The Bottle City of Kandor
The bottle city of Kandor first appeared in Action Comics #242 (July
1958), on sale May 29, 1958. "The Super-Duel in Space" also introduced
Brainiac, one of Superman's most formidable enemies. Kandor and Brainiac were created
by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino.
Brainiac is the sole survivor of a distant planet destroyed by plague.
Brainiac arrives on Earth and uses a Hyper-Ray to shrink and bottle major
cities. Brainiac plans to restore the miniature cities and repopulate his
homeworld.
Metropolis and Superman are shrunk and taken aboard the alien
spaceship. Superman discovers the bottled city of Kandor, the former capital
of Krypton. Superman is powerless inside of the bottle because, "Krypton's
gravity conditions are duplicated here!" Superman searches for a scientist and meets Professor Kimda, a
former college roommate of Jor-El.
To complete the interstellar voyage home, Brainiac places himself in a state
of suspended animation for 100 years. Superman and Professor Kimda are able to restore
the Earth cities to normal size. Professor Kimda uses the last hyper-force charge to
enlarge Superman instead of Kandor: "We could not let Earth be deprived of its
great super-hero!" Superman places Kandor in the Fortress of Solitude, hoping
to restore the city and live with Kryptonian people.
A similar story titled "The Super-Duel in Space" appeared in the Superman newspaper strips from April 14, 1958, to August 23, 1958 (6033–6146). The newspaper origin was written by Alvin Schwartz, penciled by Curt Swan, and inked by Stan Kaye. The bylines credit artist Wayne Boring.
A similar story titled "The Super-Duel in Space" appeared in the Superman newspaper strips from April 14, 1958, to August 23, 1958 (6033–6146). The newspaper origin was written by Alvin Schwartz, penciled by Curt Swan, and inked by Stan Kaye. The bylines credit artist Wayne Boring.
About ten years before the destruction of Krypton, the city of Dur-El-Va was
shrank by an alien named Romado. The city is kept inside of a glass jar sealed
by "The Great Lid." While captive, the population grew from 10,000 to 15,000.
Dur-El-Va is held with other miniature cities in the "Galactarium" aboard the
alien ship. Romado first appeared on May 14, 1958 (6059). Dur-El-Va was first
mentioned on May 26 (6069) and revealed on May 27 (6070).
Inside the bottle, Superman meets Kai-Mara, the woman arraigned to marry him
on Krypton. Kai-Mara bears a striking resemblance to
Lois Lane and
Superman mistakenly confuses their names. Superman decides to keep the
engagement secret from Lois. Dur-El-Va is brought to the Fortress of Solitude
and never mentioned again. The final panel of the storyline features the first
newspaper appearance of
Bizarro.
The bottled city next appeared without being named in one panel of
Action Comics #243 (August 1958). The bottle is named Krypton City in
Action Comics #245 (October 1958). Superman is able to enter and
leave Krypton City with a ray powered by Illium-349. In
World's Finest Comics #100 (March 1959), Batman and Robin enter
Krypton City using shrink belts taken from Lex Luthor. The bottle is simply
referred to as "a Kryptonian city" in Action Comics #261 (February
1960).
The artistic depictions of Kandor varied throughout the Silver Age. The
wide-mouth jar design from the newspaper strips appeared in
Action Comics #253 (June 1959) and
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #45 (June 1960). Kandor was commonly
portrayed as a bell jar attached to a tank that provides a constant air
supply. The air hose or hoses were often fastened to the side of the bottle.
The original stopper used to seal the bottle was made of a "super-hard metal."
Various stories have depicted a cork stopper.
The Exchange Ray allowed someone to trade places with a similarly-sized
Kandorian. The Exchange Ray was originally invented by a rogue Kandorian
scientist named Kull-Ex in Superman #134 (January 1960). The inventor was
later reconned to be Superman in
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen
#45 (June 1960). Outside of the bottle, the Kryptonian people acquire
super-powers like Superman.
The "Earth Monitor" is a video interface in Kandor that is used to observe
the outside world and communicate with Superman. An observation screen was
first seen in Action Comics #245 (October 1958). The device was
originally a long-range TV inside the laboratory of Zak-Kul. The monitor was
also referred to as the "Earth-Viewer" or "Kandor-Scope."
Van-Zee and Sylvia are introduced in
Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #15 (February 1960). The Kandorian
couple are body doubles of Superman and Lois. Van-Zee would later take the
mantle of Nightwing.
Superman travels backwards through time and witnesses the shrinking of
Kandor in Superman #141 (November 1960).
The Superman Emergency Squad debuted in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #48 (October 1960). The team was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan. Kandorians that resemble Superman are outfitted with Superman uniforms and sprayed with an enlarging gas. The gas temporarily enlarges each squad member to a few inches in height.
Bizarro Kandor
and the Bizarro Emergency Squad appeared in Adventure Comics #293
(February 1962). Bizarro No. 1 used the Duplicator Ray to create imperfect
copies of the Kandorian people. Bizarro Kandor is kept in the Fortress uv
Bizarro on Htrae.
The Exchange Ray was replaced by a Teleport Ray built by Lon-Es in
Superman #154 (July 1962). The new device is able to transport one
person at a time in and out of the bottle.
Kandor was briefly restored to normal size in Superman #158 (January
1963). A Kandorian scientist named Than-Ol builds an Enlarging Projector
Ray. The effects of the ray causes atoms to drift apart and the city begins to
deteriorate. To save the people, Superman shrinks Kandor again and encases
the city in a glass bottle.
The first chronological appearance of Brainiac is featured in
Superboy #106 (July 1963). As a toddler on Krypton, Kal-El was
kidnapped by Brainiac's henchmen and taken to the planet Bryak. The effects of
a yellow star cause the child to develop superpowers. Unable to control his
strength, the Superbaby destroys valuable loot and a weapons arsenal. An
annoyed Brainiac returns the child to Krypton and vows to avenge the
humiliation
"The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!" features the first collaboration between
Lex Luthor and Brainiac in Superman #167 (February 1964). Luthor
reveals that Brainiac is humanoid computer created by the Computer Tyrants.
Brainiac is assigned a son named Brainiac II, later known as Vril Dox.
A door was installed on a cork bottle stopper, first seen in
Superman #179 (August 1965). The door allows the Superman Emergency
Squad to easily exit and reenter the bottle.
The home planet of Brainiac is first referred to as Colu in
Adventure Comics #362 (November 1967).
The city of Kandor was restored to normal size in Superman #338 (August
1979). Superman combines the energy of a supernova with Illium-349 to power an
enlarging ray. The Kandorians decide to relocate on an uninhabited planet
orbiting a red star, later named Rokyn. Like the previous attempt, the effects
of the ray only remain stable on organic objects. The buildings of Kandor crumble into dust.
Van-Zee declares that the Kandorians must now fend for themselves and sever all
ties with Superman and Supergirl. The planet is revealed to be a "phase-world" that exists in another dimension. Rokyn regularly reappears during shifts in the cosmic axis.
