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42-452: Jor-El is Superman's biological father, the husband of Lara , and a leading scientist on the planet Krypton before its destruction. He foresees his planet's fate but is unable to convince his colleagues in time to rescue most of Krypton's inhabitants. Jor-El is able to save his infant son Kal-El (Superman) by launching him towards Earth in a homemade spaceship just moments before Krypton explodes. When Superman later constructs his headquarters,

84-664: A Kryptonian crystal during the One Year Later story arc, the current version of the Fortress of Solitude, which is also designed to essentially be visually identical to the Donner and Bryan Singer films, now contains an advanced interactive "recording" of Jor-El which, although visually dissimilar to Marlon Brando , is otherwise identical in function to that featured in Superman Returns . Superman/Batman #50 presents Jor-El sending

126-503: A character named "Jor-L" in 1936, more than a year before the first Superman story was published. The original "Jor-L" appeared in New Adventure Comics (released in 1936, cover-dated January 1937), a re-titled issue #12 of the previous New Comics , which would be re-titled again, starting with issue #32, as the 45-year-long Adventure Comics series. Featured in the four-page Shuster and Siegel strip Federal Men , this "Jor-L"

168-480: A good and kind race who will raise the child right, convincing Jor-El to send Kal-El there. Thomas records his encounter in a diary, which is discovered by his son Bruce Wayne in the present day. Following two line-wide revisions of DC superhero comic books, branded by DC Comics as “ New 52 ” and “ DC Rebirth ”, the character Jor-El was revised to be still alive due to being rescued by Doctor Manhattan . After being nursed back to health by locals, Jor-El sees firsthand

210-484: A more recent storyline co-written by Geoff Johns and Superman director Richard Donner presented yet another version of Jor-El and Krypton which reintroduced General Zod and the Phantom Zone criminals. With art by Adam Kubert , Jor-El is depicted for the first time with a beard and the design of Kryptonian society is distinct yet again from Birthright and Man of Steel , incorporating elements of Donner's work on

252-400: A probe to Earth that makes contact with Thomas Wayne while he is on a drive with a pregnant Martha , the probe holographically transmitting Thomas' consciousness to Krypton so that Jor-El can better learn what kind of world Earth is to help him decide which of many possible candidates he should send his son to. Thomas tells Jor-El that the people of Earth are not perfect, but are essentially

294-652: A self-titled hovercar . He also discovers a parallel plane of existence which he calls the Phantom Zone and invents a device that can open portals to it. This device gets him a seat on the Science Council, Krypton's ruling body. He lives in Krypton's major city of Kryptonopolis . Even before Jor-El's birth, the El family is renowned for its contributions to Kryptonian society. Ancestors of Jor-El include Val-El, an explorer ; Sul-El,

336-425: A series of earthquakes , Jor-El investigates. He soon discovers, to his horror, that Krypton's core is extremely unstable and radioactive, and will eventually reach critical mass and explode, taking the entire planet and its populace with it. Jor-El tries to convince the members of the Science Council of this impending disaster and urges re-establishing Krypton's space program so giant spacecraft can be built to carry

378-493: A ship is constructed to evacuate them, the city of Kandor is shrunken and stolen by Brainiac , removing the people who believe in Jor-El's work. Frustrated, Jor-El continues his work on space travel on his own, hoping to build a spacecraft to save his family. This work includes launching several smaller test rockets; one of these rockets includes the family dog, Krypto . However, as time runs short, Jor-El only has enough time to build

420-414: A spacecraft to save his son Kal-El. He decides to send Kal-El to Earth, realizing he will gain superhuman powers under Earth's yellow sun and lower gravity. As Krypton finally goes through its final destructive stages, Jor-El and Lara place their son in the rocket and launch him toward Earth, before they themselves are killed along with almost all the rest of the planet's population. Lara could have fit inside

462-616: A suitable foster parent on his new planet. In Kryptonian society, scientific achievement was a preeminent virtue, so Jor-El's probe was programmed to seek out the leading scientific mind on Earth, presumably to adopt Kal-El. The probe landed (in the early 1950s, although the date is non-specific) in Princeton, New Jersey , where it soon appeared outside the window of Albert Einstein and communicated its mission to him through telepathy , along with precise details of where Kal-El's rocket would land (near Smallville , Kansas ), several days later. In

