Chai wrote:JGoldman10 wrote:Chai wrote:How could they be? They're from differnt galaxies, aren't they?
Unless of course, the Kryps were the one who came over here and mated with apes.
But then, they wouldn't have sent baby superman out into space randomly. I think they would have aimed him at us, or some other inhabited planet they knew about.
They must be-if they're able to reproduce with each other.
nooo.....horses and donkeys are different species, and they reproduce. So can horses and zebras.
Usually thought the result is infertile...however, just recently, a mule or hiney did give birth, so that's not absolute.
Did superman ever have a child?
They can reproduce because they're closely-related, just like housecats and wildcats can be crossbred.
Chai wrote:DrewDad wrote: Passing gas could blow the windows out of a building.
Atlas Shrugged
Superman Farts
Same results.
What happens when he belches?
OK Goldman, I'll give you that much.
Although I'm not convinced that would apply to interplanetary beings.
Anyone......anyone?
If Kryps were related to earthlings (and I'm not saying they are), they would have been aware of where we were. Why didn't they send Superbaby directly here, or another planet they were related to?
Well, I can see where they might not have wanted to send Superbaby to Earth, because we're all messed up, but would they have preferred to doom their child to endless travel through space? Wasn't it just a fluke he arrived here?
reply to all
How is Superman able to fly? Is it a mental process?
Heh, lots of S-man questions....you too Chai.
First off I should say that the Superman franchise has undergone several minor and a few major re-vamps, usually...even back in the very beginning....the most significant changes were caused by outside forces...radio programs, cartoons {Fleischer} and then the tv show and movies...not by the actual creators or the subsequent writers.
I am most familiar with the second to last revamp...the one that ran from the mid 80's to around 2004. John Byrne was mainly responsible for that particular version of Superman...the Kents did not die, Lois and Clark had an actual relationship, and most importantly Supermans abilities were scaled back to something a little more reasonable...he could no longer push planets around as he did in the 60s-70s and early 80s. The scale back was done out of a concern for fans interest, if your hero is basically all powerful...then he tends to get stale, and cliche...make him more realistic...give him limitations...and you create a more interesting character....less is more.
If you know anything about comic book universes...the two biggies being Marvel and DC...Marvel often under the guiding hand of Stan Lee, has always had a much more serious outlook on the whole superhero idea. The stories and characters are far more realistic, the heros often have deep seated fears or personality disorders, which gives them more depth and room for character development. While on the other hand, DC's characters will often tend to come off cartoonish in comparison, but they simply lean toward a more friendly hero/anti-hero and even villain....DC is simply a softer more light hearted affair.
DC in the 80s tried to close the "coolness" gap between themselves and Marvel...and up-n-coming lines such as Dark Horse and Image. Superman being their flagship title, got the biggest overhaul and best writer to do the job...Batman received a similar re-write, as did the Green Lantern and many others. For anyone interested...try looking for images of the classic Super Friends Aquaman, then look for the newer version...you can instantly see what DC was shooting for.
I'll try to cover all the questions as best I can..but of course since I am not familiar with the newest incarnation of the Superman story, I might be wrong on some points. I will refer to him as "Kal" so I don't have to type Superman...20 times.
For traveling in space, his body is so efficient that one very deep breath nearly fully oxygenates his tissues and cells, and his body can retain the oxygen for extended periods. I know in one instance he was able to remain in outer space for several weeks, before needing to draw a new breath. To answer another question....in that same storyline, after being lost in space for some time, and quite weakened by lack of yellow sunlight, he was picked up by a spacecraft, which was headed in one direction, and he wanted to go in another direction, so he used his mental based powers of flight to alter the ships course a few degrees...he just sat on the floor, leaned against the wall, and kept thinking "left".
Kal draws every ounce of his power from our yellow sun, his father sent him here knowing that....I believe that in most of the versions, his father specifically sent him to Earth, it wasn't just a random shot. Sometimes he was an embryo in the rocket, sometimes a small child..but always to Earth...I think. His power coming from the sun, is a newer idea...one which I liked a great deal...in the original version, he had super strength the instant he landed....lifting the truck that had fallen while Mr. Kent was trying to fix the flat tire, kicking his baby beds apart....but in the newer versions...his powers came on slowly, as his body absorbed more and more of the yellow sunlight. He was more or less normal as a small child, he even broke an arm when he was 8 or 10ish, and then finally he began to run and jump...and then eventually fly. He could be described as a living solar cell, I've heard it explained that the older he gets, the stronger he will become.
