Superman ideas not in the comics that were great

[NotSuper]

Lex Luthor's Tech Source: Krypton ('80s SUPERBOY show)

What specific episode or episodes was this shown? What were the circumstances in which Lex acquired Kryptonian Tech?

I'd like to know that myself. Man, I need to see that series.

[Great Rao]

Season one is being released on DVD real soon.  I believe that Cary Bates was one of the writers on the show, which could explain why Lana was married and shipped off to England at the end,  (I'm assuming here that when Julian wrote "Lois" in another thread, he meant "Lana") thus tie-ing the series in with Cary's Superman issues.

I still like the Jack Larson and Noel Neill guest appearances; and Ron Ely gave an absolutely brilliant performance as Superman-Future.
 

[Gangbuster]

Lots of ideas have recently transferred from television to comics, and vice versa

- Lex Luthor was reintroduced to Smallville, thanks to the TV show, followed by Birthright.

- Krypto returned. Maggin's novella probably had a lot to do with this, as Jeph Loeb, his college roommate, reintroduced the character to comics,  and a tv show followed.

- While Smallville's fourth season was probably the worst one, Black Kryptonite is a piece of rock that has made it into comics since being introduced last year.

- A large-scale Thanagarian war was done on Justice League Unlimited first, before being done in the comics.

- In Infinite Crisis, a villian team has formed that resembles the Legion of Doom, from Superfriends.

Those are just a few examples. I also liked the way that Brainiac's origin was handled in the animated series...not necessarily the fact that he was from Krypton, but that he was involved in its destruction.

[Great Rao]

- Krypto returned. Maggin's novella probably had a lot to do with this, as Jeph Loeb, his college roommate, reintroduced the character to comics,  and a tv show followed.

I don't know if you're joking or serious here - but just for the record, Loeb wasn't Maggin's college roommate in the conventional sense.  He was, however, a kid fan of Maggin's who followed him around to a comic book convention or two when Elliot was in college.

- While Smallville's fourth season was probably the worst one, Black Kryptonite is a piece of rock that has made it into comics since being introduced last year.

Probably also due to the Loeb-connection - he works (or worked?) on Smallville and also wrote (or writes ) Superman/Batman/Supergirl.

[JulianPerez]

There are two additional elements that I really like but that are somewhat obscure. These two have never worked their way back into the comics and are probably not very popular outside mine own brain.

Ro-Zan

In the Kirk Alyn serial, the Lowther novel, and the George Reeves series, the head of the Kryptonian council of Wisdom was named Ro-Zan.  I don't know why, but I just think the name is really cool.  I'd like to see it inserted into continuity and for the character to have a bigger role in the "destruction of Krypton" part of the origin.  Maybe even give him some back-story.

Ooooh, neat idea! I do recall this character. Further, it's one that is needed; the head honcho that tells Jor-El to shut his trap. Otherwise, the Krypton council is fairly faceless.

Ditto for

...Incidentally, where is it possible to GET the Lowther novel these days?

The Mole-Men

Sure, the pilot-movie was technically clumsy; but I'd really like to see the Mole-Men return in the comic books.  Maybe even have Superman visit their home at the center of the Earth.  With the hugely destructive environmental impact that human activity has been having, and with the accelerated rate of change that the entire planet is undergoing, the Mole-Men would be sure to notice.  They might even try to do something about it.   And if that involved a conflict with humanity, which side would Superman support?  A great way to bring back some great characters.

Are you kidding? EVERYBODY loves the Mole Men! They're so cute!

And they can use the name without impunity because it came in the days before the OTHER "mole man" (though Miracleman might have something to say about that). Their society and culture and underground world is something that a comic book, which has a nearly unlimited special effects budget, can show us much more readily than a television show can.

If anybody could do it, I'd put my money on Roger Stern; he was an old school George Reeves fanboy.

And "Crystal Krypton" was such a great, otherworldly look. It was like living inside of a gemstone. And those costumes! The way they seem to glow.

