An Alternate Superman

[Champsguy]

So, I started wondering about something the other day. We all know that Superman crashed in a Kansas field and was found by the Kents. They raised him with their wholesome Kansas values and he became the Man of Steel we all know and harbor secret desires for.

But what if he'd landed somewhere else? What if, instead of Kansas, he'd come to rest in one of the other 50 states?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, what would our world be like today if Kal-El had landed in, let's say...

Texas?

For starters, he'd call himself something like "SuperTexan" (Texans can't resist telling everyone that they're from Texas), or "The Lawman". He'd fly around, barbequeing criminals with his "Fryin' Vision" (Texas has more executions than pretty much anywhere else--I think Iran has a few more). "Y'er guilty!" ZAP! Instead of the stylized "S" that we all recognize, he'd bear the lone star of Texas on his chest. "Up, Up, and Away" would be replaced by "Remember the Alamo".

Anyone think of any other interesting places Supes could have landed?

[FlyBoy]

There are two upcoming projects from DC that deal with these questions:

"Red Son" has him landing in the Soviet Union;
"True Brit" (written by John Cleese) has him landing in England.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Champsguy

Texas?

For starters, he'd call himself something like "SuperTexan" (Texans can't resist telling everyone that they're from Texas), or "The Lawman". He'd fly around, barbequeing criminals with his "Fryin' Vision" (Texas has more executions than pretty much anywhere else--I think Iran has a few more). "Y'er guilty!" ZAP! Instead of the stylized "S" that we all recognize, he'd bear the lone star of Texas on his chest. "Up, Up, and Away" would be replaced by "Remember the Alamo".

Anyone think of any other interesting places Supes could have landed?
Now now, let's be nice. Texans really aren't that bad...
especially if you add a little sauce... but I digress.

California near Berkley maybe? Superman... pardon, Super Person?

Or Hollywood? Movie deals for "Clark Super-Man of Tommorrow"

Hmm.. Super Man as a New York City native...
"Hey, I'm flying here!" as he cusses tourist pigeons out.
:)

[Supreme]

Originally posted by Hermit
Now now, let's be nice. Texans really aren't that bad...
especially if you add a little sauce... but I digress.

California near Berkley maybe? Superman... pardon, Super Person?

Or Hollywood? Movie deals for "Clark Super-Man of Tommorrow"

Hmm.. Super Man as a New York City native...
"Hey, I'm flying here!" as he cusses tourist pigeons out.
:)
Well, we're talking about my Home State Supreme, here.

First of all, a Californian Superman would be the most powerful of any of them. Why? Bacause he's solar-powered. Secondly, if he landed in Berkeley, the still helpless Kal-El would starve to death inside the capsule while the Berkeley City Council debated to no end what should be done with the baby, and who should be allowed to adopt him. Then, as he grew up he would be told how he didn't deserve the powers he possessed, and that he was genetically over-priveleged. The end result would probably be something like:
"Equal Man!"
Faster than the electoral process.
More powerful than the right-wing military-industrial combine.
Able to leap over social injustice in a single bound!
Look! Up in the sky! It's an endangered spotted-owl!
No.
It's a fuel-efficient air-ship!
No.
You have no right to correct me!
Oh... sorry.

[MuscaDomestica]

I remember reading some else worlds where this happened, one was in england in the 1770's, another was in India and duplicated the stroy of the Jungle book, fun stuff.

[FlyBoy]

Originally posted by MuscaDomestica
I remember reading some else worlds where this happened, one was in england in the 1770's, another was in India and duplicated the stroy of the Jungle book, fun stuff.

The one wher ehe lands in Gotham and is found by Thomas and Martha Wayne isn't bad either...

