InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "go team firecrotch!"

tsuki_the_geek (tsuki_the_geek) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-03-27 20:48:00

Entry tags:

char: superman/clark kent, era: bronze age, in-joke: crack

1971 = Huh???
So, before Crisis on Infinite Earths restarted the DC Universe in the 80s, whenever a new editor/writer took over a book they had to "explain" any changes they made. For example, when Superman was taken over in 1971 by editor Julius Shwartz after years and years and years of Weisinger's crazy, Silver Age crack, he had to come up with REASONS that the new Superman was less powerful, why kryptonite wasn't a problem anymore and why Superboy's parents were suddenly younger... WAIT. WHAT?

Yes, the 1970s Superboy had young, hip parents rather than bespeckled grandparents-- the "WB-Smallville" approach, if you will. I actually like the design of the new Kents and I agree with the overall idea. The problem? The STUPID reasoning they came up with for the change.

EDIT: rab62 has informed me that Murray Boltinoff was actually the editor for Superboy during this period. My bad; I thought Shwartz took over editing the whole Super-book family! *bows*

Oh DC... didn't you realize that drawing attention to it just made it seem far, far worse?

(Post a new comment)

	seriousfic 2009-03-27 11:12 pm UTC (link)
	I'm so glad they showed Jolax's comeuppance at the end. That'll teach him to act out of enlightened self-interest! He'd better think twice next time he makes two people younger and healthier! (Reply to this)

rab62
2009-03-27 11:25 pm UTC (link)

Just to clarify one point (because there are some people who'd never forgive me if I left it unsaid) while Julius Schwartz was the editor on the Superman books, Superboy was edited by a fellow named Murray Boltinoff.

Among Boltinoff's quirks was being very anti-continuity even before "continuity" was such a widely used term in comics; he didn't like references to previous stories in his comics, or anything that only hardcore fans would get. So he was probably against an explanation like this being done at all, and its weirdness may reflect his disdain. "Yeah, yeah, just say the youth potion was sent by an alien...hey, how should I know why he does it, that's your job...leave me alone!"

It'd be nice if folks could include issue numbers or similar identifying features when posting scans. Someone wrote this, and whether we praise it or scorn it, that person's name should be acknowledged. I'd like to be able to look it up, but I don't know what issue this is. I have a strong suspicion the above was scripted by a comics writer I like a lot...but I'd have to say this wasn't his shining moment...

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	tsuki_the_geek 2009-03-28 12:20 am UTC (link)
	Thanks rab62-- I have to say that I actually didn't know that Superboy had a seperate editor during this period. As for the issue, it's Superboy #175, June 1971. No scripter is officially listed on the comic, but Google may have the answer out there for inquiring minds! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

rab62
2009-03-28 01:24 am UTC (link)

And thanks for the reply. According to the online reference material, it was indeed Nelson Bridwell who wrote this. You can see how it could have worked as a Super-Friends or Shazam! story just a few years later, but it doesn't quite work here.

Funny how it works, though, with the archetypal history and continuity minded fan-turned-pro writing for an editor who hated catering to hardcore fans or preserving continuity: it was bound to come out badly!

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	tsuki_the_geek 2009-03-28 01:36 am UTC (link)
	You can see how it could have worked as a Super-Friends or Shazam! story just a few years later Certainly more so... but I'm really not sure that de-aging lemonade is EVER a good plot point. But that's just in my humble opinion... ;) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mysteryfan 2009-03-27 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	BwuH? Martha looks like Joan Crawford in that next to last panel. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	RE: Joan Crawford peur_evol 2009-03-28 01:47 am UTC (link)
	.....still wondering why Salvador Dali is the ~~villain~~ alien... (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ashtoreth 2009-03-28 01:35 am UTC (link)
	They look astonishingly like the tv parents. O_o (Reply to this)

	arbre_rieur 2009-03-28 03:09 am UTC (link)
	Actually, this issue is just recapping the events of an earlier issue, Superboy 145, which was the first appearance of the de-aged Kents. This isn't a retcon concocted to explain a contradiction; the explanation her was in place from the get-go. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tsuki_the_geek 2009-03-28 03:45 am UTC (link)
	Doesn't change the facts: magic de-aging lemonade was used to explain younger, hipper Kents. And that's... just... wow. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-03-28 04:49 am UTC (link)
	I don't know. I think the idea of alien TV executives wanting a younger Ma and Pa Kent to increase ratings is a nice bit of satire. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lonewolf23k 2009-03-28 07:54 am UTC (link)
	Shame Jolax never heard of Reality Shows back then; that would've made his job a lot easier. (Reply to this)

