Brainatra
06-21-2002, 01:39 PM
Yeah, so I'm killing time until I see "Lilo and Stitch" tomorrow (or going to work today, if one wishes to be pragmatic)....
Was thinking of how Mojo Jojo's origin story kind of mirrors (or parodies) that of the Silver Age Lex Luthor (in the comics, the "Silver Age" consisted primarily of books published in the sixties, though continuity-wise, it extended up to the mid-80's, when Superman was revamped and Luthor was made into a corrupt billionaire instead of a mad scientist). In this Lex's origin, Lex had initially befriended Superboy (and was a big fan) while the two were living in Smallville (yeah, that's where the "Smallville" TV show got the idea of Lex being there & friends with Clark from), and the two got along somewhat well initially; however, Lex started demonstrating more and more obsessive traits with his passion for and demonstrating his scientific prowess. (Some retellings suggest he was also showing more and more animosity towards Superboy as well) Eventually, Superboy decided to build him a lab, and Lex proceeded on his most ambitious experiment, creating an artificial form of life (and a cure for kryptonite). However, Luthor accidentially started a fire in the lab, and Superboy rushed over to put out the flames, foolishly using his superbreath to do so. One explosion caused by volatile chemicals later, Luthor is saved from the now-wrecked lab, completely and permanently bald as a result of the accident. With his lifeform ruined, Lex lashes out at the Boy of Steel, accusing him of both possibly trying to sabotage his experiment out of jealousy and that his use of his powers in that situation was foolish/proof that he nobody should have the level of powers that he does.
Luthor then decides to try to prove himself as Superboy's superior to the Smallville populace via coming up with various inventions to improve their lives (weather control machines, etc.), however, all of them fail miserably/malfunction dangerously, forcing Superboy to dispose of them. Luthor finally decides he's had enough, and eventually launches on his criminal career/goal of disposing of the Boy (later Man) of Steel once and for all.
Given the other comic book refrences the PPG writers have used, wouldn't surprise me if this served as a reference for Mojo's origin story (since it seems to have a few similar traits re: the feeling ignored by others/egoism/bitter rage facets....along with a lab explosion involving chemicals rendering both Lex and Mojo's craniums permanently altered in appearance). A lot of Mojo's schemes (esp. those involving giant robots/machines) also fits in with being similar to Lex's pre-businessman-era "mad scientist" motif (can think of various issues with Lex using giant robots/machines to use against Superman), along with the use in "Mo Job" of a Chemcial-X-antidote paralleling Lex's use of kryptonite/red sun generating devices to sap or cancel out Supes' powers....
Furthering the Superman analogies, note that a lot of the Girls' powers seem similar to those of Superman (or, for a better analogy, Superboy)'s powers:
- super strength (as seen in "Members Only", et. al.)
- super speed ("Speed Demons", et. al.)
- heat vision ("laser vision"; as seen in "Bubblevision", et. al.)
- super breath (the Girls were going to use it to blow out a city-wide fire in the Major Man ep.)
- freeze breath (Blossom's "icy breath")
- invulnerability (to a myriad of objects/weaponry)
- Bubbles' "thunderclap" from "Mo Job" (which Supes could do as well)
- Blossom's static-electricity-generated lightning blast in "Mo Job" (another thing I've seen Supes do)
- Bubbles' ability to talk to animals/speak several languages might parallel Superman's knowledge of multiple Earth languages (as well as Aquaman's power for the talk to animals aspect, as seen in "Catastrophe")
- time travel (as a side-product of using their super-speed powers; another of Superman's abilities in the older comics)
- while it could be argued that there was some air for the meteors to start burning up in "Members Only" (when Blossom and the Major were trying to stop them from smashing into Earth), as Sharklady suggests, thus allowing the two to talk to each other, I suggested the star-filled-outer-space background could also be explained away (besides the "just a cartoon" bit) as being the use of "super-ventriloquism" (a decidedly lesser power of Superman's in the older comics), which I figure wouldn't necessarily be a more ridiculous ability than, say, the Flaming Feline Fury attack move ;-)
The girls also have at least one weakness, the Chemical-X antidote from "Mo Job" (and apparently some other ep I haven't seen yet), a la Superman's weakness to Kryptonite. Though whether or not their being stranded on a red-sun, high-gravity planet (or probably just a high-gravity planet) would have any detrimental effect remains to be seen by me :-)
Of course, Superman doesn't have a "Flaming Feline Fury" attack (or a sonic scream, which is Black Canary's super-power). And also of course, not having seen every single episode of the show (and knowing the powers are mostly there to serve whatever the plot requires/because it's funny), I could be wrong...though if I ever see the Girls using flying through interstellar space under their own power/super-hypnosis powers/etc.... :-)
-B.
