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Jor-El

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Jor-El
Jor-El as depicted in The Adventures of Superman #589 (February 2001).
Art by Paul Rivoche.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSuperman comic strip
(January 16, 1939)
Created byJerry Siegel (writer)
Joe Shuster (artist)
In-story information
Full nameJor-El
SpeciesKryptonian
Place of originKrypton
Team affiliationsScience Council
Notable aliasesJor-L (in the Golden Age)
Mister Oz (in "DC Rebirth")
Abilities
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Proficient scientist, inventor, and engineer
  • Utilizes technologically advanced equipment
  • Skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant

Jor-El is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Jor-El first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939.

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, 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 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.

Fictional character biography

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Precursor (New Adventure Comics)

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Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, the creators of both Superman and Jor-L, first introduced a character named "Jor-L" in 1936, more than a year before the first Superman story was published.[1][2] 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.[3]

Featured in the four-page Shuster and Siegel strip Federal Men, this "Jor-L" 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.[1][2]

"Golden Age" and "Silver Age" versions

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Jor-El 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 the "E" in "El." Jor-El's first appearance in a comic book was in More Fun Comics #101.

Jor-El (left) and wife Lara (right), as statues in Superman's Silver Age Fortress of Solitude. From DC Special Series #26, June 1981. Art by Ross Andru.

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.[4][5] As DC developed this concept through further stories, 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 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).[6]

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 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).

His accomplishments

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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, 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, 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.

Family life

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Family emblem of the House of El, the popular logo of his son, Kal-El

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 is established as Jor-El I, and his mother as Nimda (nee An-Dor).[citation needed] 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);[7] the two have an infant son, Kal-El.

Jor-El's warnings of Krypton's doom

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When Krypton begins experiencing 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.[8] 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 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 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.[9]

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.[10] However, as time runs short, Jor-El only has enough time to build 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 the rocket as well, but chose to stay behind to improve Kal-El's chances of reaching Earth.

Post-Crisis

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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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

"The New 52" and "DC Rebirth"

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The New 52 version of the character on the cover of Superman (vol. 3) #0 by Kenneth Rocafort
Jor-El on the cover of Action Comics #989 (2017) by Jay Leisten and Neil Edwards

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 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.[11] 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 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.[12]

Other versions

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  • An alternate universe version of Jor-El appears in Superman: The Last Family of Krypton. This version survived Krypton's destruction and accompanied Lara and Kal-El to Earth, where he sets up the corporation JorCorp while Lara establishes the self-help movement 'Raology'.
  • An alternate universe version of Jor-El appears in Superman Adventures. This version is a resident of a Kryptonian city that survived Krypton's destruction. After the 'prime' Superman arrives in this world, Jor-El destroys the city to send him home.[13]

In other media

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Television

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Live-action

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Tom Welling as young Jor-El in Smallville in the show's third season episode "Relic"
Julian Sands as Jor-El in the ninth season Smallville episode "Kandor"

Animation

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Jor-El and his wife Lara as they appear in Superman: The Animated Series.

Films

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Live-action

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1978 series
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  • Jor-El appears in the 1978 film Superman, portrayed by Marlon Brando.[27] The film originated the idea of Superman's iconic "S"-shield symbol originally being the family crest of the House of El, which resembles an Earth "S" by coincidence. Originally conceived by Brando himself and suggested on-set, this origin of the famous Superman symbol has been used in many stories since. In the current comics, however, the shield is the Kryptonian symbol for "hope," and not only is it worn by Jor-El in a similar manner to Brando of the first feature film, but it adorns all manner of Kryptonian flags, clothing, spaceships, and equipment.
  • Brando filmed additional footage for the sequel Superman II, before differences behind the scenes caused his footage to be cut. However, it was later restored for the 2006 revised version, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. In the Richard Donner Cut, Jor-El again appears as an image, posthumously attempting to guide and inform Kal-El. Jor-El's historical crystals reveal to Lex Luthor the existence of the three Phantom Zone criminals General Zod, Ursa and Non, which makes Luthor realize just who and what they are (and that it was Superman who caused their release). Jor-El is asked by Clark if he can live a life as a human with Lois, and he tries to persuade Clark not to wish so, but Clark is firm in his wish. Jor-El then reveals the crystal chamber with the rays of Krypton's red sun which will make Clark human forever. Later, Clark returns to find all the crystals and information regarding Krypton destroyed, but finds the original crystal and is able to bring back Jor-El. Jor-El sacrifices his remaining life-force to restore his son's powers so that Superman can save Earth from Zod. Superman later destroys the Fortress after it has been breached by Luthor and the Phantom Zone criminals, but then goes back in time, where it remains normal.
  • Jor-El appears in Superman Returns, portrayed again by Marlon Brando via archival footage.[27]
DC Extended Universe
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  • Jor-El appears in Man of Steel, portrayed by Russell Crowe.[28] Rejecting the Kryptonian tradition of eugenics and artificial birth, this version stole the Kryptonian genetic codex to preserve the Kryptonian race and provide his son with the distinction of choosing his own destiny, creating Kal-El, who is then sent to Earth before Krypton's destruction. Following a 33-year imprisonment in stasis for an attempted coup in which he murdered Jor-El, General Zod and his lieutenants pursue the infant to Earth, where Clark Kent first encounters his father via an interactive computer hologram that simulates his father's personality and knowledge. The AI of Jor-El was later destroyed by General Zod.

