Superman Rogues Gallery Appreciation 2023

[Thor-Ul]

Correct. Jax-Ur embodied the "Evil Kryptonian" trope way before Zod, even if Zod - technically speaking - was created a bit before.
In the Silver Age, Jax-Ur was a bald Kryptonian with a moustache whose experiments had destroyed one of Krypton's moon; he had been the first prisoner in the Phantom Zone, too (this detail was changed in recent years, when Morrison made Xa-Du the first Zoner - maybe to give the Phantom King a specific, Zone-related set of powers). He was the most recurring Zone criminal, followed by many other Zoners whose powers vaguely differed from him.

It should be noticed that most of the Phantom Zoners, Jax-Ur included, didn't even have a specific characterization. Zod's most defining traits came from Superman II and Terrence Stamp's over-the-top, flamboyant style. From that moment on, Zod became THE "evil Kryptonian" (even if visually speaking he was a bit different from Terrence Stamp) and Jax-Ur was more or less forgotten. His only remarkable reintroduction was in the DCAU, but this version of Jax-Ur, which is the same version reused by Waid, was basically Zod with a different name (even if in the DCAU comic book tie-ins they actually reintroduced a version of Zod: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Zod_(DCAU))

When Johns took over with the the Last Son storyline, Zod was made more similar to the Superman II version, but in one specific panel Johns also reintroduced Jax-Ur as the first Zoner (and the explosion of Krypton's moon was supposed to be related to Kandor's disappearance, even if this plot line was later discarded). In the New Krypton storyline there was a more substantial reintroduction of Jax-Ur, this time as a one-eyed scientist rather than a soldier. This specific version was abandoned until Bendis somehow reintroduced him (with two eyes though) in his Rogol Zaar storyline.

The most bizarre aspect in World's Finest 18 is not that Waid reintroduced Jax-Ur (it is a typical Silver Age concept after all, and we all know how much Waid loves classic characters), but that he decided to use a specific version of the character that has never been used in the comic books before, and probably the least interesting one. I guess that Waid wanted to pay homage to Silver Age Jax-Ur, but the deliberately chose not to revamp him visually and simply decided to follow the DCAU version, which is the least obscure one today.

Thanks for the confirmation. I would add a pair of details:

Indeed Zod and Xadu appeared before Jax-Ur, but their appearance were anecdotical. And indeed the first prisioner presented in the Phantom Zone debut issue in the silver age was Xadu, who Morrison rebranded in a more kryptonian way as Xa-Du.

Indeed the Jax-Ur of the animated series was a Zod in everything but name, including being a militar leader. The reason of that , any guess is welcomed.

The presence of Zod also started to be bigger after 1978, most of his appearances aumented after that year (until 1986, naturally) and curiously, Jax-Ur was less seen. Coincidence?

[Myskin]

There was nothing from the Silver Age in him, plus Mala was a clear Ursa stand in too

And Ursa - if memory doesn't fail me - was a stand on for Faora (who was a bit more independent character than Ursa though). So Mala was basically a copy of a copy.

Yeah I could understand Waid using a Jax that leans more into him being a science terrorist (even though I would prefer Xa-Du for that role given Morrison’s revamp is superior to any Jax I’ve read)

Morrison's idea - which no one has ever actually replicated - was to make Xa-Du's powers more unique than the majority of Kryptonians. In an inspired Superman fan fiction I read maaany years ago the writer had the idea of making the Zone dramatically change the powers of Kryptonians the longer they stayed in it, so when they escaped they became horribly mutated or equipped with a specific set of powers (unique for each Kryptonian, in addition to the usual Kryptonian superpowers Superman also has). It was an interesting concept which - as it often happens with Superman - no one ever decided to introduce.

[Myskin]

Indeed Zod and Xadu appeared before Jax-Ur, but their appearance were anecdotical. And indeed the first prisioner presented in the Phantom Zone debut issue in the silver age was Xadu, who Morrison rebranded in a more kryptonian way as Xa-Du.

I completely ignored this detail until now but I checked and yes, you are right - if you are referring to Adventure comics #283, the issue in which the Phantom Zone is introduced for the first time (according to Wikipedia). So Xadu is the first prisoner the readers see SENT into the Phantom Zone, even if afterwards, for the entirety of the Silver Age, Jax-Ur was always presented as the first prisoner ever, according to Kryptonian history.

By the way, I find it bizarre that after COIE no one has ever revamped the reason why Zod was sent into the Zone, that is him creating an army of Bizarro clones of himself in order to overthrow Krypton. Similarly to Superman's first encounter with red-haired Luthor, which was distinctively pulp-ish (it included ancient idols and and an airship), it's one of those freaky but interesting concepts which went lost with the Golden and Silver Age.

[Myskin]

P.S.: a curious detail about Xa-Du in Morrison's revamp is that in his first New52 appearance in the Phantom Zone (Action Comics 5 or 6, I can't remember) he had a clawed mechanical hand that was completely forgotten in his following, mummy-like appearance (and in his "ghost" look he also had a huge hammer which Morrison himself completely discarded quite soon). I never understood the reason for this additional detail - maybe to give him a vaguely SPECTRE look which, after all, characterizes most Zoners.

[Vordan]

[Frontier]

Kara with her own Doomsday experience...

[signalman112]

Solomon Grundy isn't really a Superman rogue but I thought this was funny.

TheEnd.jpg

[Vordan]

Lobo will be showing up in Smallville looking for a fight over in the Fire & Ice mini.

[Frontier]

This should be fun .

[Vordan]

Heh, Livewire gets turned into an electric eel/human hybrid for Beast World. Looking forward to Williamson writing that.

[Frontier]

Heh, Livewire gets turned into an electric eel/human hybrid for Beast World. Looking forward to Williamson writing that.

Reminds me of Spider-Man Unlimited Electro.

[Vordan]

Metallo for The Metal Curtain

[Vordan]

[Vordan]

[Frontier]

Well, now she actually looks more like Silver Banshee but you really didn't get a good chance to look at her during the fight.