[Hermit]

I'm trying to think what Superman would be like if raised in Eastern Tennesee.
These are just guesses
1) His costume would be orange.
2) He'd probably go by the name "Volunteer"
3) Any yankee throwing trash out of their car in the smokeys would have their SUV drop kicked so far it would land on the carolina coast.
4) His "Code Vs Killing" would not apply to any making fun of his accent :)

[Champsguy]

Originally posted by Hermit
I'm trying to think what Superman would be like if raised in Eastern Tennesee.
These are just guesses
1) His costume would be orange.
2) He'd probably go by the name "Volunteer"
3) Any yankee throwing trash out of their car in the smokeys would have their SUV drop kicked so far it would land on the carolina coast.
4) His "Code Vs Killing" would not apply to any making fun of his accent :)

He'd hate Steve Spurrier and everything from Florida. He'd have killed Burt Reynolds for making "Deliverance". :)

[Supreme]

I once drew a cartoon of what if Superman were a Bostonian. I was blowing off some Steam Supreme while living there (let's just say Boston and I didn't get along). What I drew was a picture of Superman, with the "S" replaced with the Patriot's team logo. He was stuffing a sub-marine sandwich (or "grider" as they like to say) into his face.

From off camera a voice shouted, "Superman! The Earth is about to be destroyed by a giant comet!"
Superman replied, "I'm on my friggin' lunch break and eatin' a grindah! Call Batman ah somethin'..."

[Agent Escafarc]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Hermit
I'm trying to think what Superman would be like if raised in Eastern Tennesee.
These are just guesses
1) His costume would be orange.
2) He'd probably go by the name "Volunteer"
3) Any yankee throwing trash out of their car in the smokeys would have their SUV drop kicked so far it would land on the carolina coast.
4) His "Code Vs Killing" would not apply to any making fun of his accent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Originally posted by Champsguy
He'd hate Steve Spurrier and everything from Florida. He'd have killed Burt Reynolds for making "Deliverance". :)

And just imagine where the story would go when his cousin Kara shows up;)

[Lord Liaden]

Back when Chris Reeve's first "Superman" movie came out, Saturday Night Live did a "What if Superman had landed in Nazi Germany" parody. Dan Akroyd donned the tights of "Uberman", defender of the Fatherland and National Socialist ideals. They showed newspaper headlines like, "Uberman Levels London" and "Uberman Drains Pearl Harbor".

When explaining his powers to Hitler and a couple of reporters, one of them (a surrogate Lois Lane) asked with obvious nervousness, "You mean you can see right through our clothes?"

Uberman replied, "Yes," and turning to her male colleague, added, "And through his. He's a Jew."

[TheEmerged]

Being a history nut, I've always prefered the elseworlds that deal with WHEN he arrives myself :-P The Japanese and Civil War stories are among my personal favorites.

Elseworlds Rant! Why is it that in every elseworlds were Batman is the main character, Superman is played as the villain (or a tragically mis-guided character)?

If he had landed in SW Ohio? Hard to say, we don't have some of the obvious stereotypes here other areas do (even though we sometimes seem to get an unfair share of scandals related to hypocrisy of public figures)... None that I'm aware of, anyway.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Agent Escafarc
[B

And just imagine where the story would go when his cousin Kara shows up;) [/B]
That's it Gator Boy, you're officially banned from the "Double Wide Trailer of Solitude" :P

[Hermit]

Originally posted by TheEmerged


If he had landed in SW Ohio? Hard to say, we don't have some of the obvious stereotypes here other areas do (even though we sometimes seem to get an unfair share of scandals related to hypocrisy of public figures)... None that I'm aware of, anyway.
The Bengals would have a running back that would FINALLY get them to the Superbowl and victory?
:D

[ProfessorM@ss]

Originally posted by Champsguy

But what if he'd landed somewhere else? What if, instead of Kansas, he'd come to rest in one of the other 50 states?


I've always thought that it'd be interesting if Supes had arrived black, in Alabama, in the 50s.

:)

--->M@ss

[Hermit]

Originally posted by ProfessorM@ss
I've always thought that it'd be interesting if Supes had arrived black, in Alabama, in the 50s.

