Nature of the Phantom Zone

[Vordan]

Well this is a question I’ve had for a while. Which take on the Phantom Zone do you prefer?

1. The Phantom Zone is an empty void with nothing and no one in it other than any unfortunates from our reality dumped into it?



2. The Phantom Zone is another dimension of our own reality where prisoners there can see and hear us just fine, but we can’t see or hear them, and they can’t interact with the real world?



3. The Phantom Zone is an entire other dimension that is an expression of the god Aethyr’s dreams/will, and it changes from being the traditional void we know when he slumbers to a Hell dimension when he wakes. Full of life that presents its own threats.



No surprise given my enjoyment of the current Action run, but I prefer Option 3. Feel like going full Lovecraftian/Daedric Realm with the Zone makes it way more interesting.

[Robotman]

I much prefer when the Phantom Zone criminals are actual phantoms while condemned to that dimension. Like the Silver Age and Morrison’s Action Comics. I hate it when it’s shown as just another world.

[magha_regulus]

I much prefer when the Phantom Zone criminals are actual phantoms while condemned to that dimension. Like the Silver Age and Morrison’s Action Comics. I hate it when it’s shown as just another world.

I completely agree with you. I think the stuff with Aethyr is indeed interesting though. A blend of 2/3 might be cool with option 2 being the baseline standard and option 3 being when things hit the fan or something goes awry. Another version of this question could be if we prefer Jor-El creating or discovering the Phantom Zone. I always did prefer that he invented the Phantom-Zone. It just always seemed more appropriately super and epic.

[HsssH]

I actually agree with what Manchester Black said about Phantom Zone. Sure, you can argue that these prisoners are too dangerous to be kept elsewhere, but it is what it is.

So I'd prefer if Superman stopped using it entirely due to obvious moral problems with it. At the same time I don't want a big storyline, which would basically shift the blame from writers to character. So due to that I'm in favour of it being Aethyr's creation and in my ideal world this would lead to realization that putting prisoners in PZ is dangerous for one reason or another and Superman stops using it. So you know, lets remove this plot point without drawing attention to Superman being morally bankrupt.

[Vordan]

Regardless of what form it takes I agree that Superman has to be taken to task for using the PZ as a prison. It feels inhumane and he should get called out on it. Of course there’s still the problem of what to do with the prisoners, but regardless they shouldn’t be left in there to rot.

[Jim Kelly]

Not that it's in continuity with any of the comics, but I'd prefer it if the criminals really were phantoms and that they couldn't get out of the Zone in corporeal form. It's sort of like that a bit on SMALLVILLE.

I would change continuity so Krypton sentenced the essence of these crooks to an immaterial realm. Since every Kryptonian seems to have had spare clone bodies--when they served their sentence, these Zone inmates were supposed to be returned to another clone body.

Once Krypton blew up, they had no clone bodies to return to. They need the codex, which holds the D.N.A. of every Kryptonian, so they can spawn their own clone bodies. The phantoms can escape from the Zone and occupy host bodies--but this will kill their host if they stay for too long. Superman is a desirable host, as his body won't burn out, but he can fight off their possession.

This makes the Phantom Zone less likely as a possible escape route from Krypton's destruction. It explains why Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van didn't use it.

[Jon Clark]

Prefer it to simply be a time-out place where the Zoners are immaterial even to one another. Like in the original Silver-age it wasn't intended to be endless it only became so when Krypton exploded and no one was left to release them.

Superman using it as a prison depends on the Superman. I prefer the Silver Age where the actual sentences were administered by Kandor and not just Superman. But if there was a Superman who wasn't authorized by existing governments I'd have no problem with the Zone being administered by Superman alone.

[Vordan]

This makes the Phantom Zone less likely as a possible escape route from Krypton's destruction. It explains why Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van didn't use it.

I thought Morrison gave a good justification for why they didn’t use the PZ in their Action run:

[Stanlos]

I much prefer when the Phantom Zone criminals are actual phantoms while condemned to that dimension. Like the Silver Age and Morrison’s Action Comics. I hate it when it’s shown as just another world.

Same. Going further, I think the Donner movie did it best minus the physical object floating around waiting to be exploded

[Jon Clark]

Same. Going further, I think the Donner movie did it best minus the physical object floating around waiting to be exploded

Donner did a decent job and Superman II followed up. But Supergirl the Movie was the worst version until the Supergirl TV show. Absolutely no idea why either was called the Phantom Zone

[JAK]

Definitely a mix of two and three.

[Stanlos]

Donner did a decent job and Superman II followed up. But Supergirl the Movie was the worst version until the Supergirl TV show. Absolutely no idea why either was called the Phantom Zone

I didn't get to see Supergirl's take on the zone. What were the details?

[exile001]

Can I vote for 'since the New 52 the Phantom Zone has just become another overused crutch for cheap storytelling/ending and needs to go away for a while'? Superman comics really needs fewer of these and to use those that remain more sparingly.

[Jim Kelly]

I thought Morrison gave a good justification for why they didn’t use the PZ in their Action run:

My other reason for having them just be phantoms in the Phantom Zone is because I want Superman to be the only one who actually survived the destruction of his homeworld.

I could make an exception for Krypto. Since he's a dog, it's not the same thing. However, I'd make it that Krypto came with Kal-El to Earth. All Kryptonians would have had a symbiotic relationship with their companion pups and needed them for their survival. The puppy Krypto had to travel with Kal-El to ensure the infant's survival on the trip to Earth.

For Kal-El's rocket to make it to Earth, it must have warped through hyper-space. I'd say that the Phantom Zone, 5th Dimension, Survival Zone and others are all extra dimensions of space that the Kryptonians discovered when they were trying to create a warp drive. Kal-El's rocket cuts through all these other dimensions as it warps through to our solar system. That's what attracts characters like Mxyzptlk and others--because the Kryptonian cut through their domain. Without realizing it, Kal-El has ripped through other dimensions causing trauma to their worlds and making him a prime target for retribution.

[Vordan]

Can I vote for 'since the New 52 the Phantom Zone has just become another overused crutch for cheap storytelling/ending and needs to go away for a while'? Superman comics really needs fewer of these and to use those that remain more sparingly.

Kinda surprised at this, I haven’t felt like the Phantom Zone has been overused. Bendis used it for his opening Superman arc, and PKJ used it for an Annual, but other than that the last one to really lean hard on the PZ was Jurgens who used it for his Cyborg Superman stories. I think Batman has shown up more often in the Superman books than the PZ has.

My other reason for having them just be phantoms in the Phantom Zone is because I want Superman to be the only one who actually survived the destruction of his homeworld.

I could make an exception for Krypto. Since he's a dog, it's not the same thing. However, I'd make it that Krypto came with Kal-El to Earth. All Kryptonians would have had a symbiotic relationship with their companion pups and needed them for their survival. The puppy Krypto had to travel with Kal-El to ensure the infant's survival on the trip to Earth.

For Kal-El's rocket to make it to Earth, it must have warped through hyper-space. I'd say that the Phantom Zone, 5th Dimension, Survival Zone and others are all extra dimensions of space that the Kryptonians discovered when they were trying to create a warp drive. Kal-El's rocket cuts through all these other dimensions as it warps through to our solar system. That's what attracts characters like Mxyzptlk and others--because the Kryptonian cut through their domain. Without realizing it, Kal-El has ripped through other dimensions causing trauma to their worlds and making him a prime target for retribution.

Not a bad idea!