Phantom Zone

The Phantom Zone is a fictional prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961), and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.^[1] It was frequently used in the Superman comics before the continuity was rebooted in the 1980s, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and has appeared occasionally since.

History

Pre-Crisis

The Phantom Zone was discovered by Jor-El and used on the planet Krypton as a method of imprisoning criminals. Previously, criminals were punished by being sealed into capsules and rocketed into orbit in suspended animation with crystals attached to their foreheads to slowly erase their criminal tendencies; Klax-Ar was one criminal who received this punishment but escaped. Gra-Mo was the last to suffer the punishment, for it was then abolished in favor of the Phantom Zone, which was considered more humane and cost-efficient, but an equally effective punishment. The Phantom Zone criminals first appeared in Adventure Comics (Superboy stories), and soon began appearing in Superman stories. The inmates of the Phantom Zone reside in a featureless state of existence from which they can observe, but cannot interact with, the regular universe. Inmates do not age or require sustenance in the Phantom Zone; furthermore, they are telepathic and mutually insubstantial. As such, they are able to survive the destruction of Krypton and focus their attention on Earth, as most of the surviving Kryptonians now reside there. Most have a particular grudge against Superman because his father created the method of their damnation. When they manage to escape, they usually engage in random destruction, particularly easy to them since, on Earth, each has the same powers of Superman. Nevertheless, Superman periodically released Phantom Zone prisoners whose original sentences had been completed, and these fortunately tended to be relatively repentant criminals.

Throughout the Silver Age of Comics, Superman meets many residents of the Phantom Zone:

• Kru-El, a weapons designer and cousin of Jor-El and thus a relative of Superman/Kal-El.
• Faora Hu-Ul, a Martial Arts expert and hater of males. Her character is later used as the basis for one of the Kryptonian criminals in the movie Superman II where her name is changed to Ursa.
• Professor Vakox, a mad geneticist whose mutagenic formula, the "Force of Life", creates violent, mutated monsters from the aquatic life of the Great Lake of Krypton.
• An unnamed criminal who got 30 years for blowing up a factory.
• Nadira (last name unknown), who was telekinetic, and Az-Rel (a pyrokinetic) were two petty criminals from the Krypton Isle of Bokos (the Island of Thieves). Upon their release from the Phantom Zone (The Phantom Zone mini-series, 1982) they sought out 'pleasures' on Earth, using their powers indiscriminately on the populace. Later, Nadira was killed by Jer-Em upon exposure to Green Kryptonite; in her dying pain, she telekinetically inflicted pain on Az-Rel, which unleashed his pyrokinesis upon himself, incinerating him.
• Jax-Ur is a rocket and missile engineer turned rogue criminal who unintentionally destroys one of Krypton's two moons, Wegthor, while testing a nuclear test missile as part of his plan to take over Krypton. Along with the moon, Wegthor's population of 500 Kryptonian colonists is killed. Because of the severity of his crime, Jax-Ur is the only criminal sentenced to spend all existence within the Phantom Zone, without the possibility of parole (although Krypton's destruction makes this unlikely for any prisoner).
• Ak-Var is a petty criminal who upon his release becomes the assistant and partner of Superman's cousin, Van-Zee. Van-Zee is a Kandorian scientist who is secretly Nightwing; Ak-Var becomes his partner Flamebird.
• Doctor Xadu (first name unknown) was a physician who killed dozens of patients while performing forbidden cryogenics experiments upon them.
• General Dru-Zod, who created an army of clones (prototype Bizarros) in an attempt to take over as ruler of Krypton.
• Jer-Em, a religious fanatic who caused the destruction of Argo City, the birth place of Supergirl. In the Steve Gerber mini-series The Phantom Zone (January - April 1982), Jer-Em purposely exposes himself to Kryptonite to enter the Kryptonian afterlife, taking Nadira with him.
• Quex-Ul is the only innocent Kryptonian sentenced to the Phantom Zone. Quex-Ul is put in the Phantom Zone for killing a herd of the sacred Rondors. Rondor horns have healing properties and were therefore sacred to Kryptonians. Quex-Ul is caught at the scene of the crime and is convicted and sentenced to 25 Sun Cycles in the Phantom Zone. Superman later proves his innocence and releases him from the Zone. Quex-Ul in turn saves Superman from exposure to Gold Kryptonite, but he loses his own powers from the exposure and his memory as well. Now thinking he is a normal Earthman, he goes to work for the Daily Planet under the name of Charlie Kweskill. In the Steve Gerber mini-series The Phantom Zone (January - April 1982) Quex-Ul's memory and powers are restored when he and Superman become trapped in the Phantom Zone, and he dies in their desperate and dangerous bid to escape.
• Mon-El, a Daxamite youth who met Superboy on Earth and discovers he is acutely vulnerable to exposure to lead (this is described in the comics as "lead poisoning", though it is not the same as real-life lead poisoning). To keep him alive, Superboy cast Mon-El, with his permission, into the Phantom Zone where he resided until the 30th century where Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes develops a cure which allowed him to leave safely. The 30th century would also have more dealings with the Phantom Zone, in one instance (Action Comics #287, April 1962), it is used by a race of shapechangers to imprison Supergirl.
• Nam-Ek: a Kryptonian scientist who did experiments with a Rondor, sacred animal of Krypton that could cure any disease. Killing this animal was forbidden. Nam-Ek created a serum from rondor horn, and become immortal, but as Professor Ivo, had himself disfigured, with purple skin including getting a horn rondor in his forehead. Nam-Ek is the only Kryptonian to escape the explosion of Krypton remaining on that planet.
• Lar-On, (World's Finest Comics #256, June/July 1979) "The Werewolf Of Krypton," was described as being afflicted with a disease which made him similar in many respects to a supernatural werewolf, and since it defied Kryptonian medicine's efforts to cure it, Jor-El had to project him into the Phantom Zone, from which he was unwittingly freed.

