Jor-El

Superherobox


caption = The latest incarnation of Jor-El, with Superman. Art by Adam Kubert.
character_name = Jor-El
publisher = DC Comics
debut = "Action Comics" #1 (1938)
creators = Jerome "Jerry" Siegel, writer
Joseph "Joe" Shuster, artist
alter_ego =
full_name = Jor-El
species = Kryptonian
homeworld = Krypton
alliances =Science Council
aliases =
supports= Superman
powers = Scientific genius

Jor-El is a fictional character from the Superman comic books, published by DC Comics. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster, Jor-El first appeared in "Action Comics" #1 as Kal-El's (Superman) biological father. Jor-El is a Kryptonian and the husband of Lara Lor-Van. He is a scientist, and leader on the planet Krypton before its destruction. He foresaw the planet's fate, but was unable to convince his colleagues in time to save their race after his appeals. Jor-El was able to save his infant son, Kal-El, sending him in a homemade rocketship to the planet Earth just moments before Krypton's demise. After constructing his Fortress of Solitude, Superman honored his deceased biological parents with a statue of Jor-El and Lara holding up a globe of Krypton.

Jor-El appeared in various adaptations of "Superman" stories, such as the 1978 film "Superman" and "Superman Returns" (2006) where he is portrayed by Marlon Brando, in the 1950s television program "Adventures of Superman" he was portrayed in the pilot episode by Robert Rockwell and in "Smallville" where he is voiced by Terence Stamp and briefly portrayed by Tom Welling as a young Jor-El. Jor-El is usually portrayed as closely resembling the later appearance of Kal-El, as the adult Superman. In the 2006 (actor Marlon Brando did not appear in the original 1980 release of the film), Lex Luthor notes a resemblance between Jor-El and Superman.

History

Golden and Silver Age versions

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 in 1939, where his name was spelled as "Jor-L". His name first appeared as being spelled "Jor-el" in the 1942 Superman novel, "The Adventures of Superman," written by George Lowther; later comics would capitalize the 'E' in 'El'. After the introduction of DC's multiverse system in the 1960s, it was established that the Golden Age version of Superman's father was named "Jor-L" and lived on the Krypton of the Earth-Two universe, while "Jor-El" was the father of the Silver Age version of Superman and lived on the Krypton of the Earth-One universe.

A 1948 retelling of Superman's origin story first delved into detail about Jor-El, though his formal and more familiar Silver Age aspects were firmly established starting in the late 1950s and over the course of the next several decades, with a definitive summarization in the 1979 miniseries "The World of Krypton" (not to be confused with the post-"Crisis on Infinite Earths" late-1980s comic miniseries of the same name).

His accomplishments

As it was summarized in this miniseries (and in various other Silver Age stories), Jor-El was Krypton's leading scientific genius, having invented, among other devices, the "Jor-El," a hovercar, and having discovered a parallel plane of existence which he called the Phantom Zone and invented a device by which it could be entered, which he called the Phantom Zone projector. He lived in Krypton's major city of Kryptonopolis.

Even before Jor-El's birth, the El family was renowned across Krypton for its various contributions to Kryptonian society. Ancestors of Jor-El included: Val-El, a famous 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

Jor-El had two brothers: Zor-El, who lived in Argo City and eventually became the father of Kara Zor-El, alias Supergirl, and a fraternal twin brother named Nim-El, who lived in Kandor. In several stories, Jor-El's father was established as Jor-El I, and his mother as Nimda An-Dor. Jor-El eventually met and married Lara, daughter of Lor-Van, a young astronaut in Krypton's fledgling space program (which was soon permanently grounded after Jax-Ur blew up one of Krypton's inhabited moons), and the two soon had an infant son, Kal-El.

Jor-El as a male Cassandra

When Krypton began experiencing a series of groundquakes, Jor-El investigated. He soon discovered, to his horror, that Krypton's core was extremely unstable and indeed radioactive, and worse, that it would eventually reach critical mass and explode, taking the entire planet and its populace with it. Jor-El tried to convince the members of Krypton's ruling body, the Science Council, of this impending disaster, and urged re-establishing Krypton's space program so giant spacecraft could be built to carry the populace to another habitable world. However, the Council was dismissive of Jor-El's findings, and refused to comply with his plan.

