Ideas by Elliot S! Maggin that weren't that great

[Village Idiot]

Two points:

1) I think one of the Kryp/Tonn's more nagging problems for me is that it seems cribbed from two TWILIGHT ZONE episodes.  (Two TWILIGHT ZONE episodes because the TWILIGHT ZONE actually cribbed from itself!)  

In both episodes, male and female adversaries, isolated from humanity, struggle with one another until they unite at the end of the story to become a new Adam and Eve.   In one of the episodes, the man and woman are even space explorers trapped on an alien planet.

2) My problem with "The Day the Cheering Stopped" has less to do with the physics of a primordial sword with a Superman symbol created at the dawn of time (that could all be explained by comic book metaphysics), but more to do with Superman's solution to the central dilemma of the story (i.e., the cheering stopping).

If you remember, King Kosmos manipulates things so that everybody sees Superman as a hostile alien.  While trying to deal with KK, this puts a serious crimp into Superman's mojo.  

So how does he deal with this newfound obstacle?

Does he summon the moral courage to stand up to KK despite public outcry, endure the transitory jeers in the knowledge that his cause is just, teaching us all a lesson about maintaining strength of character in the face of adversity, and showing the value of doing what's right no matter how unpopular?

NO!

He hypnotizes himself to hear the jeering as cheering.

Cop.  Out.

Basically, Superman can't just face down the problem, he has to alter his consciousness to deal with it.  I'd like to think that Superman is made of sterner stuff, and Maggin's resolution here as not only more cheesey than a deluxe 4 cheese pizza, but a missed opportunity to say something important and inspirational.

[TELLE]

I think one of the Kryp/Tonn's more nagging problems for me is that it seems cribbed from two TWILIGHT ZONE episodes.

I think the idea is a pretty old sci-fi idea, no?  I remember an old EC (mid-50s) story with the same twist ending.