Phantom Zone
The Phantom Zone is a prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961), and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. It was frequently used in the Superman comics before the continuity was rebooted in the 1980s, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and has appeared occasionally since.
Fictional history
Pre-Crisis
The Phantom Zone was discovered by Jor-El and used on the planet Krypton as a method of imprisoning criminals. Previously, criminals were punished by being sealed into capsules and rocketed into orbit in suspended animation with crystals attached to their foreheads to slowly erase their criminal tendencies; Klax-Ar was one criminal who received this punishment but escaped. Gra-Mo was the last to suffer the punishment, for it was then abolished in favor of the Zone.
The inmates of the Phantom Zone reside in a ghost-like state of existence from which they can observe, but cannot interact with, the regular universe. Inmates do not age or require sustenance in the Phantom Zone; furthermore, they are telepathic and mutually insubstantial. As such, they were able to survive the destruction of Krypton and focus their attention on Earth, as most of the surviving Kryptonians now reside there. Most have a particular grudge against Superman because his father created the method of their damnation. When they manage to escape, they usually engage in random destruction, particularly easy for them since, on Earth, each has the same powers of Superman. Nevertheless, Superman periodically released Phantom Zone prisoners whose original sentences had been completed, and most of these went to live in the bottle city of Kandor.
Phantom Zone
a cold wind, a breath in time. an emptiness in the grand design. somewhere along the path we lost our way. more money spent than we've ever dreamed. more people lost in a silent scream. throwing back their pain, the world's insane. chorus: and they're gone, yeah they're gone. and they're sentenced to the phantom zone. inside a room, a money machine makes cheques and numbers printed on a screen. each life a code, an endless file. a list of lives that don't fit in. looking for a reason, there's no plan. the doors are locked and there ain't no key. chorus: and they're gone, yeah they're gone. like forgotten words to a nameless song. it's time we realized, that we are not to blame. upon this world, all the people are the same. so don't just disappear, to shrivel up and die. even a giant can be stricken by a fly. chorus: but they're gone, yeah they're gone. like forgotten words to a nameless song. yeah they're gone, yeah they're gone. exiled to the phantom zone. yeah they're gone, yeah they're gone. exiled to the phantom zone.