There was a lesser known hero called....Starman or Solarboy or something similar, anyway his powers were solar based, so he could give Kal a quick recharge if needed. They would fly up high up in the atmosphere and the guy would radiate full blast like a halogen bulb and Kal would in effect sun bathe and be back to near full strength very quickly. After the death/resurrection, he called upon him to recharge him again...kinda sketchy from memory, but this was during his "long hair" phase.
Yeah, the Kryptonite...pieces of his home world that were turned radioactive by the explosion..that's really about the only thing that can hurt him, besides his weakness for magic...but the magic thing has been downplayed in recent years.
There was a story arc about some ex-queen from a planet similar to Krypton, that found out there was a survivor from the blast, so she made it a personal mission to come to Earth and find and mate with him. He didn't take to the idea too well...she was a totally hot redhead too...but he had his reasons. I remember her making a comment about Lois...saying her womb could never contain a Kryptonian baby, it would kill her. But it was discussed later on..between Lois and Clark...that his seed would not be "super" until the child had matured some and absorbed enough sunlight to gain super powers, so she could carry his baby same as any other.
Kal is not so much a totally different species...humanoids are pretty much considered to all be the same {compatable} in comic book lore and in the world of sci-fi...the love affairs and offspring in Star Trek come to mind. In the newest movie, Lois has a son, they never really say it, but the boy belongs to Kal...he shows a bit of super strength, throwing a piano across a room, but has asthma and food allergies. Also in the movie, Kal flys up high above the clouds and soaks up some needed sunlight to replenish his strength....often the old ideas are slightly tweaked and re-used/recycled to fit the newest story.
There were a lot of things that Byrne covered while he was heading up the Superman line of books...shaving, showering...sleeping, weight lifting...etc...all to flush out the character, and it did...I found the newer Superman to be more human than the one I had come to know as a kid.
PS....Seems that he is back to not having to breathe in space again...so to really answer most of these questions truthfully....you would have to pick a given year/era.
2PacksAday wrote:Heh, lots of S-man questions....you too Chai.
First off I should say that the Superman franchise has undergone several minor and a few major re-vamps, usually...even back in the very beginning....the most significant changes were caused by outside forces...radio programs, cartoons {Fleischer} and then the tv show and movies...not by the actual creators or the subsequent writers.
I am most familiar with the second to last revamp...the one that ran from the mid 80's to around 2004. John Byrne was mainly responsible for that particular version of Superman...the Kents did not die, Lois and Clark had an actual relationship, and most importantly Supermans abilities were scaled back to something a little more reasonable...he could no longer push planets around as he did in the 60s-70s and early 80s. The scale back was done out of a concern for fans interest, if your hero is basically all powerful...then he tends to get stale, and cliche...make him more realistic...give him limitations...and you create a more interesting character....less is more.
If you know anything about comic book universes...the two biggies being Marvel and DC...Marvel often under the guiding hand of Stan Lee, has always had a much more serious outlook on the whole superhero idea. The stories and characters are far more realistic, the heros often have deep seated fears or personality disorders, which gives them more depth and room for character development. While on the other hand, DC's characters will often tend to come off cartoonish in comparison, but they simply lean toward a more friendly hero/anti-hero and even villain....DC is simply a softer more light hearted affair.
DC in the 80s tried to close the "coolness" gap between themselves and Marvel...and up-n-coming lines such as Dark Horse and Image. Superman being their flagship title, got the biggest overhaul and best writer to do the job...Batman received a similar re-write, as did the Green Lantern and many others. For anyone interested...try looking for images of the classic Super Friends Aquaman, then look for the newer version...you can instantly see what DC was shooting for.
I'll try to cover all the questions as best I can..but of course since I am not familiar with the newest incarnation of the Superman story, I might be wrong on some points. I will refer to him as "Kal" so I don't have to type Superman...20 times.
