The DC Comics History of SUPERMAN and Pocket Universes

In the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot of the DC Universe in 1986, Superman’s mythos and personal history were greatly changed. Writer/artist John Byrne decided to return Superman to his 1938 roots, arriving in Metropolis as an adult hero. This meant that all of the character’s adventures as Superboy, protecting Smallville with his superdog Krypto, were no longer canonical. However, that created a host of problems with one of DC Comics’ then-popular series, Legion of Super-Heroes.

The Legion debuted in 1958, at the dawn of the Silver Age of comics. They appeared as three superpowered teens from the 30th century, who traveled back in time to meet their idol, Superboy. They invited Clark to join their team, and for the next several decades, the Legion of Super-Heroes became one of DC’s most popular comics. By the early ‘80s, the Legion no longer needed Superboy to anchor their series. But he was still their inspiration, and supposedly a member for years. Yet, in the new Post-Crisis DC continuity, Superman was never Superboy. So how could this all work in continuity?

The answer that John Byrne and DC’s editors came up with involved the Legion’s powerful villain, the Time Trapper. This hooded being, who manipulated timelines, used his vast power to “slice” a moment of history from the main reality. Thus, isolating this new reality that he created as its own “Pocket Universe.” While DC has a multiverse composed of infinite realities, a pocket universe is distinctly an artificial creation. This idyllic Earth had a traditional Smallville, and a heroic Superboy. This fabricated pocket universe was where the Legion traveled to from their future, never traveling to their true past. Not long after the truth came to light, Superboy died in battle, honored as a hero in the Legion’s future era.

But without a Superboy, the Pocket Universe’s 20th-century Earth had no one left to protect it. So that universe’s Kryptonian Phantom Zone criminals, including General Zod, conquered the whole planet. When that world’s Lex Luthor fought against their invasion, they annihilated almost everyone on the planet. Our Superman traveled to what was left of this world, and chose to execute Zod and his cohorts for the murder of billions. So, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel has a comic book precedent contained in this story as well, when that version of Kal-El killed General Zod, breaking his no-killing rule.

The Pocket Universe in DC Studios’ Superman is very different, as it is more of a liminal space than a planet with an ecosystem of its own. (What exactly are they breathing in there?) In fact, this interdimensional prison has more in common with something in the pages of Marvel Comics than DC. During the Civil War event storyline, Reed Richards and Tony Stark imprisoned criminals (and some heroes) in a prison inside the Negative Zone, which itself is a form of pocket universe. This feels more in line with what the pocket universe in Superman is. Still, the concept of an artificially created universe plays heavily into DC Comics’ Superman lore. And now, also for our new big-screen iteration as well.