DENNIS O’NEIL: A Superman For Our Time
When we’re in a somber mood, which is an easy kind of mood to be in these days, we hope that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were not prophets. Joe and Jerry were, of course, the creators of Superman, and way back in 1938 they told what’s become known as Superman’s origin story.
Surely you’re familiar with it; it’s been retold and edited and redacted and emended and amended and recast in comics, in movies and books and on television, and probably video games, for these past 68 years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some earnest young writer is, at this moment, reworking it yet again. But in the event your long-term memory is gebollixed for some reason, I’ll give you the trading card version.
Jor-El, a scientist, tells the poobahs of his civilization on the planet Krypton that their entire world is soon to disintegrate. The poobahs refuse to believe him and – oops – the darn world does blow itself to bits. Jor-El does manage to get his son away in a spacecraft before the final blooey. The kid lands on Earth and becomes a mighty champion of justice, etc. etc.
If I were to rewrite this familiar story, I might consider making Jor-El an environmentalist who’s worried about, let’s say, global warming. And maybe, in this version, the poobahs are politicians who take Jor-El’s carefully reasoned and scientifically unimpeachable work, which Mr. El has presented in the form of a document, and had someone with negligible scientific credentials edit Mr. El’s writing so heavily that it’s meaning is altered.
I mean, my suggested revamp isn’t really too far from the original, is it? What’s scary is that it isn’t far at all from some recent real-life history. And that’s why, despite my great respect for Messrs. Siegel and Shuster, I hope they’re lousy prophets. Remember how their story ended? The poobahs insisted they were right and Jor-El was wrong, despite plenty of contrary evidence, and – Blooey!
If we were to redo, once again, what Joe and Jerry began with, we might consider expanding it to allow a look at the poobahs. The trick in doing this kind of thing is to ask, if these fictional characters were real, what kind of people would they be? Not conventionally “evil;” at least, they wouldn’t think of themselves as “evil;” no one does.
But arrogant, certainly: so sure of their own unchallenged superiority that they feel they don’t have to listen to, much less heed, anyone else. And prisoners of their own egos, which would not allow them to admit ever, being wrong. And not only greedy, but able to rationalize their greed, if there were a profit to be made from their acts.
All that would congeal into deep, impenetrable ignorance. Not lack of education, nor stupidity, but ignorance, which, in this context, we might define as a refusal to acknowledge the truth that’s available to them.
I’d like to read that story. In a comic book, not in a newspaper.
RECOMMENDED READING: The Selfish Gene
Dennis O’Neil is an award-winning editor and writer of comic books like Batman, The Question, Iron Man, Green Lantern and/or Green Arrow, and The Shadow, as well as all kinds of novels, stories and articles.
Artwork TM and © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.
Yes, but the real question is, WHICH of Al and Tipper Gore's daughters will they decide to put into that spaceship?
The sad thing is, someone made this same analogy over at the official DC Comics boards–and was almost immediately shouted down by posters pushing the Bush party line, that "global warming" was a myth, a natural phenomenon, an unproven theory, etc. Poor Jor-El would not have stood a chance.
I think the reason the "Krypton" scenario still resonates today is because it describes an archetypal situation that has dogged humanity since the dawn of time. Basically: "if it's not bothering me now, then I would prefer not to think or do anything about it." I am on the fence as to whether this is an attitude that can be fostered out of society by education and public-awareness, or if the majority of us are simply wired that way. But even if this is a part of human nature, I think we probably have more people willing to be enlightened & proactive than ever before in human history. I mean, who (besides family) backed up Jor-EL (or Noah)?
Maybe there are more people willing to be enlightened and proactive these days. If so, I think that's because we're on our first full generation of people who were raised with the knowledge that you can, indeed, fight City Hall, and if there's enough of you willing to stand up, you just might win. As for Krypton, I think I'd be just as concerned about a planet ruled by a Science Council as I am by the bureautocracy we've got running things now.
I agree. A more politically correct Hero that actually stood for what is right, not what the media feeds us, would be a dream come true. Many people are coming realize that what we see on TV and hear on the radio isn’t really free speech, more like feed up B.S. that really does not affect our lives. I care more about Ron Paul’s debates as opposed to Paris Hilton’s jail scentece. However, it does appeal to me when celebs are made fun of, haha.There is another new deck of trading cards that are out called Hollywood Zombies that are made by the same folks that did the Garbage Pail Kids! You will be interested in them because they are hilarious and the art is amazing. They take A-list celebs, and even some B-listers, and draw them out to be the living dead. For a good laugh check out http://www.hollywoodzombies.com I just wanted to share this with you guys because I work with them!
Jor-El should have read "Our Iceberg is Melting" by John Kotter.