• Only mentioned kryptonians [The Phantom Zone (mini-series) #1]:

Male:Ar-Ual, Cha-Mel, Vorb-Un, Ak-Var, Roz-Em, Gas-Or, Ras-Krom, Tor-An, Orn-Zu, Tra-Gob, Bal-Gra, Vor-Kil, Vax-Nor, Kur-Dul. Women: Erndine Ze-Da, Shyla Kor-Onn

Another character trapped in the Phantom Zone was Green Lantern Guy Gardner who experienced an extended and tortuous stay after an explosion of a Green Lantern Power Battery sent him there, until rescued by Superman and Green Lantern Hal Jordan who had believed him to be dead all that time.

Superman develops communications equipment for the Phantom Zone, like the Zone-o-phone, and refinements to the projector. In addition, the City of Kandor uses the Phantom Zone regularly, with parole hearings sometimes chaired by Superman. However, since the departure of Kandor, that is, outside of Mon-El, most of the inhabitants were confined-to-lifers and generally not inclined to making conversation with their jailer.

In the Steve Gerber mini-series The Phantom Zone (January - April 1982), it is revealed that the Zone not only has a back exit through which villains can escape, but is also home to terrible beasts.

NOTE: The Silver Age Phantom Zone appears to be prefigured in the 1950 Superman serial Atom Man vs. Superman, in which Lex Luthor uses a kind of matter-transmitter device to trap Superman in a limbo called the "Empty Doom" from which he can see and hear events in the "real" world but cannot touch anything or be seen or heard.

Also, in the Captain Future novel "Planets in Peril" (1942) by Edmond Hamilton, Chapter 13 "Phantom Prisoners", Captain Future is sent to the "Vault of the Unbodied"... essentially an early version of the Phantom Zone. Hamilton later went on to write some of the early DC comics Superman stories, including some Phantom Zone stories.

Post-Crisis

In the post-Crisis DC Universe, the Phantom Zone first appears after Superman returns from space with a Kryptonian artifact called the Eradicator. This device, created by his Kryptonian ancestor Kem-L, attempts to recreate Krypton on Earth, building the Fortress of Solitude; the extradimensional space in which the Eradicator finds the Kryptonian materials necessary is called the Phantom Zone.^[2][3] A Phantom Zone Projector is part of Superman's current Fortress. It has been used to access the Bottle City of Kandor and to trap villains such as the White Martians.

The Phantom Zone has been independently discovered by the Bgztlians, the White Martians, and the villains Loophole, Prometheus, and the first Queen Bee, who call it the "Buffer Zone", the "Still Zone", the "Stasis Zone", the "Ghost Zone", and the "Honeycomb", respectively. In post-Crisis/post-Zero Hour continuity, it was Loophole's "Stasis Zone" technology that exiled Mon-El, known in the new continuity as Valor/M'Onel, into the Phantom Zone for a thousand years.