:)

--->M@ss
Whoo... I think that would depend on wether he leaned towards Martin Luther King jr's methods, or Malcom X's

[MisterVimes]

In reference to the Soviet Angle (which I used once in a Campaign). Here's DC's take on the Proletariat Superman...

[TheEmerged]

Originally posted by Hermit
The Bengals would have a running back that would FINALLY get them to the Superbowl and victory?
:D

We really need the "rolling" smiley on this board :D

In fairness, the Cincinnati Garfields have been to the Super Bowl twice, and were competitive both times. How many teams can say that?

BTW, if we really want to make Superman related Bengal jokes, I think we all know how it would have worked.

a> Mike Brown would pass him up in the draft for Ambush Bug

b> The league would immediately legalize Kryptonite Footballs (cf changes to mitigate their "hurry up" offense in the late 80's)

c> He'd get injured in his second season and never play the same

d> He'd try to leave the team, but get "franchise slapped" (I think the Bengals lead the NFL in the number of different players they've franchised...)

e>...or he'd be gone the first time he opened his mouth to say anything except "Brown is great, Brown is good..." no matter how long he'd been with the team or how much he'd done for the team (cf Lee Johnson)

f>...or he'd be placed on waivers if a hot prospect rumored to be faster than 2 speeding bullets came out, regardless of evidence to the contrary (cf Jim Breech)

g> He'd end up playing most of his NFL games for another club (something only Detroit is worse at than the Bengals).

[Kevin Scrivner]

I've always thought that it'd be interesting if Supes had arrived black, in Alabama, in the 50s.

--->M@ss

---

Actually, Milestone Comics based their book "Icon and Rocket" on a similar premise. Icon was an alien who crashed on earth during the 1830s and blended into the population by shape shifting to match the nearest humans he could find: Negro slaves. At one point in the series, he and Rocket (a younger female sidekick) arrive to stop a crime and are surrounded by suspicious police. Rocket made a comment such as, "Superman never has this problem."

[BishopofB&W]

Superheroes , edited by John Varley, has a satirical short story where baby Kal lands in the USSR and is adopted by the Kentarovskys. I recommend it as well as another story by Michael Stackpole(I think he wrote it) where a street-level vigilante outsmarts a group of 4-colors to rescue a kid from a cult and reminds them that blind adherence to the letter of the law does not necessarily promote justice.

[Hermit]

Maybe we should ask our friends and neighbors to the North what they think would have happened if young Kal-El had crash landed in Canada?

[Glen Sprigg]

Originally posted by BishopofB&W
Superheroes , edited by John Varley, has a satirical short story where baby Kal lands in the USSR and is adopted by the Kentarovskys. I recommend it as well as another story by Michael Stackpole(I think he wrote it) where a street-level vigilante outsmarts a group of 4-colors to rescue a kid from a cult and reminds them that blind adherence to the letter of the law does not necessarily promote justice.

Well, now...that would depend on where he landed, wouldn't it?

Newfoundland: Raised by Newfoundland fishermen, young Seamus MacLeod grew up as the world's mightiest protector of the Grand Banks, fending off Spanish trawlers that threaten the defenseless baby turbot: Maritime Man!

Prince Edward Island: Growing up on the Island, Tommy Tilverdale now travels the world promoting his tiny home (even Rhode Island is bigger), surpassing the efforts of Anne of Green Gables.

Quebec: Pierre-Michel Bouchard grew to manhood in rural Quebec, and became the fastest man on skates since Yvon Cournoyer (but old-timers claim Rocket Richard was still faster), and the highest paid hockey player ever. The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup seventeen times in a row.

I'd think of some others, but it's late and I'm tired...