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504-582: Is an altogether different character. A pourquoi story , also dubbed an "origin story", is also used in mythology , referring to narratives of how a world began, how creatures and plants came into existence, and why certain things in the cosmos have certain yet distinct qualities. In The Superhero Reader (nominated for a 2014 Eisner Award for Best Scholarly/Academic Work), edited by Charles Hatfield (Professor at University of Connecticut), Jeet Heer (Toronto-based journalist), and Kent Worcester (Professor of Political Science at Marymount Manhattan College ),

546-501: Is attacking his own son, he withdraws. It is later established that Jor-El is a member of the "Circle", a clandestine organization composed of five powerful cosmic beings and intergalactic rulers including Appa Ali Apsa , Sardath of Rann and Rogol Zaar, the being who destroyed Krypton. In the Elliot S. Maggin 1978 novel Superman: Last Son of Krypton , Jor-El is shown as having sent a navigation probe ahead of Kal-El's spaceship, to find

588-460: Is established as Jor-El I, and his mother as Nimda ( nee An-Dor). Jor-El eventually meets and marries Lara, the daughter of Lor-Van and a young astronaut in Krypton's fledgling space program (which is soon permanently grounded after Jax-Ur blows up one of Krypton's inhabited moons, leading to his banishment to the Phantom Zone); the two have an infant son, Kal-El. When Krypton begins experiencing

630-400: Is forbidden. Indeed, Jor-El himself is considered a "throwback" for actually expressing emotions toward his mate Lara and favoring the less sterilized days of past Kryptonian eras. Another change in this version is Jor-El genetically altering his son's fetus (gestating in a "birthing matrix") to allow him to leave Krypton (in this version of the mythos, Kryptonians are genetically "bonded" to

672-462: Is not an extraterrestrial but, instead, a far-future "ace sleuth " in the service of "Interplanetary Federation Headquarters". The character battles "Nira-Q", the outer-space-faring "bandit queen", in the year 3000 A.D. The 1936 "Jor-L" exists as part of a story within a story , as Shuster and Siegel's strip presents the tale as a scientist's forecast of future crime-fighting told to the contemporary 1930s-era G-man heroes of Federal Men . Jor-El

714-492: Is to realize the degree to which the superhero genre is about transformation, about identity, about difference, and about the tension between psychological rigidity and a flexible and fluid sense of human nature. ... When surveying the superhero genre, preliminary questions often turn to the problem of roots." The book has a wealth of pertinent bibliographies. English professors Alex Romagnoli and Gian S. Pagnucci, of Indiana University of Pennsylvania , discuss in their book Enter

756-462: The Fortress of Solitude , he honors his biological parents with the inclusion of a statue of Jor-El and Lara holding up a globe of Krypton. The fortress also holds a holographic copy of Jor-El's consciousnesses, letting Superman interact with his father for advice and knowledge. Jor-El was portrayed by Marlon Brando in the films Superman and Superman II . Archival footage cut from the prior films

798-541: The "E" in "El." Jor-El's first appearance in a comic book was in More Fun Comics #101. In the 1960s, now known as part of the Silver Age of Comic Books , DC Comics introduced to its superhero stories the fictional concept of different versions of characters from real-world publication history existing in separate "universes" that could communicate with each other. As DC developed this concept through further stories,

840-414: The 2004 miniseries Superman: Birthright , Jor-El, along with Krypton and Lara, was, more or less, reinstated to his Silver Age versions, though with such updated touches as Lara contributing equally to the effort of sending Kal-El, once again an infant while on Krypton, to Earth. In this version, Jor-El discovers Earth moments before launching his son's spacecraft. Also, the conclusion of the miniseries has