Superman fashions the Phantom Zone technology into an arrow projectile which upon striking a victim will project them into the Phantom Zone. Roy Harper, the original Speedy, steals this arrow from Superman when the original Teen Titans are invited for a visit many years ago. Roy, however, never uses the arrow and passes it on to his replacement, Mia Dearden, who uses the arrow in the recent Infinite Crisis on Superboy-Prime. Unfortunately, he is too strong for even the Phantom Zone arrow, and manages to break out.

At one point, the White Martians imprison Batman in the Phantom Zone and take his identity as Bruce Wayne.

Batman devises a measure made after Superman recovers from his first battle with Doomsday, that, when the Justice League or any other superhero groups encounter a Doomsday Level Threat, a group of heroes, authority, and military forces will contain it within a proximity after clearing all civilians within it. If Superman and the rest fall, the Doomsday Protocol will commence by sending it to the Phantom Zone.^[4]

Recently in Action Comics, General Zod, along with Ursa and Non, appear in search of the son of Zod and Ursa.

Supergirl #16 shows a form of life native to the Phantom Zone. These Phantoms are enraged over the use of their universe to house criminals and seek revenge on the one responsible.

In the limited series 52 the Phantom Zone is ingested by Mr. Mind while he is mutating into a giant insect form. Once fully-grown, Mind regurgitates it in an attempt to destroy Booster Gold and Rip Hunter, but the attack is deflected by Supernova, who returns the Zone to its proper dimensional plane. Supernova is able to control the Zone as his supersuit's powers are based upon Phantom Zone projector technology stolen by Rip Hunter.

In Action Comics #874, Phantom Zone vanished.

A recent issue of Action Comics offers a possible explanation as to the Phantom Zone's disappearance. The theory being that the Phantom Zone was actually the mythical Nightwing, counterpart to the Flamebird, imprisoned in an altered state of being. Having chosen a new Avatar, Chris Kent who was freed from the Zone, he too would have been freed from his shackles thus causing the Phantom Zone to cease to exist.^[5]

In Adventure Comics (vol. 2) #11, the Phantom Zone is recreated by Chameleon Boy and Superman.

