Return to Krypton - No-one else got it?

Maybe it's just me bust what the Return to Krypton was about seems obvious now that I have read all the instalments.

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The line where Jor-El calls Superman the Forge of Reality, the mixture of costumes at the end, the 'sense of wonder'

It all adds up to positioning Krypton as a 'mythological place'. It is not England or America. It is a place that varies depending upon what you want it to be.

In essence, DC is stating that the DCU is a 'comics universe'. The present is real and solid but the future and even the past is fluid. Sometimes you remember it one way and sometimes you remember it another (the cynical might say Hypertime in action). Superman, and by inference the rest of the DC characters, are mythical, magical creations. If you look too close they may just evaporate. This is in contrast to the Star Trek people, who spend all their time creating new details.

I believe it is acknowledging that, with a few fanboy exceptions, most readers exist in a DCU that is only a few months old. They don't remember details from a story ten years ago. In effect, each issue recreates the universe. (BTW this is very similar to soap operas, which are often internally inconsistent over a period of more than 12 months)

A slightly alternate viewpoint is that the Krypton that Superman visited was a 'phantom world' created by what 'people' wanted it, expected it, remembered it or needed it to be - a fantastic and fantastical world.

The Zod comment was not dealt with as fully as perhaps I or other may have liked, but I understand the implication. Zod exists. Does this mean that this is the pocket universe? Or was there a Zod on the real Krypton. If he dies in this story is that acceptable or has kal changed history?

I just finished reading it yesterday, and I thought the same thing. While part of me does want solid explanations (which we may get some of), another part really liked it like this.

Some points in the story:

Valor in the Phantom Zone. I'm not completely clear on the whole Valor/Mon-El/M'Onel thing, but is this Valor the one Superboy/Kon-El put in a 'Phantom Zone' in Superboy #20-something?

Supes 'remembering' Krypto. I didn't read Superman #166, so is Clark referring to getting memories there? Or was he remembering memories (heh) just being on this Krypton? I guess we'll have to wait...

The current Kandor being essentially a 'concentration camp' for non-Kryptonians, again tying it back to Krypton. This can lead to Superman feeling a responsibility to restoring it, since his people gathered them there in the first place.

The ancient Kryptonians being electromagnetic. Think about this: Those tombs were in the remains of Kandor. The implied reason for Superman turning into energy was being in the dimensional border of Kandor. Hmm... Also, the meteor that Supes found was 'sent' by them. I wonder where Mark Schultz is going with this?

Will Supes change the Jor-El and Lara Fortress statues?

At the end, Lara says that Jor-El is the new President of the Council. Doesn't this change it, because the rest of the Council *would* most likely believe him when he says Krypton is doomed? I guess this means that this Krypton *is* an idealized dream? Hmm...

Just another thought

Spoiler space

Superman 'remembered' Krypto. At first nothing struck me as too odd about that because I was thinking that perhaps he heard his parents as an infant refer to the dog, and it just sat in his memory. BUT Superman came to Earth in a gestation pod! He never heard his parents speak. I really doubt that Jor-El included pictures of the family pet with his other recordings. Just another hint that all is NOT as it seems.