For traveling in space, his body is so efficient that one very deep breath nearly fully oxygenates his tissues and cells, and his body can retain the oxygen for extended periods. I know in one instance he was able to remain in outer space for several weeks, before needing to draw a new breath. To answer another question....in that same storyline, after being lost in space for some time, and quite weakened by lack of yellow sunlight, he was picked up by a spacecraft, which was headed in one direction, and he wanted to go in another direction, so he used his mental based powers of flight to alter the ships course a few degrees...he just sat on the floor, leaned against the wall, and kept thinking "left".
Kal draws every ounce of his power from our yellow sun, his father sent him here knowing that....I believe that in most of the versions, his father specifically sent him to Earth, it wasn't just a random shot. Sometimes he was an embryo in the rocket, sometimes a small child..but always to Earth...I think. His power coming from the sun, is a newer idea...one which I liked a great deal...in the original version, he had super strength the instant he landed....lifting the truck that had fallen while Mr. Kent was trying to fix the flat tire, kicking his baby beds apart....but in the newer versions...his powers came on slowly, as his body absorbed more and more of the yellow sunlight. He was more or less normal as a small child, he even broke an arm when he was 8 or 10ish, and then finally he began to run and jump...and then eventually fly. He could be described as a living solar cell, I've heard it explained that the older he gets, the stronger he will become.
There was a lesser known hero called....Starman or Solarboy or something similar, anyway his powers were solar based, so he could give Kal a quick recharge if needed. They would fly up high up in the atmosphere and the guy would radiate full blast like a halogen bulb and Kal would in effect sun bathe and be back to near full strength very quickly. After the death/resurrection, he called upon him to recharge him again...kinda sketchy from memory, but this was during his "long hair" phase.
Yeah, the Kryptonite...pieces of his home world that were turned radioactive by the explosion..that's really about the only thing that can hurt him, besides his weakness for magic...but the magic thing has been downplayed in recent years.
There was a story arc about some ex-queen from a planet similar to Krypton, that found out there was a survivor from the blast, so she made it a personal mission to come to Earth and find and mate with him. He didn't take to the idea too well...she was a totally hot redhead too...but he had his reasons. I remember her making a comment about Lois...saying her womb could never contain a Kryptonian baby, it would kill her. But it was discussed later on..between Lois and Clark...that his seed would not be "super" until the child had matured some and absorbed enough sunlight to gain super powers, so she could carry his baby same as any other.
Kal is not so much a totally different species...humanoids are pretty much considered to all be the same {compatable} in comic book lore and in the world of sci-fi...the love affairs and offspring in Star Trek come to mind. In the newest movie, Lois has a son, they never really say it, but the boy belongs to Kal...he shows a bit of super strength, throwing a piano across a room, but has asthma and food allergies. Also in the movie, Kal flys up high above the clouds and soaks up some needed sunlight to replenish his strength....often the old ideas are slightly tweaked and re-used/recycled to fit the newest story.
There were a lot of things that Byrne covered while he was heading up the Superman line of books...shaving, showering...sleeping, weight lifting...etc...all to flush out the character, and it did...I found the newer Superman to be more human than the one I had come to know as a kid.
PS....Seems that he is back to not having to breathe in space again...so to really answer most of these questions truthfully....you would have to pick a given year/era.
There's a book out-the Science of Superman, which I was told is a good read. But since you're discussing alien physiology, why is it that many people assume that all alien life is anthropormorphic?
Ok for the third attempt at this post
.uggg.
I had not heard of the book
except for the new film, I have been out of the Superman loop for several years now. When I first looked it up at Amazon, I thought that the book had been written by two former Superman writers
.Marv Wolfman and Roger Stern
who were both early contributors to the the 86 re-vamp I mentioned in my last post. After closer inspection, it was not Marv but Mark Wolverton, who I am familiar with, but who was not a Superman writer
the names are near identical though.
On a similar note, I do have both of the "Physics of Star Trek" books, and enjoyed them greatly
even though the second one had a contrived feeling about it. So thanks for the heads up
I will probably pick it up if I run across it. I did not see it specifically mentioned in the review but I'm sure Superman's procreative powers are discussed within
at least his ability to, or lack of, with Earth women.
