#Quex Ul

[dcbinges]

Superman #22 (1988) by John Byrne

[chernobog13]

Superman and some of the inhabitants of the Phantom Zone, by Gray Frank.

I don't know why mermaid (and former Superman love interest) Lori Lemurs is in the Zone. Did I miss a story somewhere?

[cantsayidont]

January 1982. "Creepy" and "surreal" are not words normally associated with Bronze Age Superman stories, but they're apt descriptions of the 1982 miniseries THE PHANTOM ZONE by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan. Probably inspired by the 1980 movie SUPERMAN 2, the mini begins with a recap of the history of the Phantom Zone, discovered by Superman's father Jor-El as a means of imprisoning Kryptonian criminals, but this is no E. Nelson Bridwell continuity-charting affair: The Phantom Zone inmates stage a mass escape, wreaking bloody havoc on Earth as Superman and an amnesiac former prisoner named Quex-Ul, forced to take the escapees' place, begin a perilous journey to the heart of the Zone, which is far stranger than Jor-El had ever imagined.

Most of the Phantom Zone villains who appear in this story had been seen before, but Gerber makes them actually frightening, a collection of madmen and human monsters who were scary enough on Krypton, without the incredible powers bestowed by Earth's yellow sun. Gerber also emphasizes the horror of the Zone itself — being imprisoned, possibly forever, as a thought without form — and his revelation of what the Zone actually is is unexpected. None of this would have worked if the series had been drawn by Curt Swan, but the art by Gene Colan (inked by Tony DeZuñiga) lends a sweaty, claustrophobic nightmare vibe to Gerber's script.

DC reprinted the miniseries in the SUPERMAN: PHANTOM ZONE trade paperback in 2013, also including Gerber's followup in DC COMICS PRESENTS #97, drawn by Rick Veitch, which is unsettling in its own right, and much meaner than Alan Moore's contemporaneous "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" (That collection shouldn't be confused with the earlier TALES FROM THE PHANTOM ZONE TPB, which is a compilation of Silver Age Phantom Zone stories.)

[demonsee2]

By John Byrne

[thecomicsnexus]

SUPERMAN #21-22 / THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #444

September/October 1988

By John Byrne, Jerry Ordway John Beatty, Dennis Janke, Petra Scotese, John Costanza, and Albert De Guzman.

Superman meets the new Supergirl and quickly realizes she comes from the Time Trapper's pocket universe. After arriving there, he discovers their version of Lex Luthor freed three kryptonian criminals from the Phantom Zone (not knowing they were criminals) and this pretty much doomed the entire planet.

Faced with the reality that these three criminals could make their way into the new Earth, Superman will be faced with a tough decision that will change his life forever.

SCORE: 10

This is the final story from Byrne's run. Why? Unclear.

Some sources say that Byrne wasn't happy with the lack of control he had over Superman's status. Others say that he didn't like the dark direction the books were taking... but whatever the case was... writers continued working on his plots for years (with almost everything closing between 1990 and 1991, and influencing the "Reign of the Supermen" saga).

This final story is really dark, with Superman being forces to execute the Phantom Zone criminals. You can tell that the saga probably influenced the "Man of Steel" movie in more ways than just the death of Zod at Superman's hands (although technically, Zod ended up being killed by Quex-Ul).

Now, when it comes to format, this feels like a cinematic experience... now. But it was a bit of a pain to read in physical form. It's like this story was created in a way that couldn't be fully enjoyed until digital comics arrived. All three issues use two pages for panel layouts, resulting in panoramic views that make everything way bigger and more beautiful.

There is something about the idea that Byrne wasn't happy with the darkness of the book that makes sense in the context of a story that ultimately reintroduced Supergirl (although that would take a few years to be fulfilled). This Supergirl was created by Luthor, and it is made of Protomatter. This interesting plot device would return with a vengeance a year later.

It's unclear if the Kryptonians were resourceful enough to escape this dimension. Leaving them powerless in a barren Earth could have been a life sentence. Then again, they were going to die anyway without an atmosphere. So yes, taking to New Earth could have been very risky. Of course, Zod and co would much later make their debut into the new DC multiverse, but for a very long time, this was the only version of them that existed.

I am not sure how to feel about Luthor not using the Gold Kryptonite earlier, nor how he kept it away from them. I feel like, with many other things in these three issues, that was a last minute creative decision. This story should have lasted at least one more issue. As it is, many characters were introduced that died off panel or barely did anything.

