally, Flash #188 (2002) provided this memorable quote as the Flash stood atop the newly-rebuilt Van Buren Bridge: "Keystone City, Kansas. Central City, Missouri. Forever united -- and under my protection."

Go figure.

06:46 / 21.06.04

I have two questions for Superman loyalists

(1) What was the name of Superman's horse and (2) WHY?!?!?!?

12:13 / 21.06.04

Superman never had a horse. Supergirl did (his name was Comet), and I can only assume it's because DC editorial figured girls love horses...

12:58 / 21.06.04

Well, at some point, I remember reading that before Jor-El sent his baby in a rocket to earth, he sent a lot of animals on different rockets to test things out. This included at the very least a monkey, a dog, and a cat.

Although if some writer wanter a super elephant or super seahorse at any point in the 60s or 70s, all they had to do was write it in. Keep in mind, funny animal comics were big sellers in the 60s. So, it seemed a natural crossover.

Obviously this was probably all ret-conned at some point.

Spyder Todd 2008

16:07 / 21.06.04

grant, that site is amazing...

16:28 / 21.06.04

The monkey was named Beppo, the dog Krypto (of course).

The Super-cat, Streaky, did not come from Krypton, but was an ordinary cat exposed to an obscure variant of Kryptonite.

It scares me that I know this....

Porn Star Justice

17:26 / 25.06.04

I believe the Comet the Super Horse was also originally a CENTAUR! Yup, I'm right.

Why do I know these things?

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