The Superman Fan Fiction Workshop

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I decided to put it (back) up at the 5 Earth's site

https://5earths.proboards.com/thread/1447/broad-bronze

This works just fine for me. Thanks.

I liked the concept of having Kara Zor-L in '38 instead of her cousin and her struggles to deal with the obvious sexism that would bring. I also dug the idea of Taylor and White as old friend and rivals. I'm curious why Harvey Dent had become Kent though. Are you setting something up for a sequel?

My main suggestion for you would be that I'd like much more Lois. The idea of there being two intrepid girl reporters working in Metropolis feels like it's ripe for exploration. I'd add Lois even earlier so that you have Perry, Lois, and Clara all bouncing off each other, which could give those scenes a little extra juice.

The last bit is something that I don't think there's anything you can do much about as it's baked into the character herself. There's no real difference between Clara and Superwoman (just as there's no difference between Karen and Power Girl) which begs the question why no one knows who she is. With Clark, there's the fig leaf of the glasses and the mild mannered persona, but with Clara, there's none. Will that be addressed at all?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

[QUOTE=Jon Clark;5997750]]/QUOTE]

I've tweaked the dialogue and added this bit to hopefully clarify things. Let me know if this works better for you. Thanks.

***

“And this Superman co-exists with the Superboy we just saw?” J’Onn asks.

“Yes, and on the same Earth, which is what’s so peculiar. Normally, a change in history would create a new branch of history, running parallel with the original, but that hasn’t happened this time. The new timeline and the old are weaving in and out of the other.”

“Are they aware of each other?”

“Not yet, but they will be once their two timelines untangle themselves enough to drift apart from one another. But, by then, they’ll just think they’re visiting another Earth amongst the infinite alternate worlds of the Multiverse. They’ll have no idea that they were living right alongside each other for years, hidden in each other's temporal blind spot.” Dawn waves her hand again and the world around them dissolves into the giant tents of a circus, packed with spectators enjoying the show.

“Where are we now?” J’Onn asks, astonished in child-like wonder.

“Haley’s Circus. See those two over there?” Dawn points out a much more youthful Clark Kent and Lois Lane watching a family of acrobats high above them. “Unbeknownst to that Lois & Clark, their counterparts have just gotten married a few blocks away.”

“How is that possible? Wouldn't they inevitably become aware of one another through others?”

Dawn skakes her head. "Nope, people's memories adjust to whatever timestream they happen to be in at any given time. Take that girl, for instance. Her name is Betty Kane. She works summers at her father's law firm, the same law firm Dick Grayson works for. Depending upon the month, he sees him almost every day. Has a bit of a crush on him, too. That kid swinging up top around she's been watching? That little seven year old is Dick Grayson. A year from now, he’ll be adopted by Bruce Wayne and start training to become Robin, the Boy Wonder. But, to Betty, at this specific moment in time and in this particular timestream, she doesn't work with the adult Dick Grayson at all…until she does whenever she needs to.”

J’Onn turns to Dawn, “But why? Why have they become younger?”

Dawn shrugs her shoulders and smiles back at the Martian, “Who knows, J’Onny? Maybe there was a part of them that wanted it. Hell, maybe some higher power needed them younger. These are bigger questions than the two of us are capable of answering.”

[RobinGA]

I was glad to see you work in Betty Kane.

I thought about having her as part of a backstory high school romance with my Robin stories.

But she just seemed more appropriate for Earth-1, not Earth-2.

It is nice to see her referenced for the Earth-1 Dick Grayson.

[Jon Clark]

This works just fine for me. Thanks.

I liked the concept of having Kara Zor-L in '38 instead of her cousin and her struggles to deal with the obvious sexism that would bring. I also dug the idea of Taylor and White as old friend and rivals. I'm curious why Harvey Dent had become Kent though. Are you setting something up for a sequel?

Originally Two-Face had the last name Kent. It was changed in later stories to Dent- possibly because of the Superman connection. I just know that by the time i was reading Earth-Two stories they had made the name one of those differences between the alternate Earths. It just felt right to use the Harvey Kent name for a Golden Age approach and the little joke with his sharing Clara's name made it even more appealing.

