Outside of General Zod, who is your favorite Phantom Zoner?

[The Frog Bros]

What, no love for Rogol Zaar?

Ursa gets my vote.

[exile001]

So many votes for Xa-Du. I don't get it.

The character gets lots of love here but has never actually done anything, to my mind their appearances amount to little more than cameos. Is it just that they have a cool design, has potential and/or is a Morrison creation and therefore automatically among the greats?

That's an honest question, not throwing shade, just wondering if I missed something.

[Vordan]

So many votes for Xa-Du. I don't get it.

The character gets lots of love here but has never actually done anything, to my mind their appearances amount to little more than cameos. Is it just that they have a cool design, has potential and/or is a Morrison creation and therefore automatically among the greats?

That's an honest question, not throwing shade, just wondering if I missed something.

To be fair take a look at that list: which of any of those villains has ever amounted to anything substantial? Kru-El is literally just a gag character created as a pun on his name. Faora/Ursa is FemZod who hates men and wants to kill them all. Jax is… nothing? He’s got nothing beyond “oh he blew up a moon”. Non is a lobotomized brute. Lor used to be a good kid but now is just Zod Jr.

Xa’s pretty much on equal footing with all of them, and yeah he’s got a great design. He was good in Morrison’s Action and in Pak’s Batman/Superman. He’s entertaining to me as the psychotic Kryptonian villain and he lets Zod move into being more nuanced and sympathetic. I go in depth for why I like Xa and what I’d do with him here.

[Jim Kelly]

Of course, inside of General Zod, it's too dark to read. But inside of General Zod he's not even close to being my favourite Phantom Zone character. I guess he got hurled into popularity thanks to the Christopher Reeve Superman movies--and I certainly like Terence Stamp. But in the pre-Crisis comics, I never found him a very deep character. And the other live action actors haven't impressed me like Stamp.

Jax-Ur seemed to be the real threat in the pre-Crisis comics. He probably had the most appearances among the villains or else tied with Zod. Dr. Xadu was a very minor player (if I ever read about him in post-Crisis comics, I don't remember it). Kru-El was an intriguing villain, given his connection to Jor-El--I think maybe post-Crisis adventures have raided Kru-El's cookie jar to lend Zod his familiar relationship with Jor-El.

Mon-El is far and away my most favourite from the Zone. After him, I'd put Quex-Ul--but not because he was ever a major player. He just appeared a few times, pre-Crisis--and that's what made him interesting, because he had a closed arc to his story. And third, I would put the pre-Crisis Faora, who was fascinating because she was so vicious and hated men so much--it seems contradictory to have her paired with Zod.

[Stanlos]

He more or less melded them together, yeah. In modern takes, Faora is just Ursa but a little meaner. They stripped her more interesting qualities.

To be fair, Faora is a cooler name.

I just loved the thesp who portrayed Faora. She was great in PANDORUM and had so much swag that I momentarily forgave the PS2cutscene style visuals

[Stanlos]

This thread makes me wonder what the deal is with the Phantom Zone exactly.

[marhawkman]

This thread makes me wonder what the deal is with the Phantom Zone exactly.

:/ it's a pocket dimension that literally has a mind of it's own and... is not nice... to anyone... ever.

[Jim Kelly]

This thread makes me wonder what the deal is with the Phantom Zone exactly.

So what's the deal with the Phantom Zone?

Y'know, it looks like they're all practicing to be mimes. Mime in a box. Mime against the wind. So what were they expecting? When they get out, they can be mimes on street corners? General Zod gets to be the living statue guy, in his military uniform. I can see him getting that gold make-up on his face.

Phantom Zone, ha! You ever tried the food in there? Two minutes later, you're still hungry. But it's got its perqs, y'know. In there for a thousand years, you still come out looking like you did when you were eighteen.

So what was the pitch at the Science Council? Jor-El comes in, "Hey guys, got a great idea for a new prison system. Y'see we put these guys in this zone. Let's call it the Phantom Zone, for now, but give me some time and I'm sure I can come up with something better. So the deal is they're in there for a long time and when they've done their time, they get out."

"So do they get old in there?"

"No. They don't age at all."

"So is it painful? Cruel and unusual punishment?"

"Cruel maybe, but not painful. I mean, they're phantoms. What can it hurt?"

"So is there some kind of rehabilitation program?"

"No, they just hang around in there staring at us."

"And then they get out?"

"That's the deal."

"So let me get this straight. We put them in this pantomime zone. It's painless. They don't age. They don't change. They're still the same as they were when they went in. And then we let them out?"

"Well, the planet's going to blow up soon, so I doubt we'll have a chance to do that. I'm going to send my son to another planet and then he'll let them out."

"So we all die, but they don't and when they come out of it, they're still young and they're still criminals?"

"That's the deal!"

[Adekis]

"So we all die, but they don't and when they come out of it, they're still young and they're still criminals?"

"That's the deal!"

Remember U-Ban and the Evil Three?

The writers hadn't come up with the Zone yet, so the "Evil Three" were launched in a rocket in suspended animation, and subjected to some kind of subliminal therapy thing to help them reform, I believe.

It didn't work, mind you, but at least the idea was there!

Probably. I read this comic like ten years ago or more, so I could be misremembering.

[Jim Kelly]

Remember U-Ban and the Evil Three?

The writers hadn't come up with the Zone yet, so the "Evil Three" were launched in a rocket in suspended animation, and subjected to some kind of subliminal therapy thing to help them reform, I believe.

It didn't work, mind you, but at least the idea was there!

Probably. I read this comic like ten years ago or more, so I could be misremembering.

It would be a fun idea if the Science Council had therapists enter the Phantom Zone to help with the rehabilitation of inmates. I could see that as an idea Mort Weisinger would have loved. And then there would be one or two psychologists hanging out in the Zone who had survived their world's end. I'm sure Mon-El would have welcomed the support.

[llozymandias]

What about Kru-El?

[marhawkman]

What about Kru-El?

Interesting character concept. Needs used more.

[Zero Hunter]

I have been thinking it would be interesting if they changed the zone up some. Maybe have it so the longer you are in there the more it changes you on a cellular level. If you got out you would still have powers like Superman, but either they would be weaker or they faded the more you used them. Like your body could not hold the solar energy charge and it would diminish until you just had regular Kryptonian strength again until you took the time to basically let yourself recharge by not using your powers.

It could make for an interesting new twist instead of just he "evil version" of Superman troupe.

[Jim Kelly]

I would have changed it so they are actually phantoms and don't have physical bodies. But because of cloning on Krypton, they would just inhabit a clone of their original body when they got out. On Earth they can take possession of regular humans, but then they have no powers and the host can only take it for so long before dying. To get out of the Zone and have a physical body they need Superman--they can create clones from his cells to become their new host. And that's why they have super-powers when they get out. Kal-El is the Codex and they need him to generate their physical bodies.

[Vordan]

Interesting character concept. Needs used more.

He’s in the World of Krypton mini!

I have been thinking it would be interesting if they changed the zone up some. Maybe have it so the longer you are in there the more it changes you on a cellular level. If you got out you would still have powers like Superman, but either they would be weaker or they faded the more you used them. Like your body could not hold the solar energy charge and it would diminish until you just had regular Kryptonian strength again until you took the time to basically let yourself recharge by not using your powers.

It could make for an interesting new twist instead of just he "evil version" of Superman troupe.

PKJ is doing something like that, he’s brought back Aethyr and made it so Aethyr can transform anyone trapped in the Zone for too long into monsters.