And Then There Was the Time That Superman Learned About The Origin of Humanity

 

 

In Marty Pasko and the phenomenal Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’s DC Comics Presents #1–recently reprinted in handy Showcase format–Superman discovers that life on Earth evolved from the waste products of alien spaceships, which are themselves organic creatures genetically engineered to travel through space.

So to put this another way, in the DC Universe, life on Earth–and also Krypton, as it turns out–is directly descended from alien poop.

Seriously.

28 thoughts on “And Then There Was the Time That Superman Learned About The Origin of Humanity

  1. Huh. Well, that’s cooler than “some magic bearded dude made you out of dust”. Makes me think of Vonnegurt Jr’s “The Sirens of Titan”. Primitive humans were manipulated by the sentient exploratory robot of an alien race to evolve and form civilizations, so that eventually we would produce a replacement part for its ship, so that the robot could continue carrying a message to a distant galaxy. The part turned out to be a metal strip the size of a bottle opener.

    Actually, I’d much rather think of myself as descended from alien poop than poofed into existence magically by some vaguely-defined, omni-this omni-that Captain Strongman in the Sky. This Supes story has got a moral, I guess: even lowly poop can turn into something amazing!

  2. Chris, I remember you once mentioning on Ajax you were fan of “The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul”.

    In the first Dirk Gently book, “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”…*SPOILER*




    This is essentially the same origin given for humanity and the major plot point at the end. Not sure which came first, but might Pesky Pasko have stolen this from Dougie Adams?



    *end spoiler*

  3. Those of a religious bent may now utter the phrase “Holy Shit” without fear of retribution.

  4. Aha! Species memory passed down through evolution must account for monkeys flinging their “exhaust”, if you will, at passersby in a crude reconstruction of the dawn of life on Earth.

  5. aahhh…DC Comics Presents…the first bronze age series I actively hunted down in back issue bins. I remember the first two issues cited here and thinking it nifty SF idea.

  6. Martin says…
    Not sure which came first, but might Pesky Pasko have stolen this from Dougie Adams?

    according to the cover: DC Comics Presents #1 (Jul-Aug, 1978)

    wiki: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is a 1988 humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams.

    So, unless Marty Pasko invented a time machine to hop forward ten years into the future to steal all of Douglas Adams’ jokes, no.

    (Frankly, inventing and building a time machine – not beyond Pasko’s abilities. Stealing someone else’s jokes – a little less likely.)

  7. By the way, Chris, are you having a “Week in Ink” for last week? I get that thanksgiving might’ve delayed it, or that you simply decided to knock it on the head on this occasion.

  8. You should have expected poo jokes that somehow support the idea of incest.

  9. Supes teamed up with The Flash (Barry) in DCCP #1 and #2, it was a two-part epic featuring another Supes v. Flash race.

    The series would later feature some terrific team-ups with Captain Marvel (DCCP Annual #3 is a favorite with Gil Kane art and two words: CAPTAIN SIVANA!!), an Alan Moore penned issue featuring Swamp Thing and another fun one – BIZARRO JUSTICE LEAGUE!!

  10. Pasko actually would only have had to travel one year forward in time, since Douglas Adams used the same idea in a Doctor Who episode in 1979 before he recycled most of that plot for Dirk Gently…

  11. Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is INCREDIBLE! I really wish he could have had a good long run on a single title. I’ve been picking up Atari Force and other odds and ends trying to get some of his work. Also, Ernie Colon : AWESOME!