Have Kryptonians ever really been extinct?

[Kuwagaton]

Being the last Kryptonian wasn't built on a Marvel concept but I guess you can say that later making Kandor an outpost for different aliens was? As part of the mutant stand in not covered by the underworld

[Jim Kelly]

Part of it was an attempt to make the Universe rationally based--or what they thought was rational. But part of it was also to get back to the basics. Not completely getting back to Siegel and Shuster's vision but grounding Superman.

I don't think it was worth it to trash all of the Legion's continuity and get rid of Superboy. If I had my choice, I would have much rather kept the kitchen sink Superman, so I could have my Legion.

However, I can see the virtue of Superman being the only survivor of Krypton. And when I see the other Kryptonians show up in the movies and the T.V. shows, it drives me up the wall. Those things always expose the weakness of the concept.

The original idea is that all of Krypton was destroyed and only this little baby was saved. Any other survivors undercuts that succinct idea. Long ago, I thought of ways you could have Kal-El be the only survivor and still have the bottle city, the Phantom Zone, Supergirl and the kitchen sink. But I doubt that's ever going to happen.

[Tzigone]

Long ago, I thought of ways you could have Kal-El be the only survivor and still have the bottle city, the Phantom Zone, Supergirl and the kitchen sink. But I doubt that's ever going to happen.

That sounds very interesting. PZ is easy for me, but I have more trouble with a non-convoluted Supergirl (at least as his cousin, as is her most known version) and Kandor while maintaining that status.

[Riv86672]

The immediate Post Crisis era was the height of DC’s inferiority complex towards Marvel, so the fanaticism about continuity was born out of their desire to emulate Marvel. One Earth, one continuity, and no bringing back anything from Pre-Crisis because that time was silly and childish and DC was for big boys now.

^^^that wasn’t really a bad thing.
I’d argue the constant reboots since that first Crisis (in a desire to replicate the success and sales of same) has done nothing but dilute the product that is DC, and confuse the hell out of things, but that’s a whole different subject.

In regards to Superman, stripping him of all the Pre Crisis trappings, where it seemed the only ppl that died on Krypton were Superman’s parents, was a good thing, imo. He was unique again, and though it presented some problems, they weren’t insurmountable. As soon as the waters started getting muddied, that’s when the floodgates opened and the original Crisis ceased to be important.

I mean, the whole LoSH thing was unnecessarily complex. They could easily have just been inspired by Superman. A fun thing to do and pay homage to Pre Crisis DC would have been to have an imaginary story (which DC was known for) where Superboy was in the Legion. At the end, the Legionnaire imagining it could have remarked on how cool that would have been.

[manwhohaseverything]

I mean, the whole LoSH thing was unnecessarily complex. They could easily have just been inspired by Superman. A fun thing to do and pay homage to Pre Crisis DC would have been to have an imaginary story (which DC was known for) where Superboy was in the Legion. At the end, the Legionnaire imagining it could have remarked on how cool that would have been.

Yeah! He was a unique meta human who got his powers after he reached a certain age. They actively downplayed everything about krypton.So,any value in uniqueness wasn't there. The character was portrayed to be not a man of two worlds.

How is it anymore unnecessarily complex than the guy's costume? Really? The mother made grown ass adult a Halloween costume to go out and do whatever the heck he does(since, he isn't a vigilante. Which is another rabbit hole). Legion is a time travel story. It isn't that far fetched.

[Adekis]

Pretty sure Kryptonians were extinct for a short period between Death of Superman and Return of Superman. Besides that, even in the absence of Kara or Kandor, Kal himself kept the word from applying, because extinct just means "no living samples of a species."

[Jim Kelly]

I remember there was this bit of lore, that came up during the exile in space, which said Kryptonians were bound to Krypton, they couldn't leave. I think the loophole for Superman was that he wasn't born on Krypton and therefore not bound to the planet. But, in theory, Kryptonians couldn't exist anywhere but on Krypton. It was a whacky piece of logic (but something that seems to happen a lot in comics--I think there was a similar rule for the Martian Manhunter) and I never fully understood it or wanted to understand it. Maybe someone else remembers better than me what it was all about.

[marhawkman]

I remember there was this bit of lore, that came up during the exile in space, which said Kryptonians were bound to Krypton, they couldn't leave. I think the loophole for Superman was that he wasn't born on Krypton and therefore not bound to the planet. But, in theory, Kryptonians couldn't exist anywhere but on Krypton. It was a whacky piece of logic (but something that seems to happen a lot in comics--I think there was a similar rule for the Martian Manhunter) and I never fully understood it or wanted to understand it. Maybe someone else remembers better than me what it was all about.

IIRC that was tied to the Eradicator. Back when it was the malevolent AI the Kryptonian science council was using to manage things it started genetically tweaking Kryptonians to be stuck on Krypton.

[phonogram12]

Only the good ones. It seems like every once in awhile there are always a few hundred or so evil ones, which kind of pisses me off, quite frankly. It just lends credence to the John Byrne revision that Krypton "deserved to blow up," which I've always hated. If Krypton was such a horrible place, Superman would have come from somewhere else.

[Riv86672]

If Krypton was such a horrible place, Superman would have come from somewhere else.

No, it would just show it’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at/ that you can choose your own path.

[phonogram12]

No, it would just show it’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at/ that you can choose your own path.

That's not what Jerry & Joe intended, so I'm sticking with that. As pretty as Byrne's drawings were, his reimagining of Krypton was a complete affront to the original concept.

[Kuwagaton]

The original take on Krypton was just as deserving to die because it used the same logic, though, in not having any sort of belief in their brightest scientist or back up plans.

I remember there was this bit of lore, that came up during the exile in space, which said Kryptonians were bound to Krypton, they couldn't leave. I think the loophole for Superman was that he wasn't born on Krypton and therefore not bound to the planet. But, in theory, Kryptonians couldn't exist anywhere but on Krypton. It was a whacky piece of logic (but something that seems to happen a lot in comics--I think there was a similar rule for the Martian Manhunter) and I never fully understood it or wanted to understand it. Maybe someone else remembers better than me what it was all about.

There was no loophole regarding where he was born. A genetic lock was put into "modern" Kryptonians, which Jor El actively bypassed to save Kal. It's weirdly close enough to call the basis for the genetic stuff in Man of Steel, but not really the same.

[Riv86672]

That's not what Jerry & Joe intended, so I'm sticking with that. As pretty as Byrne's drawings were, his reimagining of Krypton was a complete affront to the original concept.

Fair enough, though the argument “that’s not what the creators intended” gets less and less relevant the older the character becomes, the more hands that have played in that character’s playground, the more reboots and reimaginings the character’s been subject to.
I’d rather go w. “I didn’t like that version”. Lord knows I said that enough during the New52 when Supes was acting like a frat boy, was all about feats, was ignoring the MAN in his name in favor of the SUPER, and dating WW.

[phonogram12]

Fair enough, though the argument “that’s not what the creators intended” gets less and less relevant the older the character becomes, the more hands that have played in that character’s playground, the more reboots and reimaginings the character’s been subject to.
I’d rather go w. “I didn’t like that version”.

Completely fair. Like I said, it's just my preference.

[Riv86672]

Completely fair. Like I said, it's just my preference.

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