THE PHANTOM ZONE	ATLAS
Created by Jerry Siegel and George Papp

INFORMATION

Official Name: The Phantom Zone
Aliases: Ghost Zone, Stasis Zone, Still Zone, White Zone
Environment: Inhabitants reduced to a non-corporeal state
Atmosphere: not applicable
Dominant Lifeform: Exiled Kryptonians
Prominent Inhabitants: Phantom Zone prisoners (Pre-Crisis)
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961): "The Phantom Superboy"
Creators: Jerry Siegel and George Papp

HISTORY

A dimension of "nothingness" that exists outside our normal time/space continuum. Superman first learned of the Zone's existence in the Time Trapper's Pocket Universe, where three criminals had broken free from imprisonment in the Zone. However, the Zone is accessible from our universe as well. To the inhabitants of ancient Mars, it was known as the "Still Zone", used to imprison the army of White Martians known as the Hyperclan. The Hyperclan broke free in recent years, but was recently returned to the Zone by the JLA.

When the super-hero Steel (III) first discovered it, he dubbed it "the White Zone". For some time, it served as a buffer where the hero's armor automatically repaired itself, and Steel initially believed the Zone to be an extension of his own mind. He once also encountered a demon called the Armor Beast inside it.

Still another name was "the Stasis Zone". The villainous Technician built a projector that allowed its user to take stolen goods and hide inside the Zone. The super-villain Loophole used the device but was defeated by Superboy, after which S.T.A.R. Labs took the projector to study it. Later, the Daxamite hero Valor was sent into the Stasis Zone in order to save him from lead poisoning. Valor remained in an un-living state inside the Zone for 1000 years until he was freed and cured by the Legion of the 31st century.

As "the Ghost Zone" the dimension was accessed by the super-villain Prometheus (II) via his "Cosmic Key". Prometheus built his "Crooked House" HQ there, and the Injustice Gang (II) discovered they could sneak inside the JLA HQ via the Zone.

Recently, Superman learned that the powerful Brainiac-13 had used the Kryptonian Eradicator Matrix to create a version of his homeplanet Krypton inside the Zone, just as a way to capture and kill the Man of Steel. The "Jor-El" of this Krypton, however, managed to save the doomed planet. This Krypon still resides inside the Phantom Zone, but it almost impossible to access. However, Superman managed to bring a "pet" home to Earth from the Phantom Zone Krypton - Krypto the Super-Dog.

The angel Zauriel once recognized the Zone as "Limbo", so the Phantom Zone may or may not be a small part of the metaphysical realm known from several religions.

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #18 (August 1986)