In other media

Television

• In the 1978 season of Super Friends there is an episode entitled "Terror from the Phantom Zone" in which a comet's collision causes the Phantom Zone to release three Kryptonian villains. The villains go on a crime spree and banish the Super Friends to the Phantom Zone but keep Superman on Earth, exposing him to Red Kryptonite which causes him to age quickly. The villains get great enjoyment showing off "old Superman" to the world. Superman then manages to figure out with help from the Justice League computer that Blue Kryptonite may reverse the aging process because Blue Kryptonite is harmful to Bizarro and therefore should be helpful to Superman. Superman finds the Blue Kryptonite and is aged back to normal, then goes on his quest to rescue the other Super Friends and ultimately send the three villains back into the Phantom Zone. The three villains later return in a "lost season" episode from 1983 titled "Return of the Phantoms" in which they hijack an alien's time-space conveyor and go back in time to Smallville and attack Superboy to prevent him from becoming Superman. Fortunately, the pilot of that craft went to warn the Super Friends about what the trio would be attempting and guided Superman and Green Lantern to the proper time period to help the boy. The Super Friends version of the Phantom Zone is described as, "Far beyond the boundaries of the Milky Way. In the uncharted void of deep space. An incredible 5th dimension of space and time, lies parallel to the universe that we know. This interesting interstellar warp which holds the most sinister and ruthless criminals in the galaxy is the infamous Phantom Zone." The molecular structure of any person exiled in the Zone appears white and black. Batman's devices and the Wonder Twins' Exxor Powers are useless within the Phantom Zone.
• Although the Phantom Zone isn't explicitly mentioned or shown in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; there is a similar type of medium which resembles its representation in Season 4 Episode 10 "Meet John Doe" and Episode 11 "Lois and Clarks". A Utopian from the future programmed a time tablet to trap fugitive Tempus in a space-time cube if he tried to control the tablet. However, Tempus tricked Superman into being trapped in the cube which was lost in space-time. Superman was rescued by H.G. Wells when the exact second Clark disappeared was discovered.
• The Phantom Zone is first mentioned in the first episode of Superman: The Animated Series, "The Last Son of Krypton, Part 1", where Jor-El attempted to convince everyone to enter the Phantom Zone to be saved from Krypton's destruction, and one man would be sent via spaceship to re-establish Krypton's population on a new world. Since this idea was not accepted, Jor-El sent his son in the spaceship to Earth along with the Phantom Zone projector. In the episode "Blasts from the Past", Superman discovers the Phantom Zone projector, which also has a communication function that allows him to converse with the inmates. Making contact with the convicted traitor Mala (a loose adaptation of Superman II's Ursa) and upon further research, learning that her sentence is finished, he releases her. Unfortunately, Superman learns that Mala is arrogant and power-hungry badly enough to possibly require returning her to the Phantom Zone. When she learns that Kal-El (Superman's Kryptonian name) prefers the company of a certain Terrestrial named Lois Lane, Mala turns against Superman and later releases General Jax-Ur (a version of General Zod, although named after another villain from the Superman comics) to take over Earth. Banished once again into the Phantom Zone at the end of the story, Jax-Ur and Mala are later accidentally released on another remote planet, and ultimately sent into a black hole.
• In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Doomsday Sanction", Superman and the Justice League send the nearly unstoppable Doomsday into the Phantom Zone after his capture. This usage of the Phantom Zone, effectively sentencing Doomsday to life imprisonment without trial, presented massive arguments about the Justice League's right to make such judgments. Batman was especially troubled by this move.
• In the Legion of Super Heroes animated series, the Phantom Zone is close to its classical portrayal as a parallel dimension where criminals are sent. As a throwback to the Pre-Crisis version, inhabitants of the Zone become incorporeal - essentially, ghost-like phantoms, thus giving the Zone its name. In this series, Superman discovers his previous self's Phantom Zone projector, which he accidentally uses to free a villain named Drax (voiced by Greg Ellis). The projector is eventually turned on the other Legionnaires, but with Phantom Girl's help, they manage to escape without it and send Drax back at the same time. On a related note, Drax mentioned that he was born in the Phantom Zone.
• In the television series Smallville, in the fifth season premiere "Arrival", Clark Kent battles two evil Kryptonians named Nam-Ek & Aethyr (Disciples of Zod), and when he refuses to join them in their quest to subjugate Earth, the Kryptonians attempt to banish Clark to the Phantom Zone using a metallic bracelet, inscribed with Kryptonian symbols, that opens up a vortex. However, Clark manages to turn the tables, sending them into the portal instead. Aside from its entrance, the Phantom Zone is represented as a floating black square similar to its depiction in the Superman films. In the episode "Solitude", the Kryptonian artificial intelligence known as Brainiac, posing as Professor Milton Fine, manipulates Clark into believing that Jor-El is responsible for Martha's mysterious illness; this is all part of a plot to free the imprisoned General Zod. Professor Fine persuades Clark to take him to the Fortress of Solitude, where he gives Clark a black crystal and instructs him to insert it into the Fortress' control console, misleadingly saying that it will destroy Jor-El and therefore save Martha. However, the crystal, once inserted into the console, instead opens up a vortex in which another black square is seen, with a figure resembling General Zod as portrayed in the Superman movies. However, Brainiac's plan is thwarted once Clark removes the crystal. In the episode "Vessel", General Zod is finally freed from the Phantom Zone. After inhabiting Lex Luthor, Zod traps Clark inside the Phantom Zone, using a Kryptonian bracelet similar to the one used in the episode "Arrival". In the season premiere of the sixth season, the Phantom Zone itself is shown as a desolate wasteland, and it is revealed that it was created by Jor-El as a prison for not only Kryptonian convicts, but also criminals from the "28 known galaxies". The more dangerous prisoners (e.g. General Zod and Bizarro) are stripped of their corporeal forms, and their spirits are then cast into the Zone. Clark escapes with the help of a Kryptonian woman named Raya, who claims to have known Jor-El. To ensure her survival, Jor-El sent Raya to the Phantom Zone just before the destruction of Krypton. Raya reveals that those of the blood of Jor-El's house can utilize a secret exit from the Phantom Zone, therefore Clark can leave. Upon escaping the Phantom Zone, Clark accidentally releases Raya and various prisoners and phantoms to Earth. Chloe Sullivan later refers to the escaped convicts as "Zoners". In the season 7 finale, "Arctic", it is revealed that Brainiac has trapped Kara in the Phantom Zone. In the season eight episode "Bloodline", Clark and Lois are both trapped in the Phantom Zone, where they are reunited with Kara. Also, Faora, Zod's wife, takes control of Lois' body so she can be set free by Kara, and goes on a rampage in Metropolis. In the season ten episode "Icarus", Clark uses a crystal of El to send Slade Wilson to the Zone. When Wilson is found back on Earth in "Dominion", Clark and Oliver Queen enter the Zone to see how that escape was possibe, and learn that the clone of Zod- who was sent to New Krypton with the others- was sent to the Phantom Zone for his crimes, where he merged with the Phantom of the original Zod, gaining all of his memories, a blood transfusion from Clark allowing him to send others out of the Zone. Clark departs the Zone while destroying the control console on the Zone side to prevent anyone else from leaving.

