Phantom Zone

A weird “twilight dimension”—first discovered by Superman’s father, Jor-El—to which Kryptonian criminals were banished to serve out their sentences as disembodied wraiths (Act No. 284, Jan 1962: “The Babe of Steel!” and many others). Inside the Phantom Zone, its exiled inhabitants exist in a “phantom state” (S No. 157/1, Nov 1962: “The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”), unaging, requiring no food, air, or water (Act No. 284, Jan 1962: “The Babe of Steel!”; and others), communicating with one another telepathically (S No. 164/2, Oct 1963: “The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!”; and others), able to observe every thing that takes place in the physical universe— either on Earth (Ad No. 284, Jan 1962: “The Babe of Steel!”; and others), or in outer space (S No. 157/1, Nov 1962: “The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”; and others)—even though they cannot be seen or heard themselves (Act No. 284, Jan 1962: “The Babe of Steel!”; and others). By observing Superman from inside the Phantom Zone, all its inhabitants have learned that he is secretly Clark Kent (S No. 157/1, Nov 1962: “The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”).

Before Jor-El’s discovery of the Phantom Zone, Kryptonians who perpetrated serious crimes were exiled into outer space in a state of suspended animation inside specially constructed space capsules (S No. 65/3, Jul/Aug 1950: “Three Supermen from Krypton!”). The criminals imprisoned inside these “prison satellites” were placed in suspended animation by means of a special sleep gas, and chunks of a glowing crystalline mineral—capable of cleansing their brains of criminal tendencies in a hundred years’ time—were placed on their foreheads so that ultimately, once their sentence was served, they might take up constructive roles in Kryptonian society (S No. 123, Aug 1958: chs. 1-3—”The Girl of Steel’: “The Lost Super-Powers”; “Superman’s Return to Krypton”).

The practice of exiling criminals into outer space was terminated after Jor-El discovered the Phantom Zone, to which convicted felons could be banished by means of an ingenious “Phantom Zone projector” (Act No. 284, Jan 1962: ”The Babe of steel!”; and many others), or “Phantom Zone Ray Projector” (Act No. 311, Apr 1964: “Superman, King of Earth!”), of Jor-El’s own invention. Exile into this twilight world proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Phantom Zone outlaws, however, for it enabled them to survive when the planet Krypton exploded. To this day, these villains hover invisibly in their twilight dimension, waiting their opportunity to escape from the Zone and “take over the Earth” (Act No. 310, Mar 1964: “Secret of Kryptonite Six!”).

Once projected into the Phantom Zone, “all inhabitants gain the power to converse one another via telepathy” (S No. 158, Jan 1963: “Super man in Kandor” pts. I-III—”Invasion of the Mystery Super-Men!”; “The Dynamic Duo of Kandor!”; “The City of Super-People!”; and others). For a time, however, their only means of communicating with the physical world was by beaming telepathic messages to individuals outside the Zone who possessed telepathic powers, such as Saturn Girl, and Lori Lemaris (S No.156, Oct 1962: “The Last Days of Superman!” pts. I.IlI—”Superman’s Death Sentence!”; “The Super-Comrades of All Time!”; “Super man’s Last Day of Life!”), although, on at least one occasion, they succeeded in communicating with Superman by concentrating, in unison, on a single telepathic message (S No. 157/1, Nov 1962: “The Super- Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”). Similarly, Superman’s only means of contacting the Phantom Zone outlaws was through his telepathic friends (S No. 156, Oct 1962: “The Last Days of Superman” pts. I.II).

By November 1962, however, Superman has invented the “Zone-ophone,” a large television-type picture tube equipped with a microphone and speaker which enables him to peer into the Phantom Zone while communicating orally with the Phantom Zone prisoners. “Wonderful! My zone-ophone works!” thinks Superman after his device has passed its maiden test. “I can communicate with Phantom Zone prisoners... – The invention’s screen enables me to look into the Zone!” (S No. 157/i: “The Super- Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”). By February 1964 this device, here referred to as “the Phantom Zone viewer and Zone-O-Phone,” has come to consist of a televisionlike viewing screen equipped with a headset and microphone for verbal communication (S No. 167: “The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!” pts. I-IU—”The Deadly Duo!”; “The Downfall of Superman!”; “The Hour of Kandor’s Vengeance!”; see also Act No. 310, Mar 1964: “Secret of Kryptonite Six!”).

