Superman Through the Ages! Forum

A question in a similiar vein to that asked by carmelo, "The many times that Clark said goodby to Superman."

How many times has Kal-El met Jor-El?

I think there are some (or at least one) stories where Superman was in the phantom zone, because he was just there as an observer and it could be argued that he didn't actually meet him.

I use Kal-El rather than Superman because I am pretty sure that Superboy met Jor-El when he was a boy (a story I think when Jor-El was using some device to stretch time because he was revising for an exam, which them accidentally propelled him to the future and Smallville).

Well he was at his parents wedding. I dont remember the issue though.

here is the 1st time:
http://superman.nu/tales3/return0/

I'm not sure if the story of Superboy meeting Jor-El is:
"The Kid From Krypton (#242, November 1957). Writer: Otto Binder. Art: Curt Swan."

Seems a bit early for me

not even close, The one linked above is from Superman #61 1949 by Bill Finger and Al Plastino

In terms of Superman actually meeting Jor-El, though, I sort of assume that "Superman's Return to Krypton" (1960) is their only real canonical encounter. It was referred to again in an issue of World of Krypton, in which the events are seen from Jor-El's point of view.

Two points:

1) Realise that Superman #61 1949 by Bill Finger and Al Plastino  is the first actual story linking Superman to Krypton (thanks for that reference). My comment was about when SuperBOY first met Jor-El.  [Not even sure if my quoted reference is the story I am thinking of.]


2) Of course, the point raised by Permanus is valid and I suppose gets to the crux of the matter of what is regarded as canonical and what isn't. As far as I recall, the meeting of Superboy with Jor-El (as a boy) does not contradict "Superman's Return to Krypton" (as this is written fro Jor-El's perspective)? In the story I am thinking of, there was a neat twist in where Superboy gives (the boy) Jor-El a box which turned out to contain Red_K (as evidence of Krypton's fate?) that had the effect of blanking Jor-El's memory.


Jimmy

Blimey, I'd forgotten all that. Nevertheless, that still puts us at a maximum of two meetings that count. It's not like Jor-El and Superman could get together regularly, and what about Lara, eh? For some reason, she always gets the short end of the stick. Superman had a mother, dammit, and he must miss her like nobody's business. The world needs more Lara stories.

Jor-El appears a lot in the old books:

read this: http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Jor-El#Post-Cataclysm

In  regards to Kal-EL with Jor-El
I  think we can forget the Superman story in issue 61, Superman returns to Krypton , because this was Kal -L
earth 2 Superman , first comic kryptonite , and learns his origin and also the fact that he was a ghost at that time. He did not interact with daddy.
Superman 141 , he meets Mom and Dad , and also got help from dad in getting a job
Superboy meets Jor-El  in issue 74  Superboy voyage to New Krypton ( a dream issuse) but he is with both sets of parents.
Superboy #121 Jor-El's visit to Earth, Jor-El is a student in a time machine , goes forward 25 years ( I think ) appears on Earth , meets Kal . Later Kal shows Jor , effects of Red K ( Shades of Smallville), turns him into an adult . and also reforms Luthor.
There was a World Finest 191 , exeution on krypton , bats and supes return after seeing mom dad on earth .
they are teaching a crime school.
Also forgot one another one Superman issue123, the 3 magic wishs supes returns to mate mom and dad
Also the new one , superman returns to krypton , finds out his Bryne orgin or silver age on

Nope, that was Kal-El: http://superman.nu/tales3/return0/?page=9

Superman of Earth-2 was created in 1966 as a tribute to the Golden Age comic book version of Superman.
http://superman.nu/a/ges/e2-superman.php

Then there was that time Superboy found Joe-El and Lara floating in suspended animation in space. :o

Jor didn't say much other than a taped message being asleep and all.

Actually, that page is in error---the Earth-2 Superman was introduced in 1969 (when JLofA #73 was published---the first issue of the two-part storyline where the JLA and JSA fight Aqaurius).

I just don't even try to define an Earth 2 Superman other than pick an arbitrary definition and go with it (like in Supermanica). And that still causes a "point of view" problem with a lot of other characters that interacted with a Kal-El who had an identity at the Daily Planet

The reason , why I stated that I believe Superman 61 ,was Kal-L , ( even though named Kal-El ) is because of the year the story was done, way before the Silver Age 1956.
Also please look at Action comics 484, "Superman takes a wife " the earth 2 one.
look at the last page for the differences and see that Superman when back in time to discover the orgin of Kryptonite, and as a bonus learned about his origin.
I  think that the problems with Earth 1, 2 , when the stories are being told, during the year they were written.

When the Earth-2 Superman was created, it was *retroactively* declared that most Golden Age Superman stories originally written took place on Earth-2, with the earliest versions of names/newspapers/etc. assigned to Earth-2 Supes; as originally written, it was assumed to be the same Superman from "Action Comics" #1 up until the then-present.

Most of the people on this forum/website seems to go with the "treat all the comics from 1938's 'Action Comics #1' through 1986's 'Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?' as the same Superman" approach, which might explain the confusion/arguments...

Oh, personally I'm happy to go along with the idea that we're dealing with two different guys, a Golden Age Superman and then the other fellow, or maybe even more. If you're bothered about continuity (which I personally always take cum grano), then clearly the Superman of 1978 can't be the same person as the one of 1938, and frankly, he can't really be the same one who was around in 1958 either. Is there any canon for this? When's the cut-off point, if you see what I mean?

Did anyone actually sit down and retroactively write a story that says, for instance: "June 1953. That's when we stopped writing about 1938 Superman, and started writing about another guy, but we just never mentioned it to the readers."

There was never an official dividing point between Earth-2 and Earth-1 for the two Supermen---it was left up to the fans to debate... though it seems generally assumed that any Superman story after November 1955 (the first appearance of the Martian Manhunter) is on Earth-1 unless stated otherwise, with plenty of various stories before Nov. '55 (tales like "The Thing From 40,000 AD" or 1952's meeting between Superman and Batman on that cruise ship, or all Superboy stories/stories mentioning Superboy) taking place on Earth-1 as well...

Its completely grey to me, just that it has to be decided in an arbitrary manner for Supermanica etc. Batman is even greyer...