Superman
Although never mentioned by name,
at least two XTC songs (both written by Andy Partridge) swirl
around Superman allusions: "That's Really Super,
Supergirl" (on 1986's Skylarking) and
"Brainiac's Daughter" (on the 1987 Dukes Of The
Stratosphear album Psonic Psunspot).
Here's condensed versions of the
pertinent Superman-related definitons.
- Brainiac:
A long-running arch villan, Brainiac has caused Superman
grief since 1958, when he first appeared with the bottled
city of Kandor (see below).
- Brainiac's Daughter:
A green-skinned female character (c.f. the penultimate
line from "Omnibus" on Nonsuch) introduced in
1996 (a decade after the song!) in the comic
mini-series Kingdom Come. She first appears in
Book 2, both on the back cover and on page 19 (in the
lower right-hand corner of panel 2). It is significant to
note that the character also been refered to as
"XTC" by the creators of the series, artist
Alex Ross and writer Mark Waid.The character is the daughter of the Legion
of Superheroes character Brainiac 5 and Supergirl, a
romantic match consistent with events contained in
previous Legion stories. She sports a sleek pink and
white costume, colours associated with the original
Brainiac. Alas, she doesn't play much of a role in the
series ... we can only hope that the forthcoming (1998) Kingdom
Come series will tell us more about her.
This raises an interesting
question: does Andy know that his fictitious character is
now a reality?
- Daily Planet:
The Metropolis newspaper for which Superman, in his guise
as Clark Kent, works as a reporter. The most famous
female "Daily Planet Reporter" is Lois Lane,
Clark Kent/Superman's friend and love interest.
- Fortress of Solitude:
A hidden structure, used by Superman as a hideaway. One
of the things Superman kept in the Fortress was the
Bottle City of Kandor (see below). Originally located in
the Arctic, it is now (post-1986) located in the
Antarctic.
- Kandor:
The capital city of Krypton (Superman's home planet),
stolen prior to the destruction of Krypton by Brainiac
(see above). The city was stored in a bottle after being
reduced in size by Brainiac's shrinking ray.
- Kryptonite:
The glowing radioactive remains of the planet Krypton
(from whence Superman came), the only substance capable
of harming The Man of Steel. Exposure to Kryptonite
slowly weakens Superman, and would eventually kill him.
- Supergirl:
Originally Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El. She survived
the destruction of Krypton because her home, Argo City,
was blown into space on a huge fragment of the planet.
Introduced in 1959, she got killed off during the 1985 Crisis
On Infinite Earths. In 1991 a new Supergirl character
appeared, one who is not the cousin of Superman -- in
fact, she isn't even Kryptonian.The image of Supergirl to the right is from
the 1994 DC Cosmic Teams card set.
Sources:
- the "Superman Comics
History" and "Who's Who" sections of the Superman homepage
- the unofficial Kingdom Come home page
- Rob Goulart, The Comic
Book Reader's Companion: An A-To-Z Guide To Everyone's
Favorite Art Form, HarperPerennial, 1993.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
SUPERMAN and all related elements are the property of DC Comics,
and the material provided here is for information purposes only.
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