# Superman's "Fortress of Solitude" Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235 "2015-06-23T13:42:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/21 "2015-06-23T17:27:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I knew immediately that “Brainiac” was compounded of “Brain” plus the “-iac” ending of computers like ENIAC and UNIVAC\*. > > But it took me YEARS before I realized that it was also “Brain” plus “Maniac”. Well, you’re ahead of me, I just figured it out after your post. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/22 "2015-06-23T17:36:06Z")
BTW, here’s a bit of trivia I read on David Szondy’s “Tales of Future Past” website (now down, unfortunately): Superman originally was conceived (never portrayed in published comics, but conceived by Siegel and Shuster) as “The Man of Tomorrow,” not an ET but a time traveler from Earth in the far future, embodying superhuman abilities that would be the natural result of evolution (laypersons had some confused ideas about evolution in those days). ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/23 "2015-06-23T18:21:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Brain+maniac is obviously a possible interpretation. But I bet it’s after the fact. It was undoubtedly the intended interpretation for [this movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6TyHJebfQ). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/24 "2015-06-23T18:40:16Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > And for those who asked just [what he had in there…](http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fortress_of_Solitude_%28Earth-One%29_004.jpg) Man, he has to come feed the animals? ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/25 "2015-06-23T18:40:27Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > BTW, here’s a bit of trivia I read on David Szondy’s “Tales of Future Past” website (now down, unfortunately): Superman originally was conceived (never portrayed in published comics, but conceived by Siegel and Shuster) as “The Man of Tomorrow,” not an ET but a time traveler from Earth in the far future, embodying superhuman abilities that would be the natural result of evolution (laypersons had some confused ideas about evolution in those days). Sort of. Siegel and Shuster’s original Superman concept (not counting the one-shot villain in their short story _[Reign of the Superman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reign_of_the_Superman)_) was an alien. When they couldn’t sell it, Jerry Siegel reworked the concept with artist Russell Keaton. The new version changed the infant Superman from an alien to a time traveler, sent back to the 20th century to save him from the destruction of the Earth. That version didn’t sell either, and Siegel got back together with Shuster when their earlier concept was selected to appear in Action Comics #1. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/26 "2015-06-23T19:07:15Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > It was undoubtedly the intended interpretation for [this movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6TyHJebfQ). Of course it is. That’s why I said so in post #13 ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/27 "2015-06-23T19:24:54Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > And for those who asked just [what he had in there…](http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fortress_of_Solitude_%28Earth-One%29_004.jpg) Not as cool as the Bat Cave - by a long shot - and if I were Jimmy Olsen I would be creeped out by the following: -A bunch of replica robots of himself and Supergirl…kinky! -Having life-sized statues of his dead parents indicates he needs therapy. -A “Friendship Galleries” room? If I went over a friends house and he said “Wait, I have a room about our friendship”, _and my name was on the door_, I would cease all contact with this weirdo. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/28 "2015-06-23T20:26:18Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Man, he has to come feed the animals? Nah… what do you think the robots are for? Other than allowing Superman and Clark Kent to be seen together, and baffling Lois Lane yet again, that is. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/29 "2015-06-23T21:22:03Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > And for those who asked just [what he had in there…](http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fortress_of_Solitude_%28Earth-One%29_004.jpg) Superman has some weird-ass hobbies. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/30 "2015-06-23T23:22:09Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > -A “Friendship Galleries” room? If I went over a friends house and he said “Wait, I have a room about our friendship”, _and my name was on the door_, I would cease all contact with this weirdo. Lay off of him! His parents were killed! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/31 "2015-06-24T01:50:11Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > …if I were Jimmy Olsen I would be creeped out by the following: > > -A bunch of replica robots of himself and Supergirl…kinky! So, if Supes stashes Jimmy in the Fortress of Solitude to keep him safe from some terrible threat, Jimmy could amuse himself by watching the Jimmy robots and the Supergirl robots fuck? Or ONE Jimmy robot and all the Supergirl robots? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/32 "2015-06-24T04:57:18Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > So, if Supes stashes Jimmy in the Fortress of Solitude to keep him safe from some terrible threat, Jimmy could amuse himself by watching the Jimmy robots and the Supergirl robots fuck? > > Or ONE Jimmy robot and all the Supergirl robots? Uh, yes. Er, yes, Superman, it was one Jimmy _ **robot** _ with all the Supergirl robots. That’s what you saw; I was in the corner, looking like a marionette with its strings cut. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/33 "2015-06-25T17:27:24Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Superman has some weird-ass hobbies. Yeh, you’d think he came from some other planet or somethin’ . . . ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/34 "2015-06-25T19:41:34Z")
Post Crisis the fortress was at the south pole, and the giant key nonsense was done away with. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/35 "2015-06-25T20:09:51Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Post Crisis the fortress was at the south pole, and the giant key nonsense was done away with. Well, it wasn’t used in the Superman movies, either. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/36 "2015-06-28T19:30:55Z")
A couple of unsettling questions: Would Jimmy (or any other human) survive sex with a Supergirl robot? (Death by snu-snu!) And why would Superman program the Supergirl robots for sex in the first place? Eeewww! She’s his cousin! Can you imagine some awkward moments when Kara visits the Fortress? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/37 "2015-06-28T22:04:23Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > A couple of unsettling questions: > > Would Jimmy (or any other human) survive sex with a Supergirl robot? (Death by snu-snu!) > > And why would Superman program the Supergirl robots for sex in the first place? Eeewww! She’s his cousin! Can you imagine some awkward moments when Kara visits the Fortress? The answer to your first question is that robots could be programmed to all different levels of – umm – responsiveness. One might even imagine some sort of multiple partners scenario where one part of a robot’s anatomy is programmed to accommodate a superhuman level of performance while a different part simultaneously is turned down to “okay, let’s get it over with” As to your second question, maybe the El family was from _southern_ Krypton. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/38 "2015-06-28T23:33:28Z")
Where are people getting the idea of the Olsen-bots, anyway? I only see Superman-bots and Supergirl-bots in that link. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/39 "2015-06-29T00:37:57Z")
There have been seven stories in which Superman has created Jimmy Olsen robots for one reason or another. One occasion was when Jimmy broke his foot and had to stay home. Supes created a Jimmy-bot to go out and take pictures for him so he could stay up to speed with his assignments at the Daily Planet. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235/40 "2015-06-29T00:40:15Z")
If I were Jimmy, I’d totally want a Jimmy-bot so that it could work while I went to ball games. (I’m not into ball games myself, but I do remember a comic where Perry White got super-powers and saw tickets in Jimmy’s pocket. When Jimmy said he wanted to go home sick. Perry says, I guess I’ll cover the ball game myself.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-fortress-of-solitude-questions/723235.md?page=3)