Talk:Rao (comics)

Rao notes

Rao himself was first referred to in a 1972 “World of Krypton” written by Marv Wolfman (SUPERMAN #248) and not again until another “WOK” tale by Marty Pasko in 1975 (SUPERMAN #286). The use of Rao in various oaths finally began to proliferate when the Nightwing and Flamebird series launched in SUPERMAN FAMILY in 1977. “Great Rao” specifically was first used in 1978’s ACTION COMICS #489 but (as you can see below) there were a lot of variations.

Rao is the Kryptonian name for God. Pre-Crisis, it was explicitly stated that, while Rao had once been regarded as merely the sun-god, he wasn't actually the sun. Post-Crisis, though, Rao IS the sun (even appearing in humanoid form in SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS) though ACTION #839, as a point of distinction, established that the sun is called Eldirao.

I recently started jotting down uses of the various phrases (though I haven’t checked DC COMICS PRESENTS or WORLD’S FINEST) and the majority of these are from 1977-1985:

RAO - Action Comics #489, 500, 502, 509, 521, 526-527, 530, 533-536, 539-541, 544-547, 549-550, 582, 776, 793; Action Comics Annual #2; Adventures of Superman #558; DC Comics Presents #37, 82, 97; 52 #13; Krypton Chronicles #1-3; New Adventures of Superboy #20, 24, 27-28, 38-39, 41; Phantom Zone #1-4; Starman #51; Supergirl [5] #16; Superman [1] #248, 286, 338, 349-350, 356, 358-361, 365-367, 369, 373, 375, 377, 379, 381, 383, 385, 387, 397, 401-402, 414; Superman Family #188-194, 196; Superman: The Man of Steel #126-128; World of Krypton [1] #1-3). In a later continuity, Rao was the sun (Superman: Birthright #1; World of Krypton [2] #1, 2).

BY RAO! - Action Comics #509, 547, 549; Krypton Chronicles #2; New Adventures of Superboy #27-28; Phantom Zone #1; Super Friends #17; Supergirl [5] #16; Superman [1] #356, 358, 360-361, 365, 373, 375, 379, 381, 383, 385; Superman Family #189, 191-192, 196; Superman: The Man of Steel #126-127; World of Krypton [1] #1, 3

BY THE BEARD OF RAO! - Superman Family #194

FLAMES OF RAO! - Krypton Chronicles #2; Superman [1] #402; Superman Family #187, 190, 193

GOOD RAO! - Superman [1] #360

GREAT RAO! - Action Comics #489, 502, 527, 534; Adventures of Superman #558; New Adventures of Superboy #27; Superman [1] #338, 350, 414; [2] 184; Superman Family #194; Superman: The Man of Steel #130-132; World of Krypton [2] #3

HEART OF RAO! - World of Krypton [1] #1

         NAME OF RAO! - World of Krypton [1] #3

         RAO HELP ME! - Action Comics #533, 536; Superman [1] #379, 397

         RAO PRESERVE ME! - Action Comics #527

         RAO’S BEAMS! - Krypton Chronicles #2

THANK RAO! - Action Comics #526, 549; Adventures of Superman #589; DC Comics Presents #82; Krypton Chronicles #3; New Adventures of Superboy #20, 39; Superboy [2] #10; Supergirl [5] #16; Superman [1] #349, 357, 360, 369, 401; Superman Family #188

WHAT IN RAO’S NAME …? - Action Comics #521; DC Comics Presents #97; New Adventures of Superboy #38; Phantom Zone #4; Superman Family #188-190

Enda80 10:25, 25 April 2007 (UTC)Enda80

Additional notes

I seem to recall references in various Pre-Crisis DC Comics to the concept that Rao was originally one amongst many in the Kryptonian pantheon of deities (perhaps this was only in text articles in "special edition" titles such as The Amazing World of Superman and similar--my memory fails me here), and that as Kryptonian culture "evolved" from polytheism to monotheism, Rao "evolved" from being merely the Sun-God, to being the one and only True God, somewhat paralleling the evolution of Western (Earth) conceptions of godhood, from many to one.

Further evidence of this notion: In the Action Comics issue (#484) in which the Earth-Two Superman's marriage to Lois Lane is shown (published in 1978, IIRC), their Kryptonian marriage ceremony is depicted, in which Kal-L's wedding oath is sworn to Rao the Sun-God, and Lois's oath is sworn in the name of Yuda (?) who "made the moons".

Also: It would be nice if we could get somebody at DC to ascertain the correct pronounciation of "Rao". In my youth, I always pronounced it as "Ray-o", but looking at it now, it seems more likely that the intention was to have it be rendered as "Ra-ow" (as in the English cat-sound, "Meow") —Preceding unsigned comment added by SteelWheel (talk • contribs) 09:24, 4 April 2008 (UTC) SteelWheel (talk) 09:32, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Also...

Also, what star does Rao(the red giant that Krypton orbits) have in our astronomical catalogue? I remember from read Elliot S! Maggins' book, Superman: Last Son of Krypton that it was Antares... Any Ideas, anyone? Michael 18:46, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

I seem to recall it being stated that Rao/Eldirao was 50 light years from earth.. around the time of superman's 50th anniversary it was revealed the light from krypton's destruction took 50 years to reach earth (and that KalEl had been in relativistic travel, not aging during the 20-30 year jounrey to earth) i dont recall if this was a secret origins or one of the byrne reboot monthlies though -- 68.14.152.218 (talk) 00:26, 1 January 2015 (UTC)