[MUSIC PLAYING]
SCOTT: Kryptonite is Superman's most iconic weakness.
I mean, a glowing green rock is easier to envision
that his other weaknesses and vulnerabilities,
like red sun radiation, magic, or just being punched to death.
Kryptonite itself has had some fun history behind it
that involves a lot of different media forms,
including what was dubbed the most important Superman
story ever written.
You're not going to want to miss that.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Welcome to Comic Misconceptions.
I'm Scott.
And a few months ago, I asked you guys to vote on a video
that you'd like to see me do-- a real origins of Superman, part
two or a real origins of kryptonite.
Over 70% of you who voted chose kryptonite,
so here I am to deliver for you guys.
First, we should probably understand what kryptonite is.
When Superman's home planet of Krypton exploded,
large chunks of the planet were scattered
across the universe with a surprising amount
landing on Earth.
These shards were irradiated by the detonation of Krypton,
which is what makes them so harmful to Superman
and other Kryptonians and slightly less
harmful to humans, although long term exposure can
cause some serious damage.
Green kryptonite is just one form of the stuff.
Comicstorian did a whole video about all the different colors
of kryptonite that I will link to you in the description.
Some of them do some pretty kooky stuff.
So that's the basics of the comic book
origin of where kryptonite came from, but what's the real world
origin?
And how and why was it introduced in the comics
in the first place?
Kryptonite was first introduced in the comics in Superman
number 61 from 1949.
That issue also marks the first time
in the comics when Superman learned
about where he came from.
At this point in time, he had no idea
he was from a planet known as Krypton
or how the planet exploded just after his birth parents sent
him away to Earth where he was found by Jonathan and Martha
Kent, his Earth parents.
Sups notices that he gets weak in the presence of a red rock,
so he investigates where it came from and finds out
that it was from a meteor that fell to Earth.
Then using his vast Superman powers,
he calculates where the meteor must have come from,
then travels through the time barrier where he witnesses
the death of a planet known as Krypton,
as well as discovering his origin.
Sups finally pieces it all together.
He knows now why he can do these incredible things.
He also understands now that the rock makes
him weak because of the radiation that it gives off,
and it only affects Kryptonians.
As I said earlier, in this first comic book appearance,
kryptonite was red.
It didn't get its green appearance until Action Comics
number 161 a few years later.
But also what I find interesting is that Sups first
uses the term kryptonite not in reference to the substance,
but instead to refer to inhabitants
of the planet Krypton, as opposed to being called
Kryptonians.
As in, Superman himself would be a kryptonite.
This is particularly interesting when
you realize that kryptonite wasn't first introduced
through this comic.
A year earlier in 1948, Superman serials were being made.
And the story prominently featured kryptonite, as well.
-Look, it works.
The kryptonite can stop Superman.
-But again, this still doesn't mark the first public debut
of kryptonite.
Where was kryptonite first used in a published Superman story,
you ask, probably already knowing the answer.
Why, yes, it was indeed "The Adventures of Superman"
radio program in an episode called "The Meteor
from Krypton" from 1943, six years before kryptonite
was printed in a comic.
There is this story that I've heard around the internet,
including comment sections on this channel,
about how kryptonite was first introduced in the radio show
as a way of giving the voice of Superman,
Bud Collyer, some time off, since the show
was producing new episodes three to five times per week.
I'm struggling with just two and a podcast.
This story, as far as I can tell, isn't true.
I have a link in the description to one of the episodes
from the radio show that introduced kryptonite
for the first time.
And as you can hear, Bud Collyer is very much in it
as Clark Kent.
That being said, I do believe that there
was a time that the writers did use kryptonite as an excuse
to give Collyer a break from the show.
It just happened later on in the series
and wasn't the reason that they first introduced kryptonite.
Now while the radio program may have marked the first official
debut of kryptonite to the public,
it was not the first place where a kryptonite substance showed
up in the Superman mythos.
A substance known as K-Metal from Krypton
was first written about in an unpublished Superman
comic from 1940 by the same name three years
before "The Adventures of Superman" radio show episode.
This comic is very likely what inspired the show
to incorporate kryptonite.
The story, had it been published,
would have changed so much about Superman
so quickly that he could conceivably
be drastically different than how we know him
today-- so much so that some have
called it the most important Superman story ever written.
And it was lost to us for decades.
The comic I could and should give its own video-- I
could talk about it for hours.
But for the sake of time and today's topic
specifically being kryptonite, allow me to condense everything
down a bit.
Many resources linked in the description
if you want to dive into some further research,
because I'm telling you, the story of this comic
is wonderful.
"The K-Metal from Krypton" comic was written up
around the end of 1940.
Unfortunately-- or maybe not, depending on your stance--
the comic went unpublished for reasons that we still
aren't 100% sure about today.
The script and art went missing for many years
before four pages were reproduced
in the "Steranko History of Comics, Volume 1."
Several pages of artwork would show up in the years since,
but the story still remaining incomplete-- until one
day when comic book writer, Mark Wade,
was digging through the archives at DC Comics.
