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[LAUGHTREY]

That's different. Dick loves being a superhero. He loves the job itself. Being Batman in particular was just something he was reluctant to do.



Not recluctant hero, but not someone who wants to be a hero. He's fully dedicated to the job because it's the only way to deal with his parents dying. Ideally, he'd want for his parents to never have died and live a normal life. He's only batman because he has to be, not because he wants to be. It's a compulsion, not a choice, and it has a detrimental effect on his overall life.



I searched everywhere to find this one quote that I felt captures the difference between Bruce and Dick perfectly, but I can't. Instead, I'll just have to recite it as best I can from memory.

"Bruce would give anything to have his parents back. But as much I loved my parents, I wouldn't give anything in exchange for growing up with Bruce."


Bruce is a much more interesting character to me because I see him as psychologically broken while Dick is essentially a normal, functional, likable guy who has all sorts of training and is a superhero. There is nothing wrong with that kind of character, but that's not Batman to me.

I've never seen that before, but I really like that. It shows they're not carbon copies of each other, and the student really did surpass the master.

As much as I like Batman, some of his proteges are slightly more interesting. Terry McGinnis is another example.



I don't know for sure that Bruce would change it if he could, he had the chance in some Batman/Superman comic and didn't take it...IIRC. Maybe Superman stopped him.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Superman isn't who he is unless he's at home on his farm, otherwise he's putting up an act.

I don't know how they justify them getting together ever, since he's never not "in character".

I don't agree with that. Superman is Clark Kent. Clark and his upbringing is very essential to who he is.

 

[Veelk]

I've never seen that before, but I really like that. It shows they're not carbon copies of each other, and the student really did surpass the master.

As much as I like Batman, some of his proteges are slightly more interesting. Terry McGinnis is another example.



I don't know for sure that Bruce would change it if he could, he had the chance in some Batman/Superman comic and didn't take it...IIRC. Maybe Superman stopped him.

That's fine, I'd just rather that Dick be Nightwing then. A Batman that isn't Bruce Wayne seems pointless to me.

I like Terry because 1. it includes Bruce as he should be, still compulsed toward being batman but he can't due to being old, and his obsession has left him without family and distant friends and alone and bitter, as it should. 2. Terry himself is Batman in an effort to make up for his time as a criminal. For him, he doesn't see it as fun, he sees it as a way of redemption, again, not something he does because he finds it fun (Though he does get to that point as well, but only in one episode in the distant future).

 

[ReiGun]

I don't agree with that. Superman is Clark Kent. Clark and his upbringing is very essential to who he is.

Right. Superman is just a disguise that Clark wears to do superhero stuff in the same way "Clark Kent" (the bumbling, shy guy he pretends to be in public) is just a disguise Clark wears to throw people off. Lois sees through that to the real Clark and falls in love with him.

Another fun part of the dynamic is that while "Clark" is shy, he never says anything the real Clark doesn't believe. Just not as forcefully.

 

[TheKaeptain]

This thread is a reminder that I am very behind in nu52 Action Comics.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Kryptonians don't normally get powers till puberty. Also, he could always fuck under a special red sun lamp.

That's why Chasing Amy is his best. Mallrats has too many plot holes.

 

[TheKaeptain]

That's why Chasing Amy is his best. Mallrats has too many plot holes.

Brody is his best character though.

 

[ReiGun]

That's why Chasing Amy is his best. Mallrats has too many plot holes.

Still, were not for Mallrats, we'd have never taken the time to figure out how Superman can have sex. And the world would be worse off for it.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

when Krypton was out conquering worlds (with top of the line military gear) they found out that yellow sunlight gave them powers. that led them to acquire more planets. after COIE I seem to remember that anything but red sun radiation could charge them up.

That's the worst explanation I've ever heard for anything in my life. They just accidentally all had incredible superpowers when exposed to sunlight. This is the kind of thing that should have been retconned with a more satisfying answer.

Think of all the things us humans are doing now , we can correct eye sight with lasers , we can now study genomes and find out what causes genetic defects. Flash forward 10s of thousands of years and if we haven't died off we can most likely create super verisons of what we are now.

But that doesn't sound like what happened with krypton at all. It just sounds like they unintentionally had superpowers when exposed to yellow sunlight.

 

[TheKaeptain]

That's the worst explanation I've ever heard for anything in my life. They just accidentally all had incredible superpowers when exposed to sunlight. This is the kind of thing that should have been retconned with a more satisfying answer.




