Ain't it time DC brought back Jor-El and Lara?

[Kid Kyoto]

Consider:

1 - We never really saw them die. Sure we've had countless flashbacks of baby Kal watching them hug as the planet explodes but that's hardly the same thing. Maybe he only saw holograms while they escaped in another rocket, maybe somehow the force of the explosion blasted them into the Phantom Zone, maybe Brainiac abducted them for further study, maybe Superman can go back in time and snatch them seconds after the rocket leaves but before the planet explodes! There's lots of ways they could be alive.
2 - It brings back two of the most recognizable characters in the Superman mythos. Who can forget Marlon Brando as Jor-El in the classic 70s Superman movie. Why should current fans be deprived this great character just because Seigel and Shuster killed him off back in 38? There's tons of stories that can be told with jealosy between the Kents and the Els, or heartfelt father-son chats with Kal and Jor.
3 - It expands Superman's supposting cast. Attempts to expand it beyond the golden age characters have never really caught on, these days who remembers Cat Grant or wasshisname. No one. But everyone knows who Jor-El and Lara are.
4 - The controversy will raise interest and sales! Just like bringing back Jason Todd, which so many people poo-pooed at first, bringing back Jor-El and Lara would give the Super books the shot in the arm they need.

What do people think?

[TheSaltedSuperman]

Man you are on a ROLL with the awesome ideas. Why is Dan DiDio riding high in his office when you're obviously the guy with the brains for how to tell a great story.

I'm gonna start a petition.

[Jack Zodiac]

We may not have seen them die, but knowing they were dead gave Superman, an otherwise happy and bright character, had that element of tragedy almost all heroes has. He may have been Earth's greatest hero, but he was the last of his kind, alone in the universe. An orphan. He had human parents to teach him values, but his real parents were dead.

What I would like to see is some writer do something with his parents, his planet, to make them feel more alive than the depressing, cold Donner Kryptonians. More like they were in the Silver Age, a society of adventurers and scientists. Like the "Wonderful World of Krypton" back-ups from the Sixties.

Or, they could (and I think they will) let Pa Kent pass away, giving Superman more of a reason to turn to his father's hologram in the Fortress for a cold, factual, quasi-compassionate voice helping him deal with loss, and give Perry a bigger role. Retire him, put Lois in charge of the Planet, reveal that he's known Clark was Superman all along and only let it go because he was a great writer, even if he was a screw-up at times. And work Jimmy into more of his stories. Start using that classic supporting cast no one touches any more.

[David Atkins]

All I can say is...

No.

But I do like some of the ideas from Jack Zodiac's last paragraph.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Errr.....no.

While I think there are plenty of great stories left to be told with Superman's parents, they should be told in the past. Bringing back Jor-El & Lara, at least permenantly, would undermine the very foundation of the character.

[Adamantium_Avatar]

The only thing Jimmy is gonna be worked into is a body bag..

[dancj]

If you've read Superman: Infinite City you'll know that Jor-El is alive - sort of. His mind is alive in a robot body

[PretenderNX01]

This is the exact same thing you wrote in Batman. Are you just bored and trolling?

Ain't it time DC brought back Thomas and Martha? (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=176319)

Consider:

1 - We never really saw them die. Sure we saw them shot but that's hardly the same thing. Their son Bruce has been shot any number of times and he's still around, would his parents be any less tough?
2 - We only HEARD they died. Again since Gotham is so corrupt can we really take the medical examiner's word? Perhaps Thomas paid him off because he feared someone would come after him again or perhaps he wanted the freedom of being dead. Or maybe they were in comas and the ME faked the death certificate thinking he could somehow steal the Wayne fortune from young Bruce. Or maybe they were sold for medical experiments. Or had amneshea and wandered the world doing good deeds. There's a lot of story ideas in there.
3 - It brings back two characters who've been out of action for years. Sure it was a big thing when Bob Kane killed them off but does that have to be forever? There are a lot of stories to be told about those two. they could be solid supporting cast members backing up their son in his war on crime. Remember Thomas was a doctor! And maybe Martha was a brilliant engineer or hacker, we don't know that she wasn't.
4 - The controversy will raise interest and sales! Just like bringing back Jason Todd, which so many people poo-pooed at first, bringing back Thomas and Martha could give the Bat books the shot in the arm they need.

