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How existence within the Phantom Zone works does vary at least a bit over the decades.
But I am wondering what you think the best mechanics for it are. I mean in terms of sensation experienced by prisoners, their ability to communicate with each other, and how much awareness they are able to have regarding what happens outside the zone.
My take:
1. PZ prisoners can observe the physical realm sporadically but can’t affect it
2. They don’t age or need substance while there
3. There are places in the PZ that render you intangible but there are also places where PZ residents can physically make contact with one another
4. Other civilizations before Krypton have found the PZ and dumped or left tech, people, experiments there, but Krypton was the last one to do so
5. The PZ should have a bizarre color scheme. Yes there should be places where it’s all black and white, but other areas should have bizarre alien color schemes
6. The PZ should mentally affect those who stay there too long, hallucinations, visions, the whole works
[quote] 1. PZ prisoners can observe the physical realm sporadically but can’t affect it[/quote]Would it be the physical realm everywhere? Just near the exploded Krypton? Near PZ projectors (Kandor and the Fortress, maybe?)
[quote] 3. There are places in the PZ that render you intangible but there are also places where PZ residents can physically make contact with one another[/quote]Interesting.
[quote] 4. Other civilizations before Krypton have found the PZ and dumped or left tech, people, experiments there, but Krypton was the last one to do so [/quote]Answered the question I forgot to ask - if the PZ should be something pre-existing and discovered or something created by the the Kryptonians.
[quote] 6. The PZ should mentally affect those who stay there too long, hallucinations, visions, the whole works [/quote]Does this (or the mental/sanity strain caused by it) tend to persist after they escape or not? I mean, are criminals who spend long enough there driven a bit mad by it (and do they remain that way after escape).
[QUOTE=Vordan;4933778]My take:
1. PZ prisoners can observe the physical realm sporadically but can’t affect it
2. They don’t age or need substance while there
3. There are places in the PZ that render you intangible but there are also places where PZ residents can physically make contact with one another
4. Other civilizations before Krypton have found the PZ and dumped or left tech, people, experiments there, but Krypton was the last one to do so
5. The PZ should have a bizarre color scheme. Yes there should be places where it’s all black and white, but other areas should have bizarre alien color schemes
6. The PZ should mentally affect those who stay there too long, hallucinations, visions, the whole works[/QUOTE]
1. Based on watching the Supergirl TV series it was my understanding the Kara Zor-El was basically asleep during her 24 years in the Phantom Zone
2. Agreed on this. Kara Zor-El was 13 years old when she went into the Phantom Zone and 13 years old when she came out.
3. Brainiac 8/Indigo was able to eventually make contact with Kara Zor-El's pod and use it to drag Fort Rozz out of the Phantom Zone.
6. If you are asleep I guess that lessens the mental strain.
I'm on board with Vordan's claims, except for maybe the hallucinations. After all, poor Lar Gand is terrified of going back to the Zone, or even of being intangible or invisible, but he hasn't flirted with madness, just extreme misery.
[QUOTE=Tzigone;4933924]Would it be the physical realm everywhere? Just near the exploded Krypton? Near PZ projectors (Kandor and the Fortress, maybe?)
Interesting.
Answered the question I forgot to ask - if the PZ should be something pre-existing and discovered or something created by the the Kryptonians.
Does this (or the mental/sanity strain caused by it) tend to persist after they escape or not? I mean, are criminals who spend long enough there driven a bit mad by it (and do they remain that way after escape).[/QUOTE]
Good question. I would say only around Phantom Zone projectors. However my own personal take would be that there are small “tears” in the fabric of reality that act as natural projectors. They’re not enough for anyone in the Zone to cross over back to the physical realm, but they ARE enough to let those trapped see the outside world.
I would only have the hallucinations affect you while in the Zone. Basically what I want from the PZ is to up the horror factor. Make it a place that’s scary as hell to be in, rather than just boring. Some people would be more sensitive to the hallucinations than others. Zod would be pretty resilient to them and so would Kal. Your Xa-Dus however would be a lot more susceptible.
[QUOTE=Adekis;4934269]I'm on board with Vordan's claims, except for maybe the hallucinations. After all, poor Lar Gand is terrified of going back to the Zone, or even of being intangible or invisible, but he hasn't flirted with madness, just extreme misery.[/QUOTE]
Evidently, Mon-El suffers a PZPTSD, not the name of a 5th Dimentional imp, but a Phantom Zone Post Traumatic Strees Disorder.
Can life evolve or colonize the Zone?
Ah, the Zone. I love the potential of that place. I'm amazed that, as often as it's used, no writer has come in and told the definitive story of the Zone. It got play in the Silver Age, but it blows my mind that it didn't end up having more staying power or becoming a bigger factor in the mythos.
[QUOTE]Can life evolve or colonize the Zone?[/QUOTE]
In "For Tomorrow" Clark successfully built a....island....in the Zone that was (among other things) capable of growing fruit; we see Lois harvesting some (oranges it might've been?) at one point. So it's apparently possible, but from what I remember creating that island was some really high-end, legit super science and the whole experiment was a failure anyway, so I dunno if it can be held up as an example of successful colonization. But Lois and millions of other people lived there for more than a year, so.....
As for life....there has been the odd story where there's "something" alive in the Zone, right? Ghost like phantoms in the Phantom Zone, but supposedly they were natural, living creatures native to the dimension. Or something? And I think there's been a story or two where people too long in the Zone sorta fade and become phantoms, but I dunno if you could call that evolution or life or anything.