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Silicon: Literarily, I think they represent the "astronauts" of fiction sci-fi before we actually had any, and had to think about the practicalities of who has to do the research. With a few exceptions like the Skylark crew (and Mon-El, actually), they were equal parts daredevil pilot and jungle explorer; there wasn't much concern for the majesty and wonder of the universe except insofar as it involved giant monsters, aliens who closely resembled scantily-clad Earth women, and personal or political profit.
Bar-El and Lilo are the "astronaut as conquerer" (literally!) motif, old school Colonialism out to tame the "wilds" of space and bring reason, good government, and crystalline spires to the darkest regions of uncharted universe. I can very much buy this reading of them, and I like the implication that they reflect and react to what Superman would consequently represent (He's the "new science" in Science Fiction, a newer, post-colonial exploration of alien cultures). Which makes them good opponents and shows me the potential for this series with regard to Superman's rogues; the criticism is always that he doesn't really have any worth using beyond Lex Luthor, and this series is pushing that theory down. GM's starting to use villains that directly react to different facets of the "Superman Formula" like the Joker and his ilk respond to Batman's aspects.
Which I like very much. Not only because comic book scientists are normally presented as emotionally stunted freaks, but also because it makes Krypton's rejection of Jor-El more understandable. It's a lot easier to buy "Planetary council ignores brilliant scientist's prophecies of doom," if Kryptonian isolationism and obsession with tradition are coupled to overt contempt for soft, ineffectual scientists.
All-Star Krypton must have been so remarkably decadent prior to the explosion; map that with the treatment of Bizarro Jor-El (elevated to king for his stupidity).
I think I like the "scientist Superman" reading so much because he's prevented from ever being a brick, or even a relentlessly upbeat boyscout; he's not just all-powerful and hitting things. Knockoffs of Superman are, well, a dime-dozen deal nowadays, but rarely do they achieve much beyond being that brick double.
"Get your naked hands off her!" -- Krypton and its terrible fear of cooties, because those naked hands have saved human lives and Lois Lane and he might get those germs all over her precious "I can't believe it's not Ursa!" spacesuit.
I love, by the way, the look of the Kryptonian spacesuits -- the Brainiac-style electrodes on the headgear alone is worth the price of admission. |
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