Who's This? One of Superman's dads.
The facts: Though, of course, referenced indirectly in Action Comics #1's origin of Superman, Jor-El as a named character doesn't actually appear until Siegel and Shuster's Superman newspaper comic strip on January 16th, 1939 (there named Jor-L). Interestingly, the duo had used the name before, in New Adventure Comics #12 (Jan 1937), an ace detective from the future who shows up in a Federal Men strip. But the true Jor-El only made his first comics appearance in More Fun Comics #101 (Jan 1945), first getting his name changed to the modern form in The Adventures of Superman novel in 1942. The alternate spelling has since become shorthand for the Earth-1 (El) and Earth-2 (L) versions of the Superman family. Later Superman origin stories would delve more into Jor-El's background, and some Silver Age stories would even have Kal-El visit Krypton's past so he could meet his bio-dad. In the 70s, a World of Krypton back-up strip would occasionally give Jor-El the spotlight, and over time, he would become a heroic figure in his own right, and Krypton's leading scientist, responsible for many inventions, including the Phantom Zone projector used to sequester the planet's criminals. Every reboot has remixed the details a bit, but the essence remains the same. At the movies, he's been played by (to name only the most famous) Marlon Brando (for a record paycheck), Russell Crowe (an action man Jor-El who was frankly more interesting than Man of Steel's Superman), and Bradley Cooper (in a more sinister vein). On TV, we have David Warner (on Lois & Clark), Julian Sands (dubbed with Terence Stamp's voice in Smallville!), and Christopher McDonald on Superman: The Animated series, my favorite of all the Superman origins, in all media.
How you could have heard of him: Everyone knows Superman's origin, and that his Kryptonian dad put him in a rocket to Earth.
Example story: Superman #233 (January 1971) "Jor-El's Golden Folly" by E. Nelson Bridwell and Murphy Anderson
A story from the mental-tape journal of Jor-El... He and his best friend Kim-Da have just come out of brainwashing school (that's what Kryptonian learning sounds like, but it's no different than those Fortress of Solitude "quick learn" sequences, except with dumb electric chair helmets), but their automated career assignments send them to different areas.
Let's remember that Krypton is well on its way to destruction, so yeah, they're letting A.I. make important life decisions. They saw it coming in 1971, folks! (I mean in Krypton Year 9,994.) But I imagine working at the Space-Complex is what set Jor-El on the path to saving his son. There, he would work with his mentor Professor Ken-Dal, and his future nemesis, General Zod. Though often portrayed as anti-space program, Krypton did have one (how else would Supergirl's Argo City get out into space?). They are currently working on a rocket to establish an astronomical observatory on Krypton's moon of Wegthor. But of course, the Science Council has slashed their budget. Among the all-female astronauts being trained is Lara Lor-Van, future mother of the Babe of Steel. Jor-El's genius addition to the program is the harnessing of an anti-gravity particle, and we see how he was, already early on, using canines to test his theories.
So we soon have a flying Jor-El - it's traditional to draw as many parallels with Superman as possible in these stories. Due to budget cuts, Jor-El builds a personal rocket out of worthless gold, using anti-grave to counter the element's weight, and the ship draws the mocking nickname of "Jor-El's Golden Folly". Lara is his only supporter and even volunteers to test-fly it. But of course, the first flight has to be remote-controlled (or maybe put a dog in there - I'm kidding, no dog yet). Except Lara sneaks aboard, that minx!
There's a reason for Jor-El's security precautions - the controls don't respond. See, once you get away from Krypton with anti-grav, the ship starts anti-gravving off all other celestial bodies. Oops! I guess that thing can never land! Unless, Jor-El shuts it off, and then Lara is in for a crash on the moon.
Answers what kind of music Jor-El listens to. Note also the prototypical Lex Luthor who doesn't have any confidence in the project. The actual rocket to Wegthor takes off three days later and Jor-El breaks the Kryptonian taboo of astronauting while male by sneaking aboard. Security is hella low at the Space-Complex. Fitted with an anti-grav belt, he doesn't affect the flight or get noticed. Then he's off to find Lara in the Valley of Gloom, leaping over tall things in a single bound.
And that's how they fell in love. Also, how the Science Council probably put them on a black list.
Who's Next? DC's premiere super-team.
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