Scarlet Jungle

Revision as of 02:18, 8 July 2006

A "weird wilderness" on the planet Krypton which teemed with red and purple flora, including huge, maroon, mushroom like fungi (Act No. 310, Mar 1964: "Secret of Kryptonite Six!") and gigantic "moving forests," red in color and vaguely humanoid in form, which literally advanced across the face of the planet "in their yearly migration," forcing Kryptonians in their path to seek shelter in subterranean tunnels until they had passed (S No. 164, Oct 1963: pts. I-II—"The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman!"; "The Super- Duel!").

The Scarlet Jungle was also inhabited by a species of Kryptonian fauna known as the "thought-beast," a large, primitive, rhinocerouslike creature—with a spiked tail and a single large horn protruding from its snout—whose most distinctive feature was a televisionlike "thought-screen" atop its head which flashed picture-images of whatever it was thinking (Act No. 310, Mar 1964: "Secret of Kryptonite Six!").

It is in the Scarlet Jungle that Superman and Jax-Ur locate the rare "spore-dust" needed to cure the "ghastly spotted plague" sweeping Atlantis (Act No. 310, Mar 1964: "Secret of Kryptonite Six!").

In addition, the region has a more subtle deadly danger, an infectious spore called Bloodmorel. When Superman is infected from a spore culture of this disease, the heroic plant monster Swamp Thing manages to link with the lifeform to find a way to stop the superhero's infection. Consequently, Swamp Thing finds himself in an illusion of the Scarlet Jungle and is almost immobilized by the simulation of Krypton's gravity before he dispells the illusion (DCCP No. 85, Sep 1985: "The Jungle Line!").