There, he found a bunch of old Superman manuscripts
from Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman
and writer of a lot of his early adventurers.
Wade would then match up the manuscripts
with their corresponding published comic book
until one script was left unpaired.
And this was the missing K-Metal story.
In hopes to preserve the story, Wade typed up the whole story
synopsis exactly as Jerry Siegel wrote it,
including typos, on the same model typewriter that it
was first written on.
Not too long ago, a collaborative effort
by some talented and passionate artists
drew up the missing pages based off of the script,
as well as inked and colored any scans of the original artwork
they could get a hold of.
Today, the comic is nearly finished,
and you can read it online right now for free-- link
in the description.
In this story, we're introduced to what
appears to be the first version of a kryptonite-like substance.
While not explicitly called kryptonite,
it has a lot of the same properties.
It's a chunk of the planet Krypton
that glows with a penetrating green brilliance and weakens
Superman.
However, it also has the reverse effect
of giving ordinary people powers whenever they touch it,
which is something that we rarely
see with kryptonite, unless you count the Smallville meteor
freaks.
There are a lot of little things in this story that
would change around Superman and introduce some
of the classic elements of the character in the universe
as we know it today.
But the biggest change would have
to do with his relationship with Lois.
As Clark is powerless, thanks to a large meteor
traveling close to Earth that's made of the K-Metal, he
and Lois and some others are captured and trapped
in a mine that's been closed off.
Air is running out, but the meteor zooms past Earth.
And its effects on Superman subside, granting him
his full strength once again.
Clark knows that he can't waste time.
He reveals himself to be Superman to Lois and the rest
and rescues everyone from the collapsed mine.
Lois is stunned.
She can't believe that Clark Kent and Superman
are the same person.
Now unlike other stories, there is no cover up
here-- no quick fix that sets everything back
to normal, like a memory wiping kiss or a clone or robot
or whatever.
She knows who Superman is permanently.
They even decide that they are going to start working together
as partners.
That is, until Lois remembers how long
that Clark has effectively been lying to her.
So she storms off, but still insists
that she'll help him, only for the good of humanity.
More about this in a minute.
There is a fantastic analysis of this story
by Will Murray in "Alter Ego Number 36" where
he tries to break down why this story was made
in the first place and also why it never ended up
being published.
There is a ton of interesting stuff in this article,
and a lot of it is purely speculation.
But I will only touch on a few things.
One of the things that he suggests
is that maybe the introduction of the K-Metal
was nothing more than a reaction to the thinking
that Superman was too super.
He had no real challenge yet.
There are cases that we can see already
at this point in time in the early '40s
where people were thinking that Superman was not
as relatable as other, more vulnerable heroes.
There was one writer by the name of Frederick Brown who
wrote that there's nowhere to go after Superman but backwards.
He said, quote, "He can't go on.
Superman is the ultimate in invulnerability, strength,
and toughness.
He has spoiled all taste for semi-superman."
I want to stress, again, this is just shortly
after Superman debuted and was starting to get popular.
He didn't even have all of his powers yet.
As for why the comic was killed, Murray
points to who he suspects was behind it--
Robert Maxwell, the producer of "The Adventures of Superman"
radio show.
Again, lots of speculation here, but the full article
spells it out pretty well in more detail
than I'm going to go into.
The gist is that at the end of the story where Lois finds out
about Superman's true identity, that would have changed
the whole core relationship between the characters
too much too quickly.
Murray theorizes that Maxwell would have recognized
that a shift that drastic while Superman was still forming
and changing into a multimedia icon
might have been a disastrous thing to do for the brand.
So he exercised his power and killed the K-Metal story.
However, a few years later when they
were writing stories for the radio show,
they would have been inspired by the K-Metal
to create kryptonite and introduce it on the show,
leaving out the whole part about Lois
finding out Clark's secret identity.
And that would be how kryptonite was first officially introduced
in the Superman mythos.
What do you guys think?
Would you have liked to see "The K-Metal from Krypton"
comic printed?
Do you see it affecting the dynamic between Lois
and Superman to a point where their relationship would
be totally different than how we know it today?
And since this video's supposed to be about kryptonite,
do you like the idea of kryptonite granting humans
powers, or should it only affect Kryptonians?
Let me know all your thoughts about this stuff
in the comments.
We are done with Superman videos for a while.
I honestly didn't mean to do so many of them that
close together.
Luckily, next month I am going to be
doing what I am calling Avengers Month where
I'll be making videos about lots of Marvel characters
and stories.
I am incredibly excited about all of it.
And you should be, too.
#NerdSyncAvengersMonth.
Is that too long for a hashtag?
No.
We'll figure it out.
And if this is your first time hanging out with us here
at Nerd Sync, we do weekly comic book videos
that expand your understanding and enrich your comic book
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So hit that big, sexy Subscribe button
so you don't miss out on anything.
Once again, I'm Scott.
You can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
And we will see you right here on Friday for not a tie-in,
but the two-year anniversary of Comic Misconceptions.
It's a special video I'm going to make for you guys.
Don't miss out.