We're pre-Crisis, and the JLA from Earth-1 and the JSA from Earth-2 are having one of their annual hoedowns, when we get a very disturbing conversation:
Power Girl, that's your cousin!! OK, the alternate universe version of your cousin, but still...ewwww!!!! Does this cousin being younger means he's no longer off limits?? Yuck....Of course, Superman's invitation to "see the JLA Trophy Room" is just the Satellite Era version of submarine races, so maybe Kal-El doesn't object, either.
Does this means taboos don't carry across dimensional lines? Could Earth-1 Bruce Wayne put the moves on Earth-2 Huntress? Could the Earth-1 Light Lass make out with the Earth-Prime Mekt Ranzz?
All right, I'd better stop. I won't even ask if Earth-1 Dick Grayson "getting together" with Earth-2 Dick Grayson would be wrong. But you know they totally would...
Oh, and Star-Spangled Kid?
You're a dick, Sylvester.
From Justice League Of America #147 (1977), by Paul Levitz/Marty Pasko and Dick Dillon/Frank McLaughlin
Power Girl, that's your cousin!! OK, the alternate universe version of your cousin, but still...ewwww!!!! Does this cousin being younger means he's no longer off limits?? Yuck....Of course, Superman's invitation to "see the JLA Trophy Room" is just the Satellite Era version of submarine races, so maybe Kal-El doesn't object, either.Does this means taboos don't carry across dimensional lines? Could Earth-1 Bruce Wayne put the moves on Earth-2 Huntress? Could the Earth-1 Light Lass make out with the Earth-Prime Mekt Ranzz?
All right, I'd better stop. I won't even ask if Earth-1 Dick Grayson "getting together" with Earth-2 Dick Grayson would be wrong. But you know they totally would...
Oh, and Star-Spangled Kid?
You're a dick, Sylvester.From Justice League Of America #147 (1977), by Paul Levitz/Marty Pasko and Dick Dillon/Frank McLaughlin
An interesting moral dilemma, Snell! Since inter-dimensional travel isn't likely to happen anytime soon, it's a purely intellectual exercise...but a puzzler nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHere's where I come down on it: Despite Superman of Earth-1 being the closest *approximation* of Power Girl's cousin Kal-L, he is still an entirely separate entity, complete with his own alternate history, personality, and (depending on who drew them) physical appearance. It's not like a younger version of Kal-L himself from an earlier time period (which would clearly be wrong), but a different guy named Kal-el who happens to share certain "super"ficial aspects with Kal-L.
That said, I'd be lying if I said the above scene didn't ick me out a bit.
Black Canary's Face in the 2nd panel is wonderfully absurd and hilarious...
ReplyDeleteWell, this is the same Superman that once claimed to be disappointed that marrying your cousin was taboo on Earth but not on Krypton. (Which seemed to freak out Supergirl, but Power Girl also used to mess with Firestorm's head. Like he wasn't already in a love triangle between personalities.)
ReplyDeleteEwww! Especially since the Earth-1 Batman DID treat the Earth-2 Huntress like a "daughter."
ReplyDeleteEwww!
@ShadowWing Tronix -
ReplyDeleteActually, marrying your cousin is only taboo on parts of Earth - it is perfectly legal in a lot of countries and used to be quite common in the high aristocracy because there was only a limited number of families of equal station (especially if they also had to be of the same religious denomination).
You can have some fun with
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coupled_cousins