Frustrated, Jor-El continued his work on space travel on his own, hoping to build a spacecraft to save his own family. This work included launching several smaller test rockets; one of these rockets included the family dog, who responded to the name of Krypto). However, as time ran short, he soon found that he would only have enough time to build a spacecraft to save his son Kal-El. Jor-El decided to aim for sending Kal to Earth, realizing he would gain super-human powers under Earth's more intense yellow sun and lower gravity. As Krypton finally went through its final destructive stages, Jor-El and Lara placed their son in the rocket and launched him toward Earth, before they themselves were killed along with almost all the rest of the planet's population.

Modern versions

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. Under Byrne's version, Jor-El inhabited a cold, emotionally sterile Krypton where even bodily contact was forbidden. Indeed, Jor-El himself was considered a "throwback" for actually expressing emotions toward his mate Lara, and for his favoring the less sterilized days of past Kryptonian eras. Another change in this version was 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 were 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 was that when the birthing matrix opened on Earth, Kal-El was "born" on that planet.

In the 1990s series "Starman", it was revealed that in his youth, Jor-El met a time-traveling Jack Knight and Mikaal Tomas, two individuals who both bore at various points the "Starman" mantle. Knight and Tomas had been accidentally sent 70 years back in time and hurled across space. It was in this way that Jor-El first learned of Earth's existence; in return, Jor-El helped Knight and Tomas escape from his overbearing father, Seyg-El.

In the Infinite City graphic novel Superman and Lois discover a city of aliens in a pocket dimension who all seem to speak Kryptonese . They discover Jor-el had planned to try to save the population of Krypton by taking them all to this pocket city There wasn't enough time and the city became governed by a neural clone robot of Jor-el who went on to create an in exact clone of Kal-el altered because of the physics of the dimension making Kal-el 2 blonde.

In the 2004 miniseries "," 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 to Earth. 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 were successful. As with Byrne's conflicting view of Krypton, the "Birthright" origins of Jor-El, Krypton, and Lex Luthor have recently been retconned, and, following the 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 Dru-Zod and the Phantom Zone criminals into mainstream continuity. 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 "" and "," 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 had discovered if he were 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 corroborated Jor-El's findings regarding Krypton's impending destruction, when the two were 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 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. (This echoes the statement Terrence Stamp made in both Superman movies Donner directed: "No matter that it takes me an eternity, "you WILL bow down before me, Jor-El; I swear it! First you, and then one day, Jor-El, YOUR HEIRS!!!"")

Having been rebuilt via a Krypton crystal during the One Year Later story arc, the current version of the Fortress of Solitude, which was 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."

In "Superman/Batman" #50, it is revealed that, years ago, Jor-El sent a probe to Earth that made contact with Thomas Wayne while he was on a drive with a pregnant Martha, the probe holographically transmitting Thomas's consciousness to Krypton so that Jor-El could better learn what kind of world Earth was to help him decide which of many possible candidates he should send his son to. Thomas tells Jor-El that the people of earth aren't perfect, but are essentially a good and kind race, who would raise the child right, convincing Jor-El to send Kal-El there. Upon returning to his body, Thomas uses the technology in the Kryptonian probe to revitalise a failing Wayne Enterprises. Years later, the alien technology would be the basis of much of Batman's technology. Thomas recorded his encounter in a diary, which was discovered by Bruce in the present day.

Appearances in other media

Jor-El has appeared (usually briefly) in various media adaptations of the Superman story. Media portrayals of Jor-El tend to vary greatly in how he's presented, often diverging from the original source material.

Film

uperman serial

Jor-El was portrayed by Nelson Leigh in the 1948 "Superman" movie serial.

uperman film series

uperman

Marlon Brando played Jor-El in the 1978 "Superman" film, which Alexander Salkind, his son Ilya Salkind, and their business partner Pierre Spengler produced and which Richard Donner directed. In the 1978 movie, Jor-El is shown wearing the Superman "S"-shield symbol as the family crest of the House of El; it was, in fact, Brando's idea to wear the symbol in this manner.Fact|date=February 2008 In the current comics, 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. However, the film version is one in which the shield is unique to members of the House of El, with other Kryptonians wearing their own individualized family crests.