Still, the story works well enough for me, and the artistic choices makes it a classic.

So... without Byrne... will the Superbooks survive?

Yes, in fact, another classic saga is starting right away that will lead to yet another classic saga known as the "exile in space."

Very interesting times for Superman.

[lamujerarana]

As the last representative of law and justice on this world, it falls to me to act as judge, jury...and executioner.

Superman Vol 2 22: "The Price"

[jlaction]

[splooosh]

“As the last representative of law and justice on this world...”

[kryptondaily]

1x01: Pilot and 1x02: House of El promo photos [1/1] - already aired

[johnbyrnedraws]

Generations 2 #3, page 48 by John Byrne & Trish Mulvihill. 2001.

[davidmann95]

I was asked about this piece, and yeah? Superman killing the Phantom Zoners was dumb and bad, even if you think he should kill people. If you’re so worried about Earth cops not finding Zod under their jurisdiction that you’d rather torture him to death with Kryptonite, maybe just go to the Green Lanterns instead or something Clark? They at least regularly deal with Qward as far as parallel universe business goes, I’m sure the Guardians wouldn’t mind throwing the whole PZ crew in the sciencells.

[dcbinges]

Superman #22 (1988) by John Byrne

[thevindicativevordan]

I'm seeing a lot of people talk about a Phantom Zone mini Steve Gerber wrote in the 70s because PKJ is apparently picking up ideas from there in his Superman work. You also listed it in your desert island post. Do you recommend the mini and why do you think Johnson is going back to that particular well?

I read it specifically because I heard PKJ was drawing on it for ideas and wanted to see how and why.

The "how" is that this is where Aethyr debuted, and his relationship to the Phantom Zone forms the crux of Superman's journey through the Phantom Zone. It clearly has influenced PKJ's own take on both for his Action run given how he calls back to this story in the Action 2021 Annual. As for the "why", this story is pretty damn great horror story for Superman. A bunch of evil Kryptonians manage to escape the Phantom Zone while leaving Superman trapped inside at the same time, with Zod as the ringleader of the group. Superman and Quex-Ul, a fellow Kryptonian, must journey through the heart of the Phantom Zone to confront the god Aethyr in order to escape, and prevent Zod from transferring the entire Earth into the Phantom Zone as part of his revenge against Kal.

The journey through the Zone has the normally invincible and self-assured Pre-Crisis Superman feel both fear and pain as he explores realms that house monstrosities and terrors that can harm even him. Krypton's historical usage of the Phantom Zone is shown here too, and Gerber does a great job selling you on what a terrible fate it is for the various unfortunates imprisoned there. Zod receives a strong showing here, Gerber does a better job of selling him as a threat than many later attempts at revamping comics Zod into something worthy of Stamp's popularity. Such is the extent of Superman's rage towards Zod at the end of the story that he explicitly states he'd like to kill Zod, but has to settle for beating him right up to that threshold. There's genuine tension and excitement within this story along with the kind of horrific imagery you would not normally expect from a Superman book. A duo of Kryptonian twins go around murdering people because they can, with one possessing pyrokinetic powers that he uses to burn people alive for annoying him. Supergirl almost dies multiple times as she tries to defeat the Kryptonian criminals without the aid of her cousin. A Kryptonian wizard has his face melted off and is enslaved by Aethyr. If you're a fan of Alan Moore's Superman stories, this is on the same level of darkness, and Gerber's epilogue for this story also features a darker take on Mxy that shows how effective he could be as a legit villain. Reading that made me wish DC had let Gerber be the one to reboot the character for the Post Crisis era, he sure knew how to spin a dark Superman tale in an engaging way. Definitely recommend it if any of what I've described sounds interesting to you.

Load of great worldbuilding for the Zone by Gerber can be found here, and I'm glad that PKJ is trying to bring some parts of that worldbuilding back into canon. As for why he chose to lean on this mini to supplement his own work, aside from the usual answer of "he read it and liked it and wanted to bring it back into canon", I think the answer lies in his roots as a dark fantasy writer. Superman's journey through the Phantom Zone is closer in tone to the journey PKJ's protagonists undergo in The Last God than a "normal" Superman story. A group of protagonists undergo a dangerous journey across a dangerous environment to confront the malicious god responsible for unleashing horrors in order to save their homes is a basic synopsis for both stories, easy to see why it would appeal to him. There's even a wizard in this story!

