Krypton is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly appearing or mentioned in stories starring the superhero Superman as the world from whence he came. The planet was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and was named after the chemical element krypton. The planet was first mentioned in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and made its first appearance in Superman #1 (1939).
Krypton is also the native world of Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, Beppo the Super-Monkey, Power Girl (in her case, an alternate-universe version designated "Krypton-Two"), and the supervillain General Zod. It has been consistently described as having been destroyed shortly after Superman's escape from the planet, although the exact details of its destruction vary by time period and writers. Kryptonians were the dominant species on Krypton.
Krypton also makes an appearance in several television series such as Adventures of Superman, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Animated Series, Smallville, Supergirl, and Krypton. Krypton appears in the 1978 film Superman, the 2006 film Superman Returns, and the 2013 film Man of Steel, set in the DC Extended Universe.
Krypton is usually portrayed in comics as the home of a fantastically advanced civilization, which is destroyed when the planet explodes. As originally depicted, all the civilizations and races of Krypton perished in the explosion, with one exception: the baby Kal-El who was placed in an escape rocket by his father, Jor-El, and sent to the planet Earth, where he grew up to become Superman.
In some versions of the story, additional survivors were later discovered, such as Supergirl, her parents (kept alive in the "Survival Zone", a similar parallel "dimension" to the Phantom Zone), the criminal inhabitants of the Phantom Zone, Dev-Em, the residents of the bottled city of Kandor, the real parents of both Superman and Supergirl, and their pets Krypto the Superdog, and Beppo the Super-Monkey. Kandor, the first capital of Krypton, is miniaturized by Brainiac, but is eventually recovered by Superman and subsequently housed in the Fortress of Solitude for safekeeping. Soon afterward, Kryptonopolis becomes the second capital of Krypton.
From the late 1980s through the early 2000s, the number of survivors was reduced to Superman himself in the comic book stories (the Eradicator was added in 1989 as a non-sentient device,[1] and shown to be self-aware in 1991[2]), but more recent accounts have restored Supergirl, Krypto, and Kandor and introduced another newly discovered survivor, Karsta Wor-Ul.
Kryptonian civilization's reported level of technological advancement has also varied. Some works, such as Kevin J. Anderson's novel The Last Days of Krypton, describe it as a few centuries ahead of Earth, while others, such as the Superman film series and Man of Steel, describe it as thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years more advanced.
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In its first appearance, Krypton was only depicted at the moment of its destruction. Beginning in the Superman comic strip, Krypton was shown to have been a planet similar to Earth, only older by eons and possessed of all the progress that implied. It is suggested that Krypton exploded due mainly to old age and the massive use of electricity Kryptonians used for their technology.
The debut of the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939 delved into further details about Krypton, introducing the idea that all Kryptonians possessed a level of heightened physical abilities, including super-strength and super-speed. In the early comics' version of Krypton, Superman's parents were named "Jor-L" and "Lora", though their names were changed to the more familiar "Jor-El" and "Lara" by the end of the 1940s.
The Golden Age Krypton would be revised into another form almost as soon as it was defined, and very few stories were initially written about it. After the introduction of DC's multiverse in the 1960s, this version of Krypton was declared to be the Krypton of the Earth-Two universe; the native dimension of DC's Golden Age characters and its Superman.
After the emergence of Earth-Two as a differentiated alternate universe within the DC Multiverse, Power Girl (Kara Zor-El) was introduced as Krypton-Two's alternate Supergirl in 1976. Kal-El and Kara Zor-El were the only known survivors of Krypton-Two, unlike the Silver Age analogue. Earth-Two's universe lacked its own Brainiac, so its Kandor was never abducted from Krypton Two before its destruction, nor did Kal-El have his own version of Krypton as an infant and toddler on this world.
In the Golden Age, Superman was initially unaware of his true origins; in Superman #61, Superman discovered the existence of Krypton for the first time and learned of his Kryptonian heritage. He later encountered other survivors prior to Kara's arrival in the form of three criminals, U-Ban, Kizo, and Mala, who were exiled by Superman's father before Krypton's destruction.
Over the course of the 1940s and 1950s, various alterations and additions to the makeup of Krypton were made in the comics. Among them was an explanation of why the natives of Krypton perished if they had possessed superpowers on their native world (as was the case in the earliest versions of Krypton outlined above, although this only became a problem once Superman — and by extension anyone from Krypton — was portrayed as increasingly powerful, able to withstand nuclear explosions, contrasted with his original power level in which a bursting mortar shell could penetrate his skin).
