Favorite Fortress!

[superduperman]

Which Fortress is your favorite? I like the pre-Crisis one myself. With all the big trophies and zoo and Kandor and alien weapons. The crystals don't really do anything for me.

[Sacred Knight]

Its hard for me to pick, each era had very good takes. I've never encountered one I disliked. So much to the point that I often think a combination of all eras would be the ultimate thing. One aspect that didn't last long that I Thought was particularly cool was the tesseract idea. It'd be cool to weave that in again.

[Kuwagaton]

There's not really one that I dislike. The tan interiors were particularly neat because it looked more comfortable to inhabit.



The tesseract is a very rare example of a good update on a classic concept. And I also think the South American location was more intense than "somewhere northish and cold."

[ironman2978]

Personally on a visual level:

DCAU Fortress: I liked how discreet it's opening is as opposed to a door with a giant key pointing towards it or the giant crystal fortress look. I also liked how the animated series slowly build it up over time as opposed to just creating it and it solely being Kryptonian influence like the Superman movie made it to be. I also liked the elements it did to make it work for Superman like combining Brainiac's Memory orb with his Kryptonian computer.

Legion of Superheroes the animated series: It takes the classic and well used design from the Superman the Movie/Superman Returns/Smallville/Post Infinity Crisis look and updates it pretty well. Not only in terms of outer but inner designs too, it makes it looks visually interesting and makes it able to stand out very well.


New 52, alien fortress and crystal fortress designs both were pretty well done. The first Fortress I wish was shown a little more before it was taken out, I like how it was created from his first time facing Brainiac and it just evolved from there, while the crystal Fortress dome look I think was really interesting but didn't get to be shown or expanded on more in my opinion.

Man of Steel: Honestly the biggest problem with this design, is BvS or Jl doesn't allow this design to evolve past it's original look to let Clark make it feel more at home or more in touch with it. I enjoyed the original look and how alien and foreign it looks, not to mention the fact that I admire the detail Zack put into his designs.

[Osiris-Rex]

I am at a loss. I did not know there were versions of Fortress of Solitude. So, can't say anything meaningful here. Whatever you do keep the key.

Must have been Supergirl that used the key.

Personally on a visual level:

DCAU Fortress: I liked how discreet it's opening is as opposed to a door with a giant key pointing towards it or the giant crystal fortress look. I also liked how the animated series slowly build it up over time as opposed to just creating it and it solely being Kryptonian influence like the Superman movie made it to be. I also liked the elements it did to make it work for Superman like combining Brainiac's Memory orb with his Kryptonian computer.

Legion of Superheroes the animated series: It takes the classic and well used design from the Superman the Movie/Superman Returns/Smallville/Post Infinity Crisis look and updates it pretty well. Not only in terms of outer but inner designs too, it makes it looks visually interesting and makes it able to stand out very well.


New 52, alien fortress and crystal fortress designs both were pretty well done. The first Fortress I wish was shown a little more before it was taken out, I like how it was created from his first time facing Brainiac and it just evolved from there, while the crystal Fortress dome look I think was really interesting but didn't get to be shown or expanded on more in my opinion.

Man of Steel: Honestly the biggest problem with this design, is BvS or Jl doesn't allow this design to evolve past it's original look to let Clark make it feel more at home or more in touch with it. I enjoyed the original look and how alien and foreign it looks, not to mention the fact that I admire the detail Zack put into his designs.

Supergirl also had a nice looking Superman's Fortress of Solitude. I liked the giant ice statues of Lara and Jor-El holding a globe that I guess represents Krypton.

Kara_and_James_arriving_inside_the_Fortress_of_Solitude.jpg

[superduperman]

There's not really one that I dislike. The tan interiors were particularly neat because it looked more comfortable to inhabit.



The tesseract is a very rare example of a good update on a classic concept. And I also think the South American location was more intense than "somewhere northish and cold."

I always wondered what those things under glass were. Are they trophies? Are they machines? What are they? One of them is the Eradicator. In Return of Superman it looked like the robots were looking at the things under glass to determine what the Eradicator's condition was. Which suggests they are machines of some kind. It just looked like he had a bunch of old school stock tickers lying around! The floating chairs were cool. I liked the post-Crisis Krypton but their building aesthetics were kind of dull.

[Jon Clark]

Have to go with either the original Secret Sanctuary outside Metropolis on Earth Two or the Earth One versions. Both were Superman's creations and stocked with his trophies. I could see Superman spending time in either of those places engaging in hobbies (physical workouts, science experiments) as well as coming up with solutions to superheroic problems.

