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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133375
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Posted: 25 July 2024 at 4:40pm | IP Logged | 1
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Superman would have a staggering influence on America and the World, simply by the fact that he existed. If the assumption is that his name is accurate, SuperMAN, then he is to be taken as a godlike example of homo sapiens and we can easily imagine all kinds of suspicion and resentment being directed against him. But consider particularly the Silver Age version of the character. Fear of war would be mostly eliminated, as he could—like in the unfortunately executed fourth movie—end even the potential for war. No need for NASA, either. Even without knowledge of his own alien origins, his ability to traverse the cosmos under his own power would eliminate any need for humanity to struggle and strive. Want soil samples from Mars? Hold my beer says Superman. Want to visit Vega? Build a ship and he’ll carry you there, almost instantly. In fact, the existence of Superman could have a crushing effect on the human spirit!
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Michael Penn Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006 Location: United States Posts: 12726
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Posted: 25 July 2024 at 5:36pm | IP Logged | 2
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Oy! How quickly this realistic thinking saps the fun out of comicbooks!!!
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Eric Jansen Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013 Location: United States Posts: 2369
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Posted: 25 July 2024 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | 3
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IF he was willing to do all that! In the Silver Age, he helped a LOT with that kind of thing, but I can more easily see him (in the 30's/40's and now) going the other way. "Do it yourself. It's better for you and better for me." (But the first time an astronaut died, he would be devastated.)
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ron bailey Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 October 2016 Location: United States Posts: 1041
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Posted: 25 July 2024 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | 4
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n fact, the existence of Superman could have a crushing effect on the human spirit! .... And this version of Superman, does he sleep, does he age, is he mortal? Is he assumed to be able to procreate with humans for progeny with the same or similar powers? Otherwise, if he stays unique as an alien it is just a matter of generationally "waiting him out" ... (Apologies if this is what Generations covers ....)
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Mark Haslett Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 6442
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Posted: 26 July 2024 at 12:51am | IP Logged | 5
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Steve: Rate or itemize what organizations, groups or professionals wanting to collect data on Superman, which would be a concern to Superman.
**
The Superman Revenge Squad The Batman Revenge Squad The Superboy Revenge Squad
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133375
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Posted: 26 July 2024 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | 6
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Oy! How quickly this realistic thinking saps the fun out of comicbooks!!!••• Ain’t that the truth! Decades ago, Larry Niven wrote an essay, “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex”, in which he explored the nature of Superman’s sex life—or lack thereof. It was written in jest, but when I joined the industry a few years later I was quick to note how Larry’s “realistic” analysis had seeped into the thinking of many comic book writers.
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Steven Myers Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 June 2004 Location: United States Posts: 5687
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Posted: 26 July 2024 at 12:55pm | IP Logged | 7
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Should the general populace in comics know that aliens are real? Or that magic or ghosts are real? Or Norse gods? Or anything else like this?
In practice, I've seen it handled either way depending on the story. Maybe that makes the most sense?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133375
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Posted: 26 July 2024 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | 8
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There are too many verified examples of aliens, ghosts, magic, etc for rational people to deny them. I’m reminded of a few decades back when I was invited to work on a Dr 13 graphic novel with a well known sceptic. The writer wanted to play it as Thirteen debunking all the supernatural stuff in the DCU. I pointed out that this was not a workable scenario since most of that stuff was REAL. It would make more sense, I suggested, for Terry Thirteen to go after frauds, since there would likely be lots of them in a world where magic was real. They’d be the Nigerian princes of the DC reality.
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Brian Floyd Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006 Location: United States Posts: 8605
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Posted: 27 July 2024 at 12:48am | IP Logged | 9
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So basically he'd be similar to James Randi, but in a world where the actual supernatural is more prevalent. That would have been a good idea. Dr. 13 never appealed to me, because he was TOO skeptical.
Edited by Brian Floyd on 27 July 2024 at 12:52am
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Jim Burdo Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2020 Location: United States Posts: 377
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Posted: 27 July 2024 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | 10
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One interpretation of Dr. 13 is that his skepticism is so strong that magic doesn't work around him. So he could "debunk" real supernatural things.
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Brian Floyd Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006 Location: United States Posts: 8605
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Posted: 27 July 2024 at 11:16pm | IP Logged | 11
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Has Dr. 13 ever encounted Deadman?
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Doug Centers Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014 Location: United States Posts: 5605
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Posted: 28 July 2024 at 12:05am | IP Logged | 12
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Funny enough they were in the same story in DC Superstars #18 but conveniently never together. Not that Dr. Thirteen could see Deadman anyway but would've been a nice inside joke if Boston inhabited his body for a while.
Thirteen met the Spectre a couple of times and blew him off as a fraud.
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