Superman:Time travel

[dancj]

The bulk of my pre-crisis Superman comics were from the 70s and 80s so it would have been that era that I read it in. The stories I remember just had him doing it on his own without a ship.

[Jim Kelly]

It was a long time ago now, but I think when I first saw the image on the cover of ADVENTURE COMICS 355 (and inside the comic book), I thought that it was literally what the Super-Villains saw.



And that Superman was flying through some rings that were transporting him through time. Back then, one of my favourite TV shows was TIME TUNNEL, so I probably thought that Superman used a time tunnel in space.

I would guess that Superman was actually going through a wormhole. And wormholes are usually visualized like the water going down the drain that either whorls in a counter-clockwise or clockwise direction. So if Superman is winding forward or backward through time, I guess on terms that are easier for a kid to understand it is literally winding forward or back.

The ridiculous thing is that the Flash and Supergirl just recently did some such thing, each going in different directions around the Earth, to slow down time, on the CW's Elseworlds. Crazy.

[stargazer01]

the thing I don't like about The Legion of Superheroes is that it implies Superman has been dead in next 1000 years.

I don't like it. I like to think Superman can live a lot longer than that.

[Jim Kelly]

How does the LSH imply that Superman is dead?

I might not be remembering something--just like I didn't remember the counter-clockwise time travel--but I don't remember the LSH stories being very clear about just what happened with Superman. I think it's left open-ended.

I tend to think that the Superman family left Earth to go explore the universe. Superman is out there somewhere, but the Legion stories avoid saying anything about him because it would nail down the timeline too much.

If there can't be stories about a Legion a thousand years in the future because it interferes with Superman's possible future, then there can't be any stories about the future in the DC universe. Which really limits the science fiction. Mind you, it used to be that only some DC titles were supposed to be interconnected--you could have a science fiction anthology like MYSTERY IN SPACE that told stories about the future and it didn't need to exist in the same DCU as Superman.

Even when the DC books became more interconnected, it was generally held that there were several possible futures. At the same time the Legion was being published there were other stories also set a thousand years in the future--by the same writer, artists and editor doing the Legion--that were about Klar Ken T5477, the direct descendent of Superman, which contradicted the Legion stories. It was only after COIE and the retcon of Superman that DC insisted on one consistent timeline--present, past and future--which is what created so many problems for the Legion.

[Jon Clark]

How does the LSH imply that Superman is dead?

I might not be remembering something--just like I didn't remember the counter-clockwise time travel--but I don't remember the LSH stories being very clear about just what happened with Superman. I think it's left open-ended.

I tend to think that the Superman family left Earth to go explore the universe. Superman is out there somewhere, but the Legion stories avoid saying anything about him because it would nail down the timeline too much.

If there can't be stories about a Legion a thousand years in the future because it interferes with Superman's possible future, then there can't be any stories about the future in the DC universe. Which really limits the science fiction. Mind you, it used to be that only some DC titles were supposed to be interconnected--you could have a science fiction anthology like MYSTERY IN SPACE that told stories about the future and it didn't need to exist in the same DCU as Superman.

Even when the DC books became more interconnected, it was generally held that there were several possible futures. At the same time the Legion was being published there were other stories also set a thousand years in the future--by the same writer, artists and editor doing the Legion--that were about Klar Ken T5477, the direct descendent of Superman, which contradicted the Legion stories. It was only after COIE and the retcon of Superman that DC insisted on one consistent timeline--present, past and future--which is what created so many problems for the Legion.

The problem with the Legion stories is that Superman can't occupy two places at the same time. If Superboy travelled forward to 1980 in a story he became a phantom because there was already an adult version of him in 1980. Same way that if there was an older Superman present in the 30th century he'd prevent Superboy from physically being in the 30th century. So either Superman time jumps when the Legion appears so his younger self can have those missions (a weird concept) or he is dead by that time (more reasonable). Plus Superman has travelled forward to times before the Legion founding and after the 30th Century which is really twisted if you think future Superman just keeps skipping those moments that his younger self lands in.

[stargazer01]

Jim, I appreciate that, but it does sound very convoluted.

[Jim Kelly]

I think Weisinger wasn't as consistent about the future travel as the past travel--and there were a few times when the rules were thrown out so Superman and Superboy could both meet in the same story. But it would be interesting if it was always the future version of yourself that becomes the phantom regardless of which one is doing the time travelling. So future Superman is happily living with Lois on Rokyn, when the wife says in shock, "Clark, you're starting to fade away," then Kara says, "Oh don't worry, I've seen this before--Superboy must be in the 30th century again--soon as he goes back home, Kal-El will stop being a phantom."

If you think this is complicated, you should see PREDETERMINATION (2014).

Grant Morrison had his own idea about Superman's fate--as he went off to live in the sun--both in the One Million timeline and the All-Star timeline.

[dancj]

The problem with the Legion stories is that Superman can't occupy two places at the same time. If Superboy travelled forward to 1980 in a story he became a phantom because there was already an adult version of him in 1980. Same way that if there was an older Superman present in the 30th century he'd prevent Superboy from physically being in the 30th century. So either Superman time jumps when the Legion appears so his younger self can have those missions (a weird concept) or he is dead by that time (more reasonable). Plus Superman has travelled forward to times before the Legion founding and after the 30th Century which is really twisted if you think future Superman just keeps skipping those moments that his younger self lands in.

Maybe the younger version always wins - so when Superboy appears in the 30th Century, the 30th Century Superman turns into a phantom until Superboy goes back.

That would really piss him off.