The last bit is something that I don't think there's anything you can do much about as it's baked into the character herself. There's no real difference between Clara and Superwoman (just as there's no difference between Karen and Power Girl) which begs the question why no one knows who she is. With Clark, there's the fig leaf of the glasses and the mild mannered persona, but with Clara, there's none. Will that be addressed at all?

Hadn't really given it much thought until you mentioned it. Early Superman stories weren't as consistent with Clark's meekness and I really can't see Kara Zor-L taking that approach anyhow. I'm seeing her at this point in her career as being like the George Reeve's version where she might have trouble keeping straight who she is at points- Clara mentioning stuff Superwoman saw/did and Superwoman doing the same. It also helps that other than Lois and the people at the Wayne party no one has actually seen both Superwoman and Clara.

But now that you brought it up, I might twist in a long forgotten Golden Age power of Superman's and a Bronze Age story idea along with a legend about how Power Girl's look developed under Wally Wood. The combined concept would result in Clara and Superwoman being more distinctly different in appearance.

[Jon Clark]

I've tweaked the dialogue and added this bit to hopefully clarify things. Let me know if this works better for you. Thanks.

***

“And this Superman co-exists with the Superboy we just saw?” J’Onn asks.

“Yes, and on the same Earth, which is what’s so peculiar. Normally, a change in history would create a new branch of history, running parallel with the original, but that hasn’t happened this time. The new timeline and the old are weaving in and out of the other.”

“Are they aware of each other?”

“Not yet, but they will be once their two timelines untangle themselves enough to drift apart from one another. But, by then, they’ll just think they’re visiting another Earth amongst the infinite alternate worlds of the Multiverse. They’ll have no idea that they were living right alongside each other for years, hidden in each other's temporal blind spot.” Dawn waves her hand again and the world around them dissolves into the giant tents of a circus, packed with spectators enjoying the show.

“Where are we now?” J’Onn asks, astonished in child-like wonder.

“Haley’s Circus. See those two over there?” Dawn points out a much more youthful Clark Kent and Lois Lane watching a family of acrobats high above them. “Unbeknownst to that Lois & Clark, their counterparts have just gotten married a few blocks away.”

“How is that possible? Wouldn't they inevitably become aware of one another through others?”

Dawn skakes her head. "Nope, people's memories adjust to whatever timestream they happen to be in at any given time. Take that girl, for instance. Her name is Betty Kane. She works summers at her father's law firm, the same law firm Dick Grayson works for. Depending upon the month, he sees him almost every day. Has a bit of a crush on him, too. That kid swinging up top around she's been watching? That little seven year old is Dick Grayson. A year from now, he’ll be adopted by Bruce Wayne and start training to become Robin, the Boy Wonder. But, to Betty, at this specific moment in time and in this particular timestream, she doesn't work with the adult Dick Grayson at all…until she does whenever she needs to.”

J’Onn turns to Dawn, “But why? Why have they become younger?”

Dawn shrugs her shoulders and smiles back at the Martian, “Who knows, J’Onny? Maybe there was a part of them that wanted it. Hell, maybe some higher power needed them younger. These are bigger questions than the two of us are capable of answering.”

It's a bit clearer. I can still see the "man behind the curtain" with Betty Kane being apparently the same age when interacting with both versions of Grayson, but like you said ultimately either the reader accepts the concept or they don't.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Originally Two-Face had the last name Kent. It was changed in later stories to Dent- possibly because of the Superman connection. I just know that by the time i was reading Earth-Two stories they had made the name one of those differences between the alternate Earths. It just felt right to use the Harvey Kent name for a Golden Age approach and the little joke with his sharing Clara's name made it even more appealing.

I had no idea Two-Face was originally called Harvey Kent. Nice pull then.

Hadn't really given it much thought until you mentioned it. Early Superman stories weren't as consistent with Clark's meekness and I really can't see Kara Zor-L taking that approach anyhow. I'm seeing her at this point in her career as being like the George Reeve's version where she might have trouble keeping straight who she is at points- Clara mentioning stuff Superwoman saw/did and Superwoman doing the same. It also helps that other than Lois and the people at the Wayne party no one has actually seen both Superwoman and Clara.