Superman Little Big Book with Phantom Zone Villians

By August 1963 Superman has developed a ray gun like Phantom Zone “view-finder,” with which he can peer into the Phantom Zone to assure himself that all the Zone’s inhabitants are present and accounted for (S No. 163/1: “Wonder-Man, the New Hero of Metropolis!”).

Once each year, in Kandor’s majestic Hall Of Justice, the Phantom Zone Parole Board meets to consider the pleas of Phantom Zone prisoners seeking parole. A giant “monitor screen equipped with a zone o-phone” is used by the parole board members to communicate with the prisoners, and those inmates deemed worthy of parole are released from the Phantom Zone to begin new lives as Kandorian citizens (Act No- 310, Mar 1964: “Secret of Kryptonite Six!”).

Superman is also able to release inmates from the Phantom Zone by means of the “Phantom Zone ray-gun” he keeps in his Fortress of Solitude. In November 1962 Superman uses the device to free Quex-Ul from the Phantom Zone after verifying with the aid of a surviving cache of “radio-visual tapes” from the files of the Kryptonian police—that Quex-Ul has served out the full sentence meted out to him by Kryptonian authorities (S No. 157/1: ‘The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”).

The decision to release an inmate from the Phantom Zone is an extremely grave matter, however, for the inmates of the Zone, like all surviving Kryptonians, acquire super-powers identical to Superman’s in the environment of Earth and could easily turn these awesome powers toward the pursuit of villainous ambitions. When Superman releases Jax-Ur from the Phantom Zone for a twenty-four hour period in March 1964, he uses a special “release ray” to make the villain materialize in his Fortress of Solitude, and then clamps an ingenious metal bracelet—called a “zone-shackle”-—on the convict’s wrist. “Should you refuse to let me return you to the Phantom Zone after 24 hours,” explains Superman, “it will dissolve your atomic structure and automatically return you there anyway!” In addition, if Jax-Ur attempts to tamper with or remove the zone-shackle, he will find himself automatically banished to “a fiery, barren planet under a red sun,” where, like any Kryptonian, he would instantly be deprived of his super-powers (Act No. 810: “Secret of Kryptonite Six!”).

The Phantom Zone outlaws have an abiding hatred of Superman and, almost to a man, they pray for the day when they can escape the Zone and “take over the Earth” (Act No. 310, Mar 1964: “Secret of Kryptonite Six!”). According to Superman No. 157/1, “These invisible villains hate Superman because he possesses mighty super-powers which they, too, would have if they weren’t prisoners in the twilight dimension!” (Nov 1962: “The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!”), but a more plausible explanation for the enmity they bear Superman lies in the fact that Superman is the most visible surviving representative of the society that exiled them; that, in large measure, he holds the key to keeping them prisoner or setting them free; and that it was the testimony of his father, Jor-El, that was instrumental in dooming many of their number to long terms in the Phantom Zone (S No. 153/3, May 1962: “The Town of Supermen!”; and others).

Over the years, a number of occurrences, both natural and man-made, have enabled Phantom Zone outlaws to escape the Zone. By May 1962, for example, a “50-megaton atomic test blast on Earth [has] ripped open a hole in the Phantom Zone,” allowing eight criminals to escape before finally closing up again (S No. 153/3: “The Town of Supermen!”). In October 1963, the explosion in outer space of an atomic missile from a Polaris submarine causes a temporary gap in the Phantom Zone through which the villain Ras-Krom escapes to freedom (S No. 164/2: “The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!”) A hole in the Phantom Zone caused by “the electrical ions of the Aurora Borealis” in January 1962 is closed by Superman, Supergirl, and Krypto before it becomes large enough to allow any of the imprisoned “super-villains” to escape (Act No. 284: “The Babe of Steel!”).