The internet is chockablock with questions about Netflix's new superhero show "Jupiter's Legacy." Here's a Q&A to answer some of them.
Q: What's "Jupiter's Legacy" about?
A: In the comics, five friends follow their pal Sheldon Sampson's visions to an uncharted island in 1932 where aliens give them superpowers. Don't dwell on this; it was almost a throwaway in the comics to get the story moving. Sheldon becomes "The Utopian" and gets the full Superman suite of powers. The others aren't as powerful as Sheldon, but each has one power stronger than the others, and all of them are stronger than before, and they can fly.
All are very long-lived, and friction grows over the decades as Sheldon — leader of the superhero team "Union of Justice" — maintains classic Superman standards (no killing, avoiding politics) while many of the others chafe at these restrictions in a changing world. This is especially true of the second generation of supers, some of whom are the children of Union founders.
That was all recorded in the first two "Jupiter's Legacy" miniseries. A second set of two miniseries, titled "Jupiter's Circle," are set in the 1950s and '60s. "Jupiter's Circle" depicts the growth of the frictions, and how Richard "Blue Bolt" Conrad manages as a closeted gay superhero. All of these stories are collected in "Jupiter's Legacy" volumes 1-4.
Q: Does the TV show adhere faithfully to the comics? (Spoiler warning!)
A: More or less. Elena Kampouris gets huge points for her portrayal of the Utopian's daughter Chloe; she looks exactly like her comics counterpart. Most of the uniforms and so forth show fidelity to the comics. However, those who resent Sheldon in the comics do so because he's such a Boy Scout that none of them can live up to his ideals. On TV, Utopian's example is sharpened to an actual "Code" that Sheldon forces everyone to abide by, making his control more heavy-handed. That renders his opponents a bit more sympathetic than in the comics. (But only a bit.)
Also, the TV show's entire first season is a huge extension of the back story. For one thing, the origin story is told in lengthy flashbacks through all eight episodes, fleshing out the characters' history and emotional conflicts. (The origin ran all of six pages in the comics.)