Anthropomorphic
the general idea behind this is that we as a species are quite self absorbed and centered. Your average person will simply project their own image onto whatever it is they are seeing or trying to imagine seeing
such as aliens. For some it just seems logical that if there is life out there, they must be near identical to the human race, or a reasonable facsimile, anything else would be sub par. Creationists will often say something along the lines of
."The Earth is situated at the perfect distance from the sun, a few million miles this way, we would have been a frozen blob, a few that way, a molten inferno, life on Earth could not have existed either way." That's a pretty narrow view of life in our vast universe...Earth is only perceived to be perfect, because it worked for us, as we know it
.we could have just as easily evolved to be
2 foot tall blind albino pygmies, or 12 foot tall large fanged yetis. And to be honest we are far from perfect, we can be killed quite easily
falling, drowning, an injury to an critical organ, poison, a virus
etc
we only live 70 years, and we fall asleep after sex.
Since I've already mentioned it
take Star Trek for instance, most of the alien races are humanoid
two arms, two legs, one headed bipedal nitrogen breathers. This would be an anthropomorphic outlook of the universe, whereas Star Wars is filled with many exotic looking races, and is I'm sure, the far more accurate scenario. Of course I should say that Mr. Roddenberry was a very open minded man, a true visionary
.but he had a budget to deal with, so creating really wild looking aliens for each weeks episode was not fiscally sound
even in the later years when there was more money to go around.
wow 2packs...you're really deep.
most people would just think you sit out on the porch reading comic books and sucking on the jug all day.
but I can see past all that.
2PacksAday wrote:Ok for the third attempt at this post
.uggg.
I had not heard of the book
except for the new film, I have been out of the Superman loop for several years now. When I first looked it up at Amazon, I thought that the book had been written by two former Superman writers
.Marv Wolfman and Roger Stern
who were both early contributors to the the 86 re-vamp I mentioned in my last post. After closer inspection, it was not Marv but Mark Wolverton, who I am familiar with, but who was not a Superman writer
the names are near identical though.
On a similar note, I do have both of the "Physics of Star Trek" books, and enjoyed them greatly
even though the second one had a contrived feeling about it. So thanks for the heads up
I will probably pick it up if I run across it. I did not see it specifically mentioned in the review but I'm sure Superman's procreative powers are discussed within
at least his ability to, or lack of, with Earth women.
Anthropomorphic
the general idea behind this is that we as a species are quite self absorbed and centered. Your average person will simply project their own image onto whatever it is they are seeing or trying to imagine seeing
such as aliens. For some it just seems logical that if there is life out there, they must be near identical to the human race, or a reasonable facsimile, anything else would be sub par. Creationists will often say something along the lines of
."The Earth is situated at the perfect distance from the sun, a few million miles this way, we would have been a frozen blob, a few that way, a molten inferno, life on Earth could not have existed either way." That's a pretty narrow view of life in our vast universe...Earth is only perceived to be perfect, because it worked for us, as we know it
.we could have just as easily evolved to be
2 foot tall blind albino pygmies, or 12 foot tall large fanged yetis. And to be honest we are far from perfect, we can be killed quite easily
falling, drowning, an injury to an critical organ, poison, a virus
etc
we only live 70 years, and we fall asleep after sex.
Since I've already mentioned it
take Star Trek for instance, most of the alien races are humanoid
two arms, two legs, one headed bipedal nitrogen breathers. This would be an anthropomorphic outlook of the universe, whereas Star Wars is filled with many exotic looking races, and is I'm sure, the far more accurate scenario. Of course I should say that Mr. Roddenberry was a very open minded man, a true visionary
.but he had a budget to deal with, so creating really wild looking aliens for each weeks episode was not fiscally sound
even in the later years when there was more money to go around.
Thank you. What you're saying is true-but I've seen movies in which the aliens weren't anthropomorplic-suppose the aliens we encounter are polygonal, or are blobs or have body parts we can't see besides they exist in different demensions or in alternate plains of reality, or in higher-order dimensions our human eyes can't see?