[multiverseforger]

The first Faora, Faora Hu-Ul, was introduced in Action Comics #471.[6][7] She was a beautiful Kryptonian woman whose unexplained hatred for men led her to torture and kill 23 men in a secret concentration camp. For this, she was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone to complete a sentence of 300 Kryptonian years, the second longest term after Jax-Ur.[8][9] This allowed her to survive her homeworld's destruction, along with the other Phantom Zone prisoners, albeit in an invisible ghostlike form. While imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, she was often depicted plotting against Superman with General Zod and Jax-Ur. Her hatred of men was not limited to Kryptonians, as demonstrated by her pointless murder of a young Frenchman who was attracted by her beauty.[10]

Faora was an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilized the pressure points on the Kryptonian body. This made her an extremely dangerous foe for Superman to face in hand-to-hand combat-—he was forced to flee from their first encounter.[8] During one of her first appearances,[11] Faora could manifest some sort of "mental lightning" to physically attack other Kryptonians, but did not exhibit this additional power during later appearances.

Post-CrisisEdit

Pocket UniverseEdit

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, another Faora (renamed Zaora) appeared in the Pocket Universe created by the Time Trapper, along with General Zod and Quex-Ul.[4] The three tricked the Pocket Universe's Lex Luthor into releasing them from the Phantom Zone. After the Pocket Earth's population continued to resist their conquest of it, the three villains destroyed the atmosphere, killing almost all life. Superman defeated them by permanently stripping the three of their super powers with gold kryptonite. He then executed them with kryptonite in punishment for their crimes, and to protect the real Earth after they threatened to somehow regain their powers and destroy it as well. Zaora pleaded with Superman for her life, offering him "all sorts of favors", before she succumbed to the kryptonite.[12]

Phantom Zone entityEdit

In the Eradicator mini-series, the Eradicator was pressured into embracing his programming by another construct of Kem-L's. This artifact, which was trapped in the Phantom Zone, claimed to be called Faora, after Kem-L's grandmother, and to be the ultimate repository of Kryptonian mythology. However it is unclear how much of this is true.

The Eradicator rejected Faora, "downloading" all the aspects of Kem-L's programming that contradicted Dr. David Conner's morality into the Faora program. Unknown to him, this gave it a new, monstrous form and the ability to leave the Zone, and it targeted Conner's family. The Eradicator destroyed it, but not before it killed Conner's wife.

PokolistanianEdit

Another Faora was introduced as one of the aides of General Zod of the fictional nation of Pokolistan. This character, who debuted in Action Comics #779 (July 2001), was an orphan metahuman. Faora has the ability to disrupt molecular bonds. She was the creator of the mutagenic virus which was the linchpin of Zod's plan. Her whereabouts following the General's defeat are unknown.[4]

"Return to Krypton"Edit

In a 2001–2002 storyline, Superman and Lois Lane visit a version of Krypton which is later revealed to have been created by the villainous Brainiac 13 and based on Jor-El's favorite period in Kryptonian history.[13] In this Krypton, Lois and Clark become fugitives and are pursued by Faora and Kru-El, romantically linked manhunters known as "the Hounds of Zod."[14] This version of Faora, calling herself "the Tigress of Zod", later returns as an ally of Jor-El. She and Kru-El are both killed in a struggle against Kryptonian religious zealot

[godstaff]

As far as “To kill or not to kill” you’re right that it’s really Batman’s spiel. The truth is Superman’s killed before. And like Diana, only when necessary. I’ve never liked the New 52 panel about her “dealing” with her villains. Because honestly, if she dealt with them then Giganta, Cheetah and Circe would be dead. People love to put Supes in the “big blue Boy Scout” box like he’s never crossed the line or done what needed to be done. No that’s Batso.

It’s a characteristic of intelligent people being aware of our own limitations: you may decide to end a life or not as long as your strength, physically and psychically, allows it. To try  everything to avoid taking a life is what a real hero must do, but if the criminal is still coming and the only way to stop it from causing more life loses is killing, a hero who knows every other option has been exhausted and it’s at the limit of its abilities, has to choose between ending that life or letting it continue with the murdering spree, has to choose between innocents’ lives and that one life responsible of destruction and suffering. I believe the choice is clear: the lesser of two evils.

I am not advocating for the death penalty: a group of people seated in a court room, calmly deciding about the life or death of an imprisoned individual, I’m talking in the heat of the battle, in the midst of a fight, kill or being killed. Kill or letting innocents being killed.