What do people think?

[Kid Kyoto]

This is the exact same thing you wrote in Batman. Are you just bored and trolling?

Ain't it time DC brought back Thomas and Martha? (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=176319)

NONSENSE! For one thing that post is about Batman's parents and this one is about Superman's. Totally different. It's sad how these great heroes are orphans and it makes me cry. Cause I'm just pissed off about how DC is letting GREAT CHARACTERS stay dead when they could bring them back! Because AWESOME CHARACTERS like Jason Todd and Blue Beetle and the 80s Legion and Guy #82running from the big white wall in Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 should be kept around and no one should ever die ever! And how come DC hasn't brought back the ORIGINAL Green Lantern Abin Sur?

[marshal99]

You might as well consolidate all your posts into 1

Bring back Martha & Thomas Wayne
Bring back Grandfather Patrick Wayne
Bring back Great great grandfather Alan Wayne
Bring back Aunt Harriet
Bring back Aunt Harriet's cat
Bring back Uncle Phillip
Bring back Bruce Wayne's brother , Thomas Wayne Jr
Bring back Ace the bathound
Bring back the illegitimate son of Bruce Wayne , Bobby Wayne

Then bring back
The entire world of krypton including superman's parents , uncle , grandfather , brother , relatives , cousins etc
Super-ape
Beppo the supermonkey
King Krypton
Superman's babysitter

[Metamorpho]

I think Aunt Harriet SHOULD be brought back AND Steve Lombard:D

[J. Robb]

I think Aunt Harriet SHOULD be brought back AND Steve Lombard:D
And they should hook-up.

[cosmoboy]

me thinks kid kyoto is having some fun. Maybe he should learn to use the smileys?:)

[King Krypton]

Errr.....no.

While I think there are plenty of great stories left to be told with Superman's parents, they should be told in the past. Bringing back Jor-El & Lara, at least permenantly, would undermine the very foundation of the character.

That didn't seem to bother WB, as the JJ script they wanted to use had Krypton still existing and Jor-El as a political prisoner of his evil brother and nephew.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

That didn't seem to bother WB, as the JJ script they wanted to use had Krypton still existing and Jor-El as a political prisoner of his evil brother and nephew.

I read that script, both Jor-El and Lara die in it. They just don't die when Krypton blows up, because Krypton didn't blow up in the first draft. It sorta blows up in the much improved second draft.

[Kid Kyoto]

me thinks kid kyoto is having some fun. Maybe he should learn to use the smileys?:)

Then people might figure out I'm joking and what fun is that? :confused:

[Lorendiac]

I'm working on the theory that the original post was a bit tongue-in-cheek, so don't take my responses too seriously either, okay? ;)

Consider:

1 - We never really saw them die. Sure we've had countless flashbacks of baby Kal watching them hug as the planet explodes but that's hardly the same thing. Maybe he only saw holograms while they escaped in another rocket, maybe somehow the force of the explosion blasted them into the Phantom Zone, maybe Brainiac abducted them for further study, maybe Superman can go back in time and snatch them seconds after the rocket leaves but before the planet explodes! There's lots of ways they could be alive.

It's a fair point -- there are lots of ways they could be alive, in theory, if it were necessary to do it that way. After all, the Silver Age Supergirl's parents were initially believed to have died before she ever reached Earth, but we later found out they were still alive!

It's just that there's no good reason, dramatically speaking, for them to still be alive! Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van were always the type of characters I call "Cannon Fodder" -- they were created to die. If they didn't die tragically, there was no reason to have them around in the first place! Just like Bruce Wayne's parents!

2 - It brings back two of the most recognizable characters in the Superman mythos. Who can forget Marlon Brando as Jor-El in the classic 70s Superman movie.

Marlon Brando was in that movie? Who's Marlon Brando? :confused:

Why should current fans be deprived this great character just because Seigel and Shuster killed him off back in 38? There's tons of stories that can be told with jealosy between the Kents and the Els, or heartfelt father-son chats with Kal and Jor.

Why is a heartfelt father-son chat between Kal and Jor so much better than a heartfelt father-son chat between Clark and Jonathan? If anything, it strikes me as being the other way around, because Jor (if alive on or near Earth) would have all the same powers that Kal does, which makes one or the other of them look awfully redundant.


