Superman Through the Ages! Forum

One thing that DrJohnnyDiablo seems to be doing is correcting the categories "People" and "Aliens" so that one being can't be both.

That seems reasonable, does everyone agree?

That's a little xenomorphic don't you think?

Especially since most aliens in the chronicles are people including all Kryptonians.

 ;D

I can never decide who looks weird enough not to be a "person"...this way, all people from Earth are in one category, those from other planets in another.

And if its not standardized - he'll move through every single entry and re-classify it again.

"And if its not standardized - he'll move through every single entry and re-classify it again."

Hmm. Getting a little snippy aren't we? Considering how little activity we sometimes see at Supermanica I like to do these marathon sessions once in a while. And encyclopedias should be standardized shouldn't they?

Anyway, back to the point of the thread, for a time I thought all humanoid aliens should be counted as people but it is less confusing to have "people" be synonymous with "human beings from the planet Earth", IMHO.

--DrJohnnyDiablo

I would agree, people = humans.

aliens = non-humans from somewhere other than Earth.

I'm all for correcting typos, grammar, citations that might be wrong, re-writing entries that are in the past tense, etc. I think those changes are great.

When the marathon sessions include moving scores of entries to new categories, changing dashes to em-dashes, hyperlinking every reference to the "Man of Steel", changing every reference to first appearance from "first appears in Detective Comics" to "first appearance: Detective Comics" (both are acceptable and occur within the same scholarly works) - then they are unnecessary. I like titles inside the entries but usually only add them when I am editing an exisiting entry to add a new story, so that all can find the entry on the "Recent Changes" page. Often times, when tens and tens of entries are changed in minutia in one marathon session, its impossible to even find any new entries on the "Recent Changes" section.

So, since I don't intend to be snippy but rather am usually direct, I feel that new entries about the world of Superman are more important than constantly re-arranging the existing entries.

I think that in this matter, as in all matters, the goal should be to accurately reflect the chronicles.  So if someone is referred to as a "person" in the chronicles, then we should categorize them as a "person."  If the chronicles refer to them as an "alien," then we should do likewise.

If the chronicles refer to someone as both a person and elsewhere an alien, then I believe it is the role of Supermanica to respect that.  Just as we have included other contradictory aspects of the chronicles.

I can't say for certain, but I suspect that Superman has been described as both a person and as an alien.

It just gets to be ambiguous, if Superman is a person, its possible to assume all Kryptonians are, and then all the human-looking aliens.

Actually, either or both are fine with me. I sort of dislike changing the categories a lot, because its very difficult to make the call. All definitions are ambiguous to some extent, for example, many villains will hide from Superman and thus meet the definition of criminal. Like Mr. Xavier, who skulks for 30 years and never really directly confronts the Man of Steel.

I do agree with DrJohnnyDiablo that there can be real slow times on Supermanica, there are not a lot of people adding new things. I guess I just disagree with a lot fiddling with things like categories on already existing entries - except of course for grammar, spelling, and citation accuracy.

I understand and respect your frustration. I think the site needs new entries, too, and I have added a couple in the last few days just as you have. It just seems to me that I should make the most of my editing time. You obviously disagree with some of my edits. I will take your feedback into account, but I don't want to feel unwelcome on the site.

Back to the humanoid aliens, my chief concern is how to deal with Clark Kent, Linda  Lee Danvers and the like. People, Aliens, both? :-\

--DrJohnnyDiablo

Ah, don't worry about it. I try to find typos and grammar errors myself, they need to be corrected. I certainly give you credit for correcting a LOT of that. There really are only 2 or 3 of us adding much to Supermanica, and I know that I took a few months off myself a while ago.

I really wish there was more added by the Council of Wisdom and that there were more threads here at STTA. Supermanica IS winding its way through the web as a respected authority on the comics.

Actually, I have no idea about whether the entries in question are aliens or people.  I would be consistent and say aliens because it simply isn't specified in most comics and the characters that assume Kryptonians are humans don't know where they come from. It seems to me that Night Girl is no more human than Brainiac, despite the fact that Brainiac is green.