882-549: The 2007 novel The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson , Jor-El is shown as a science hero who is respected and admired by all of the people of Krypton and has a standing offer of a place on the Council. Yet his clashing with this conservative Council over new discoveries supplies much of the tension in the book. General Zod and his two minions make a bid to take over Krypton, first posing as Krypton's saviors. Lara (character) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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924-462: The Council, but Jor-El will have none of it. When their murderous insurrection fails, the Council forces Jor-El to exile them to the Phantom Zone and never speak of his findings again, lest he face the same fate. For this perceived betrayal, Zod declares that he will escape and conquer Krypton (confident that Jor-El will actually discover some way to save the planet) and force the scientist and his son to kneel before him one day. Having been re-built via

966-606: The Superheroes: American Values, Culture, and the Canon of Superhero Literature "the nature of superhero origin stories and how the writing of these origin stories helps make superhero narratives a unique literary genre." For example, they write, "Superheroes get very complicated when it comes to their histories, but one part of their stories remains forever constant and important. Even more than 'death' stories, crossovers , event stories, and attire changes, origin stories are

1008-579: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 757396937 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:44:39 GMT Origin story In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist . In American comic books , it also refers to how characters gained their superpowers and/or

1050-518: The adult Superman, on Earth, seeing his parents through Lex Luthor 's time-space communicator, and on Krypton, seconds before its destruction, Jor-El and Lara see their son alive and well on Earth and know that their efforts are successful. As with Byrne's conflicting view of Krypton, the Birthright origins of Jor-El, Krypton, and Luthor have recently been retconned , and, following Infinite Crisis , they are no longer valid in comics canon . However,

1092-413: The atrocities of man, as a dictator usurps all of what the people own, causing them to starve. After witnessing these atrocities, Jor-El is forced to watch the horrors of mankind over the centuries and becomes Mister Oz . Jor-El becomes dissatisfied with humanity and attempts to force his son and his family to leave in the belief that Earth cannot be saved, but when Superman forces him to acknowledge that he

1134-410: The circumstances under which they became superheroes or supervillains . In order to keep their characters current, comic book companies, as well as cartoon companies, game companies, children's show companies, and toy companies, frequently rewrite the origins of their oldest characters. This goes from adding details that do not contradict earlier facts to a totally new origin which makes it seem that it

1176-602: The core of superheroes' existences. Origins not only reflect the sociohistorical contexts in which heroes were created, but they also reflect a culture's understanding of what makes superheroes storytelling unique vehicles." Thereafter, Romagnoli and Pagnucci go on to explain why the origin story is as important to the audience as to the generations of writers who continue heroic tales. Randy Duncan (comics scholar and professor of communication, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas) and Matthew J. Smith (Department of Communication, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio) use

1218-515: The editors write in "Section One: Historical Considerations": "Almost all superheroes have an origin story: a bedrock account of the transformative events that set the protagonist apart from ordinary humanity. If not a prerequisite for the superhero genre, the origin... is certainly a prominent and popular trope that recurs so frequently as to offer clues to the nature of this narrative tradition. To read stories about destroyed worlds, murdered parents, genetic mutations, and mysterious power-giving wizards

1260-470: The first two Christopher Reeve films, in particular the notion of Krypton's Council threatening Jor-El with harsh penalty of exile to the very Phantom Zone he himself discovered if he is to make public his predictions of their planet's imminent doom or otherwise attempt to "create a climate of panic." Jor-El is shown here to have been mentored by friend and noted scientist Non , who corroborates Jor-El's findings regarding Krypton's impending destruction, when

1302-574: The inventor of Krypton's first telescope ; Tala-El, the author of Krypton's first planetary constitution ; Hatu-El, the inventor of Krypton's first electromagnet and electric motor; and Gam-El, the father of modern Kryptonian architecture . Jor-El has two brothers: Zor-El , who lives in Argo City and eventually becomes the father of Kara, alias Supergirl , and an identical twin brother named Nim-El, who lives in Kandor . In several stories, Jor-El's father

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1344-484: The late 1950s. Over the course of the next several decades, there was a definitive summarization in the miniseries World of Krypton in 1979 (not to be confused with the similarly-named post- Crisis on Infinite Earths late- 1980s comic miniseries). As presented in the World of Krypton miniseries and other stories from the Silver Age of Comic Books , Jor-El is Krypton's leading scientist, inventing, among other devices,