But that doesn't sound like what happened with krypton at all. It just sounds like they unintentionally had superpowers when exposed to yellow sunlight.

Comic science is best science.

 

[akira28]

That's the worst explanation I've ever heard for anything in my life. They just accidentally all had incredible superpowers when exposed to sunlight. This is the kind of thing that should have been retconned with a more satisfying answer.




But that doesn't sound like what happened with krypton at all. It just sounds like they unintentionally had superpowers when exposed to yellow sunlight.

They existed for millenia as a warlike species, and fought amongst themselves and created these powersuits and advanced weapons and space craft, and them went outward conquering planets. OK. Nothing too outside the norm there. Their planet has a red sun, and under a red sun they are powerless. Yellow sunlight, their body's cells act like solar batteries.

Now depending on who's writing, they voluntarily stay on Krypton as a penance for the sins of their past, where apparently, Kryptonians were super assholes with powers once they discover that whole yellow sun thing. - Or - They don't know at all (?) Possibly having the information removed from their memories by sci-fi magic.

Some writers have put it down that Superman was actually sent to Earth because of it's yellow star.


real answer: because that whole shape shifting thing is really boring, and I suspect the writers didn't want to have to deal with some alien with eyestalks trying to look like a newpaper reporter.

 

[Nocebo]

Are superman's powers transferable in the comics like they were in the hit tv-show Lois and Clark? Where I remember his powers were almost as transferable as the common cold. Made no sense at all.

 

[GrandHarrier]

In alot of the source material Krypton has massive gravity that makes it extremely prohibitive to launch spacecraft. It's why Jor El made a tiny pod for Kal El, as opposed to a larger one that could have saved him and Lara too.

 

[GrandHarrier]

Are superman's powers transferable in the comics like they were in the hit tv-show Lois and Clark? Where I remember his powers were almost as transferable as the common cold. Made no sense at all.

In All Star Superman there was a super serum using Superman's DNA that gave a human 24 hours of Kryptonian powers.

 

[Slayven]

The Window is gone.....well cept for one issue....but otherwise PowerGirl has become one of the most conservatively dressed Super Heroines.

And she is down with the swirl.

They existed for millenia as a warlike species, and fought amongst themselves and created these powersuits and advanced weapons and space craft, and them went outward conquering planets. OK. Nothing too outside the norm there. Their planet has a red sun, and under a red sun they are powerless. Yellow sunlight, their body's cells act like solar batteries.

Now depending on who's writing, they voluntarily stay on Krypton as a penance for the sins of their past, where apparently, Kryptonians were super assholes with powers once they discover that whole yellow sun thing. - Or - They don't know at all (?) Possibly having the information removed from their memories by sci-fi magic.

Some writers have put it down that Superman was actually sent to Earth because of it's yellow star.


real answer: because that whole shape shifting thing is really boring, and I suspect the writers didn't want to have to deal with some alien with eyestalks trying to look like a newpaper reporter.

Kryptonians do get assholey when under the yellow son. And the Daxamite betrayed their alien collation basically because they got superpowers.

 

[Jean Valjean]

There's a whole process involved that includes shifting his voice, changing his posture and body language (Ma Kent had him study acting), and wearing loose-fitting clothes so his figure is hidden (He actually looks kind of fat to people as Clark). The glasses also hide his eyes, which are an unnatural shade of blue.

Another thing to remember is that no one thinks Superman even has a secret identity, so they're not looking for one.

(Not an amazing explanation, but that's the one we got)



Every time Clark attempts to do the "Superman 24/7" thing, he goes crazy. He needs time to be a normal person. Plus, Clark is the more interesting part of the character.

I also like the Silver Age explanation:

Couldn't find the whole strip in English, but here it is in Portuguese:

 

[Htown]

My theory was always that there's a bunch of aliens that look like whatevs, but obviously if you're shipping your son off to another planet for the rest of his life in an emergency situation, you want to send him to one of the planets where the people look like him.

 

[Slayven]

My theory was always that there's a bunch of aliens that look like whatevs, but obviously if you're shipping your son off to another planet for the rest of his life in an emergency situation, you want to send him to one of the planets where the people look like him.

Jor-el could have saved himself a lot of work if he had been as smart as Icon's people.

In 1839, an alien starliner malfunctioned and exploded, jettisoning a life-pod in the middle of a cotton field in the American South.[1][2] The pod automatically altered the appearance of its passenger, named Arnus, to mimic the first sentient life-form who discovered him. That life-form was a slave woman named Miriam, who saw the pod crash land.[1]

 

[YoungHav]

How come there's no black people on Krypton?