Glen

[st barbara]

I don't know whether anyone has mentioned this or not but when D C Comics first developed the "Elseworlds' concept one of their early stories was "Speeding Bullets" in which young kal-El crashed, not in Kansas, but near Gotham City and was found by the Waynes. The concept of a character with "Superman's" powers and "Batman's" history, origins and attitude was pretty scary ! There also exists a story called "truth, Justice, and the Politically Correct Soialist Path" by John Varley which appears in the anthology "Superheroes" (Ace Books, 1995) which has him landing in the Soviet Union .

[wcw43921]

Of course a lot would be determined not only by where he was found, but when he was found.

For example:

SUPER-SPARTAN--the infant Kal-El lands outside of Sparta in ancient Greece, and is trained in their warrior ways. He defeats the Persians single-handed at Thermopylae, then leads the Spartans to conquest after conquest--until he meets the Amazons and their princess, Diana.

SUPER-MOSES--the infant Kal-El lands in ancient Egypt and is found by a Hebrew family who, fearing Pharoah's death edict, place him in a basket and send him down the Nile, where he is found by the royal family and raised as one of their own--until the day when, enraged by an overseer's mistreatment of the Hebrew slaves, kills the man with one mighty blow. He escapes to the desert, and at long last finds the spacecraft that brought him to Earth, and with it his true identity and destiny. He returns to Egypt and demands the Hebrews be freed in the name of truth and justice. The Pharoah refuses, and Moses puts on the pressure--he dries up the Nile with his heat-vision; he uses ultra-frequency harmonics in his super-voice to stir up the toads; Pharoah sends his army to kill him but they're easily defeated without loss of life. Pharoah finally gives in, and Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt--but Pharoah changes his mind and leads the last of his army after them. Moses, having led his people to the Red Sea, raises an artificial sandbar for them to cross, holds off the army long enough for them to escape, then collapses the sandbar. Under his leadership the Hebrews build a mighty nation, dedicated to the ideals of truth and justice.

Same theme with a twist:

SUPER-MAID OF ORLEANS--The teenage Kara Kor-El crashlands in medieval France, with no memory of her true self. She's found by some nuns from a nearby abbey, who believe her to be an angel sent in answer to their prayers to liberate France from English oppression. Convinced this is her mission, Kara sees the French king to ask permission to lead his army; the king tests her by hiding in disguise among his subjects, but she sees through his peasant's robes with her X-ray vision. The king gives her his army and she uses her powers to drive off the English, never to return. Her mission finished, Kara devotes the rest of her life to God's work with the nuns who found her.

You see what I mean?

[Hermit]

If Supes had landed in Australia....
would Steve Irwin be alive today? :)

If Supes had landed in Lichenstien...
wait... how the heck did the ship HIT Lichenstein?

If Supes had landed in Poland...
No one would tell another Joke about them again...EVER :p

[starblaze]

There was the Stan Lee's present Supeman story were he is an alien cop hunting down a fugitive. He ends up getting a PR agent to help publicize his powers by the name of Lois Lane and calls himself Clark Kent simply because he needed a name to use.

[ProfessorM@ss]

Originally posted by Hermit
Maybe we should ask our friends and neighbors to the North what they think would have happened if young Kal-El had crash landed in Canada?

He wouldn't have been much different: polite, well-educated, liberal, caring of his fellow man, and a bit of a stickler for following the rules.

Oh, and he would probably be doing a lot less promotion of "the American way" and a lot more "is it me, or is Dubya a nutcase?"

:D

--->M@ss

[Tom McCarthy]

It's pretty hard to imagine, despite the obvious reasons for doing so.

He'd probably hit that huge patch of grain called Saskatchewan but wind up moving to a huge metropolis like Toronto and working for some daily paper called the Star (or maybe the Globe).

"Superman" is an awfully bold and strong name, so I'm thinking he'd be something more like Defender, Protector, Commonwealth, or Kind Of Impressive Man.