The Movie and Post-Crisis versions were too Kryptonian and places Superman was given rather than created. It would be like having Bruce discover a cave under Wayne Manor where his father had stored various prototypes and family souvenirs (like paleontologist Ezra Wayne's dinosaur model, Phillip Wayne's custom race car, and the giant penny from the Gotham sesquicentennial display)

[Jim Kelly]

The tesseract is a very rare example of a good update on a classic concept.

Huh? I know this makes me look very stupid, but I got no idea what that means. I looked it up on wikipedia and this is what it says: In geometry, the tesseract is the four-dimensional analog of the cube; the tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of six square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of eight cubical cells. The tesseract is one of the six convex regular 4-polytopes. But I'm not sure what that means either.

There were some good things about the interior of the post-reboot Fortress (Karl Kesel inks?), but don't like kaftan Jor-El and Lara holding up a world smaller than themselves. This worked with the characters of the Weisinger era Kryptonians, but it feels like a completely wrong interpretation of the cold Kryptonians that Byrne came up with.

Other than that quibble, you could amalgamate the various Fortresses into one Fortress, like the Doctor's TARDIS or Snoopy's doghouse.

[Kuwagaton]

The Movie and Post-Crisis versions were too Kryptonian and places Superman was given rather than created. It would be like having Bruce discover a cave under Wayne Manor where his father had stored various prototypes and family souvenirs (like paleontologist Ezra Wayne's dinosaur model, Phillip Wayne's custom race car, and the giant penny from the Gotham sesquicentennial display)

I can get that. Building from scratch is cooler than being gifted or even earning. But when we compare it with Bruce Wayne... well, he was completely gifted his old money dwelling and the funds to build up his cave.

I always wondered what those things under glass were. Are they trophies? Are they machines? What are they? One of them is the Eradicator.

Good question. It's like one of those over designed old Kirby devices I guess, since he didn't even get Kandor until 1996. And yeah I dig that flying couch.

See you need a door and a key for protection. The one in Superman Returns was simply open so that Luthor may please to come and go. That's dumb. People think the gigantic key is dumb. I totally disagree with them when a fortress is accessible to anyone who cares to go to the North Pole. One needs a door and a key. That's something basic.

Huh? I know this makes me look very stupid, but I got no idea what that means. I looked it up on wikipedia and this is what it says: In geometry, the tesseract is the four-dimensional analog of the cube; the tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of six square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of eight cubical cells. The tesseract is one of the six convex regular 4-polytopes. But I'm not sure what that means either.

In the awesome Man of Steel #100, he gets a fortress that breaks basic physics and allows for more space inside than out. It always works by a combination lock. While I don't mind the key, it's funny because he's really not the only one who can lift it in most stories.

There were some good things about the interior of the post-reboot Fortress (Karl Kesel inks?), but don't like kaftan Jor-El and Lara holding up a world smaller than themselves. This worked with the characters of the Weisinger era Kryptonians, but it feels like a completely wrong interpretation of the cold Kryptonians that Byrne came up with.

Jurgens with Perez finishes. But his parents aren't out of place as they are the curators of Krypton, who made the difference between an entirely lost world and a world known far and wide as the birth of modern hope. Poor Lara didn't get much of a role in the origin, but she is well remembered. Funny enough, I was just reading Superman #105, where Superman commemorates the S.S. Lara in her honor.

[magha_regulus]

I like the silver age and all star fortresses as far as what they are used for and the scope of it. I do like the tessearct fortress as a concept. It gave Superman something in common with Dr. Who (Its bigger on the inside). I do love the visuals of the crystal fortress but its far too glorious to be a secret hideout for one of the most secretive people on the planet.

[Jim Kelly]

I'd say that the AI that came with Kal-El's rocket presents to Superman an image of Krypton that he can understand. So it reads his thoughts and then feeds back a representation of the world that Clark will accept as true. But as the Man of Tomorrow's outlook develops, how he sees Krypton keeps changing. And the Fortress of Solitude just keeps manifesting those different ideas of what the Action Ace thinks Krypton ought to be. So the Fortress never remains static.

[williamtheday]

That silver age story: Baytman was hiding inside the key to get into the fortress to surprise Superman for his birthday.

[Last Son]

I know people quibble about the Donner fortress because Superman didn't build it himself, but it served a different and new purpose that didn't quite exist in the comics at the time, which was to reveal to Clark his heritage while also being a monument to Krypton that stores the history and knowledge of Krypton.

[Shadowcat]

I really liked the post Crisis one.

[protege]

Because of my interested in ancient American culture, I was partial to the rain-fortress, in the jungle. I wish they stuck with it.