Suppose the aliens communicate by smells or sounds?
My main questions as a child were about Kandor, the bottled city.
How does the Kandor economy work?
What do they eat?
If Kandorians are Kryptonians, even if diminute, why don't they have powers similar to those of Superman?
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Here's another good questiono-the force of gravity on Krypton was about 15 times that of Earth's-how come when Earthlings went to Krypton they weren't crushed by Krypton's graivty?
fbaezer wrote:My main questions as a child were about Kandor, the bottled city.
How does the Kandor economy work?
What do they eat?
If Kandorians are Kryptonians, even if diminute, why don't they have powers similar to those of Superman?
1. Superman feeds them.
2. See 1.
3. Something about the lighting in the bottle? They never go outside.
dlowan wrote:
1. Superman feeds them.
2. See 1.
Yeah? and what about their clothes and their transportation? What about waste disposal?
It always baffled me.
fbaezer wrote:dlowan wrote:
1. Superman feeds them.
2. See 1.
Yeah? and what about their clothes and their transportation? What about waste disposal?
It always baffled me.
Lol! You can see the political/economics man in the boy already, can you not?
I bet you could almost devise a personality profile based on the Superman questions we ask.
1. The waste was disposed of via a series of airlocks in the side of the bottle, and Superman then used the Fortress of Solitude's waste disposal methods. (Don't ask!)
2. Superman also provided the Kandorians with raw materials to manufacture, as well as unprocessed food.
They had decided that, rather than be fed like mice, and have nothing to do, they would act as though they needed to shift for themselves, like an ordinary city, and thus they processed raw materials, and worked in other areas, just like any city.
Have you read TH White's "Mistress Masham's Repose", speaking of tiny economies? (Or oeconomies, as the Lilliputians would say.) It posits a group of Lilliputians taken back to England in Gulliver's time, and continuing to live there until modern times. It might fascinate you, if the Kandorians did.
Great responses dlowan.
I also thought that Kandor had some kind of military regime, since all the people dressed alike.
I never thought highly of Jor-El. I mean, as a leader, he should have sent a bigger ship with several Kryptonians to ensure the survival of kryptonkind after the explosion, but, instead, in a clear case of nepotism, he only saved his son.
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Hi-and thank you for your input and resposnes.
What was the Superman from the Earth that Power Girl was like?
fbaezer wrote:Great responses dlowan.
I also thought that Kandor had some kind of military regime, since all the people dressed alike.
I never thought highly of Jor-El. I mean, as a leader, he should have sent a bigger ship with several Kryptonians to ensure the survival of kryptonkind after the explosion, but, instead, in a clear case of nepotism, he only saved his son.
I think they only dress all alike cos that was a science fictiony kind of cliche.
Didn't Jor-El try very hard to get Krypton to build a fleet of ships, but they pooh-poohed him?
I think the one ship thing was a last, desperate, effort to save SOMETHING.
I think he only had time to build a little ship, or else he and his wife would have gone also, at the least.
dlowan wrote:
Didn't Jor-El try very hard to get Krypton to build a fleet of ships, but they pooh-poohed him?
Well, yes. And he also sent Krypto the dog in a beta version of the ship.
So I take back the charges on nepotism. Doesn't mean I gotta like the guy.
Because:
a) Jor-El was a leader, and
b) His wife (I forgot her name) was an astronaut.
This means he had the ability to gather resources, and the Kryptonian technology was able to build fleets.
What kind of a respected leader was he that he couldn't get support for a measly fleet?
fbaezer wrote:dlowan wrote:
Didn't Jor-El try very hard to get Krypton to build a fleet of ships, but they pooh-poohed him?
Well, yes. And he also sent Krypto the dog in a beta version of the ship.
So I take back the charges on nepotism. Doesn't mean I gotta like the guy.
Because:
a) Jor-El was a leader, and
b) His wife (I forgot her name) was an astronaut.
This means he had the ability to gather resources, and the Kryptonian technology was able to build fleets.
What kind of a respected leader was he that he couldn't get support for a measly fleet?
Lol!
You only don't like him cos he mumbles....
