this made me giggle!

little context: they were discussing how Vartox - the hot-pant and bare-chest waistcoat superman type hero from the 1970s was based on a character SC played

I don't recommend looking at that shot of Connery as you're eating lunch. Just a little tip, there.

After looking at the photo, you can't help but wonder:

At what point back in the 70's did the writer and/or editor of Superman think it was a good idea to have Superman meet a barely-dressed, hairy old guy based on a movie (maybe) 20 people saw?

Knowing what I know about Julie Schwartz, I would love to have heard the pitch the writer made to him. Or, perhaps with his science-fiction connections, Julie himself saw the film and told one of his writers to do a knock-off of Connery's character.

"Hey...do a story on a guy with thigh-high leather boots and a tiny little vest. Lotza hair on his body, but not much on his head. Now run with it!"

I can also Curt Swan sitting at his drawing board at DC Comics with a puzzled look on his face as he looks at the photo reference of Connery in full Zardoz attire.

It probably hit him that he'd come a long way since drawing for Stars and Stripes, the G.I. magazine published by the U.S. Army.

em... trying to explain this to the missus - can I suggest that you don't do a google images search for "superman" from work.....

I had posted this pic of Vartox in another thread here:



I thought that the costume was very odd, but never heard any backstory describing its origins.

Jim Lawless

Any proof that this was based on Connery, other than the photo resembled him? Vartox always reminded me of Burt Reynolds to be honest.

Hey, I remember Vartox. I know I had some comic-books with
him in it back in the day, but I can't remember anything about
him. I think I remember reading an interview with John Byrne back
when he was getting ready to do Man Of Steel & he made some
joke about how if he got desperate for ideas he could always
reintroduce Vartox.

So does anybody have an background on him, what was his
origin, his exact powers, etc.?

http://theages.superman.ws/Encyclopaedia/vartox.php

I seem to remember hyper-levitation amongst the powers I saw him use in one of his early appearances.

I'm pretty sure he made an appearance in the Action comic displayed in the DC Comics from the 70's ( or whatever it was ) thread.

Jim Lawless

Well, if SafeSearch is on, you should be relatively, er, safe at work. Google can turn up topless illustrations, though, even with the strictest filter setting - I tried searching for "Boris Vallejo" just to check...

heh - a bonus mark for anyone who call tell us his Earthman alias?

Vernon O'Valeron.