When the young adult Clark Kent finds the green crystal his father placed in his ship, it leads him to the North Pole, where the green crystal creates the Fortress of Solitude, and finally brings Clark into contact with an interactive hologram of his biological father, who instructs the young Superman on how to use his powers and informs him that the people of Earth "can be a great people, Kal-El, if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all...their capacity for good...I have sent them you, my only son." Later, Jor-El is shown advising Superman on why he must maintain his secret identity to protect himself and his loved ones. Jor-El's relationship with Superman in the film is seen by some as a metaphor for God's relationship with Jesus Christ, to the point that Jor-El sending Superman to Earth to help the human race parallels God sending Christ to Earth to enlighten and redeem its people.Fact|date=January 2008

uperman II

Marlon Brando filmed additional footage for the sequel, "Superman II," before creative differences caused his footage to end up on the cutting room floor. It has been restored for the 2006 revised version, "." In the "Richard Donner Cut," Jor-El appears again as in the first as a person to guide and inform Kal-El. Jor-El's historical crystals reveal to Luthor the existence of the three Kryptonians in the Phantom Zone, which makes Luthor realize just who and what they are (and that it was Superman who caused their release). Jor-El is asked the ultimate question by Clark, can he live a life as a human with Lois. Jor-El tries to persuade Clark not to wish so but Clark is firm with his will. Jor-El reveals the crystal chamber with the rays of Krypton's red Sun which will make Clark human forever. Clark returns to find all the crystals and information regarding Krypton destroyed but Clark finds the original crystal and is able to bring back Jor-El. Jor-El sacrifices his remaining life force in the Fortress of Solitude to restore Superman's powers so that Superman can save the Earth from the evil Kryptonian war criminal General Zod. Superman later destroys the Fortress after it has been breached by Lex Luthor and the Phantom Zone criminals, but then goes back in time, where it remains normal.

uperman Returns

In 2006, two years after Brando died, he "reprised" the role of Jor-El in "Superman Returns," through the harvesting of archived video footage and sound clip outtakes. In Superman Returns, Lex Luthor, having retained vague memories of the place, returns to the Fortress during Superman's absence to learn the power of the crystals. After stealing one, he uses it, with kryptonite, to create a new continent that threatens to destroy North America. Superman manages to throw the "New Krypton" island out of the atmosphere and into space. It should be noted that in "Superman Returns," the particular crystal Luthor stole was the only way for Superman to make any contact with Jor-El's life force.Fact|date=January 2008 How Superman will retrieve it or find another way to contact Jor-El has yet to be determined.

Animation

uperman theatrical cartoons

Jor-El is referenced in the first episode of the Superman theatrical cartoons as one of Krypton's "leading scientists sensing the approach of doom." So he placed his young child (Kal-El) into a rocket and blasted it off toward earth just as Krypton exploded.

uper Friends

Jor-El is also seen in at least three episodes of the Super Friends. He appears in the episode "The Planet Splitter," and in the Challenge of the Superfriends episode "Secret Origins of The Superfriends," and he also appears in the short episode called "The Krypton Syndrome."

uperman: The Animated Series (1988)

On the 1988 Superman animated series, Superman mentions that Jor-El was the creator of the Phantom Zone, which holds General Zod and his two Kryptonian companions. One of Zod's minions creates a pool of energy that allows them to create a monster called "The Hunter" (voiced by Peter Cullen) that leaves the Phantom Zone to kill Superman, then find the Phantom Zone projector, and free them. Jor-El is only mentioned, but he is not shown.

uperman: The Animated Series (1996)

The in the mid-1990s uses the character of Jor-El (voiced by Christopher McDonald) as the hero of its first episode. In the first part of the three-part opener, "," Jor-El is a scientist examining the reasons for various earthquakes across the planet. His findings indicate Krypton's imminent destruction. Here, the animated Jor-El diverges from the comic version. While both versions feature the ruling council of Krypton dismissing Jor-El's findings, Jor-El is portrayed as a far less respected member of the scientific community, and the episode also gives a specific reason to the council's dismissal: Brainiac. Brainiac, the operating system that runs the planet and chronicles its history and information, insists that Jor-El's calculations are incorrect, and the council members trust Brainiac much more than Jor-El. (Also, Jor-El's radical plan to put Krypton's entire population in the Phantom Zone while Krypton is destroyed for later transference to another planet is greeted by the council with nothing less than hatred.) This is the same Brainiac who becomes Superman's later nemesis.

