Thanks for sharing this. I can tell you had fun with Lana, a bit of a twist to a typical
Superman tale.
Thanks for sharing this. I can tell you had fun with Lana, a bit of a twist to a typical
Superman tale.
Yeah, Lana really crystalized for me while I was writing her. Her characterization has been all over the place in comics, movies, and TV.
I think what made her character click for me was the realization that her defining feature is that she always falls for the wrong guy...which extends to Clark Kent.
I know lots of people dislike Lana, she is a mercurial character.
But I've always liked her. There is something about her that is appealing.
You just have to set aside the bad writing, the chasing after Clark who is
a bad fit for her. Think of her good attributes that would her make a successful
person.
Here’s one that’s been occurring to me:
Argo, the Outcast’s Haven
Back in Krypton’s ancient history, the cruel control-freak Kem-L created a penal enclave for his political enemies, located on a super dense asteroid locked behind a powerful nebula and singularity, its exact location unknown, accessible only by Phantom Zone travel. It was meant to be the polar opposite of Phantom Zone confinement - while the Phantom Zone allows one to exit in great physical shape but shattered mind decades later, Argo was meant to be a slow death sentence of deprivation and hardship strung along for years. However, determined and ingenious convicts managed to carve out shelter and a life of their own, and were eventually joined by Zor-El and his allies just before Krypton’s destruction. Unfortunately, the pathway through the Phantom Zone was lost, so now getting there requires some kind of perilous, almost-certainly lethal odyssey.
Thus, it is conceptually now the opposite of Kandor - a deprived, “lost” refugee colony compared to a shining city that’s in another dimension.
Like action, adventure, rogues, and outlaws? Like anti-heroes, femme fatales, mysteries and thrillers?
I wrote a book with them. Outlaw’s Shadow: A Sherwood Noir. Robin Hood’s evil counterpart, Guy of Gisbourne, is the main character. Feel free to give it a look: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asi...E2PKBNJFH76GQP
I like it. I think there is something about imagining a Krypton that wasn't perfect. Where
the rule of the military and scientific caste led them down some dark holes. That can be
the interesting part about fan fiction allowed to play a little with the conventional canon.
I liked the notion inspired by the last run of movies that Krypton had a caste of 'leaders,' who might be chosen to lead simply because of their caste, not necessarily because of any sort of experience or talent for that sort of thing.
It would have been an interesting nod to that if Snyder had chosen a much younger actor to be one of the leadership council, and have the older more experienced and perhaps wiser soldier and scientist caste people like Zod and Jor-El expected to automatically defer to him because he 'has leadership genes' or whatever, to showcase how Krypton's stratified society was part of what was killing it.
Some of Man of Steel’s “genetic caste system” idea was a genuinely clever mishmash of Byrne’s “sterile sci-fi world” alongside some strong elements of the better Silver Age stuff.
Personally, I’ve always felt that the Kem-L character who’s supposed to be the El family ancestor might be a fun character to make the Greater Scope Villain of Krypton’s destruction on a very “deconstructed dystopia” manner; a brilliant scientist in *some* areas who then decided he was brilliant in *all* things, “perfecting” Kryptonian society and began installing dogmatic laws, codes, and programs outside his expertise that set the stage for Jor-El being unable to rescue the planet.
Like action, adventure, rogues, and outlaws? Like anti-heroes, femme fatales, mysteries and thrillers?
I wrote a book with them. Outlaw’s Shadow: A Sherwood Noir. Robin Hood’s evil counterpart, Guy of Gisbourne, is the main character. Feel free to give it a look: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asi...E2PKBNJFH76GQP
THE PITCH: It is the year 1946 and the almost decade long rivalry between Superman and Luthor reaches a climax that leads both men to explore new possibilities. However, the arrival of Kryptonian survivors threatens to change them both forever!
Please enjoy the first half of REIGN OF THE UBERMENSCH!
http://https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X9xSdR5nPL1NAPVVS5z-fztvMlbWx6DocnaSeDoqUSk/edit
Earth 3K:
* Clark was a Deputy Sheriff in Smallville but after busting a big crime he was promoted to Metropolis but he pretends to be dim and clumsy to lower expectations
* Maggie Sawyer is his love interest with her teenage daughter disliking aliens.
* Lex Luthor was attacked by Zod, who thought Luthor was the "powerfulness" man on Earth, and Luthor so was badly hurt that he either is hooked up to a cybernetic suit or he became Mettalo.
* Zod is kidnapped by Luthor out of revenge and is experimented on and loses some of his body parts. After being saved he replaces his missing parts with advanced Kryptonian tech turning him into Cyborg Superman.
* Bizarro is a clone child of Luthor and Zod who is abandoned for looking weird but is taken in by Ma and Pa Kent who give him the name Connor and teach him how to talk normally.
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
If you're playing in a continuity where Clark and Jimmy aren't that far apart in age, I think Lana & Jimmy could work, but, for this particular continuity, I was playing off of the original history in which Jimmy's still a kid, which is why Yang paired him with the equally young Lan-shin Li. I didn't want to have Lana hooking up with an underaged boy