X-ray vision came along pretty early in the comics...I can't cite the specific issue offhand, but ca. 1940.
"Agent Carter" season one discussion and spoilers
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Anyway, heat vision or not, super strength and invulnerability to bullets alone would make a huge difference in a war.
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1. When did Superman start travelling through time under his own power? That would indicate that he could have stopped the war or changed the outcome/nature of the war at any point that he wanted. Oh? Did Superman really, really Help the Allies figure out the Bomb? Does that mean that Hitler had Aliens working for him too?
(I'm guessing his ability to break the time barrier was in the 50s since that's when the Legion turned up (1958).)
2. How did Clark Kent avoid conscription? Did he avoid conscription? I have en image in my head about Clark being an entrench reporter following the Army around...
(I'm guessing his ability to break the time barrier was in the 50s since that's when the Legion turned up (1958).)
2. How did Clark Kent avoid conscription? Did he avoid conscription? I have en image in my head about Clark being an entrench reporter following the Army around...
1947, see above. I believe that's referencing the story in which he first finds out he's from Krypton in the comics. After encountering Kryptonite for the first time in the comics (which was years after it was introduced in the radio show), he travels through time to follow its origins and sees the origin story unfold before his eyes. (Readers were several years ahead of him in that regard.)
But it was a huge war, and a single person could only do so much. And in the universe of the comics, where America was under constant threat from saboteurs, fifth columnists, and mad Axis scientists, there's a certain logic to the idea of superheroes staying behind to protect the home front and trusting the armed forces to handle the overseas combat. Division of labor, as it were.
That was in 1949, actually (Superman #61 by Bill Finger and Wayne Boring). And while it does mention Superman breaking the time barrier, my impression of the story is that it's more like he's just flying through space to catch up with the light emitted from Krypton and using his telescopic vision to view it in detail. At least, I think the "time travel" is based on an imperfect understanding of that principle, since in the story he can only watch the events unfold "as he would a silent movie" and lip-read the dialogue.
Even so, that would entail the ability to fly faster than light, which isn't that far off from time travel.
You should edit that article to include any unusual abilities that he displayed in the radio series...it has a section on "Film and Television", but I don't see one about the radio show.
The Japanese had the Holy Grail and it was used to place a similar barrier over Japanese held territory. The spells went into effect at the same time. IIRC, Superman and several other heroes headed into Japanese territory right after Pearl Harbor and wound up being turned pro Axis by the spell. That was how they discovered what the Axis did. The Sphere of Influence, as it was call, expanded and contracted with Axis controlled territory. So by the war's end only the Japanese homeland was under the influence of the spell.
Marvel had a good amount of heroes beyond the Invaders. There was even a homefront group of heroes called the Liberty Legion. The Patriot, the Whizzer and Miss America were part of it. They also had Golden Age versions of the Vision and the Black Widow.
Fair points on noir and other era tropes - but it can still look nicer just with some simple colour correcting:
The top image I swear is straight from the show, I didn't touch it. The bottom one I tweaked the curves and brightened the two actors ever so slightly - About a minute in photoshop.
See, it doesn't even need the tropes - just some colour and contrast in the image to make it interesting. I mean, just look at that photo! There's blues and greens all over that diner, and Hayley Atwell's stunning red lipstick, yet it's all muted. It looks like TNG did before the Blu Rays - but on purpose.
Try telling that to people these days, and they won't believe you (which is why people were shocked at Man of Steel's conclusion, despite how it was set up from [and mentioned at] the beginning.) Heck, the early comic books in the '30's had Superman being quite a brutal tough guy.
Fair points on noir and other era tropes - but it can still look nicer just with some simple colour correcting:
The top image I swear is straight from the show, I didn't touch it. The bottom one I tweaked the curves and brightened the two actors ever so slightly - About a minute in photoshop.
See, it doesn't even need the tropes - just some colour and contrast in the image to make it interesting. I mean, just look at that photo! There's blues and greens all over that diner, and Hayley Atwell's stunning red lipstick, yet it's all muted. It looks like TNG did before the Blu Rays - but on purpose.
So you made it look 'better' according to you? Big freakin' woopsie-doopsie; it still defeats the purpose already stated (and explained) to you.
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Dr. Funkenstein
Lieutenant Commander
What about Vietnam? The war on drugs? 9/11? Everything going on in the Middle East? etc.
^What of it, indeed, and (in the context of this show's setting) who really cares?
You know that Superman for a while now has been about leading by example because he doesn't want to be a tyrant.
He loves humans all the same.
Which includes the Axis?
Aliens during WWII invade Germany, does Superman ignore that, or save the Nazis, and leave them in power after he leaves?
This is the sad bit.
If Superman defeated the Axis, or just the Nazis, he should be able to keep them.
And it would be condescending for him not to.
It's like when you go bowling and you discover that the fuck you are playing with is throwing every frame to make sure that you don't feel like a useless piece of shit. Losing at bowling forever can't be as bad as the false sense of entitlement that comes from being treated like a child when you are an adult.
He loves humans all the same.
Which includes the Axis?
Aliens during WWII invade Germany, does Superman ignore that, or save the Nazis, and leave them in power after he leaves?
This is the sad bit.
If Superman defeated the Axis, or just the Nazis, he should be able to keep them.
And it would be condescending for him not to.
It's like when you go bowling and you discover that the fuck you are playing with is throwing every frame to make sure that you don't feel like a useless piece of shit. Losing at bowling forever can't be as bad as the false sense of entitlement that comes from being treated like a child when you are an adult.
Superman in the early comics was quite brutal and callous...throwing thugs out windows, running them into the paths of their own bullets (good early example of super-speed beyond just outrunning trains and such), etc. One shocking episode I encountered in a 1941 story (IIRC) was when some hoods had Clark Kent tied by his wrists to a thick, low tree branch and tried to run him through with their car. He kicked the car into a heap of scrap. It wasn't explicitly stated that anyone was killed, but nobody was shown getting out as he stood smiling over his handiwork, quite unconcerned that anyone survived to jeopardize his secret identity.
Offhand, I can't think of any abilities he had on radio that he didn't have in the comics, aside from the implied continuous x-ray vision. The one distinctive thing I can think of was the one time it was mentioned that he carried his Clark Kent clothes in a bundle on his back under his cape, sort of like in a fanny pack or small backpack, I guess; presumably the purpose of the cape was to conceal the bundle.
One thing I remember is more a lack of a characteristic trait than an extra power. There was one story where he went into space and was in danger of being burned up by flying too close to the sun. I guess the idea that he derived power from the light of a yellow sun hadn't been introduced yet. That's more a '50s development, I suppose.
Digging through that article, it looks like the yellow sun as a source of his powers originated ca. 1960. By then they needed an explanation beyond Krypton having stronger gravity to explain all of his exotic and extremely powerful abilities.
^^ Some people are in a hurry and some people prefer a fresh-cooked, sit-down meal.
Okay, it makes a bit more sense in that context, but the whole thing still has a 21st-century ambiance about it.
When I was reading the comics back in the 60s, his cape had a pouch where he kept his Clark Kent outfit-- I think under super compression so that he wouldn't look like he was on his way to the laundromat.
Didn't he run the risk of his clothes turning into diamond?
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