But now that you brought it up, I might twist in a long forgotten Golden Age power of Superman's and a Bronze Age story idea along with a legend about how Power Girl's look developed under Wally Wood. The combined concept would result in Clara and Superwoman being more distinctly different in appearance.

I assume you're referring to the old "super-control of facial muscles" trick? That'd certainly work. Long term, I think she'd have to do something to conceal her identity, even if it is something as wildly implausible as a change of hair color or a pair of glasses, or simply abandon the pretext of secret identity altogether, which would be another interesting way to distinguish Clara from her cousin.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

It's a bit clearer. I can still see the "man behind the curtain" with Betty Kane being apparently the same age when interacting with both versions of Grayson, but like you said ultimately either the reader accepts the concept or they don't.

Why would Betty's age change, though? There aren't two Betty Kanes. There was only the one as far as I know, despite both her and Batwoman mostly existing during the squishy continuity in which Superman & Batman were transitioning between their Earth-Two and Earth-One incarnations.

[RobinGA]

Not to interrupt the two of you.

But I wanted to post the second part of The Grayson Family Values screenplay.

It involves the conclusion to the struggle against the Joker, along with discussion of
living the life as a superhero.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...IfhUYS3o0/edit

[Jon Clark]

Why would Betty's age change, though? There aren't two Betty Kanes. There was only the one as far as I know, despite both her and Batwoman mostly existing during the squishy continuity in which Superman & Batman were transitioning between their Earth-Two and Earth-One incarnations.

You described Betty as being closer to a contemporary of the Earth-Two Grayson in that she is summer interning, not something a pre-teen is likely to do. But since her main story role is as Bat-girl, young partner to Bat-woman and contemporary of Batman's young sidekick- it seems strange for her to be older than Earth-One's Robin. Unless she has already been Bat-Girl alongside the Earth-Two Robin pre-1956, I'm not sure just where she and Bat-woman fit as contemporaries (and potential romantic partners) of Batman and Robin.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

You described Betty as being closer to a contemporary of the Earth-Two Grayson in that she is summer interning, not something a pre-teen is likely to do. But since her main story role is as Bat-girl, young partner to Bat-woman and contemporary of Batman's young sidekick- it seems strange for her to be older than Earth-One's Robin. Unless she has already been Bat-Girl alongside the Earth-Two Robin pre-1956, I'm not sure just where she and Bat-woman fit as contemporaries (and potential romantic partners) of Batman and Robin.

Good note. I've adjusted the dialogue so that Betty is now much younger and closer to Earth-One Dick's age when she debuts as Bat-Girl in '61.

Dawn shakes her head. "Nope, people's memories adjust to whatever timestream they happen to be in at any given time. Take that little girl, for instance. Her name is Betty Kane. She spends every summer making a nuisance of herself at her daddy's law firm, the same law firm Dick Grayson works for. Depending upon the month, he sees him almost every day. Has a bit of a crush on him, too. That kid swinging around she's been watching? That little seven year old is Dick Grayson. A year from now, he’ll be adopted by Bruce Wayne and start training to become Robin, the Boy Wonder. But, to Betty, at this specific moment in time and in this particular timestream, she doesn't even know the adult Dick Grayson…until she does whenever she needs to.”

Thanks for the feedback!

[RobinGA]

I'm posting the last of the Robin and Power Girl chronicles back story.
It is the conclusion of Grayson Family Values, Part 3 which involves a lengthy discussion of Krypton.

I've thought a lot about Krypton. But here my thoughts were often influenced by a lot of different things.
I'll take a few minutes to explain my thinking.

First, is that Power Girl comes from Krypton-2, not Krypton-1. What is the value of the multiverse if we don't think
of Krypton as having a multitude of different experiences.

One thing that also has bothered me about Krypton is how uniform the whole planet might be. I think we need to
make some space for thinking of the different regions, with some intellectual diversity. I've tried to think what
would a refugee from Earth look like? It depended where you were from. If you live in the first world, your experience
of life on Earth would look radically different if you came from the global South. My Power Girl is thus a refugee not just
from Krypton, but from a region where the military caste aware the end was coming, took that information to form a dictatorship.