Depending on the time frame, his powers may or may not be stretched to the limit. Firearms are seen less frequently in Canada, but locomotives are fairly common. Tall buildings can get pretty tall (CN Tower is close in height to Sears Tower, I think) in Toronto.

Politically and socially, there's big differences between the US and Canada which cannot be ignored. The US's wild west was tamed by rugged independent men with six shooters, while the Canadian frontiers had RCMP, who were more like soldiers than vigilantes. Would an unsanctioned Canadian superhero be as broadly accepted as an American ?

Internationally, Canada's always been closer to the UK and never gone abroad in force except for peacekeeping and defence of the Commonwealth. America has a history of sabre rattling, international adventures in empire building, and more. Would a Canadian Superman be more of a stay at home or be more active internationally as a result ?

[TheEmerged]

Originally posted by starblaze
There was the Stan Lee's present Supeman story were he is an alien cop hunting down a fugitive. He ends up getting a PR agent to help publicize his powers by the name of Lois Lane and calls himself Clark Kent simply because he needed a name to use.

/humor on

Just my opinion, you're certainly welcome to yours, but if Stan Lee were ever to be up for the death penalty he'd better hope the prosecution doesn't use that issue as evidence against his character...

/humor off

[Blue]

Superman lands in France... teaches the French new unheard of speeds at which they can surrender.

No? Okay, then maybe he lands in the wilderness and is raised by wolves. Maybe I'm thinking of somebody else...

[sinanju]

Young Kal-El rockets to earth from the doomed planet of Krypton, where he is found and raised by...

1. Joe Kennedy, growing up as young Clark Kennedy and going on to be elected as the nation's first bulletproof President!

2. Eric Von Strakenberg of the Domination of the Draka. He grows up as Clark Von Strakenburg, and goes on to show the world what happens when a REAL superman with a will to power comes along....

3. Raised by the apes who raised Tarzan. The mind boggles...

[FenrisUlf]

Back when Chris Reeve's first "Superman" movie came out, Saturday Night Live did a "What if Superman had landed in Nazi Germany" parody. Dan Akroyd donned the tights of "Uberman", defender of the Fatherland and National Socialist ideals. They showed newspaper headlines like, "Uberman Levels London" and "Uberman Drains Pearl Harbor".

When explaining his powers to Hitler and a couple of reporters, one of them (a surrogate Lois Lane) asked with obvious nervousness, "You mean you can see right through our clothes?"

Uberman replied, "Yes," and turning to her male colleague, added, "And through his. He's a Jew."

That sounds a bit too edgy to be all that funny.

But dang, imagine the Elseworlds story where that happened. Be even worse than the one where he grew up on Apokolips as Darkseid's chosen.

[FenrisUlf]

Is it just me, or wasn't there an Elseworlds in which Supes crashes in the jungles of 19th century India, and basically becomes Mowgli? With the difference that, unlike Kipling's Mowgli, he crushes Shere Khan to death with his bare hands...

And the Supes in ancient Greece: he could also run into Aquaman. Lord of mighty Atlantis, and Super-Spartan is the only one who can stop the fall of all Greece, aloong with the hero of fallen Egypt, Heru (Hawkman).

[Worldmaker]

The Guardians Universe has a villain based on my one day musing "What if Superman had crashlanded in Iraq or Libya or one of the other Islamic Terror nations?"

[Sketchpad]

They kind of had this in a JSA Elseworlds ... Unholy Three IIRC ... I won't spoil the story too much, but I will say that it's a great read :)

[oroborous]

3. Raised by the apes who raised Tarzan. The mind boggles...

There was already an issue where this happened. I picked up a copy at a BX while I was in Iraq. He learned ape speak and protected their tribe from a sorceress and her minions who are looking for some artifact in the jungle. Somehow Lord Greystoke came to be down there along with Lois Lane and they all meet up and defeat the sorceress. Greystoke finds himself at home in Africa and decides to stay. Lois Lane takes a liking to the man-ape and brings him back to civilization to show him off as a curiosity. In the end he becomes a crime fighter wearing the House of El colors and the "S" symbol, but in a Rocketeer-style outfit and no secret identity.

