Superman's Other Life is a Superman story by Otto Binder and Wayne Boring, published in Superman (1939) #132 (October, 1959).
Batman and Robin want to give Superman a gift, so they use his Fortress's computer to create a computer simulation to find out what would have Superman's life been if Krypton had not exploded.
In the simulation, a scientist called Zin-Da believes Jor-El's warnings and uses a special ray to stop the chain reaction shaking Krypton's core. Relieved, Jor-El recalls his son and his son's dog rockets, and Kal-El grows up as a normal Kryptonian child. Several years later, his parents have another kid, Zal-El.
Several years later, Krypton develops its own space program to explore other worlds, and Kal yearns for joining the Space Patrol. Unfortunately, his hopes become dashed when he is selected as a space patrol "dispatcher" by the Skill Machine. Professor Xan-Du tries to cheer him up by showing him his Super-Static Ray, a device which changes living beings in unexpected ways. Later, a lab accident exposes Xan-Du and Krypto, granting them super-powers. Xan-Du becomes Krypton's first super-hero, "Futuro".
This comic has the following tropes:
- Alternate Universe: Originally a mere computer simulation, it was retconned as its own parallel Earth (designation number: Earth-132) by the 2005 Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium trade.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Futuro wears a bodysuit with a stylized "F" as a Chest Insignia.
- Chronoscope: Superman had previously taken pictures of life on Krypton using a device which overtook and photographed light-rays that had left Krypton before the disaster.
- Continuity Nod:
- Superman declares that Batman and Robin are the only who know his secret identity, and he is exactly right since The Supergirl From Krypton (1959) had come out five months before, but Supergirl won't deduce her cousin's secret identity until Action Comics #258, published one month later.
- Kal-El mentions how he met his dog in The Super-Dog from Krypton!.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: As Kal-El is showing her around a museum of ancient Kryptonian weapons, Lois cannot resist the temptation of sitting in a land-submarine's cockpit. Lois starts pulling random levers, believing the "subsurfacer" must be out of fuel, when Superman stops her, warning the subsurfacer's engine is fueled by cosmic rays, so it is still operational...and Lois has just started the engine.
- Electronic Telepathy: Kryptonian schools use telepathic helmets so that the teacher can transmit lessons directly and quickly into their student's heads.
- First Contact: Inverted when an Earth rocketship accidentally arrives on Krypton carrying two astronauts and a stowaway (Lois).
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Tragically, Kal-El would still lose his parents in an accident.
- At the end, when Kal-El becomes Krypton's hero, he chooses the name... Superman. The real Man of Steel is quite bemused to learn he was always destined to be Superman.
- Interspecies Romance: Lois and Futuro get married and move to Earth.
- Living Gasbag: A frog-like Kryptonian animal called "Balloonie" puffs itself up and floats away like a balloon when it senses danger.
- Masquerade Ball: Xan-Du attends a masquerade party on a floating party hall, nicknaming himself "Futuro". When the anti-gravity engines keeping the Sky Palace afloat malfunction, "Futuro" finds out that his Super-Static Device Ray granted him powers which he uses to save the attendants.
- Numbered Homeworld: Dyon III was the name of an inhabited planet found by Kryptonian astronomers.
- Passing the Torch: After deciding to move with Lois to Earth, Futuro passes his role of Krypton's protector to Kal-El.
- Point of Divergence:
- The main difference in the timeline is that another scientist believed in Jor-El's predictions and stopped the destruction of Krypton with her ship.
- Since Kal never made it to Earth, the Kents ended up adopting a girl instead.
- Robot Buddy: Toddler Kal-El creates a spherical robot called "Robo" as a playmate.
- Rule of Three: The story is divided into three episodes: Part 1 "Krypton Lives On!", Part 2 "Futuro, Super-Hero of Krypton!" and Part 3 "The Superman of Two Worlds!".
- Secret-Keeper: Kal becomes one to Xan-Du after he accidentally stumbles upon him changing into Futuro.
- Shrine to the Fallen: After Kal-El loses his family, Futuro carves a monument on a planet dedicated to them.
- Upgrade Artifact: Xan-Du and Krypto gain Flying Brick powers when they become accidentally exposed to the former's Super-Static Ray, a device invented by Xan-Du himself which changes living beings in unpredictable ways.