Fortress of Solitude

Revision as of 15:55, 26 February 2017

The Fortress of Solitude in Superman: Secret Origin v1 #4.

The Fortress of Solitude is a location that features in DC Comics.

History

Origin

The door to the Fortress in Superman v1 #187.

Modern

The second Fortress in Superman: Man of Steel v1 #100.

An artificial intelligence construct after coming online began taking over all robotic entities on the planet and causing them to turn against Earth. Among those corrupted was Superman caretaker Kelex and attempted to use him to unleash the arsenal of alien weapons within the Fortress of Solitude to wipe out all life in the world. However, Jessie Quick and Supergirl arrived where they destroyed the defending Superman Robots whilst Kara defeated Kelex which ended the threat. (Justice League of America v2 #60)

The New 52

Following the Flashpoint, a different version of history was created with an alternate timeline of events.

Vandal Savage after commandeering the Carrier had used its power to rip the Fortress of Solitude from the ground as the villain sought to claim it for himself. He merged it with the Carrier and the Watchtower in order to power a tractor beam to bring the comet that empowered Savage into orbit around the planet. (Superman/Wonder Woman v1 #26)

Lana Lang who was the new Superwoman was brought to the Fortress by Steel who was seeking the pre-Flashpoint Superman's help in saving her as her powers were slowly killing her. (Action Comics v1 #974)

Overview

Situated in the core of the mountain side of the Arctic wastes, the Fortress of Solitude served as the home for Superman. (Action Comics v1 #241)

Within the Fortress, he could also conduct secret experiments with the use of his super-powers. Superman could keep trophies and dangerous souvenirs that he had collected from other worlds. He also maintained a number of rooms that kept souvenirs for his best friends with these containing a legacy from him in case he was ever destroyed. (Action Comics v1 #241)

There were a number of special rooms and chambers built into the Fortress that included:

• Lois Lane Room : a room dedicated to Lois Lane such as a necklace he had gotten her. (Action Comics v1 #241)
• Jimmy Olsen Room : a room dedicated for Jimmy Olsen that contained a number of gifts such as a hand-made sports car. (Action Comics v1 #241)
• Batman Room : a room dedicated to Batman and his friendship with as him as he was the only person he trusted with his secrets with Superman having a robot detective built to help the Caped Crusader with crimes. (Action Comics v1 #241)
• Clark Kent Room : a room dedicated to his life as Clark Kent and designed to make others that entered the Fortress believe that Superman and Clark Kent were two different people. (Action Comics v1 #241)

The disintegration pit was a type of atomic cauldron fuelled by radioactive Kryptonian elements that dissolved anything back to its molecular components within a moment. (DC Special Series v1 #26)

It responded to external threats by defending itself and manifesting defenses to attack intruders. (Superman/Wonder Woman v1 #26)

Notes

• Initially, the secret headquarters of Superman debuted as the Secret Citadel created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster that was built in secret in the mountains of Metropolis where it made its first appearance in Superman v1 #17 (July, 1942).
• In Superman v1 #708 (2011), it was shown that each of the members of the Superman Squad that existed across history that were descendants of Superman had operated from their own respective Fortresses of Solitude but convened together in the Fortress of Solidarity. The Fortress of Solidarity was a tesseract housed in a pentagonal icositetrahedron outside of space and time with it located in the Still Zone and was able to travel through any point in spacetime through the use of Lightning Doors.

In other media

Television

• In the DC Animated Universe, the Fortress of Solitude made an appearance in the shared animated setting.
  • In Superman: The Animated Series, an Arctic cavern was found by Superman and was where he kept one of Brainiac's Orbs that contained the recorded knowledge of Krypton as shown in the episode "Stolen Memories". In the episode "The Main Man", the various creatures from the Preservers ship were taken to the developing Fortress of Solitude.
• In Smallville, it did not feature initially with instead Jonathan Kent referring to the Kent farm barn as his adoptive son Clark Kent's 'Fortress of Solitude'. It was formally introduced in the fifth season episode "Arrival" where it was a crystalline structure resembling the one in the Donnerverse movies.
• In Legion of Super-Heroes, the Fortress of Solitude was shown in the animated series in the episode "Message in the Bottle". It survived in the Arctic into the 31st century where it contained various momentos of his advertising and was cared for by a Superman robot. Imperiex and his Destructobots attacked it in order to claim the Messenger. A young Superman from the 21st century was brought forward in time by the Legion of Super-Heroes to help battle Imperiex.
• In Supergirl, the Fortress of Solitude made an appearance in the episode "Solitude". Kara Zor-El and Jimmy Olsen travelled to the Fortress in the Arctic where Supergirl picked up the key to open the Fortress as they sought information on Indigo. In the episode "Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk", it was mentioned that it was powered by an Atomic Cauldron making it powered by the most powerful fusion furnaces on Earth.
• In Justice League Action, the Fortress of Solitude appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Field Trip". It was the home of Superman and operated as the secondary headquarters for the Justice League in case the Watchtower was not operational. The Krypton Room held the most important items in the Fortress including the Phantom Zone Projector. Superman was giving a tour of the Fortress to Stargirl, Firestorm and Blue Beetle when they accidently sent Superman to the Phantom Zone and freed Zod along with two Kryptonian criminals.

Films

• In Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, the Fortress of Solitude was shown in the animated film adaptation of the comic storyline. Kara Zor-El who had only arrived on Earth was taken there in order for her to better adjust to her new home after it was discovered that she was Superman's cousin. She was later happy when she was allowed to leave the Fortress and be at Metropolis.
• In All-Star Superman, the Fortress of Solitude appeared in the animated film where it was situated in the Antarctic. Superman took Lois Lane to the Fortress after he revealed his identity to her. Among the areas included was an armory consisted of weapons that had been used against him the past. Within the lair was his Time Telescope that allowed him to communicate with his future descendants. Another item was the Cosmic Anvil which Superman used to forge miniature artificial suns that he fed to his Sun-Eater.

Video games

• In The Death and Return of Superman, the Fortress of Solitude was shown briefly in a cutscene in the SNES video game.
• In DC Universe Online, the Fortress appeared as a playable area and also part of the backstory. During the introduction cinematic, it was shown that in a future where Brainiac had conquered Earth that the few remaining superheroes made their final stand at the Fortress of Solitude. Batman, Lex Luthor and a newly empowered superhero intended to use the advanced technology situated there to send one of them back in time with the Exobytes to warn defeat Brainiac. However, Luthor betrayed his allies and departed through the temporal gate but not before initiating the self-destruct sequence in the Fortress as Brainiac's forces had arrived.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Fortress appeared in the story and as a playable stage in the video game.

Appearances

• Superman:
• Action Comics:

External Link

• Smallville Wiki Entry

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