[wcw43921]

Elseworlds Rant! Why is it that in every elseworlds were Batman is the main character, Superman is played as the villain (or a tragically mis-guided character)?


I think this goes back to Frank Miller's first Dark Knight series, when Batman was very much against the Establishment and Superman was taking orders from it. You see this attitude in almost all the DC comics, where Superman is out there doing what he thinks is right, and Batman sort of hangs back like he's waiting for Superman to screw up.

That's what it looks like to me, anyway.

[Michael Hopcroft]

It's pretty hard to imagine, despite the obvious reasons for doing so.

He'd probably hit that huge patch of grain called Saskatchewan but wind up moving to a huge metropolis like Toronto and working for some daily paper called the Star (or maybe the Globe).

"Superman" is an awfully bold and strong name, so I'm thinking he'd be something more like Defender, Protector, Commonwealth, or Kind Of Impressive Man.

Depending on the time frame, his powers may or may not be stretched to the limit. Firearms are seen less frequently in Canada, but locomotives are fairly common. Tall buildings can get pretty tall (CN Tower is close in height to Sears Tower, I think) in Toronto.

Politically and socially, there's big differences between the US and Canada which cannot be ignored. The US's wild west was tamed by rugged independent men with six shooters, while the Canadian frontiers had RCMP, who were more like soldiers than vigilantes. Would an unsanctioned Canadian superhero be as broadly accepted as an American ?

Internationally, Canada's always been closer to the UK and never gone abroad in force except for peacekeeping and defence of the Commonwealth. America has a history of sabre rattling, international adventures in empire building, and more. Would a Canadian Superman be more of a stay at home or be more active internationally as a result ?

Didn't Siegel and Shuster originally intend to mdodel metropolis on Toronto rather than New York? If so, than a Canadian Superman wouldn;t be that hard to imagine, and he would probably behave in muhc the same ways as his American counterpart.

Keep in mind nationality is not neccesarily the main factor in developing a character's personailty. It may define certain things (like what side he fights on in a war), but some thing are indpendent of nationality -- incluidng most fo the things that make Superman Superman. It's not like Superman is the mebodiment of a country -- he isn;t like Captain America in that regard.

[Acroyear]

Why is it in most Superman else-if stories, if he lands anywhere but America he becomes extra-patriotic enough to include their symbology or whatever on his suit?

Supes aint wearing the stars-n-stripes as it is. They usually have to pose him with a flag (and not infrequently a bald eagle) just to get that part across. Anywhere else, he slaps the flag on himself somewhere.

This becomes extra confusing with the changes to his chest logo in history, anyway, which is not a roman "S" as we know it, really, but some kryptonian symbol.

[Cheiro]

If he had landed in Boston, the Sox would STILL never win a World Series.
Could not resist.
Sorry Red Sox nation.
I'm a life long Yankee hater myself.

[freakboy6117]

michael hop croft im not sure if they did plan on modeling it on toronto but toronto was ceertainly the location chosen for the metropolis scenes in the various superman movies.

[KawangaKid]

Oddly enough, I'm surprised that they don't discuss Supes current politics that much. I kinda assumed that he'd be kinda partial to both the leanings of the "farmers of america" political blocs as well as the metropolitan city folks....

[Korvar]

This becomes extra confusing with the changes to his chest logo in history, anyway, which is not a roman "S" as we know it, really, but some kryptonian symbol.

I belive that was a Movie thing (and now a Smallville thing), but it's never been that way in the comics as far as I'm aware. It's always been a styalised "S".

[drnuncheon]

Keep in mind nationality is not neccesarily the main factor in developing a character's personailty. It may define certain things (like what side he fights on in a war), but some thing are indpendent of nationality -- incluidng most fo the things that make Superman Superman.

