Kandor was an interesting concept. A miniaturized city in a bottle that Superman could have non-powered adventures in provided plenty of story ideas. My only problem with it was that it really made it hard to still think of Kal-El as the last son of Krypton. Supergirl and the Phantom Zone villains were one thing, but now there was an entire city of Kryptonians still alive and thriving? So much for the being sole survivor of a doomed planet! Perhaps that issue was dealt with at some point. At any rate, I didn't let it bother me too much, because I enjoyed the stories that took place there.
Superman and Jonny Quest first met in STF #3369...
Coming tomorrow: STF #4200!
28 comments:
Great to see a Kandor Cover. I always loved the concept as a kid. It never bothered me that it took away from Superman as sole survivor angle.
Jonny with a jet pack?? What a ride. Next partner for him, Adam Strange?? That would reallly be the pair!
Superman as Nightwing had some Great Adventures in Kandor, and the Emergency Squad had some great adventures outside of Kandor. That was something, smaller than the Atom but having super powers.
Benton would feel at home there as he studied the futuristic technology. Race would be learning self defenses, and Hadji would have some fun with teaching the people snake charming and rope climbing techniques.
By the way, where is the jet pack for Clark? Kandor was made to be like it was on Krypton so he wouldn't be Super..unless ....?
@Tobor: Unless he's wearing an LSH flight ring or borrowed Hal Jordan's power ring.
@Ross: it never fazed me. I always thought of Silver Age Krypton as having had an extensive Space Age several millenia prior to their red sun going nova. But, seeing how relatively chaotic the universe was, beyond their solar system, the orderly-minded Kryptonians became stay-at-home world recluses. Plus, there's really not that much difference between "sole-surviving son of Krypton" and "last son of Krypton born on Krypton" re: those Kryptonian survivors who were full-grown adults at the time (and whose own children were later born off-world).
P.S.@ Bob Greenwade: did you know that the Redheaded Hydrokinetic-Who-Must-Remain-Nameless-Here once had a twin sister named Kan-Dor? I wonder whatever happened to her? Seeing as how, even before the COIE, nobody ever "Heard" of her again!
As I recall, Superman being the "last son of Krypton" wasn't really that much of a "thing" in the Silver Age, Kandor being one case in point (I think Argo City also was introduced during that period).
Jonny and Hadji jet-packing around Kandor are an interesting idea. And I second Tobor's idea of teaming them with Adam Strange (especially if you can find another image of those two with the packs -- but even if you can't!).
@Cary: It's OK to name Mera, as far as I'm concerned. It's the pathological narcissist who portrays her in the movies that must remain nameless.
Dear Ross: any chance of Monolith and Badrock (of Team Youngblood) joining the Quarrymen?
Badrock already has. I don't know who Monolith is.
Ross,
You're going to laugh. Monolith is the Earth guy in The Elementals.
Ah, not really enough good images of him.
Speaking of the Quarrymen, it hit me the other day... What about Stone Boy, from the Legion of Substitute Heroes?
@Ben W: Blok might resent that. Plus, he's not that ambulatory in his stony state.
@carycomic: I always assumed the opposite: that Krypton DIDN'T have a space age, because its tremendous gravity made space travel impractical before Jor-El's discovery of anti-gravity.
I concurred with that Bob. Daxam had similar gravity and it was Mon-El who came up with the anti-gravity element that made Legion flight rings possible.
Kal-El's great-grandfather, Var-El, made it to 19th-century Earth during the Silver Age. And a party of anti-theocratic Kryptonian scientists made it to prehistoric Earth around the same time as the refugees from planet Vruun (who became the ancestors of the Atlanteans of Tritonis). Both having been recanonized, somewhere in the DC megaverse, by Dr. Manhattan, post-Doomwatch.
i often felt that his parents were the only ones who died in Krypton’s demise…
everyone else escaped including all those animals !
no idea who jonny quest is his comics never appeared in the U.K.
@simon: Jonny was the title hero of an animated prime-time TV series in the late '60s. There have since been revival attempts on TV and in comics, but the original show set a high bar.
Seems like every couple of years someone wants to revive something else, and it doesn't pan out and it's no wonder...
However, to expand upon Bob's reply? "Jonny Quest" was produced by Hanna-Barbera in co-operation with Screen Gems (the TV arm of Columbia Pictures) for the American Broadcast Company. It was a radical departure for H-B who, prior to 1964, were most famous as the producers of FTA (Funny Talking Animal) cartoons like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. It was initially conceived by one Doug Wildey as an animated revival of the Depression-era radio show "The Adventures of Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy." And the animated montage put together by H-B, as part of the sales pitch to Screen Gems, became the ending credits of the actual series!
Sadly, it proved only to be a one-season wonder. But, it nevertheless paved the way for other H-B cartoon adventure series (starting with SPACE GHOST '66).
P.S. @ Simon: there was actually a mid-Silver Age Superboy story that revealed even his parents had made it off Krypton! Forcibly put into cryogenic hibernation, then launched into outer space, by the most eldery member of the Science Council.
It was later declared non-canonical by Julius Schwartz (DC's answer to Stan Lee), I think. But, with the recent "Doomwatch" story arc having ret-conned everything, including the Silver Age DC multiverse, even that story might now be considered broadly canonical.
Pre-Crisis Kandor was restored in Superman 338 in a bittersweet story.
https://babblingsaboutdccomics4.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/superman-338-kandor-gets-enlarged/
@Aaron: ah, yes! The debut of the phase-shifting planet Rokyn. Bittersweet story, indeed.
@Anon812: I remember that story; SUPERBOY v.1/#158. Unfortunately, I didn't have the good luck to buy it off the shelf. I only got to read it as a barber shop back-issue!
Any chance on Dan Garrett or Ted Kord joining the Quarrymen?
LOL! As Ringo Starr said, re: the Monkees, on a certain Pizza Hut commercial? "Wrong lads."
I think we'd be more likely to get the Quarrymen getting a membership application from Cheech & Chong.
Tommy Chong: "Like, we heard you were looking for stoners?"
Cheech Marin: "No, man. The wanted ad said 'stone individuals.' NOT 'stoned' individuals!"
But didn't the Quarrymen change their name to the Beetles?
@my namesake: Beatles, dear boy. BEATLES! One of those Madison Avenue-style puns that give advertising such a deservedly bad name.
It was dealt with in Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC editorial also thought the "Last Son of Krypton" moniker was outdated at that point, so one of the things they did was kill off/erase every other Kryptonian character. Including--unfortunately--Supergirl, Zod, and the like. Though they would restore these characters over time. I think Kandor is back now, but I can't swear to it.
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