 

[akira28]

Segregation.

 

[GameplayWhore]

Red Son is the Superman movie we deserve, but not the one we need right now.

That ending took me completely by surprise. Only thing that bugs me about it is

Spoiler

where did Braniac come from?

Not a hole, but certainly makes the character's presence seem a bit odd given the different

Spoiler

origin story

. Also,

Spoiler

so great how Luthor was such a Marysue-esque tactician in every way but ended up being so fundamentally wrong about Superman's background

.

Damnit, I should not have read through this the night before my final exam and class project presentation! >:|

I also like the Silver Age explanation:

…and now I have learned that Plexiglass is indestructible to Superman.

 

[YoungHav]

Segregation.

lmao.

 

[googleplex]

How come there's no black people on Krypton?

There were black Kryptonians.They lived on an isolated island island away from the white kryptonians.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

Kryptonian society clearly pre dates human in the DC universe. Thats why earth was chosen we were a young version of krypton in many ways, and Jor El felt Kal El could help us reach the heights krypton had achieved. So we look like them.

 

[Thai]

and yet Kryptonians look like humans. It is strange but hardly confusing why they would design Superman to look human. They want people to relate to him while still having the alien backstory to draw on.



Lead can kill Daxamites who are descendants of Kryptonians.

The problem with this is that 1/2 of them are still humanoid. two arms, two legs, two eyes, a head, a torso, etc. Aliens should look alien..not just humans with weird foreheads.

 

[Escape Goat]

The problem with this is that 1/2 of them are still humanoid. two arms, two legs, two eyes, a head, a torso, etc. Aliens should look alien..not just humans with weird foreheads.

How many of them dont have to have 2 legs, arms and legs for this not to be a problem? there are all kinds of aliens there. Theres a sentient planet, a virus, blobs and other non humanoids.

 

[Forsaken82]

That's what brought the question. I'm not a DC guy, but seeing the GL Corp in the movie, yeah it sucked, but it was entertaining and on HBO so I caught it, and seeing the varied morphology across the galaxies was pretty cool.

Not sure when the Justice League came around, but my guess is it all boils down to DC not thinking along the lines of these superheroes sharing universes.

 

[Anticitizen One]

I don't think comics demand explanation, but it is great when a good one is given.
This is the guy who went to great pains to make sure every crazy weird 70s batman story have a place in continuity that can be explained.
It's good that he just didn't tell us to shut the fuck up and accept that comics are comics. Answering questions makes the reading experience more fleshed out and interesting. Not reading because you can't answer who pumps the batmobile tires is the extreme you want to avoid, but asking the question opens the door to some cool explanation that makes this ficticional universe a little bit richer.

and more convoluted which becomes a barrier to entry for new comic fans and sometimes the explanation ends up pissing off existing fans (just look at Spider-Mans rich history for examples of that)

 

[The Adder]

That's different. Dick loves being a superhero. He loves the job itself. Being Batman in particular was just something he was reluctant to do.



Not recluctant hero, but not someone who wants to be a hero. He's fully dedicated to the job because it's the only way to deal with his parents dying. Ideally, he'd want for his parents to never have died and live a normal life. He's only batman because he has to be, not because he wants to be. It's a compulsion, not a choice, and it has a detrimental effect on his overall life.



I searched everywhere to find this one quote that I felt captures the difference between Bruce and Dick perfectly, but I can't. Instead, I'll just have to recite it as best I can from memory.

"Bruce would give anything to have his parents back. But as much I loved my parents, I wouldn't give anything in exchange for growing up with Bruce."


Bruce is a much more interesting character to me because I see him as psychologically broken while Dick is essentially a normal, functional, likable guy who has all sorts of training and is a superhero. There is nothing wrong with that kind of character, but that's not Batman to me.

Personal opinion: Tim, before the DCnU, was the most interesting of the lot.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/34565/858397-2_super.jpg

Just the arc his life took. He became Robin because he saw the necessity of Bruce having a Robin. He had no intention of doing it forever. He had a regular life. He had a network of friends and family outside of the Batfam and the super hero community at large.

And then his mom died.

And then his dad was killed.

And then threw himself into being Robin with a fire almost matching Bruce's. The kid who said he didn't see himself on those rooftops in 10 years ceased to be.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

That's the worst explanation I've ever heard for anything in my life. They just accidentally all had incredible superpowers when exposed to sunlight. This is the kind of thing that should have been retconned with a more satisfying answer.