You're right, he's not the embodiment of the nation per se - but in some ways, he is. He was raised by the most average, even stereotypical middle-America couple you can imagine, especially for the time. They were decent folks and believers in all the things Superman stands for. The Kents are, in many ways, the idealized embodiment of America itself, and so the child they raised became that as well.

A Kal-El raised in another country, with different ideals and a different population, but in an analogous situation (raised by the classic stereotype) - well, that Kal is going to be raised very differently, and the adult Superman is going to turn out very different as well.

J

[Vondy]

That sounds a bit too edgy to be all that funny.


I have to admit - it is funny in a kind of perverse way.

[Worldmaker]

I have to admit - it is funny in a kind of perverse way.


Is this the skit where the next line is "No, no! I am not a Jew... my parents just believed in personal hygiene!"

[Rene]

I think this goes back to Frank Miller's first Dark Knight series, when Batman was very much against the Establishment and Superman was taking orders from it. You see this attitude in almost all the DC comics, where Superman is out there doing what he thinks is right, and Batman sort of hangs back like he's waiting for Superman to screw up.

That's what it looks like to me, anyway.

There is this decade-old kinda-silly-but-fun story written by Dan Jurgens as a Armageddon 2001 tie-in (yes, I know the ending sucked, but the individual stories were kinda cool), where Jurgens more or less reversed Dark Knight. After seeing a big piece of Metropolis levelled by an Intergang nuclear device, Superman becomes much more proactive and obsessed, and it's Batman that is contacted by the Establishment to bring him down. Or something.

Anyone here reading "DC: The New Frontier"? At the risk of spoiling a minor point of the series, it was kinda cool how the writer used the cliche of Superman/Batman rivalry in other elseworlds as a red herring in this one.

[Supreme]

I belive that was a Movie thing (and now a Smallville thing), but it's never been that way in the comics as far as I'm aware. It's always been a styalised "S".
Yes, originally it was a stylized "S." Byrne made it official when he did "Man of Steel" and showed how and why he and Jonathon Kent designed it the way they did. When they made the movie the Donner and Mankewitz came up with the idea to have all Kryptonian families have symbols that resembled letters (makes you wonder how the Phoenicians got all the way out to Krypton :rolleyes:). So the idea that the symbol came from Krypton, not Clark's imagination, caught on with others --like Bruce Timm. Now since Waid did "Superman: Birthright" it's become official DC canon. I think it's really stupid, and is probably the result of executive interference, but there it is.

[Supreme]

To me the point of Superman being raised as humble Clark Kent in rural Kansas is a demonstration of our unspoken cultural belief that Urban America is morally bankrupt and that the rural heartland of America is where we get our morals and values. I'm not a big fan of that idea, so I'd like to see a story where Kal-El is adopted by a middle-class family from New York or Chicago or even Atlanta.

[Archangel Gabri]

To me the point of Superman being raised as humble Clark Kent in rural Kansas is a demonstration of our unspoken cultural belief that Urban America is morally bankrupt and that the rural heartland of America is where we get our morals and values. I'm not a big fan of that idea, so I'd like to see a story where Kal-El is adopted by a middle-class family from New York or Chicago or even Atlanta.

Full disclosure: I was born and raised in Kansas

I both recognize and agree with the observation about the unspoken cultural belief, but I don't think that's the reason they put Kal El in Kansas.
I think the reasoning was that life in Smallville was simple, making simple moral values usable and the simple issues of Good vs. Evil more believable.
Perhaps there is a chicken and egg issue here, but this is the same reason The Shrub is so popular in rural America. His moral compass is simple and straightforward and that matches the mindset of most of the rural folk I know.

[Rene]

To me the point of Superman being raised as humble Clark Kent in rural Kansas is a demonstration of our unspoken cultural belief that Urban America is morally bankrupt and that the rural heartland of America is where we get our morals and values. I'm not a big fan of that idea, so I'd like to see a story where Kal-El is adopted by a middle-class family from New York or Chicago or even Atlanta.

