Superman Through the Ages! Forum

In many famous covers, Superman is shown with an Eagle perched on his arm.

My question is, WHO is this eagle?

Does the eagle have a name?

Does Superman pull one out of mothballs for photo shoots, sort of like politicians with girl scout cookies?

(http://superman.nu/images/mini-eagle.jpg)

More likely (since this is Superman we're talking about here) the Eagle is no doubt some sort of crime-fighting tool. Maybe it's a robot designed to look like an eagle that he uses with advanced sensors that detect Kryptonite, which is why he doesn't fly in himself. Maybe the eagle isn't an eagle at all, but is a shapeshifting Protean of Antares that Superman keeps in his collection, that assumes the form of an eagle for disguise and photography purposes. Maybe its an eagle that is partially bionic, sort of like in SILVERHAWKS.

Since Superman is more likely to be shown with an eagle in his World War II days, it is likely only Earth-2 Superman has such an eagle.

It's a Thanagarian Golden Eagle.

Superman and the eagle never met before this picture, actually.  It was all part of a photo-op arranged by DC's lawyers to establish a copyright on the "hero with eagle" pose and cement Superman as THE patriotic hero of the day.

That's right, it's merely a legal eagle.

He is also available for children's parties and football games.

Now that Superman is back to being a meat eater....the Eagle did not last long enough for him to name it. FYI, it tastes like chicken. ;)

(Sorry guys,i know that this type is annoying but i can't resist...  ;))

Cool Marque feature! I have never seen that on a forum before.

Please don't go crazy with that stuff it's hard to read.

It's meant for stuff like:

This brings to mind an interesting point: to what extent are just the covers of an issue "canon?" Did the events on a cover "really happen?" How should they be treated?

If Superman has an eagle on a cover, does that mean he really does have an eagle somewhere?

This is particularly problematic because covers sometimes show events that don't actually HAPPEN in a comic! For instance, the cover to GIANT SIZED AVENGERS #3 has Thor, Iron Man and Vision saying something like "One of us will die in Limbo! But who? WHO?" Nevermind that they were teleported seperately and never actually MET each other until that question was answered, and also...how would they know one of them was going to die, anyway?

It may be that whenever a character remembers something, they remember it in terms of that one particular image that makes it to the cover...thus, covers are flashbacks to a very reminscent scene). You know, sort of like how lots of Baby Boomers only remember the sixties through Bob Dylan song lyrics.  ;D

Alternatively, it may be that especially memorable or splashy cover images exist in the photography of a world. For instance, in the Kurt Busiek MARVELS, tons of famous Marvel covers and panels existed as photographs taken by Phil Sheldon.

It is also possible that certain particularly memorable images that are covers in our real world, in the DC and Marvel Universes may exist as posters on college dorms, just like memorable photographs in our real world are subjected to this: the LIFE cover of a sailor kissing some random woman, or Mohammed Ali knocking that one guy down!

Another explanation is that in the "real" DC or Marvel universe, comics covers are the covers of liscenced comics BASED on real-life superheroes. Maybe that's one way Phil Sheldon made a few bucks on the side: letting his photographs be used to make covers!

Maybe the covers are "Earth-B" if they depict something that happens in the story, but in a different way...

OR like the one referenced, it's just a portrait that was done of Superman with the eagle as a prop.

I dunno... it's like saying any of us that have drawn a picture of Superman.. is IT canon?  No, it wouldn't, so I don't think the covers would be either.  Just because it's a cover, it's what's inside the pages that count (or maybe this week, what's inside the issue ISN'T canon!)

The week after that, only the Ads will be considered canon. Then the staples that hold the pages together will be canon and nothing else. Then the whites spaces between panels will be considered canon. Then..

There must have been children who thought of Hostess Twinkies ads as canon. "My favourite Daredevil adventure is the one where he gets into a fight with a guy who thought he'd said he smelled of socks."

Or "Remember when Batman and Robin stopped the Penguin with Hostess Fruit Pies?  It must be canon cause I rememember Dick Giordano drew it and he was a REAL Batman artist!"

Hee hee

Well, these covers are "cannon" for sure...

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/141/400/141_4_000000273.jpg)

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/185/400/185_4_015.jpg)

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/87/400/87_4_000134.jpg)

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/15065/400/15065_4_003.jpg)

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/13901/400/13901_4_001.jpg)

Nightwing, those are all a blast!!!

Ba-dump bump!

Funny you should say it, because there is actually some evidence that, at least at Marvel anyway, the Twinkie ads ARE canon. In the story arc of THUNDERBOLTS where the Crimson Cowl's enormous Masters of Evil are revealed, one of the members of this villain group was Icemaster.

Icemaster's only previous appearance? Fighting the Human Torch in a Hostess cupcake ad, sporting such winning dialogue as:

"What CRUST! So LIGHT, so TENDER! And I'm really...WARMING...up to the fruit filling!"

Permanus is momentarily distracted by the snack food thrown by Julian before the men in white coats to arrive: "Aaah, rich ironic filling!"

Technically, that's a cupcake, not a Twinkie, but I think it's safe to qualify this as a Twinkie defense on your part.  :)