Kryptonopolis

Kryptonopolis

The city of the planet Krypton where Superman was born and where, in the home of his parents, Jor-El and Lara, he spent his infancy until the day when Jor-El launched him into outer space in an experimental rocket ship to enable him to escape the impending doom of their planet (Act No. 325, Jun 1965: "The Skyscraper Superman!"; and others). Designed by Superman's "distinguished ancestor" Gam-El, the father of modern Kryptonian architecture (SF No. 172, Aug/Sep 1975; and others), Kryptonopolis became Krypton's capital city following the theft of its first capital, Kandor, by the space villain Brainiac. Its famous Red Tower was one of Krypton's great architectural landmarks (WF No. 146, Dec 1964: "Batman, Son of Krypton!" pts. I-II—no title; "The Destroyer of Krypton!"). When Krypton exploded, Kryptonopolis perished with it, but Superman once photographed the city "by overtaking and photographing light rays that had left Krypton before it exploded," and has since "donated the photos to a museum!" (S No. 132, Oct 1959: "Superman's Other Life!" pts. 1-3—"Krypton Lives On!"; "Futuro, Super-Hero of Krypton!"; "The Superman of Two Worlds!"). In November 1958, after swindler Jonas Smith has been apprehended by Superman, the Krypton Island real-estate development founded by Smith on an island off Metropolis is taken over by an honest developer and renamed Kryptonopolis (Act No. 246: "Krypton on Earth!").