No, I don't think there is anything in Superman that implies that Urban America is morally bankrupt. Clark feels the need to move to the big city, and falls in love with Metropolis, that big sprawling gleaming ode to urbanism. The Big City is further embodied in reporter Lois Lane, more sophisticated than Clark, an object of fascination for him, tough and worldly but as morally "pure" as Superman himself. He even ended up marrying her. To me, that looks like a celebration of a union between rural and urban.

Or perhaps I'm reading too much into it. :p

[Acroyear]

I belive that was a Movie thing (and now a Smallville thing), but it's never been that way in the comics as far as I'm aware. It's always been a styalised "S".

Smallville's "kryptonian symbols" come directly from the comic :)

Like I said, recent stuff in the Supes title, as I know it, now firmly plant that logo as a kryptonian character.

[starblaze]

There was one SuperMan story that was set in Fritz Lang's Metropolis. In this one Clark is Federson and Luthor takes the place of Rotwang. Pretty decent read.

There was another Elseworlds story using the Golden Agen JSA characters as members of a secret government agent team. In this story SuperMan appears as an agent but turns out not to be Kal-el but Zod!

[Korvar]

Now since Waid did "Superman: Birthright" it's become official DC canon. I think it's really stupid, and is probably the result of executive interference, but there it is.

Ah, that explains it. I've not been reading Superman for Quite Some Time now, and evidently missed that one...

[wcw43921]

Yes, originally it was a stylized "S." Byrne made it official when he did "Man of Steel" and showed how and why he and Jonathon Kent designed it the way they did. When they made the movie the Donner and Mankewitz came up with the idea to have all Kryptonian families have symbols that resembled letters (makes you wonder how the Phoenicians got all the way out to Krypton :rolleyes:). So the idea that the symbol came from Krypton, not Clark's imagination, caught on with others --like Bruce Timm. Now since Waid did "Superman: Birthright" it's become official DC canon. I think it's really stupid, and is probably the result of executive interference, but there it is.

I think in Smallville it'll be a combination of both--the pentagonal shield will come from the Krypto-glyphs, and the "S" will come from Smallville High. They've often shown in the background the official Smallville High emblem, which has a shield with a "S" on it, and their mascot is a cartoon crow carrying the shield and wearing a red cape tied around its neck.

[oroborous]

I belive that was a Movie thing (and now a Smallville thing), but it's never been that way in the comics as far as I'm aware. It's always been a styalised "S".

The "S" symbol as we know it is the heraldic symbol for the Kryptonian house of El. When Superman decided to name himself, he was inspired by its "s"-like shape to come up with a name beginning with S. That's the explanation I've been told.

[Powerhouse]

I'm reminded of an elseworld I outlined. It was called Power Axis and basically the big three of DC (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) all worked for the Nazis in WW2.

Kal-El landed in Germany and was as a teenager by the Nazis (gotta look at it more closely later to get the ages and years accurate). Basically the old costume but with a swatika instead of the S. The opening sequence would be a little German boy almost crushed under a building only for a familar sillouette to save him. As the shadows fall away, you see that hideous symbol beneath Kal's beaming face... scary. He believes in the Aryan race (ironic since he's not human) and pursues the war for Germany. Though he is aware that the Nazis are rounding up undesirables, he doesn't realize that they are being sent to death camps.

In case anyone is wondering, the Justice Society of America is there to keep the war from being a rout but it's touch and go. Incidently, you haven't seen scary until you've seen Batman working FOR the Gestapo.

Edit: "They kind of had this in a JSA Elseworlds ... Unholy Three IIRC ... I won't spoil the story too much, but I will say that it's a great read "

Ack... they read my mind and stole my idea! At least, that's how it sounds.

*sigh*