Thus, it was explained by the early 1950s that Kryptonians were powerless on their own planet and would gain superpowers only within a lower gravity environment. This matched the correct theories being published that when man reaches the Moon (a lighter gravity environment) he will be able to lift great masses and leap great distances. In the early 1960s, added to this was the need to be exposed to the rays of a yellow sun (versus Krypton's red sun, Rao, which was older and cooler, or put out less energy) to gain superpowers, with the yellow sun aspect soon gaining the much greater emphasis. Other changes to the concept of Krypton and its culture were introduced, many of which were stylistic.
By the late 1950s, Krypton played an increasing role in various Superman stories, with greater detail provided about Krypton's makeup.[3] Superman's Kryptonian heritage was a frequent factor in Silver Age Superman comic storylines, as he was fully aware of his origins from an early age. Superman would use this knowledge for such tasks as constructing advanced Kryptonian technology or observing some of Krypton's traditions.
Kryptonians made use of their advanced science to create a world where scientific inventions and research influenced much of daily life. Robots and computers were used for many tasks on Krypton, even for determining what career paths young Kryptonians would take as they grew up. Scientific and technological research were highly valued on Krypton, with the ruling body of Krypton named the "Science Council".
Several stories featured characters traveling back in time to visit Krypton before its destruction; one example is the 1960 story "Superman's Return to Krypton", in which Superman is swept back in time to Krypton some years before its destruction. Powerless, he spends some time on the planet, where he meets his future parents-to-be and falls in love with a Kryptonian actress named Lyla Lerrol. A Superman "imaginary story" entitled "What If Krypton Had Not Exploded?" (reprinted in the trade paperback The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told) gave more insight into Krypton's society. This era also established that the Guardians of the Universe, the administrators of the interstellar police force, the Green Lantern Corps, were themselves aware of Krypton's pending destruction and assigned Green Lantern Tomar-Re to avert it, but he was ultimately unsuccessful in his attempt.[4]
In 1980, a three-issue miniseries titled World of Krypton was published,[5] providing a great amount of detail into Krypton's history just before its destruction, along with the life story of Jor-El himself. A three-issue miniseries entitled The Krypton Chronicles, published in 1981, tells of Superman researching his roots[6] when, as Clark Kent, he was assigned to write an article about Superman's family by an assignment editor impressed with the television miniseries Roots. To do so, he and Supergirl travel to Kandor, where they learn the history of the El family. In 1985, writer Alan Moore gave a somewhat darker glimpse into the world of Krypton in his story "For the Man Who Has Everything" (in Superman Annual #11), the premise being an elaborate dream of Superman's in which Krypton had not exploded and he had grown to adulthood there. Background details are culled from other Krypton stories. This same story was retold in the animated series Justice League Unlimited in an episode by the same name and several elements were used in the Supergirl series episode "For the Girl Who Has Everything". The story was also an inspiration for Krypton episode "Mercy".
Krypton has a vast number of flora and fauna, both wild and domesticated. Some of them look very similar to Earth's animals, due to parallel evolution, e.g., birds, felids, canids, simians, etc., as seen in Krypto and Beppo; while others look very different, due to divergent evolution, e.g., fish/snake/eel-like hybrid creatures called "fish-snakes", goat-like creatures called "Zuurt", bovine-like creatures called "Rondor", rhino/ceratopsian-like hybrid creatures called "Thought-Beasts", dragon-like creatures called "H'Raka", gigantic, one-horned snake-like creatures called "Drang", and jellyfish-like invertebrate creatures called "Shoggoth".
One of Krypton's moons, Wegthor, was accidentally destroyed by the Kryptonian scientist Jax-Ur, who was experimenting with a nuclear missile that was diverted from its intended destination. The disaster killed 500 inhabitants of the moon and Jax-Ur became the first and only criminal to be banished eternally to the Phantom Zone. This disaster also prompted the Science Council of Krypton to ban space flight completely.[7]
A Silver Age Superman was not alone in the survival of Krypton's destruction, being joined by his cousin Supergirl, the Phantom Zone criminals, Krypto the Superdog, Beppo the Super-Monkey, a juvenile delinquent named Dev-Em, the entire population of the city of Kandor, Supergirl's biological parents, and even Superman's biological parents (in hibernation on a space ship - Superboy #158 (July 1969)), although it was discovered that they actually died from lethal radiation. When the planet exploded, one entire city of Krypton, Argo City, survived the cataclysm.
Argo City drifted through space on an asteroid-sized fragment of Krypton, which had been transformed into kryptonite by the explosion. The super-advanced technology of its Kryptonian inhabitants allowed them to construct a life-sustaining dome and a lead shield that protected their city from the kryptonite radiation of the asteroid. The protective shield was destroyed in a meteor storm, exposing the inhabitants to the deadly radiation.