3 - It expands Superman's supposting cast. Attempts to expand it beyond the golden age characters have never really caught on, these days who remembers Cat Grant or wasshisname. No one. But everyone knows who Jor-El and Lara are.

I remember Cat Grant vividly. I'm not saying I especially liked her, but I certainly remember her! And I still miss Gangbuster, who was only introduced into the supporting cast in the Post-Crisis era and has now been gone from the Superman titles since the era when Superman was dead!

4 - The controversy will raise interest and sales! Just like bringing back Jason Todd, which so many people poo-pooed at first, bringing back Jor-El and Lara would give the Super books the shot in the arm they need.

A shot in the arm? Raise interest and sales? Ha ha ha ha ha! :D

(Thanks; I needed a good laugh.)

I can say one thing for certain: doing this would have exactly the opposite effect where my own spending habits are concerned! I boycotted the Batman issues that brought Jason Todd back from the grave, instead of running out to buy extra copies! And I'm still pooh-poohing the whole stinking idea today, a couple of years later! Why should the passage of time cause me to change my opinion? A bad idea that's been cluttering up DCU continuity for the last few years is still a fundamentally bad idea!

(Examples of other Stinking Ideas that failed to improve with age as their foul odors wafted through the DCU, year after year: the revelation that Terra II is actually Terra I with a new paint job, Sue Dibny was raped and later murdered in "Identity Crisis," Jeph Loeb's miserable attempt to reboot Kara Zor-El as a grimmer-and-grittier character, Geoff Johns's retcon that Superboy was actually the genetic child of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, and Denny O'Neil's insane attempt in the mid-to-late 90s to persuade Batman fans that "Batman is and always has been a vague urban legend -- even after ten years on the job, no one has ever officially established that he really even exists!")

[dupersuper]

I think Aunt Harriet SHOULD be brought back AND Steve Lombard:D

Steve Lombard has been; he was a very minor supporting cast member in the superbooks in the 90's, and is in All-Star now.

[dupersuper]

bringing back Jor-El and Lara would give the Super books the shot in the arm they need.

What do people think?

Huh? Morisson, Johns, Donner, Busiek, and Cooke are kickin' butt on the books (well, Johns and Donner WERE doing well when they were on it). What's this "shot in the arm" stuff.

[Kid Kyoto]

It's just that there's no good reason, dramatically speaking, for them to still be alive! Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van were always the type of characters I call "Cannon Fodder" -- they were created to die. If they didn't die tragically, there was no reason to have them around in the first place! Just like Bruce Wayne's parents!



Why by that logic Hal Jordon, Jason Todd, Donna Troy, Oli Queen, Bucky Barnes, Colosus, Jean Grey, Psylocke, Aunt May, the Green Goblin and Alfred should all be dead!

And how, OH HOW would we ever get BARRY ALLEN back?

Are you saying that characters who long ago fulfilled their purpose and died should be left buried appearing only in flashbacks, retellings, out of continunity stories, reboots, ultimatizations, novels, TV adaptions and movies? But what about the dozens of fans who have a vague attachement to characters who were once popular 20+ years ago? Surely their every wish should be catered to whatever the cost to drama, logic, story-telling or momentum!

HERESY!

[J. Robb]

Huh? Morisson, Johns, Donner, Busiek, and Cooke are kickin' butt on the books (well, Johns and Donner WERE doing well when they were on it). What's this "shot in the arm" stuff.
If only DC could get those guys all working on Superman, instead of each working on their own version of Superman.

[dancj]

me thinks kid kyoto is having some fun. Maybe he should learn to use the smileys?:)
Nah - Jokes are much funnier if you don't follow them up with "that was a joke by the way" which is what a smiley amounts to.

[cosmoboy]

Nah - Jokes are much funnier if you don't follow them up with "that was a joke by the way" which is what a smiley amounts to.

Well yeah I get that. Iwas mostly throwing that little observation out to those who were taking it far to seriously.

[Darth Joker]

I would like to see Batman have a near death experience (brought on by one of the Joker's schemes, ideally) where he briefly meets his parents in the afterlife. It would be nice if it went like this...