Film

• In the Superman movies starring Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve, the Phantom Zone is presented as a large, flat shard of crystal. First Elder (Trevor Howard) refers to the Phantom Zone only in the extended versions of Superman. Susannah York (Lara) refers to the Phantom Zone by name in Superman II when she first makes the revelation about the three villains. In his DVD commentary, Director Richard Donner refers to it as "the Zone of Silence". General Zod and his co-conspirators Ursa and Non appear to be transferred to a two-dimensional space on the crystal's surface. The crystal is then flung into space.

• Years later, in Superman II, a nuclear explosion from a bomb Superman was forced to fling from Earth into space inadvertently shatters the prison and releases the prisoners. Now free, General Zod and his cohorts travel to Earth, wreaking havoc with the powers granted to them by Earth's yellow sun.

• The Phantom Zone appears in Richard Donner's cut of Superman II, released in November 2006. In this version (per the original shooting script prior to being altered by director Richard Lester for the theatrical version), the crystal shard imprisoning Zod, Ursa and Non is shattered by the XK-101 rocket Superman threw into space in Superman. The Zone is shown splitting into three separate shards, one containing each villain, before it finally shatters, freeing them. After defeating Zod and his followers, Superman uses a timewarp to imprison the three criminals back in the Phantom Zone and undo the damage they had done during their time on Earth.

• In the Supergirl movie, Kara is banished to the Phantom Zone by means of a summoned crystal shard. The crystal transports her to a barren, desolate world where it shatters, casting her to the ground. This depiction of the Phantom Zone suggests that the crystal shard seen in the first two Superman movies is not the Phantom Zone itself, but simply a vehicle that takes prisoners to this desolate wasteland which is referred to as the Phantom Zone. In this movie, it is also revealed that there is a way out of the Zone, but the trip to the exit portal is extremely dangerous.

• In the direct-to-video animated feature Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Superman must enter the Phantom Zone to retrieve a rare element which will cure Lois Lane of a deadly disease. This version of the Phantom Zone differs from previous animated continuity, as it is shown to actually be populated by "phantoms", and Superman retains his powers in the Zone.

Video games

• In the video game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the DC portion of the story mode concludes with Emperor Shao Kahn being imprisoned in the Phantom Zone after Superman defeats Dark Kahn. In Shao Kahn's single player ending, it is revealed that the Phantom Zone has the opposite effect on him. Rather than being depowered, Shao Kahn is re-energized by the Phantom Zone’s energies and breaks free of it with an untold number of prisoners who swear allegiance to Shao Kahn for releasing them. The Phantom Zone in the game resembles its portrayal from Superman: The Movie and Superman II.

Novels

• In Kevin J. Anderson's novel The Last Days of Krypton,^[6] Jor-El discovered and was temporarily trapped in the Phantom Zone. Later, after General Zod's (Dru-Zod's) insurgence/rebellion, Zod and his consort Aethyr-Ka, as well as his muscle-man Nam-Ek, were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. In a mistaken attempt to destroy the Phantom Zone, where Zod had trapped some of his enemies, the revived Council of Krypton cast the Phantom Zone to the center of the Planet Krypton, causing, first it's implosion, then it's explosion. Fortunately Jor-El and Lara were able to rescue their son Kal-El by sending him into space just before the planet's explosion. He arrived on Earth where he became known as Clark Kent/Superman.

Parodies and homages

• In the South Park episode "Krazy Kripples," Christopher Reeve is imprisoned in one after eating too many fetuses.
• In Bartman Meets Radioactive Man, Radioactive Man is imprisoned in the Limbo Zone.
• Family Guy parodied the Phantom Zone in the episode "Lethal Weapons." When Peter announced that "Krypton sucks", General Zod, Non, and Ursa came by and were promptly bested in a fight by Lois, and imprisoned in a Phantom Zone reminiscent of the Superman movies.
• An American Dad! episode "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" shows that God imprisoned Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog in the Phantom Zone when they tried to get into Heaven.

References

External links

• Supermanica: Phantom Zone Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Phantom Zone