But that doesn't sound like what happened with krypton at all. It just sounds like they unintentionally had superpowers when exposed to yellow sunlight.

Meh, maybe you should compare it to gravity. We can jump on the moon more than we can ever jump on earth. So Kryptonians are normal with red star, but with our yellow sun they get powers. I think that´s a good comparison.

 

[MisterHero]

don't bother bringing that up because that hasn't been in continuity for 40-50 years.

Superman's powers are a side effect of his Kryptonian physiology. He couldn't fly if he wasn't strong enough to push off the earth, etc. The only differences is that he isn't immune to red suns anymore. Original Krypton was blown up with a massive earthquake.

What really doesn't make sense is if Superman's skin is broken because of a little kryptonite. Or powers that are transferable or rendering him human. He'd probably crumple to the floor if he couldn't support so much mass.

and Kal-L will come back someday! He has too!

also, pre-historic Kryptonians all looked like Hulks. Coincidence?

 

[akira28]

The problem with this is that 1/2 of them are still humanoid. two arms, two legs, two eyes, a head, a torso, etc. Aliens should look alien..not just humans with weird foreheads.

eh, not really. Bipedal/humanoid design is pretty efficient for what it is. Other aliens could evolve into a humanoid shape just fine. The details are what even our imaginations can't effectively tackle, so you get caught up on the rubber forehead. But not everything "alien" has to have 3 legs and 4 arms and a face on it's ass.

 

[Vermillion]

That's the worst explanation I've ever heard for anything in my life. They just accidentally all had incredible superpowers when exposed to sunlight. This is the kind of thing that should have been retconned with a more satisfying answer.

It's also how Saiyans realized they could transform into apes, ain't it?

 

[DonasaurusRex]

I could say the sky was blue and you would say the same thing. Fact pound for pound Externals>>>>>>>>>>New Gods.

...dont you mean Eternals + Deviants...who are the Externals..time for some wikipedia

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

He's an alien, for Christ sake. His Kyrptonian biological makeup is enhanced by Earth's yellow sun. If Lois gets a tan, the kid could kick right through her stomach. Only someone like Wonder Woman has a strong enough uterus to carry his kid. The only way Superman could bang regular chicks is if he does it with a kryptonite condom, but that would kill him.

yeah but Kryptonians don't fully develop their powers until puberty. a newborn isn't killing Lois.

Superman isn't who he is unless he's at home on his farm, otherwise he's putting up an act.

I don't know how they justify them getting together ever, since he's never not "in character".

no.... he is who really is around her.

That's the worst explanation I've ever heard for anything in my life. They just accidentally all had incredible superpowers when exposed to sunlight. This is the kind of thing that should have been retconned with a more satisfying answer.




But that doesn't sound like what happened with krypton at all. It just sounds like they unintentionally had superpowers when exposed to yellow sunlight.

i'm going off memory but it was something like that. they discoverd they gained powers under a yellow sun. it was more involved than that. give it a chance, geez...

Personal opinion: Tim, before the DCnU, was the most interesting of the lot.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/34565/858397-2_super.jpg

Just the arc his life took. He became Robin because he saw the necessity of Bruce having a Robin. He had no intention of doing it forever. He had a regular life. He had a network of friends and family outside of the Batfam and the super hero community at large.

And then his mom died.

And then his dad was killed.

And then threw himself into being Robin with a fire almost matching Bruce's. The kid who said he didn't see himself on those rooftops in 10 years ceased to be.

yeah but I miss that Tim, the good, smart well adjusted kid.

 

[Slayven]

...dont you mean Eternals + Deviants...who are the Externals..time for some wikipedia

Fluedian slip, externals got marvel sued. But I meant Eternals.

 

[gazele]

Jor-el could have saved himself a lot of work if he had been as smart as Icon's people.

What if a mouse had found him? (Or is it opening the pod)

Still, this plan could have backfired

 

[Hot Coldman]

I like Doctor Who's approach- why do humans look like Time Lords?

 

[Slayven]

What if a mouse had found him? (Or is it opening the pod)

Still, this plan could have backfired

They knew the meaning of sentient.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

They knew the meaning of sentient.

a mouse is sentient. it's a living creature. then we could have had mighty mouse.

 

[Slayven]

a mouse is sentient. it's a living creature. then we could have had mighty mouse.

They have interstellar spaceships and shit. I am sure they could measure sentience.

IF you want to see some freaky morphology.

All members of the same biological race.

 

[KidGalactus]

At some point John Byrne was going have it be a reveal that Krypton was a far future Earth.