Rat Creature ([info]ratcreature) wrote,
@ 2004-04-01 14:36:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:comics, comics: meta, comics: scans, continuity, dc, dc: continuity, scans, scans: dc, superman

resurrecting the Silver Age
That Jeph Loeb is fond of the Silver Age isn't exactly news. For example, IIRC it was him who brought back Krypto in 2001. Which always reminds me of Morrison's meta-run on Animal Man, where Buddy is at that place where comic characters that are written out go until they come back, and it's said that the animals have really bad chances of returning -- apparently not quite that bad, at the current rate I wouldn't bet anything important on that we'll never see Super-Turtle as part of any Silver Age revival, or that the Legion of Super-Pets is really gone for good.

And it's not just Krypto, Loeb did these stories about Krypton that from what I've seen draw from the Silver Age Krypton a lot, he obviously likes the World's Finest team-up, which is why we now are back to Superman and Batman being fairly close, if not quite like pre-Crisis, as of Superman/Batman #6 Lex Luthor seems to be back to his "mad scientist" persona, and now in Superman/Batman #8 we get Kara back, though it's not quite clear yet whether she's truly a Kryptonian relative like the pre-Crisis version. Not to mention that in Superman/Batman# 8 we also get Batman picking up Red Kryptonite, and when exactly did that come back into the comics?? I wonder how long it'll be until the gold, white and blue kryptonites come back. In the end it doesn't even matter all that much whether this Kara Zor-El is truly from Krypton (it's not as if there weren't enough Supergirls and Power Girls with confusing origins already), for this overall trend to chip away at the Superman reboot from 1986.

It's not that I don't find a lot of this Silver Age stuff charming and all, but well-- while I'm not the greatest fan of Byrne's Man of Steel mini series, I think it was a good thing to get away from all the Kryptonian super clutter. It's simply more powerful when Superman is truly the last and only survivor.

Thus I'm kind of torn about the Superman/Batman series, especially with Loeb once again writing Superman soon. I love the double POV and the whole take on the World's Finest Team and their relationship, and while I wasn't that fond of Ed McGuinness cartoony style, I think Michael Turner's art is gorgeous. I'd have bought #8 for the Gotham skyline in the splash page alone, but I don't think we really needed another Supergirl. I guess I'll be okay as long as she doesn't get a horse with a cape. Or hangs out with Streaky the Super-Cat.



(Post a new comment)

Red Kryptonite
[info]chicago_h
2004-04-01 01:39 pm UTC (link)
While I can't account for the red kryptonite from the meteor, there is a whole sequence in JLA (Tower of Babel and SF&O #3, I think?) where Batman tinkers with kryptonite in order to produce the red variant as part of his protocols for disabling Leaguers gone berserk. Ra's gets a hold of it (via Talia, which becomes the basis of the break between the two) and uses it.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: Red Kryptonite
[info]ratcreature
2004-04-01 01:45 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the info, I'll look out for the red kryptonite when I get around to read more JLA. Still I thought it was kind of neat to have only green kryptonite, but then maybe I'm just stodgy. ;)

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]kassrachel
2004-04-01 02:17 pm UTC (link)
Streaky the Super-Cat??

::laughing hysterically::

Okay, I don't know anything about the Super-Pets, but I'm just terribly amused by the notion of a cat in spandex and a cape.

:-)

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]ratcreature
2004-04-01 02:42 pm UTC (link)
Well, as you can see in the Legion of Super-Pets picture I linked to it just had a cape, no spandex. Streaky was originally the normal cat, but was exposed to a radioactive isotope. Comet the Superhorse actually has a post-Crisis incarnation, though it's some kind of centaur or something. [info]greenygal told me that pre-Crisis Supergirl once dated Comet when he was in human form for some reason, being unaware that it was her horse whom she dated. Um, yeah. I mean I don't have an interspecies squick, and the super animals are intelligent after all, but well-- dating her horse. Not thinking about that.

I have yet to find a picture of the Super-Turtle, that had its debut in 1963, which, to be fair was always meant to be humorous, to quote the info on his origin from here:
"On the world Galapagon, the scientist Shh-Ell of an advanced race of turtles realized that their planet was doomed, and convinced the Science Council that they should build 1,000 spaceships to evacuate it. Slow by nature, the turtles only managed to build one spaceship, in which Shh-Ell's infant son, Tur-Tel was sent to Earth. Found by a kindly homespun farming couple, the turtle grew up and gained super-powers, becoming Super-Turtle, the Reptile of Steel."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]lcsbanana
2004-04-01 05:53 pm UTC (link)
Okay, she dated her horse, that is so officially worse than ANYTHING I could ever possibly think of. YOU WIN, DC.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]ratcreature
2004-04-01 06:42 pm UTC (link)
Heh. You know I just googled for super-pets and found this page that says that they married eventually. O.o

Though according to this the Silver Age Comet used to be a centaur, Biron, and wished to be fully human, but someone sabotaged the spell so that he ended up fully horse unless there's a comet in the sky.

From what I've read the post-Crisis Comet is equally wacky, only with some transgender stuff thrown in, because he was merged with a lesbian woman together to someone new. He first was used in experiments and turned partially into a horse (he was tricked they offered him recovery from injuries from being trampled by horses, you can see him in his centaur form here) and then merged with that lesbian in a freak accident, and apparently could change forms and be either male or female. On the plus side I think s/he wasn't partially a horse anymore after that, though I'm not sure. And I think Supergirl kind of dated him/her too. From what I've read it's just totally wacky and that all happened in the most recent Supergirl series that started in the late 90s and lasted into early 2003.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]greenygal
2004-04-02 01:34 pm UTC (link)
Heh. You know I just googled for super-pets and found this page that says that they married eventually. O.o

I would like to make it clear that my first response to this was "Oh my god."

I hope nobody holds it against me that my second response was "I want details." ;)

(I'm pretty sure it's a con of some variety. I refuse to believe Supergirl married her horse, stayed that way, and I never heard about it. I'm thinking "illusion, hoax, or imaginary story" here...)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]ratcreature
2004-04-02 03:02 pm UTC (link)
I thought the same thing when I read the page, unfortunately it didn't give details, and the super-pets column at continuitypages also only mentions the marriage, not the circumstances. It would be very reassuring to know for certain. Though reading about super-pets is very amusing. I mean how cool is it that Krypto had a secret identity as Chip (with dark spot over his eye painted on! *g*) and a Doghouse of Solitude? I still don't want to see Beppo the Super-Monkey reintroduced into current continuity... (and I really hope Loeb thinks so too)

(Reply to this)(Parent)


Create an Account
Forgot your login?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…