PLACES: Krypton

Visit Superman's Homeworld!

RAO SYSTEM - Sure, it's mostly a ring of highly radioactive debris around a middling red sun, but c'mon! This is Krypton, the homeworld of Superman himself! Not to mention the possibility of finding trinkets that survived the planet's spectacular end. Does anyone remember the Eradicator? The bottle city of Kandor? Both of them survived Krypton's explosive finale--who knows what else might be there? (Not that we want to encourage graverobbing, you understand...)


Travel can be arranged to the Krypton Belt via Brainiac Tours. Travelers are strongly advised to bring equipment and supplies for extended travel in deep space, amid radioactive asteroids. The necessary gear can be found in the current LexCorp catalog.


What will you see when you go to Krypton? Accounts vary, but most travelers report seeing a vivid green belt of rock and dust encircling the star Rao in Krypton's orbital path. Salvage operations undertaken by the Dominators, the Rannians, the Thanagarians, and other species have recovered no known examples of Kryptonian technology or samples of Kryptonian genetics; apparently Earth is the prime repository for all things Kryptonian that survived to the present time. The Daxamites (who are genetically-similar to Kryptonians) have hired L.E.G.I.O.N. and a large number of former Darkstars to establish a security cordon around the Krypton system, but permit tours under closely monitored conditions.

The largest concentration of Krypton's matter is undoubtedly "Little Krypton," a planetoid-sized accretion of rocks pulled together by residual gravity. Explorers have found vestiges of the dead world's great cities, with no fewer than six archaeological expeditions currently authorized to study the region; tourists are expected to avoid active research areas.

"Some people take the tour of Krypton expecting they'll gain some kind of superpowers," said star-hopping chauffeur Space Cabbie. "Doesn't happen that way, though. Most I've seen is this weird kind of green sunburn."


"Krypton has much to teach us about geodynamics," explained Prof. Emil Hamilton of S.T.A.R. Labs. "I would encourage all those with a deep interest in geokinetics and astrophysics to visit Krypton and see it for themselves."

Not everyone is as eager to see Krypton develop a strong tourism industry.

"All I need is a bunch of rubberneckers gawking and glomming onto chunks of my birth planet," complained Superman. "I mean, there's enough kryptonite on Earth now, you know? Now I have to figure there's a little K-rock coming home after every trip. How much of a headache is that, that Timmy the Tourist can zap me with his science fair kryptonite display? It sucks. I'm going to have to wear that damn lead suit everywhere. People are going to call me 'Leadboy' or something. Man."

Brainiac Tours and LexCorp together have pledged that ten percent of their gross profit will go into a New Krypton fund, to seek out, explore and perhaps establish a colony for Krypton's handful of survivors. "I'd like nothing better than seeing Superman on a colony world many light-years from Earth--preferably under a nice red sun," said Lex Luthor.


BPD is proud to declare Krypton our DESTINATION OF THE WEEK!

Come back next time for a destination that isn't quite so out-of-this-world.

Krypton artwork copyright DC Comics, all rights reserved