The Bottle City of Kandor

Possibly the most iconic and memorable element of the Silver Age Superman mythos, the Bottle City of Kandor was created when Brainiac shrunk and stole the capitol city of Krypton, preserving it inside a glass bottle aboard his spacecraft. Superman eventually recovered Kandor from Brainiac, and placed it inside his Fortress of Solitude for safekeeping.

The bottle containing the city is made of unbreakable glass, and is sealed by a super-hard metal stopper. Superman keeps a close watch on air hoses and related apparatus and a doorway has been installed in the stopper to facilitate an easier exit. The gravity conditions and red sun of Krypton are duplicated to allow the Kandorians to live normal lives within the bottle. Superman uses a special monitor screen to keep in close communication with Kandor.

To enter Kandor, Superman uses Brainiac's shrinking ray to reduce to microscopic size. Once inside, Superman becomes an ordinary human being, without super-powers. Superman's most notable adventure within the bottle was probably when he and Jimmy Olson adopted the identities of Nightwing and Flamebird in order to investigate a criminal scientist. The other most notable aspect of the bottle city is the Superman Emergency Squad, a team of Kandorians that leaves the bottle from time to time in order to assist Superman.

Of course, the Silver Age Bottle City of Kandor was swept away in DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Over the years, DC has brought out newer, different versions of Kandor, but nothing as cool and interesting as the original.