# 2 Superman questions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 10, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623 "2013-06-10T14:28:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@turtlescanfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtlescanfly)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/21 "2013-06-10T21:55:08Z")
RE: question #1 of the OP… I certainly didn’t notice this the first time I watched, but at some later date I remembered noticing that all of the members of the Kryptonian council (very beginning, the one’s that were arguing with Jor-El about the planet falling apart) had symbols of some sort on their chest. Jor-El’s looked like an “S” but everyone else bore unrecognizable alien letters. It seemed clear to me at that point that the resemblance of Jor-El’s emblem to our letter “S” was simply coincidental. I imagine it was along the lines of a family crest of sorts, since it was apparently passed down to his son.
So, not explicitly stated, but hinted at that it is in fact some sort of Kryptonian symbol that just coincidentally looks like our letter “S”
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/22 "2013-06-10T22:02:17Z")
> [@jayjay](#):
>
> A coincidence that was nicely lampshaded in one of the Justice League cartoons…the scene is looking out one of the windows on the satellite, the “camera” following an asteroid/meteor across the screen. You then see the John Stewart GL from the back, as he’s looking out the window, and he says, “This has been your moment of zen.”
That’s way cool.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/23 "2013-06-10T23:03:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary always called one another Barry, Hall, Ollie, and Dinah unless they were in public. Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman did likewise.
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman called one another Barry, Hall, Ollie, and Dinah?
(checks the apiary Geiger counters)
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/24 "2013-06-10T23:18:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman called one another Barry, Hall, Ollie, and Dinah?
> (checks the apiary Geiger counters)
I’m confused. Why would you let me know you have the ability to detect incoming swarms of bees? That just lets me know that I need to use –
Well, never mind, you’ll find out.
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### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/25 "2013-06-11T00:46:21Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#):
>
> Then who’s that guy on comedy central?
John Oliver, (AKA Green Arrow :D)
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### Author:  [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/26 "2013-06-11T14:45:45Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#):
>
> John Oliver, (AKA Green Arrow :D)
You mean [Oliver Queen](http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Arrow_%28Oliver_Queen%29)? Haven’t seen him on Comedy Central.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/27 "2013-06-11T14:53:10Z")
I think he means Queen Latifah.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/28 "2013-06-11T21:06:41Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> I think he means Queen Latifah.
Wasn’t she in _Bullitt_ ?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/29 "2013-06-11T21:12:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Wasn’t she in _Bullitt_ ?
No, that was Roy Hackman.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/30 "2013-06-11T22:22:21Z")
Not sure when the comics made the “S”/Krypton connection, but the **Superman** movie in 1978 was the first depiction I ever recall of Jor-El wearing it.
As for the JLA-ers being on a first-name basis, there was an issue of **Swamp Thing** (Alan Moore-era) that made a splash by having them all refer to one another only by their first names. I don’t recall whether that came before, during or after **Dark Knight**.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/31 "2013-06-13T05:22:22Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#):
>
> There’s a great scene in one of the animated Justice League serials where the JLA is on the run from some alien invaders. They break into a closed department store to get away from some pursuers. Batman then says they’ll have to ditch the costumes and blend in as civilians if they want to get away. The Flash then protests:
>
> **Flash** : “but then we’ll give away our secret identities”
> **Batman (pointing at The Flash)**: “Barry West”.
> **Batman (pointing at Green Lantern)**: “Hal Jordan”
> **Batman (pointing at Superman)**: “Clark Kent”
> _Batman removes his cowl_
> **Batman (pointing at self)**: “Bruce Wayne. Any other objections?”
>
> EDIT: Ok, I totally messed up the quote, but here’s a link to the scene in question for atonement: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuk8WvVDVe4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuk8WvVDVe4)
There is another scene from the same series where the Flash and Lex Luthor have switched bodies. Lex realizes that at least he can learn the Flash’s secret identity and removes the mask and looks in the mirror. After a pause he says
“I have no idea who that is.”
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/32 "2013-06-13T13:26:58Z")
OK, it was Justice League of America #19, _The Super-Exiles of Earth_, May 1963 when circumstances required them to all reveal their identities. Granted, at the end Superman uses Amnesium to wipe out their memories, but that doesn’t seem to have worked 'cause they know them in future issues. And Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter apparently already knew each others, which is an odd pairing.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/33 "2013-06-13T14:03:44Z")
They have that green thing in common.
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### Author:  [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/34 "2013-06-13T14:28:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Wasn’t she in _Bullitt_ ?
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> No, that was Roy Hackman.
Lex Luthor was in _Bullitt_?
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### Author:  [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/35 "2013-06-13T15:02:12Z")
So with all the various reboots and whatnot, do they continue to rediscover each other’s identities, or does everybody know who everybody is now?
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/36 "2013-06-13T15:10:12Z")
> [@Sparky812](#):
>
> Lex Luthor was in _Bullitt_?
No, that was Luther Vandross.
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/37 "2013-06-13T15:18:13Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#):
>
> So with all the various reboots and whatnot, do they continue to rediscover each other’s identities, or does everybody know who everybody is now?
Oh, no, what would be the fun in that? And besides, since the Flashpoint and New 52 reboot, we have Justice League (many of the members know who each other are), Justice League International (the comic’s already been cancelled, and some of the members are lost in a time loop), Justice League Dark (magic users, mostly without secret identities), and, most recently, the Justice League of America (created by the gummint in case they need to take out the Justice League; members include not only Green Arrow, the Atom and the Martian Manhunter, but Catwoman and Vibe).
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/38 "2013-06-13T15:26:07Z")
Vibe? The break-dancing kid?
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-superman-questions/660623/39 "2013-06-13T16:13:05Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#):
>
> Vibe? The break-dancing kid?
Why, of course! Just because he’s one of the most despised superheroes in the history of comics doesn’t mean he isn’t due a comeback! To be truthful, what I’ve seen is that have significantly tweaked his powers and his personality. He doesn’t breakdance any more, and his vibratory powers are meant to cancel out the Flash’s speed. (Yeah, sure, that’ll work.)
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