I've thought of several historical examples from Earth. The military junta that ran Argentina during the "dirty war" came immediately to mind.
But I also thought of Cuba in the years before the Spanish-American war where people were herded into an early
form of concentration camps. In Kara's region in Krypton it wasn't about race or ethnicity, but to control labor, while also ridding themselves of "undesirable" people. If racism or ethnicity is missing, the Nazi eugenics program is certainly a model, but also Stalin's desire to liquidate the Ukranian
landowning farming class.


Alura Zor-L ends up dying in the camps, while Kara survives.

Zor-L who conducted scientific experiments on prisoners, also is in charge of the rocket program that will allow the elite to escape Krypton.
Kara becomes his prime guinea pig, she is placed on a rocket not to help her escape, but just to use her. But Zor-L miscalculates, he had less
time than he thought, the planet exploded. It also explains why Kara's rocket was so slow, it was an experimental rocket. It is a darker Krypton,
than what we have seen before. Of course, the thing to keep in mind would be this is just Kara's region. In the rest of Krypton, the story was quite different.

The other element that is part of this story is Kara's own feelings of telling that story. Like with many holocaust survivors, Kara is highly reticent to talk about this within the family, it will take considerable pressure from Richard that he can talk her into telling the truth to her oldest son, John. There is in fact a mixed approach. Kara is readily aware that Krypton was a more advanced place than Earth, she is making sure that her children
speak the Kryptonian language, are exposed to Kryptonian science, mathematics, although slowly considering their relatively young age.

That is another theme in the story. While young John and Thaddeus aren't superpowered, just normal American kids. They are in fact years ahead
of where most American kids are mentally. That becomes something of a problem. The boys are on this developmental education program, learning Kryptonian, while their questions about this strange place are just ignored. Finally, Richard feels this can't go on anymore, he has the fight of all
fights with Kara about teaching Krypton. Ultimately, Kara tells John the whole story, what she experienced was like, the destruction of her planet.

The parallel to the destruction of Krypton, is the destruction of Earth-2. Krypton's demise, along with all Kara experienced were horrific, but Earth-2 doesn't have the same punch. Except for perhaps the death of Helena Wayne. But for Kara and Richard they simply traded in one planet Earth for another. The people survived, although not always as a separate individual, united with their Earth-1 doppleganger. They are both rather pragmatic
about that process.

Lastly, I have a brief discussion of Richard and Kara becoming media celebrities. Kara wins a Pulitzer Prize, while Richard becomes a media superstar
because of the success of the Grayson News Network.

I should also say that experimentation is an important part of this series. I tend to change things up, finding new ways to do things. This is the end of the backstory. They were interesting to write, but the rest involves a narrative that shows struggles with supervillains. I already posted the third
installment. If people want me to repost that can be done. I can also send it via email if people prefer. But other than that the next portion is the
fourth portion, Better Not Miss. Thanks for reading a long post. Here is the link.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...VT2jPh65I/edit

[RobinGA]

I'd like to post the next story in the Robin and Power Girl chronicles.
It involves a struggle between the entire Superman family and a group they come to call the Organization.
Eventually, the Organization decides to wipe out the entire Superman family, which considering they learn
everyone's secret identities is a real possibility. But the series starts slowly.

Part I involves the Grayson and Kent families in Smallville. The Grayson family has taken the drive up from
Wichita, to celebrate the start of the football season at Smallville, where both Jon and Jordan Kent are playing.
This section is rather idyllic, with the emphasis largely on family dynamics. There is a problem with a nuclear reactor
in India. But most of the time are spent with such things as Kara teaching Jordan how to fly, which she does in
her own unique style.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...rSrt0g34g/edit

[RobinGA]

The second part, the beginning of the war with the Organization.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...HBbSpREk8/edit

[DABellWrites]

Can published fanfic be posted? I'd just like some thoughts on it.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Can published fanfic be posted? I'd just like some thoughts on it.

Sure. You can post stuff you've posted elsewhere.