Animation

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Video games

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Novels

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Superman: Last Son of Krypton

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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 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.

The Last Days of Krypton

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In 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.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Cronin, Brian (16 October 2008). "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #177". Comics Should Be Good. Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b Jerry Siegel (w), Joe Shuster (p). "Federal Men" New Adventure Comics, no. 12 (January 1937).
  3. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  4. ^ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1960s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. This classic Silver Age story [Flash of Two Worlds] resurrected the Golden Age Flash and provided a foundation for the Multiverse from which he and the Silver Age Flash would hail.
  5. ^ Flash of Two Worlds (The Flash #123)
  6. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 136–139. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  7. ^ Superman #233 (January 1971). DC Comics.
  8. ^ Fleisher, Michael L. (2007). The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman. DC Comics. pp. 97–105. ISBN 978-1-4012-1389-3.
  9. ^ Superman #141 (November 1960). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955). DC Comics.
  11. ^ Action Comics #987. DC Comics (Burbank, California).
  12. ^ The Man of Steel (vol. 2) #1. DC Comics.
  13. ^ Superman Adventures #30-31. DC Comics.
  14. ^ Richard Fielding & Whitney Ellsworth (writers); Tommy Carr (director) (1952-09-15). "Superman on Earth". Adventures of Superman. Season 1. Episode 1. Syndication.
  15. ^ Dan Levine (writer); Bill D'Elia (director) (1994-02-20). "Foundling". Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Season 1. Episode 16. ABC.
  16. ^ Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming (writers); Philip Sgriccia (director) (1996-05-12). "Big Girls Don't Fly". Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Season 3. Episode 22. ABC.
  17. ^ Alfred Gough, Miles Millar (writers) & Greg Beeman (director) (2003-05-20). "Exodus". Smallville. Season 2. Episode 23. The WB.
  18. ^ Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson (writers) & James Marshall (director) (2003-10-08). "Phoenix". Smallville. Season 3. Episode 2. The WB.
  19. ^ Miles Millar, Alfred Gough (writers) & Greg Beeman (director) (2004-09-22). "Crusade". Smallville. Season 4. Episode 1. The WB.
  20. ^ Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & Greg Beeman (director) (2005-05-18). "Commencement". Smallville. Season 4. Episode 22. The WB.
  21. ^ Alfred Gough, Miles Millar (writers) & Miles Millar (director) (2004-04-28). "Memoria". Smallville. Season 3. Episode 19. The WB.
  22. ^ Burlingame, Russ (February 10, 2021). "Superman & Lois Casts Angus Macfadyen as Jor-El (Exclusive)". Comicbook.com.
  23. ^ a b c d e "Jor-El Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 14, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  24. ^ Alan Burnett, Paul Dini & Bob Goodman (writers); Dan Riba (director) (1996-09-06). "The Last Son of Krypton". Superman: The Animated Series. Season 1. Episode 1. The WB.
  25. ^ Rich Fogel & Bruce Timm (writers); Dan Riba & Butch Lukic (directors) (2003-07-05). "Twilight (Parts 1 and 2)". Justice League. Season 2. Episode 1 & 2. Cartoon Network.
  26. ^ "Jor-El Voice - The Looney Tunes Show (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 14, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  27. ^ a b Freiman, Barry. "One-on-One Interview with Producer Ilya Salkind". Superman Homepage. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  28. ^ Warner, Kara (June 15, 2011). "Superman Finds A Dad: Russell Crowe Joins 'Man Of Steel' – MTV Movie News". MTV. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  29. ^ Lovell, Kevin (February 14, 2022). "Trailer, Artwork & Release Info For 'Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem In The Multiverse'; On Blu-ray, DVD & Digital May 24, 2022 From DC - Warner Bros". Screen Connections. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  30. ^ Luchies, Adam (July 3, 2022). "'Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons' Sets 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & Digital Release". Collider. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  31. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
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