In Batman/Superman #21, Superman proves that the Fortress of Solitude is a terrible idea as Etrigan gets his hands on some deadly weapons!
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Batman/Superman #21!
Superman was just nearly killed by his most dangerous gadgets, confirming that storing them all in his Fortress of Solitude is a very dumb idea. Every version of Superman has a Fortress of Solitude, which essentially acts as a place of escape away from the noise of the world. Superman stores all sorts of gadgets within the Fortress that he deems a threat to the rest of the world. Essentially, it acts as a storage unit due to its extremely secluded location along with a place to reconnect to his Kryptonian culture.
In some cases it’s less secluded than others. For instance, President Superman’s Fortress is in the Oval Office in Washington DC. But still, it’s incredibly hard to get access into the Fortress. Normally, to gain entry to Superman’s Fortress, the person would have to have the strength of a Kryptonian to pick up the key. This essentially makes it useless to try and break in. Obviously, there are exceptions, like in recent issues of Action Comics where Mongul’s rogue Warzoons break into the Fortress to confront Thao-La.
In Batman/Superman #21 by Gene Luen Yang, Ivan Reis, and Dani Miki, Superman showcases why the Fortress of Solitude isn’t a good idea. In this issue, Etrigan makes his way into the Fortress of Solitude, under the control of Auteur.io. He is thoroughly impressed by Superman’s arsenal of deadly weaponry. To begin with, Etrigan blasts an advanced kind of rocket launcher and then notices Superman’s deadliest weapon, the Eradicator! It’s incredibly easy for Etrigan to access any of the so-called trophy items that are within the Fortress, proving it’s a terrible idea to keep such powerful items all in one place.
Things could have turned out absolutely terrible for Superman and the entire world if they weren’t able to stop Etrigan. And that’s all on Superman for not thinking in a smart and logical manner. It’s an important lesson for the Man of Steel to learn. Yes, the Fortress is hard to break into, but it’s been broken into many times, like in the recent Action Comics #1034. Superman should rethink what to do with all of the weapons left behind by criminals whom he defeats. It’s clear that he should take it into his own hands to destroy any deadly weaponry, to exclude the possibility of anyone ever using them again.
Despite how dangerous his gadget collection is, it’s clear that Superman likes a reminder of his past successes. So it’s unlikely that any version of the character will remove everything. However, Superman should definitely have a think about the importance of keeping all of these gadgets in one place. He could at least spread them out in different hidden places. Nevertheless, Superman and Batman are lucky that they were able to overcome Etrigan before he unleashed the Eradicator o or any other weapons from the Fortress of Solitude on them.
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