1386-732: The origin story of Spider-Man as an example of how a character can be created by the persistence of a writer who has definite preferences in creating a character's personality, even if the publisher resists. "It is difficult to discern which is more often told: Spider-Man's origin or the tales told around that origin. All reveal fascinating aspects of a teenage loner fatefully 'bitten by a radioactive spider' to find himself with 'the proportionate strength and agility of an arachnid'." Duncan and Smith explain how Stan Lee butted heads with publisher Martin Goodman , who worried about an "ick factor," but Lee prevailed. "The entire Spider-Man concept resonates with

1428-597: The planet itself, not allowing them to leave) and merely attaching a warp engine to the matrix instead of constructing a ship wholesale. The result is that Kal-El is "born" when the birthing matrix opens on Earth. In the 1990s series Starman Jor-El meets a time-traveling Jack Knight and Mikaal Tomas , two individuals who both bear at various points the name "Starman", and are accidentally sent 70 years back in time and hurled across space. Jor-El thereby first learns of Earth's existence; in return, Jor-El helps Knight and Tomas escape from his overbearing father Seyg-El . In

1470-572: The populace to another habitable world. However, the Council is dismissive of Jor-El's findings and refuses to comply with his plan. Some even accuse him of treachery, trying to cause chaos so he can take over. This had been a plot of General Zod 's, which having failed, caused his banishment to the Phantom Zone. Thus the Council is wary of Jor-El's motives. Around the time he discovers Krypton's impending doom, Jor-El meets his own son Kal-El without realizing it (after Kal-El accidentally travels back in time). There are supporters of Jor-El's theory, but when

1512-402: The primary attributes of many genres and traditions," the authors say. "Like a heady puree of [Mary] Shelley's Frankenstein , Bob Kane 's Batman , and Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis , Spider-Man's origin invokes gothic and crime fiction motifs like the ostracized genius, doomed loved ones, the misuse or misfiring of science, the gritty noir city, the driven vigilante, and the fateful 'return of

1554-405: The rocket as well, but chose to stay behind to improve Kal-El's chances of reaching Earth. After the 1985-1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne 's 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel rewrote Superman 's origins, details about Jor-El's background and character were changed. In Byrne's version, Jor-El inhabits a cold and emotionally sterile Krypton where even bodily contact

1596-572: The same name but a different character entirely: the father of the then-contemporary "Silver Age" version of Superman, who lived on the Krypton of the Earth-One "universe" (used to describe the setting for then-current "Silver Age" stories and characters, some of which had been substantially changed from their "Golden Age" versions). A retelling of Superman's origin story in 1948 first delved into detail about Jor-El. However, his formal and more familiar Silver Age aspects were firmly established starting in

1638-493: The two are arrested and brought to trial before the Council by Zod and Ursa . When Non defies the Council's dire prohibitions and elects to spread the word of the coming apocalypse, he is abducted by Council agents and apparently lobotomized , thus explaining the character's mute simple-mindedness, brutality and destructiveness in line with Jack O'Halloran 's performance as Non in the first two Reeve films. Appalled, Zod and Ursa propose to Jor-El that they band together and overthrow

1680-483: The version of Superman's father during the previous Golden Age of Comic Books was identified as "Jor- L ", matching the original spelling of the character's name, who lived on the Krypton of the Earth-Two " universe " (derived from the versions of characters and stories that appeared during the earlier "Golden Age" period of publication history). In contrast, the concept presented "Jor- El " as no longer another spelling of

1722-592: Was first referred to indirectly in Action Comics #1 in 1938, which only mentioned a scientist who sends his son to Earth. He made his first full-fledged appearance in the Superman newspaper comic strip on January 16, 1939, where his name was spelled as "Jor-L". His name first appeared as being spelled "Jor-el" in the Superman novel The Adventures of Superman (1942) written by George Lowther . Later comic books capitalized

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1764-505: Was used with the permission of Brando's estate to insert the deceased Brando into 2006's Superman Returns in a reprise of the role. The character was then portrayed by Russell Crowe in the DC Extended Universe film Man of Steel . Angus Macfadyen portrayed the character in the first season of the television series Superman & Lois . Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, the creators of both Superman and Jor-L, first introduced

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