	his_spiffyness 2009-03-28 09:25 am UTC (link)
	They should bring back Jolax. The idea of a pan-dimensional reality TV producer playing Truman Show with Clark is just too cracked. Why the hell Morrison didn't use this during his All Star run is beyond me. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	gwalla.livejournal.com 2009-03-28 05:50 pm UTC (link)
	It's basically the same premise as Mojo. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	volksjager 2009-03-28 10:01 am UTC (link)
	Wow, imagine the hook-up those two had that night ???? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tsuki_the_geek 2009-03-28 12:25 pm UTC (link)
	ROFL!!!!! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	volksjager 2009-03-28 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	Seriously , suddenly young again "time to get back in the saddle..." (Reply to this) (Parent)

	thanekos 2009-03-28 12:27 pm UTC (link)
	the best part was the old criminal who stole some of that lemonade, got himself youthisized... and then got a life sentence. lolz. (Reply to this)

psychop_rex
2009-03-29 12:43 am UTC (link)

I love how Clark is all worried that this completely random event that has nothing to do with him will ruin his secret identity, because 'people would figure only Superboy could turn the Kents young!' Because Superboy can do ANYTHING! Even stuff that is completely unrelated to his powers or anything he's ever done before! So any bizarre phenomena that you witness MUST be his fault, donchaknow. Your compass points south instead of north? It's Superboy! The full moon oozes chocolate syrup? Superboy did it! Pigs fly, your house turns to rubber, a candy cane tree grows in your back yard? Well well well, Superboy must have done it - because there's NO ONE ELSE *coughcoughSpectreDr.FateDr.Occultcoughcough* THAT COULD HAVE DONE IT! NO ONE!

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philippos42
2009-03-29 12:59 am UTC (link)

Well, they weren't active back then, except for maybe Doc(tor Occult) & Rose( Psychic), who were probably a bit obscure. The Phantom Stranger might not have even been on Earth at that time, & if we was may have been still doing the Doctor Thirteen riff of exposing fraudulent magicians.

But even if there had been other public superheroes in the USA, Superboy was the only one in Smallville, & was a dead ringer for the Kents' son. Who at that time was on the books as adopted.

Even in such a face-blind era as Silver Age DC, where apparent doppelgangers popped up like mushrooms, such a coincidence would have exploded S-boy's secret ID (which of course only existed because of such faceblindness/facesameness).

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psychop_rex
2009-03-29 02:36 am UTC (link)

All right, but the point I was making was that it's a sign of just how crazy a place Smallville must have been if the moment ANYTHING extremely weird happens, they assume Superboy's behind it. Anyway, he does little favors for all sorts of local residents, from improving the local schoolmarm's fashion sense to teaching all the lessons in the entire school all at one time - why wouldn't they just assume he's done something similar for the Kents? I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I've generally gotten from Superboy stories is that Lana Lang is the only person who's really obsessed with the notion that Kent is Superboy - everyone else just goes 'That wimp? Ha! Pull the other one!'

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	tsuki_the_geek 2009-03-29 12:50 pm UTC (link)
	improving the local schoolmarm's fashion sense Oh wow, I'd forgotten about that one! That was the most amusing/offensive Superboy comic I've read to this day. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-03-29 03:03 pm UTC (link)
	Hell, I've read worse than that. At least he was actually trying to help, instead of teaching Lois/Lana a 'lesson' or some such dickish thing. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tsuki_the_geek 2009-03-29 03:28 pm UTC (link)
	Oh SuperMAN comics can get far worse-- I just found Superboy to be less dickish and offensive in my time. But it could be that I just haven't read enough Superboy! ;) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

psychop_rex
2009-03-29 04:13 pm UTC (link)

By and large, you'd be right, but Superboy had a number of stories where he was just as dickish as Superman. Indeed, that was sort of the point - he was doing the nascent version of the dickery that would blossom into full flower in his adult life. 'Yes, Superboy, you just taught Lois a *chuckle* stern lesson - just as you'll be doing THIRTY YEARS FROM NOW! Only more so! Gadzooks!' I paraphrase, but still.

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