When Jor-El investigates the difference between Brainiac's findings and his own, he discovers that Brainiac has lied to the council to save himself. Brainiac counters by sending the authorities after him, leading to a protracted action sequence of Jor-El evading the police (Brainiac later on uploaded himself onto an orbiting satellite). This is one of several scenes which portray Jor-El as a skilled fighter and pilot, his primary vehicle resembling a flying scooter. With mere minutes before Krypton is to be destroyed, Jor-El loads Kal-El into the rocketship which had been intended for a single Kryptonian who would restore Krypton's population from the Phantom Zone, and dies with his wife as the planet explodes. Jor-El's legacy on the show is carried on by the constant battles between Superman and Brainiac (he is as much Jor-El's enemy as he is Superman's) and the Phantom Zone criminals Jax-Ur and Mala, who were foiled by Jor-El.

Batman Beyond

As a possible tie to the resemblance between father and son, Christopher McDonald also voices an older Superman in the "Batman Beyond" two-parter, "The Call."

Justice League

In the 2-part episode "Twilight", Jor-El and Lara make a cameo in a picture shown to Superman by Brainiac when he attempts to renew his offer of exploring the universe and collecting knowledge.

Justice League Unlimited

Jor-El also appears in the "Justice League Unlimited" episode "For The Man Who Has Everything," an adaptation from the print story of the same name written by Alan Moore, which originally appeared in 1985's "Superman Annual." In the story, Superman has an induced fantasy where he sees what his life would be like if Krypton had not exploded, after being attacked by Mongul's plant "the Black Mercy." Jor-El is portrayed as an old man whose sky-is-falling theories disgraced him, but has done well enough for himself since then to have a sense of humor about it. As a bit of an in-joke, his facial design matches Superman's from the first season of "Justice League," plus he slightly resembles Marlon BrandoFact|date=February 2008. Jor-El's character voice is again provided by Christopher McDonald.

Legion of Super Heroes

Jor-El also appears in the Legion of Super Heroes animated series. He appears in the episode called "Message in a Bottle." In that episode, he was shown in a flashback, which was a story told by Brainiac 5, referring to the time when the original Brainiac (known as Brainiac 1.0 by the 31st century) shrank Kandor and destroyed the entire planet Krypton.

Live-action television

The Adventures Of Superman

Jor-El was acted out by Robert Rockwell, who went uncredited on-screen, in "Superman On Earth," the first episode of the 1952 television series "The Adventures Of Superman."

uperboy

Jor-El was "played" by George Lazenby, who was actually acting out the role of an alien disguised as Jor-El, in the late 1980s television series "Superboy," which Alexander Salkind and his son Ilya Salkind produced for first-run syndication.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

David Warner played Jor-El in the 1st season episode, "Foundling." From a small Kryptonian globe, Clark Kent begins to see holographic messages from his Biological Father. For the first time Clark learns his birth name, Kal-El. Jor-El details Krypton's destruction and how he saved his son by sending him to the planet Earth in an small experimental spaceship. Jor-El says that there is an old Kryptonian saying which advises, "On a long road, take small steps."

François Giroday played him in the episode, "Big Girls Don't Fly," where Clark remembers being married, at birth, to Zara, which was apparently a common ritual on pre-Cataclysm Krypton.

mallville

On the television series "Smallville," Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent on the show, played a young Jor-El during flashbacks showing Jor-El visiting Smallville in the early 1960s, in the episode "Relic." During his time on Earth, Jor-El had an affair with Lana Lang's aunt, only for her to be shot and killed by Lex Luthor's grandfather. Apart from Welling's portrayal of the character, Jor-El himself is never actually seen on-screen, with the exception of a glimpse during a flashback scene in the episode "Memoria."