Thomas Wayne: We're sorry that we weren't able to see you through to adulthood, son, but it looks like you turned out to be a very strong man, and good leader of Waynetech after all.

Batman: Well... Alfred's been quite helpful there.

Martha Wayne: Good old Alfred. Such a dedicated worker. The one comfort Thomas and I had when we passed on was that he was still there to look after you, son.

Thomas Wayne: And we are proud of you son. Very proud.

Martha Wayne: I do wish, though ,that you'd try to settle down with some nice lady, and stop trying to have 'contingency plans' to kill your friends, Bruce!

Batman: I understand, mom. It's good to know that the fight has been worth it!

[davids]

Last son of Krypton my ass! every other week a new Kryptonian shows up!:evilangry

[umbc8]

I really don't think it would be possible. In just about every version of Superman's origin, it is specifially stated that all Jor-El had time to work on was the rocket (granted, Pre-COIE and apparently current continuity show that there was a test rocket for Krypto as well). In many of the versions, Jor-El has been desperate enough to try and send Lara as well but she has chosen to remain. He wouldn't do that if he had another way out. Plus, while I don't know if it would count since he's from a different planet and culture, I highly doubt a scientist (even one as intelligent as Jor-El) would allow anyone or anything else to make such a desperate move as to send his own son to another planet.

Also, why bother with holograms if the only person who will see them is an infant. Superman doesn't have the power or technology to time travel, and if he did, he knows that doing something like saving his parents could have a devastating effect on the time stream.

Also, as with any other big change to Superman (i.e. new suit, new powers, etc), while there might be a boost in sales, something like this could have a very negative effect. Then they'd have to go back to being dead again. If it is a temporary return, that might work. But if it is supposed to be on a permanent basis, it just won't. It affects the entire Superman mythos.

[Thomas]

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2747/1581vv2.jpg

[PatrickG]

I get the satirical wit behind this thread but my answer is: "Why not?"

I think very few if any fictional characters should die. If they have a death, it should last EXACTLY as long as it matters for story purposes. If it ever runs out of steam as a plot device for a character to be dead, they should stop being dead.

[SensorBoy]

who remembers Cat Grant or wasshisname


Is Cat Grant still around?

Last I saw her, she was President Luthor's buttmonkey/spokesperson.

[Froggy]

Is Cat Grant still around?

Last I saw her, she was President Luthor's buttmonkey/spokesperson.

she's lex booty call still I think

[Kage Kisaragi]

I would love to see Kara's reaction to seeing her Uncle and Aunt, hell they'd be a better parental force for her than Batman and Wonder Woman.

[karasu]

No way. Bringing them back would be like something from a bad B-movie. Superman should be the last Kryptonian, plain and simple. Screw Zod, Screw Kara, Screw Chris, and let the rest of them RIP.

[ACertainMrDoe]

I would like to see Batman have a near death experience (brought on by one of the Joker's schemes, ideally) where he briefly meets his parents in the afterlife. It would be nice if it went like this...


Thomas Wayne: We're sorry that we weren't able to see you through to adulthood, son, but it looks like you turned out to be a very strong man, and good leader of Waynetech after all.

Batman: Well... Alfred's been quite helpful there.

Martha Wayne: Good old Alfred. Such a dedicated worker. The one comfort Thomas and I had when we passed on was that he was still there to look after you, son.

Thomas Wayne: And we are proud of you son. Very proud.

Martha Wayne: I do wish, though ,that you'd try to settle down with some nice lady, and stop trying to have 'contingency plans' to kill your friends, Bruce!

Batman: I understand, mom. It's good to know that the fight has been worth it!

And then, Batman starts to sob and cry and wet his pants. No! Please! This is worse than a brazilian telenovela! :D

I'd do something like this:

Thomas Wayne: We're sorry that we weren't able to see you through to adulthood, son, but it looks like you turned out to be a very strong man, and good leader of Waynetech after all.

Batman: You f***ng bastard! Stop this rubbish! It's just because of you that I'm a freaking psycho! If you hadn't tried to play hero I would have had a nice life, and not this horror that I'm going through every day!

Martha Wayne: But... Bruce...

Batman: Don't call me Bruce! I'm the goddamn BATMAN!