Utopians are a humanoid species that was once native to the tiny but gravity-heavy planet Utopia.
Biology[]
The Utopians were tall and rosy tanned humanoids who were almost identical to Humans in many ways but distinct in others. The biology of Utopians was unique in that the species was incredibly light, as the average Utopian could be lifted with just one hand by even the average Human boy, having adapted to this unique weight due to their planet's unusual gravitational pull, as planet Utopia was once a standard class VI-sized planet with normal gravity until a strange and deadly gravitational force began upsetting the planet's orbit, slowly tearing away pieces of the planet bit by bit over the centuries until only a paltry of this once grand planet remained which was beset by powerful and strange gravity due to the unusual disturbances, and over the eons, the Utopians naturally adapted.
Because of this biological adaptation to their planet's bizarre gravity, Utopian scientists developed "Gravity Beans", genetically engineered seeds packed with unique nutrients which could alter a Utopian's genetic make up to a degree to make them heavier and adapt to any planet's gravity to prevent them from floating away should they run or jump too fast. The effects would seemingly be permanent once enough were consumed and even then, an altered Utopian could still return to his world with no complication.
One notable Utopian by the name of "Poco" was notably shorter and more overweight than most of his kind and served the role of a court jester. Another unusual peculiarity unique to Poco was his inability to speak without rhyming, as he could not speak normally without it causing him great headaches. Whether these traits were due to his young age, over-eating, some sort of special grooming for jesters, or if he represented a variant of the species is uncertain.
For attire, Utopians normally wore light clothing with short pants and sandals, which suggests that their planet had a warm climate. Jesters of the species wore a number of bells on their wrists, ankles and neck to provide amusement to the ruling class.
Like Humans, Utopians could breath their air and even eat their food without any ill effects, and Humans in turn could eat Utopian food and breath Utopian air without issue.
Culture and society[]
Utopians were once a peaceful and kind species who valued beauty and the arts, but as their world was slowly torn away, the customs of its people began to change, with a faction of Utopians forming that were notably more hostile and war-like, with this new movement being led by the ambitious Zoram who staged a coup against the kind monarch of Utopia and had him executed, with the royal court of ministers now being replaced entirely by Zoram's allies who managed to convince Utopia to embrace their views as a necessity for survival, convincing them that they needed conquer the only other planet in their system which once resembled their own, the Human-inhabited world of the hero Superman.
Although Zoram's views and policies overtook Utopia, a brave few led by the kindly sage named Anthar dared to oppose him and hoped to restore the old ways to Utopia and find a more peaceful solution with their alien neighbors and co-exist with them before Utopia was destroyed.
History[]
Following Zoram's coup and his take over of Utopia, his kind prepared a grand invasion fleet and designed many new and devastating weapons that would allow them to conquer other alien worlds. To ensure a successful campaign, they even began spying on their neighboring worlds which is how they learned about Superman and began studying him in the hopes of finding his weakness. The rogue wiseman Anthar did not agree with this violent campaign, and so made his way across the stars to the city of Metropolis alongside the jester Poco to find Superman and recruit his help, but unfortunately, Superman and his other identity of Clark Kent were nowhere to be found, leading to Anthar to meet Superman's best pal Jimmy Olsen and beg for his aid in finding Superman. The skeptical Jimmy however did not believe the alien's words, so Anthar convinced the boy to return with him to Utopia aboard their transparent sphere ship to see the truth for himself.
Once Anthar, Poco and Jimmy arrived on Utopia, Jimmy now believed the alien's words and chastised himself for not believing him sooner as the planet's heavy gravity began to take its toll on Jimmy. However, Anthar took Jimmy to the lab of one of his allies which contained a device capable of adjusting his body to the heavier gravity. After they adjusted Jimmy's genetic makeup, they were suddenly attacked by Zoram's forces who escorted Jimmy and Anthar back to the palace for questioning. Poco however was nowhere to be found.
At the palace, Jimmy and Anthar were shocked to discover Poco at Zoram's side, revealing Anthar's plan for rebelling against Zoram. The betrayed Anthar and Jimmy were then sent to the palace dungeon to await execution. Once imprisoned, Jimmy and Anthar were met by none other than Poco who revealed his reasons for betraying them, explaining that he did not wish to do so, but that it was the only way that he could avoid execution alongside his friends, which would at least ensure that one of them would have enough time to return to Metropolis and find Superman himself, who could hopefully save Jimmy and Anthar before it was too late.
Taking Anthar's ship, Poco made his way to Metropolis, but his inexperience with the ship caused him to crash and be hospitalised by the confused inhabitants of the city who questioned the strange boy's origins. At the hospital, Clark Kent arrived with Perry White to question the alien boy and listened to his story. Although Perry White was skeptical, Clark Kent was willing to believe it, and once White was gone, Kent donned on his Superman persona and escorted the injured Poco back to the sphere ship and both made their way back to Utopia to save Jimmy and Anthar.
Once on Utopia, even the mighty Superman had trouble adjusting to the strange gravity of the planet, leading him to be captured and sent to the dungeon, but he was eventually able to deceive his captors by changing back into his Clark Ken persona and claiming that he had "freed" Superman and taken his place, which led to Kent being sent to execution alongside Jimmy, Anthar and Poco, hoping that by the time he reached them that his super body would have already fully adapted to the planet's gravity, even willing to risk exposing his identity to Jimmy Olsen in order to save his friends.
Before the execution could take place though, a grand quake began shaking the planet as parts of it began to implode and others began to float into space as the gravity of Utopia became more chaotic, with Anthar and Poco realizing that the end of their world had finally come. At that moment, Anthar's forces quickly made their way to their ships hoping to escape the planet in time, while Anthar was swallowed by a fissure in the ground which soon swallowed Jimmy, Poco and Superman as well. With Jimmy and the others falling to their doom in the darkness of the chasm, Kent quickly changed back into Superman and dived further into the chasm to find his friends. Unfortunately, Anthar had perished in the chaos, but Superman saved young Jimmy and Poco just in time and took them back to the sphere ship and flew them back to Metropolis while mourning Anthar's death, but knowing that he died with his people as he would've wanted.
Back in Metropolis, Superman fought a great battle against Zoram's army, and although their weapons were great, he was able to thwart their invasion by destroying their warships. With the world of Utopia destroyed along with Zoram's forces, this only left poor Poco as the last surviving Utopian who was then taken in by Perry White at Superman's request, serving as Perry White's faithful cook from then on.
It is unknown if the Utopian species died with Poco, but considering the strong genetic similarities between Utopians and Humans, it is possible that Poco could sire a hybrid offspring with a Human female, and based on some of Poco's rhymes, it seems he came to befriend many Human girls.
Appearances[]
- The Adventures of Superman
- "Planet Utopia" (November 16 - December 4, 1944)
- "The Mystery of the Lost Planet" (1947)