Spoilers Superman Spoiler Thread

[Thomas Shey]

It sort of makes sense if you assume all his other powers are basically psychic, too - so his sensory powers are various forms of clairvoyance and heat vision is pyrokinesis. But it’s not really necessary. Byrne has already firmly stamped one character (Gladiator of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard) with that interpretation.

My point was that it only followed because it was a brand new take on the character. It should have otherwise been known long since.

 

[Staffan]

It sort of makes sense if you assume all his other powers are basically psychic, too - so his sensory powers are various forms of clairvoyance and heat vision is pyrokinesis. But it’s not really necessary. Byrne has already firmly stamped one character (Gladiator of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard) with that interpretation.

Are you implying that Gladiator and Superman are similar?

Spoiler: Some covers

 

[overgeeked]

Are you implying that Gladiator and Superman are similar?

Spoiler: Some covers

View attachment 412292
View attachment 412293

In that case it was Superman copying Gladiator. The FF issue is from 1961. The Superman is from 1987.

 

[Stalker0]

Are they? They call it a proton river not an anti-proton river.

I definately heard anti-proton when I viewed that scene.

 

[Staffan]

In that case it was Superman copying Gladiator. The FF issue is from 1961. The Superman is from 1987.

I think you mean 1982, not 1961. And both covers are John Byrne.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Comic book art uses a lot of standard poses. Most of it has to be drawn quickly, and the focus is on communicating the story, not massively original compositions.

 

[jian]

Comic book art uses a lot of standard poses. Most of it has to be drawn quickly, and the focus is on communicating the story, not massively original compositions.

While John Byrne is as fond of repetitive poses as the next artist (more so, really, especially the Byrne choke) the Superman cover is explicitly a deliberate echo of his FF cover from a few years earlier, with LOSH members specifically chosen to echo the FF (Brainiac, Invisible Kid, Blok, and Sun Boy chosen by Byrne, who was also the writer on both stories, to echo Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny).

I mentioned Gladiator because he was where Byrne first developed the psychic Superman idea - he is of course an expy of Mon-El from LOSH and therefore has the full suite of Kryptonian powers, and when he visited Earth and encountered the FF, Reed hypothesised that his powers were psychic and would thus vary with his concentration and confidence.

 

[Staffan]

Comic book art uses a lot of standard poses. Most of it has to be drawn quickly, and the focus is on communicating the story, not massively original compositions.

Yeah, but in this case it was the same artist drawing a deliberate homage to his own earlier cover, including choosing similar characters in the second one (Human Torch – Sun Boy, Mr Fantastic – Brainiac-5, Invisible Woman – Invisible Kid, and Thing – Blok) and putting them in the exact same poses.

 

[overgeeked]

I think you mean 1982, not 1961. And both covers are John Byrne.

Too right. The wiki lead me astray.

To the broader point, yes. Gladiator is a Superman clone. Pure and simple.

Captain Ersatz - TV Tropes

The character equivalent of a Bland-Name Product. This character's design is a mix of legal issues and homage. Just as someone who wants to incorporate a Walmart into a story but can't manage the Product Placement might use "Box Mart," a person …

tvtropes.org

 

[Thomas Shey]

Though as noted, he's really a Mon-El copy, since the whole Imperial Guard started out as LSH expies on the part of Dave Cockram and Chris Claremont (though his real name is probably a Superman joke).