It's a great thing that this aesthetic design is being preserved and updated into the next SUPERMAN RETURNS movie. I'm partial to both "movie" Krypton, with its biblical dialogue out of Cecil B. de Mille, and the Hugo Gernsback Krypton of the Silver/Bronze Ages.

(Though I wasn't crazy about the "christmas ornament" spaceship...couldn't they just make it a rocket, only out of crystal?)

[TELLE]

Super-Powers don't exist in the real world. Science and scientists, however, do. Thus, superpowers can work according to whatever physics the writers decide to give, however, there is a real world model for what science and scientists can and can't do.

The character of Lex, as developed in the 60s and 70s, is already so dependant on Superman that I think to introduce the idea that even his science is stolen from Superman's world stretches not only credibility but also any humanity the character has, not just as a mortal foil to Superman and a self-appointed representative of humanity (he idolizes Einstein, after all).  It's okay for me when he steals a Kryptonian weapon here and there, but to make it his whole M.O. rings false.

For me, what's good for the goose (Superman's super-powers) is good for the gander (Lex's super-scientific genius).  Maybe it comes down to taste and individual limits on suspension of disbelief, but once I swallow the solar-powered flying man with x-ray vision whose hair can't be cut, a really smart bald scientist is not so tuff.

My fave good ideas from outside of comics? Ursa from Superman I and II.  Female Kryptonian baddies are rare.

A large-scale Thanagarian war was done on Justice League Unlimited first, before being done in the comics.

- In Infinite Crisis, a villian team has formed that resembles the Legion of Doom, from Superfriends.

Wasn't the Rann-Thanagarian war an ongoing back-drop through the 70s and 80s?  I remember it from the JLA and Swamp Thing.

I'd love to see something actually called the Legion of Doom in the comics, maybe drawn by Ramona Fradon, but I'll settle for the Secret Society of Secret Villains, Injustice League, or any other all-star combo.  They did a fun version in a Justice League cartoon I saw.

[Kal's Pal]

Maybe 'cause I love Superman II, but I also though the idea of Supes battling General Zod, Non and Ursa as a major event in his early career a great way to introduce the idea of Kal-El being forced to confront his heritage and his legacy as a survivor of the planet Krypton. (I realise Birthright recycled this idea to an extent, though they were merely hired goons of Luthor posing as invading Kryptonians).

[alschroeder]

Lex Luthor's Tech Source: Krypton ('80s SUPERBOY show)

The Superboy show had a very intriguing idea, that the reason Lex Luthor was able to create wonders that were clearly generations on generations ahead of what is possible even for the most advanced scientists, like shrink rays and space travel and so forth, is because he had access and stole secrets of the advanced Kryptonian civilization through his contact with Superboy, which he raided and adapted.

An explanation like this accounts for Lex's prowess with science, and why he is able to do things that real, but brilliant scientists, cannot do today. Further, it made sense and made use of elements, like Krypton and the Phantom Zone, that were already around.

It appears that Mark Waid made use of this Superboy-originated idea to account in part for Lex's superior scientific prowess; kudos to Mark Waid for knowing a great idea when he sees one.

I rationalize it a little this way; though a great genuis, Lex early had contact with the Legion of Super-Heroes, and later, the Legion of Super-Villains and Brainiac from Colu. In each contact with superior technology, he had the smarts to see some new underlying principles and apply it to his own technology, Ditto with Lexor. And there was one story where Luthor and his men shrank down and took over Kandor---I'm sure he "borrowed" from Kryptonian technology also.

This is not belittling Luthor. It would take a great genuis to do even THAT much---and made his technology, centuries ahead of others, much more believable.

I rationalize Reed Richards the same way (contact with interstellar races like the Skrulls, the Kree, and Galactus and the Watcher obviously gave him advanatages other scientists couldn't match) and ditto for Dr. Doom (the Ovoids, the technology of sub-microscopic "worlds", of Namor's Atlantis, etc.)
----Al