The sole survivor of Argo City, Kara Zor-El, was sent to Earth by her scientist father to live with her cousin Kal-El, who had become known as Superman. Kara adjusted to her new life on Earth and became known as Supergirl. It was later discovered that Supergirl's parents had survived in the Survival Zone, a parallel dimension similar to the Phantom Zone, from which she released them. When the bottle city of Kandor was finally enlarged on a new planet that was similar to Krypton, Supergirl's parents joined its inhabitants to live there.
The people now known as the Daxamites were originally Kryptonians who left their homeworld to explore the universe (in post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, the Eradicator, an artificial lifeform programmed to preserve all Kryptonian culture, altered the birthing matrices ("artificial wombs") that the explorers took with them so that all newborns would be fatally vulnerable to lead and other materials such as greenhouse gases and certain rocks). Thus, if they persisted in their anti-Kryptonian wanderlust, they would all die from it. One Daxamite, Mon-El, was poisoned by lead and preserved in the Phantom Zone until Brainiac 5 found a cure in the 30th century, whereafter Mon-El became a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Vathlo Island is a fictional location on Krypton, notable as an early attempt to explain in-universe the seeming non-presence of black people throughout the universe.[9] Other scholars have called Vathlo Island out more broadly as a stand-in for different non white diaspora communities, such Hispanic and Latino Americans.[10]
In issue #234 of Superman (February 1971), the first apparently dark-skinned Kryptonian was featured, and described as being employed at "Vathlo Station", but the origin of this previously unseen Kryptonian ethnicity otherwise went uncommented on.[9]
Half a year later, in Superman #239 (June 1971), a panel drawn by artist Sal Amendola described a "Vathlo Island" in the "Old World" hemisphere of Krypton as being populated by a "highly developed black race".[9]
DC generally lagged behind its competitor Marvel Comics, and Superman comics generally more so than other DC titles, in depicting characters of color,[9] and there were few previous appearances of black characters in the series, mostly stereotypical "natives".[11] It is unknown who exactly was responsible for introducing these first nonwhite races to Krypton's demographic makeup, but Mark Waid has speculated that it was E. Nelson Bridwell, editorial assistant on the Superman books at the time.[12] The commentary on the Vathlorians being "highly developed" (as if it were peculiar and noteworthy that people with dark skin might be developed) is generally seen by modern commentators as being well-intended but "cringeworthy".[13]
Other commentators have noted that the creation of Vathlo Island inspired a whole host of other questions, such as 'If there are black Kryptonians, why are they so seldom seen, and why do they appear to live only on one island?' Gizmodo noted that a Krypton structured this way seems "segregated as hell",[14] while Gene Demby observed that this was an example of "segregation in everything".[15] DC Comics writer Mark Waid called this an "error of omission" coming from DC's desire to represent people of darker skin as living on Krypton, but implementing this in a way with unintended implications.[16] However, other writers have pointed out that DC would go on to re-use this as a rationale to explain the non-presence of black skinned characters in other contexts, as with the Tyroc character.[17]
Vathlo was rarely if ever referenced beyond these few issues, although a black Kryptonian named "Iph-Ro of Vathlo" appeared in the more recent Superman: The Man of Steel #111.[18] An offhand reference to the island was made in Alan Moore's story "For the Man Who Has Everything", where "racial trouble with the Vathlo Island immigrants" are mentioned in a dream-world Krypton that had avoided destruction.[19] It is believed, based on the appearances of black Kryptonians in recent Superman issues, that the Vathlonians eventually were integrated into Krypton proper, although there has been no canonical statement about this from DC Comics.[20]
In Superman: World of New Krypton #4, it is established that Vathlo Islanders settled in Kandor prior to the destruction of Krypton.[21]
In Final Crisis #7 a black version of Superman is shown to reside on the alternate universe of Earth-23. This Superman, whose given name is Kalel but adopts the human alias of Calvin Ellis, is shown to originate from Vathlo Island of his reality's Krypton.[22]
While the island itself did not appear and was not referenced in the television series Smallville, African-looking/dark-skinned Kryptonians have been featured. One was a disciple of Zod, who goes by the name Nam-Ek (portrayed by Leonard Roberts). Another was named Basqat (played by Adrian Holmes).
Dark-skinned Kryptonians have also appeared in the SyFy television series Krypton, including Lyta-Zod, one of the series' main characters, and General Zod himself. In this version, Vathlo Island is not mentioned.
Characters in Eric Jerome Dickey's novel The Son of Mr. Suleman discuss Vathlo Island and react with derision to the idea that there was segregation on Krypton.[23]
After the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Silver Age version of Krypton was replaced by a newer version. The Silver Age Krypton made a rare Post-Crisis appearance in The Sandman #48, during a flashback sequence.
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