One of the times Superman took a life, three, to be exact, was as an execution, with Kryptonite, for crimes previously committed: Zod, Quex-Ul and Faora, because they exterminated all life on other universe’s Earth. Although I understand the reasons, I don’t know if it was out of pain or if it was calculated, in cold blood. And he swore he’ll do it again if he has to. These three were monsters and the need for their extermination was obvious, but it was kind of a retaliation.

Point is, in extremis, Superman is capable of killing, even at risk of his own life, like in Doomsday’s case, because he doesn’t think he’s omnipotent and will be able to control the outcome of every situation, like Batso.

And Diana was once known as the avatar of Peace, because of her constant efforts to facilitate a peaceful ending to every potentially violent situation, but if it wasn’t feasible, peace would be achieved with a sword, but only as last resort.

[ink-logging]

The Phantom Zone (DC, 1982)

This 4 issue miniseries by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan is one of the darker and more intense Superman stories I’ve read. The first issue is a claustrophobic, paranoid, sci-fi story, no superheroics until issues 2 and 3. Charlie Kweskill works in the production department at the Daily Planet. He’s literally falling down on the job, weird headaches, fatigue and then hallucinations. He’s haunted by recurring visions of a planet half a galaxy away, where volcanoes spew gold, jewelled mountain valleys, blood colored jungles - Krypton.

His disembodied consciousness witnesses the history of the Phantom Zone, its creation by Jor-El, and then 16 pages of great detail are dedicated to 10 different individuals banished to the nether-dimension. Gra-Mo’s foiled robot rebellion; Jax-Ur’s unauthorized missile tests that destroyed a populated moon; Va-Kox’s genetic experiments that polluted the Great Krypton Lake; Dr. Xadu’s illegal suspended animation research; Faora Hu-Ul, misandrist serial killer; General Zod, homicidal dictator; Az-Rel and Nadira a pyrokinetic/psychokinetic couple; Kru-El, Jor-El’s wicked cousin; and finally Quex-Ul a miracle healer who poached Rondor horns for his cures.

Phew where is this all going?! Krypton dies less than a month later. Ironically, those trapped in the Phantom Zone survive. The ghosts in Charlie’s visions compel him to steal certain electronics and assemble a machine... which frees the Legion of Infamy from the nether-world while trapping Charlie and Superman in the twilight dimension!

Issue 2 is packed with villainy that rivals current event books like Dark Knight III or other mega crossovers, all in 27 pages. The evil Kryptonians spill out into a gritty New York City-esque Metropolis, killing cops, breaking into the Fortress of Solitude and destroying Superman’s only means of escape from the Phantom Zone. They toss the Justice League satellite out of the solar system, destroy all Earth satellites in orbit, which triggers the US and Russia to launch their nukes. We’re on page 9.

Supergirl and Wonder Woman show up to prevent WWIII. Green Lantern gets his ass kicked and power battery stolen. Supergirl seeks Batman’s help because... he’s the world’s greatest detective. There’s rioting in Gotham City and she interrupts him breaking the jaw of a looter. The issue ends with Superman and Charlie finding a wall of energy in the Phantom Zone. The only way out is through...

Issue 3 is a total metaphysical journey beyond the purple realm that most people associate with the Phantom Zone, into deeper levels of the void. Gerber excels at these psychic narratives. He’s made his own maps and treats the liminal drama earnestly with seriousness and respect. 

Superman’s third eye is ripped open and the true nature of the Phantom Zone is revealed - it is an interference pattern, a border world, where a crystalline dimension called Aether, manifested by the thoughts of the oversoul, meets the Earth. 

Superman shrugs off this heady revelation - he is super determined and super focused on only one goal - returning to that home called Earth and saving all his friends. They rush deeper and deeper into the void while Zod reveals his super weapon ready to send the entire planet Earth into the Phantom Zone.

Issue 4 - back to the punk, underground, new wave Metropolis of 1982, we witness the birth of a new sound - Bizarro!

All the heroes and villains clash. Superman flies directly into Aether, towards annihilation. He faces the metaphysical mind of the oversoul - and does not blink! 

His body, soul and sanity have been pushed to the limit - he returns to the tactile world and he is pissed! It’s a serious and effective depiction of an angry Superman.

The cataclysmic battle fills all 26 pages of this issue. Zod and the other survivors are not dispatched back to the Phantom Zone until the 3rd panel of the last page, leaving only 2 panels for Superman to fly off into space to retrieve the Justice League satellite, alone with his thoughts. His super friends are wise enough not to ask about the ordeal he’s just been through.