Warning: contains spoilers to Generations: Forged #1
DC Comics’ Generations Forged has changed the origin of Superman, specifically that he was never supposed to survive the destruction of his original planet Krypton. The famous story of his parents constructing a rocket for him and inputting coordinates as their planet began to crumble around them would have never happened as the planet was to explode much earlier. But according to Generations: Forged, the sequel to 2020’s Generations: Shattered, Krypton’s inevitable destruction was delayed thanks to the intervention of a time-displaced Earth hero.
When Kryptonian scientist Jor-El learned of Krypton’s impending destruction, his warnings to save or rescue the planet’s inhabitants went unanswered until it was far too late. Fortunately, Jor-El had spent that time researching space travel, specifically the ability to build rockets that would be able to carry Kryptonian survivors away from the doomed planet. As the planet entered its final stages of destruction, Jor-El and his wife Lara tearfully said goodbye as the rocket carrying his infant son Kal-El flew into space, changing earth’s history forever. Details of Krypton’s destruction have changed over the years, and the events of Generations: Shattered continue that tradition. The comic sees heroes from throughout DC Comics history were recruited to fight a battle against the super-powered Dominus whose antimatter waves were destroying time and space altogether. Although the heroes fought valiantly, their battle saw them scattered through different times and places in the DC universe.
Generations: Forged by writers Dan Jurgens, Robert Venditti, Andy Schmidt and a plethora of influential artists explores the heroes’ struggle not only to survive their new environments but also to reunite and stop Dominus for good. Displaced heroes Kamandi, Starfire, and Dr. Light find themselves stranded in the past, specifically on the undestroyed planet Krypton. They escape imprisonment from General Zod thanks to Jor-El who is curious to learn about the alien visitors’ origins. While Starfire searches for the escaped Kamandi, Jor-El and Dr. Light bond over their mutual love of science. Weeks later, it is Dr. Light who discovers that Krypton’s red sun is causing the instability of the planet’s core, breaking the news to Jor-El and his pregnant wife Lara that they’ll never get to meet their unborn son as the planet’s destruction will take place within days or weeks from now.
One of the unspoken rules of time traveling in science fiction is the fear of interacting with people in the past thus altering the course of future events. Because of the time displacement, Dr. Light not only beats Jor-El to his famous discovery but also makes herself essential to ensuring Superman’s place on Earth remains intact. When witnessing Jor-El and Lara’s pain brings to mind the memories of her own children, Dr. Light decides to take a chance and see if she can delay the inevitable. Using her powers to tap into Krypton’s red sun, Kimiyo manipulates the universe’s temporal web to buy Krypton more time, specifically a few more months in which Kal-El would be born and his father could begin the work leading to the iconic exodus.
This unintended interference into Superman’s origin brings to mind Starman #51 (1999) when a group of time-displaced heroes ended up on Krypton, befriending a young Jor-El and giving him information and coordinates to Earth that’d help influence the direction of his legendary child’s life. Whether or not she realized this, Dr. Light’s heroism not only showed kindness to people from a civilization known for its xenophobia and cold dedication to logic but made sure earth got Superman in the first place. Although events such as this are rarely kept canon for long, Generations Forged shows that even in carelessness and disregard for the rules, one person can make a world of a difference.
