Comics The Fortress of Solitude

[Malone]

In the comics, how did Superman build the Fortress of Solitude? Thanks in advance.

 

[Spike_x1]

Depends on which Fortress you're talking about. The following info is all from memory of comics which I don't have with me at the time of my writing this up, so some details might be a bit fuzzy.

In Pre-Crisis continuity, I believe the fortress was just a big ice cave that Superman carved out and outfitted with alien technology to secure it and add his own little touches (such as a huge yellow door, unlocked only by a huge yellow key).

The first Post-Crisis FOS was made by the Eradicator device (I think it was in the Arctic), which created a huge tower that converted nearby minerals into its own supplies. I forget the details of this FOS's destruction, but it's "ghost" (ie: its contents and overall architecture) was incorporated into the next version of the Fortress.

Then next was the Tesseract (my personal fav); a pocket dimension that was contained within a large sphere supplied by John Henry Irons. The sphere was hidden in the Andes. Because the interior was actually an alternate dimension, this FOS had infinite space once the sphere was unlocked and Superman stepped inside. This FOS was destroyed when Wonder Woman and Superman ruptured the sphere, causing the tesseract to destabilize and blow up.

Here's a few pics of the Tesseract.

The next Fortress was created in the Amazon jungle out of an ancient pyramid (or something like that). This fortress sucks. Stay away.

And finally, we have the huge mountain of crystals in the arctic that was created during the recent "Up, Up, and Away!" storyarc. This version is exactly like the one shown in the movies, despite completely contradicting the way Kryptonian technology has been shown to resemble and behave in past comic book continuity. This is because of DC's current train of thought, which is basically "Screw all of Superman's post-crisis life! We're going Silver Age on your asses without explaining any of the reasoning behind our changes! And you'll like it, dammit!"

If I come off as bitter about that last part, it's because I am a tad bitter.

 

[The Question]

While I personally like the Tesseract, you've got to wonder: It has to have a more practical or altruistic use than simply being a place for Superman to store his ****.