Are Kryptonians Human?

[Defender]

Hm. . .Daxam the Kryptonian ancestral home? Interesting theory, and that would really explain the similarities in Daxam/Kryptonian abilities under a yellow sun. But if that's true, then why are Daxamites mortally vulnerable to lead while Kryptonians can utilize lead to survive the effects of kryptonite?

 Puzzling, puzzling. . .but interesting though.

 -Def.

[Captain Kal]

Why do they have different reactions to lead and kryptonite?  Answer: Genetic drift.

Note that both races share a common inability to see through lead via X-ray vision while nearly all other X-ray vision beings (Martians, Andromedans, Vartox, Ultra Boy, etc.) have no such artificial restriction.  That's esp. so considering Kryptonians/Daxamites can see through denser, more durable substances like uranium, osmium, etc. so the lead limitation is very specific not a density issue.  It does seem an odd coincidence that this is the same substance Daxamites are deathly vulnerable to so it may be evidence of a vestigial lead vulnerability in Kryptonians.

Similarly, Daxamites can be protected from lead poisoning by an anti-lead serum whose key ingredient is green kryptonite.  That is another odd coincidence.

Of course, we have the almost identical super-powers they exhibit in our environment as further evidence.

TOLSH #325 just gave canonical support to a theory the above facts tended to support already.

[Defender]

Great googa mooga.  :shock:

 There may be something to this. Interesting, interesting. Genetic drift could explain the Kryptonian/Kryptonite , Daxamite/Lead connection. It could be that the irradiated elements of kryptonite have some kind of basis in lead, irradiated by Krypton's explosion. . .or not, given the Daxamite immunity to green k. Still, it's an increasingly appealing theory. Kind of explains to me how we can have two isolationist cultures who gain extraordinary powers under a yellow sun.  

[RedSunOfKrypton]

Going back to the date problems of Red Son. I remember reading on Mark Millar's forum once how it wasn't an issue; in the book continuity he said that Stalin had survived his first assassination attempt, and that made the dates line up properly.

[superbuddy]

Mon said they (the Daxamites) might be accused of chauvinism, but he was taught in school that Daxam was the parent world.

If this is true then where does Halk Kar and the planet Thoron http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Thoron fit in?

[Captain Kal]

First, I'm not sure Halk Kar was still in continuity for the Silver Age/Bronze Age Superman.  He's considered by some to be the Golden Age version of Mon-El, esp. since Mon's origin is almost completely ripped-off from Halk.

Second, even if he and Thoron are still in that continuity, no evidence exists to tie his race directly with Kryptonians, outside of similar powers and living in the same solar system.  While not in canon, that evidence would strongly suggest the Thoronians were seeded from Daxam or Krypton themselves.  It's highly unlikely that such a similar race would develop independently anywhere else let alone the same solar system.  It's far more likely that they're also related to the Daxamites and Kryptonians.  It's just uncertain which is the parent world to Thoron.

[Captain Kal]

Here's a further bit of evidence that tends to support the genetic drift theory.

In the classic Superman of 2465/2466 stories, Kal-El's descendants evolved immunity to kryptonite (though they suffered from a different vulnerability to an unnamed fallout from a nuclear war that contaminated all water).

If Kal-El's descendants could develop different reactions to his classic kryptonite weakness, then we can suppose genetic drift did the same for the Daxamite colonists on Krypton.

[Super Monkey]

First, I'm not sure Halk Kar was still in continuity for the Silver Age/Bronze Age Superman.  He's considered by some to be the Golden Age version of Mon-El, esp. since Mon's origin is almost completely ripped-off from Halk.

I believe that good old Halk Kar was reconned into the Earth-2 Superman continuity.