In all other episodes Terence Stamp provides the voice of Jor-El. Stamp had previously played General Zod in "Superman" and "Superman II." In "Smallville" continuity, Jor-El's spirit resides within the Kawatche caves of Smallville, Kansas, and later in Clark's Arctic-based Fortress of Solitude, from which he attempts to guide and influence the life of his son. (Whether this "spirit" is supernatural in origin or some technological duplication of the long-dead Kryptonian scientist's memories, knowledge and personality as it is in the films is never made clear in the series.) But in a great divergence from any other version of Jor-El, who is usually shown as having had benevolent reasons for sending his son to Earth, Clark finds a message from his biological father, in the spaceship that carried him to Earth, that seemingly instructs him to conquer the planet and lead as a tyrant; this was proven to be incorrect by the end of the show's fourth season and continuing into Season 5, when the actual meanings of Jor-El's words are revealed to be that he wanted to prepare Clark for the coming meteorite shower, the arrival of Brainiac, and by the fifth season finale, the dreaded arrival of Zod.

Jor-El's relationship with Clark, posthumous though it is, can best be described as turbulent. Throughout the series, Clark defies Jor-El countless times and, each time, always has to deal with the repercussions. In the episode "Exodus," Jor-El demands that Clark return himself to him so that he can begin his quest to rule Earth. Clark, fearing the path Jor-El has laid out for him, destroys his spaceship, which was a vessel for Jor-El's commands. As a result of the following explosion, , Clark's human mother, is injured and loses her unborn child, resulting in blaming him for causing it. Overwrought with guilt, Clark puts on a Red Kryptonite ring and runs away to Metropolis.

Jonathan discovers the location of his son and seeks Jor-El's help in retrieving Clark. Jor-El makes an agreement with Jonathan, stipulating that he will help if Clark is eventually returned to him. Jonathan reluctantly agrees and is given temporary Kryptonian superpowers which he uses to bring Clark home but ignores his part of the bargain. Later, at the end of the episode "Hereafter", Jonathan suffers a near-fatal heart attack, and this plagues him from time to time, as a warning.

In the episode "Covenant," Jor-El abducts a young girl and reprograms her into a superpowered girl named Kara. In the comics, Kara is actually Clark's cousin and Jor-El's niece, and later takes on the title of Supergirl. Kara manipulates Clark into joining her by saying that Clark's family and friends will betray him. When Kara's predictions seemingly prove correct, Clark, having no one else to turn to, returns to Jor-El and is reprogrammed into Kal-El of Krypton, a cold, single-minded being with no memory of Clark's life. Kal-El begins his mission of retrieving three Kryptonian crystals scattered throughout the world. Martha disrupts Jor-El's plan by exposing Clark to Black Kryptonite, freeing the "Clark" persona and eliminating the colder Kryptonian side of Kal-El.

In the episode "Sacred", Clark activates a message from Jor-El, and Jor-El explains that Krypton's knowledge was encoded in the three crystals, which were brought to Earth and hidden at far reaches of the world, and that his mission was to have Clark unite the three stones and prevent Earth's destruction. In the season finale, "Commencement" (and continuing into the fifth season premiere, "Arrival"), Clark unites the three stones, which meld into one crystal, and is transported to the North Pole, where the Kryptonian crystal forms the Fortress of Solitude.

Afterwards, Clark enters the Fortress where the final phase in his journey is about to be completed. However, Clark interrupts his mission by aiding Chloe Sullivan, who, having been accidentally transported along with Clark to the Arctic, followed him into the Fortress and is freezing to death. Jor-El initially refuses to allow Clark to leave, but relents, stating that Clark must return to the Fortress before sunset. Clark fails to return and as a result, he is stripped of his powers. Although Clark is grateful to finally be able to live a "normal" life, it comes back to haunt him when he is fatally shot in the episode "Hidden."

Jor-El inhabits Lionel Luthor's body and brings Clark's corpse to the Fortress where Clark is resurrected with all his powers restored. After being revived, Clark is told by Jor-El that there will be a price to pay for this favor: the life of someone close to Clark must be taken in exchange for his being given back. In the episode "Reckoning," the 100th episode of "Smallville", when Lana is killed in a car accident caused by Lex and a grief-stricken Clark begs him for help, Jor-El gives Clark a crystal that will send him 24 hours into the past. Clark uses the crystal to go back in time and prevents the accident that took Lana's life, but unfortunately, this leads to a confrontation with Lionel. In the original timeline, Jonathan was on his way to meet with Lionel, but never met him as Lana was killed in an accident. When Clark went back to the past and saved her, Jonathan didn't have a reason to stop and met Lionel, but he then died from a heart attack.

