Something thats always puzzled me about the original Superman movie...

... is the green crystal Jor-El places into the pod. Its obviously not Kryptonite cos it doesnt hurt him. But then why make it green?

Because it was the most important crystal and it made it stand out from the rest.

Ok fair enough but its still kinda counter intuitive for the audience.

Green crystal from Krypton = Kryptonite in most cases = bad news for Supes... except for the one his dad puts in his space crib?

My missus is the one who really wants to know and I couldnt give a good enough explanation. So she chastised me for not being geeky enough

Even if the green crystal was kryptonite it wouldn't affect Jor-El because Kryton orbited a red sun. Supposedly our yellow sun gives Kryptonians their super status and also their kryptonite weakness. I'm not expert though, but the crystals could very well be some other substance while kryptonite might be Kryptons rock formation, not it's crystal formations, which is why it doesn't affect Superman while in the yellow suns influence.

IMHO, the green crystal was placed in the space craft and sent along with Kal but all of the other pieces were subjected to the explosion of Krypton's sun and radiated.

Green is just one type of kryptonite anyway, it comes in other colors but they have a different effect on Superman.

Yeah, kryptonite that harms superman is essentially irradiated pieces of his krypton home world that became irradiated during or after the explosion of the planet.

Superman's (kryptonian) cells absorb solar radiation given off by a yellow sun, and subsequently give him all of his power. The radiation given off by the green kryptonite absorbs the latent yellow sun radiation in superman's cells. This leads to a loss of his super powers and superman is harmed because the rapid loss of the radiation in his cells is a super detox if you will.

Long story short, only rocks that traveled through space because of the explosion of krypton are harmful to superman. Any crystals carried with Kal-el on his trip to earth were protected from the radiation in space just as Kal-el himself, and thus are harmless.

DinoLast said:

Green is just one type of kryptonite anyway, it comes in other colors but they have a different effect on Superman.

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there are several different forms of kryptonite. The most popular being green. The least well known is pink kryptonite which temporarly turns superman gay. And no, I am not making that up...it is in fact a real, straight from comics version of kryptonite.

The different colors and effects are the result of different types of rocks absorbing different types of radiation while traveling through space.

There are actually 19 forms of Kryptonite with 6 "fake" versions in the books if you go by all the different incarnations of Superman including the multiple reboots in the comics.

Hulksmashed said:

there are several different forms of kryptonite. The most popular being green. The least well known is pink kryptonite which temporarly turns superman gay. And no, I am not making that up...it is in fact a real, straight from comics version of kryptonite.

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whaaat??!! are you frickin kidding me??

do u know which comic story was that?

tylerdurden said:

whaaat??!! are you frickin kidding me??

do u know which comic story was that?

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The Fabulous Adventures of Superman?

Bannister said:

The Fabulous Adventures of Superman?

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Is that one where Jimmy olsen is unable to sit down for 5 years

tylerdurden said:

whaaat??!! are you frickin kidding me??

do u know which comic story was that?

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"Pink Kryptonite From Supergirl (vol. 2) #79, an alternate timeline in a 2003 Supergirl storyline by Peter David. It affected the Superman of this reality; one of the results is Superman giving flattering compliments to Jimmy Olsen about his wardrobe and decorative sense. It spoofs the more "innocent times" of the Silver Age (Lois Lane is depicted in this story as not understanding what's gotten into Superman)."

It is technically an alternate reality superman that becomes affected.

did you know superman was such a jerk??

can't link due to the title but the site is funny.

DinoLast said:

Is that one where Jimmy olsen is unable to sit down for 5 years

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Damn.

Hulksmashed said:

"Pink Kryptonite From Supergirl (vol. 2) #79, an alternate timeline in a 2003 Supergirl storyline by Peter David. It affected the Superman of this reality; one of the results is Superman giving flattering compliments to Jimmy Olsen about his wardrobe and decorative sense. It spoofs the more "innocent times" of the Silver Age (Lois Lane is depicted in this story as not understanding what's gotten into Superman)."

It is technically an alternate reality superman that becomes affected.

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hahahahahaa!! that's the goofiest superman story i've ever heard. but it doesn't really sound like supes turned gay, just that he became a little more fashion-conscious. a metrosexual superman, perhaps.

Mikey2Bullets said:

did you know superman was such a jerk??

can't link due to the title but the site is funny.

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this would make a kick-ass father's day card!

tylerdurden said:

this would make a kick-ass father's day card!

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superd*ckery.com *=i

all real superman covers and some panels that can be REALLY taken out of context....some VERY badly. check out the wonderwoman ones.