OK, enough time wasted...now to get to work!
Was thinking of how Mojo Jojo's origin story kind of mirrors (or parodies) that of the Silver Age Lex Luthor (in the comics, the "Silver Age" consisted primarily of books published in the sixties, though continuity-wise, it extended up to the mid-80's, when Superman was revamped and Luthor was made into a corrupt billionaire instead of a mad scientist). In this Lex's origin, Lex had initially befriended Superboy (and was a big fan) while the two were living in Smallville (yeah, that's where the "Smallville" TV show got the idea of Lex being there & friends with Clark from), and the two got along somewhat well initially; however, Lex started demonstrating more and more obsessive traits with his passion for and demonstrating his scientific prowess. (Some retellings suggest he was also showing more and more animosity towards Superboy as well) Eventually, Superboy decided to build him a lab, and Lex proceeded on his most ambitious experiment, creating an artificial form of life (and a cure for kryptonite). However, Luthor accidentially started a fire in the lab, and Superboy rushed over to put out the flames, foolishly using his superbreath to do so. One explosion caused by volatile chemicals later, Luthor is saved from the now-wrecked lab, completely and permanently bald as a result of the accident. With his lifeform ruined, Lex lashes out at the Boy of Steel, accusing him of both possibly trying to sabotage his experiment out of jealousy and that his use of his powers in that situation was foolish/proof that he nobody should have the level of powers that he does.
Luthor then decides to try to prove himself as Superboy's superior to the Smallville populace via coming up with various inventions to improve their lives (weather control machines, etc.), however, all of them fail miserably/malfunction dangerously, forcing Superboy to dispose of them. Luthor finally decides he's had enough, and eventually launches on his criminal career/goal of disposing of the Boy (later Man) of Steel once and for all.
Given the other comic book refrences the PPG writers have used, wouldn't surprise me if this served as a reference for Mojo's origin story (since it seems to have a few similar traits re: the feeling ignored by others/egoism/bitter rage facets....along with a lab explosion involving chemicals rendering both Lex and Mojo's craniums permanently altered in appearance). A lot of Mojo's schemes (esp. those involving giant robots/machines) also fits in with being similar to Lex's pre-businessman-era "mad scientist" motif (can think of various issues with Lex using giant robots/machines to use against Superman), along with the use in "Mo Job" of a Chemcial-X-antidote paralleling Lex's use of kryptonite/red sun generating devices to sap or cancel out Supes' powers....
Furthering the Superman analogies, note that a lot of the Girls' powers seem similar to those of Superman (or, for a better analogy, Superboy)'s powers:
- super strength (as seen in "Members Only", et. al.)
- super speed ("Speed Demons", et. al.)
- heat vision ("laser vision"; as seen in "Bubblevision", et. al.)
- super breath (the Girls were going to use it to blow out a city-wide fire in the Major Man ep.)
- freeze breath (Blossom's "icy breath")
- invulnerability (to a myriad of objects/weaponry)
- Bubbles' "thunderclap" from "Mo Job" (which Supes could do as well)
- Blossom's static-electricity-generated lightning blast in "Mo Job" (another thing I've seen Supes do)
- Bubbles' ability to talk to animals/speak several languages might parallel Superman's knowledge of multiple Earth languages (as well as Aquaman's power for the talk to animals aspect, as seen in "Catastrophe")
- time travel (as a side-product of using their super-speed powers; another of Superman's abilities in the older comics)
- while it could be argued that there was some air for the meteors to start burning up in "Members Only" (when Blossom and the Major were trying to stop them from smashing into Earth), as Sharklady suggests, thus allowing the two to talk to each other, I suggested the star-filled-outer-space background could also be explained away (besides the "just a cartoon" bit) as being the use of "super-ventriloquism" (a decidedly lesser power of Superman's in the older comics), which I figure wouldn't necessarily be a more ridiculous ability than, say, the Flaming Feline Fury attack move ;-)
The girls also have at least one weakness, the Chemical-X antidote from "Mo Job" (and apparently some other ep I haven't seen yet), a la Superman's weakness to Kryptonite. Though whether or not their being stranded on a red-sun, high-gravity planet (or probably just a high-gravity planet) would have any detrimental effect remains to be seen by me :-)
Of course, Superman doesn't have a "Flaming Feline Fury" attack (or a sonic scream, which is Black Canary's super-power). And also of course, not having seen every single episode of the show (and knowing the powers are mostly there to serve whatever the plot requires/because it's funny), I could be wrong...though if I ever see the Girls using flying through interstellar space under their own power/super-hypnosis powers/etc.... :-)
-B.
OK, enough time wasted...now to get to work!