Warning! Spoilers ahead for Action Comics #1074!A trip to the past ofSuperman’shome planet reveals a surprising secret about both his origin and one of the most controversial pieces of the Man of Steel’s lore.The Phantom Zone hasnever been Superman’s favorite thing, and he’s been discovering a lot about it recently.
Thanks to thepowerful being known as Aethyr, the Phantom Zone and its inhabitants have gone through some serious changes, and it made Clark doubt his father’s intentions behind pioneering the awful dimension. But a chance trip to Krypton reveals the truth behind the Phantom Zone and Jor-El’s wild gambit to save his people.
Superman’s Father Tried to Save Krypton with the Phantom Zone
Jor-El’s Experiment Was Meant to Save, Not Punish
InAction Comics #1074by Mark Waid, Clayton Henry, Michael Shelfer, Matt Herms, and Dave Sharpe, Superman has survivedthe Phantom Zone’s cruelest punishment, the Eye of the Zone, and wound up on Krypton decades in the past. Unfortunately, he’s arrived when the planet is already starting to destabilize and makes a beeline to the one place he believes can help: The House of El. Taking the name Klar-Ken,Superman arrives at Jor-El and Lara’s home and is greeted by his mother, who is carrying a baby Kal-El with her.
The current arc begins withAction Comics #1070 (2024)!
As Superman talks with his mother, Jor-El returns from a meeting with the Science Council of Krypton, enraged that they refuse to listen to him and his warning about the impending threat to the planet. After cooling down, Jor-El meets with Clark, who asks his father if he can help repair the solar bands that can allow Superman to access his powers once more. Jor-El agrees and takes Clark to his lab,where Superman sees all the inventions his father has created, including a Phantom Zone projector.
Jor-El reveals that he believes the Phantom Zone can be used as a lifeline to save the entire Kryptonian population.
Superman inquires what the device is and how his father intended to use it. After swearing Clark to secrecy, Jor-El discusses the Phantom Zone with his son and tells him about the benefits of the twilight dimension, namely its ability to protect those within it. Jor-El reveals that he believes the Phantom Zone can be used as a lifeline to save the entire Kryptonian population. Unfortunately, Ro-Zan of the Science Council barges in andseizes the Phantom Zone projector and has Jor-El, Lara, and Superman arrested.
The Phantom Zone Could Have Changed Everything For Superman
This is an interesting revelation as much of the current arc has shown Superman questioning how his father could have knowingly helped develop the Phantom Zone (which Krypton’s ruling council used to exile its worst criminals). But the idea that Jor-El wanted to use the liminal void to save his people fits so much more in-linewith the progressive, compassionate scientist Superman knows his father was. It’s just a shame that his project was taken by the Science Council, who no doubt are about to begin their first wave of banishments now that they have the projector.
The Phantom Zone was the better path to pursue…
It also clarifies why Jor-El didn’t spend more time on bigger or better rockets to help more Kryptonians, or at least one that could save the entire El family. Jor-El was trying to save as many of his people as possible (not to mention he had to operate away from the eyes of the dismissive and vindictive Science Council). The Phantom Zone was the better path to pursue, but when that plan failed, it’s not hard to believehe only had time to get a vessel that could support a baby Superman as a last resort.
It’s just wild to imagine that Jor-El wasthisclose to saving his people. Had the Science Council not intervened, Jor-El could have saved waves of Kryptonians. Maybe not the entire population, but definitely more than the handful that are around today. Yes, they would have been trapped as wraiths in the void, butthe Kryptonians were some of the smartest, most advanced people in the DC Universe, and they could have figured a way out eventually. But because of greed, paranoia, and fear, the Phantom Zone became a pit of suffering instead of a lifeline.
Superman Can’t Change the Past, But He Knows His Father’s True Intentions
A Dark Question Finally Has a Positive Answer
Unfortunately, the past is the past and Krypton’s people were doomed to perish. But the one silver lining is that Superman knows for a fact that his father wanted the Phantom Zone to be a tool that could save their people. Clark has had issues with the dimension and hated thinking about the role his father played in how it was used for a cruel and unusual punishment. But now that he knows what Jor-El really wanted,Supermancan finally put this one part of his past behind him.
Action Comics #1074is available now from DC Comics.
Superman
The icon who launched the entire world of superheroes, the last son of Krypton escaped his dying world to crash land on Earth and be raised as Clark Kent. The world knows him better as Superman, the Man of Steel, the leader of the Justice League, and the most well-known hero in the DC Comics Universe. Blessed with the powers of a demigod, Kal-El of Krypton fights enemies both small and cosmic in his endless pursuit of truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.