Jor-El later warns Clark that Brainiac wants to unleash General Zod from the Phantom Zone, and, if Zod inhabits a human host, he must kill him to prevent destruction. Upon escape, Zod takes over Lex's body, but Clark backs down at the last minute and stabs Brainiac. This results in Zod exiling Clark to the Phantom Zone. Clark is rescued by Jor-El's former research assistant and ally , who provides him a key to escape the Zone. At the same time, Jor-El contacts Martha for the first time and commends her for having raised Kal-El, and he helps heal Lois Lane, who had been injured in a plane crash caused by Brainaic. Following this, the Fortress shuts its power down temporarily, but Clark manages to restore it with a crystal bearing the House of El insignia.

In the Seventh Season, Kara Zor-El, daughter of Zor-El and niece of Jor-El, awakens from nearly twenty years in suspended animation with the goal to find and protect baby Kal-El, whom she does not realize has grown. When he finally learns that her father and his were at odds with each other, Clark seeks Jor-El out for answers about who this girl really is. Jor-El explains that Zor-El was evil, and Clark must start his training with Kara by finding out what her real motives are.

In the episode "Lara," the flashback between Kara and Lara, Clark's biological mother, Lara mentioned that Jor-El invented the Brain Interactive Construct [Brainiac] to save Krypton. At the end of the episode "Blue," Jor-El informs Clark that because of his recurring disobedience and not learning from his mistakes, Clark will have to face a consequence: imprisonment at the Fortress. However, when Bizarro enters the Fortress, Jor-El releases Clark so that he can stop him. Although silent, Jor-El also appears in the episodes "Traveler" and "Sleeper". In "Traveler," Jor-El restores Kara's powers. At the end of the Season Seven finale, "Arctic", the Fortress is destroyed. The fate of Jor-El following the destruction of the Fortress is currently unknown.

Other Appearances

In an episode of the sitcom "Seinfeld" entitled "The Secret Code," Jerry reveals that his ATM code is "Jor-El."

In the episode of the animated show "Futurama" entitled "Future Stock," Jor-El has a cameo as a giant floating head, proclaiming himself "Master Of Scheduling."

In an episode of the USA Network series "Monk (TV Series)" entitled "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan," the street preacher who briefly converts Adrian Monk is called "Jor-El."

"They claimed Jor-El was wrong too," has been used by various green organizations in trying to make the world aware of the plight of global warming.

Novels

"Superman: Last Son of Krypton"

In the Elliot S! Maggin 1978 text novel "Superman: Last Son of Krypton", Jor-El is shown as having sent a navigation probe ahead of Kal-El's vehicle, in order 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 mental telepathy, along with precise details of where Kal-El's rocket would land (near Smallville, Kansas), several days later. Through the probe, Einstein learned that due to the yellow-sun environment and lower gravity, the child would acquire superhuman powers on Earth.

But Einstein concluded that he himself was too old to raise a super-child and that he would probably not live to see him become an adult. He reasoned the child should have both a father and mother, and also that on Earth, the qualities of kindness and honesty would be more important than sheer scientific knowledge to instill into a super-powerful being. (The real-life fact that Einstein had fled from despotic Nazi Germany in the 1930s was noted as a possible factor in this decision.)

Einstein then traveled incognito to Smallville to seek out a suitable family; this required his sneaking away from fawning government handlers, assigned to protect/baby-sit Einstein as a vital national resource. In the course of several days in Smallville, he encountered Jonathan and Martha Kent, and decided that they would be ideal foster parents for the Kryptonian child, due to their honest and generous natures. Einstein arranged for the Kents to be in the immediate area when Kal-El's spaceship landed, thus ensuring he would be found and later adopted by them.

The last sequence shown in the novel has Kal-El, now grown up to become Clark Kent/Superman, reading a letter that Einstein had written to him, using the written Kryptonese language, in which he explains all this.

"The Last Days of Krypton"

In the novel 2007 "The Last Days of Krypton" by novelist 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 for many years. At the start of the novel Jor-El's research discovers the Phantom Zone.

ee also

* ""
* Superman Dynasty

External links

* [http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Jor-El Supermanica bio on the pre-Crisis Jor-El]
* [http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/who/who-intro.php?topic=jor-el Superman Homepage bio on the post-Crisis Jor-El]