10 DC Universe Fates Worse Than Death
6. Trapped In The Phantom Zone
One of the founding cornerstones of Superman world building, always surviving every continuity reboot, is the Phantom Zone. It's one of the few things about Kryptonian culture that we know a lot about, and even then, what exactly awaits you in there changes from writer to writer.
But one thing that never changes is how NOT fun a time it is.
In most stories, it's just a pocket dimension used to deal with the most dangerous of Krypton's criminals, and they typically leave it at that. But occasionally you'll get a bit more detail, and it's never anything good.
The worst of it is by far the fate of poor poor Xa'Du. Xa'Du was put into the Phantom Zone, and for him, the experience was truly nightmarish. He found himself seemingly in normal Kryptonian society, but no one could see or hear him, to the point where even when his parole came up, his jailors couldn't actually find him to let him out. And there he remained long after Krypton exploded.
So yeah, getting stuck in the Phantom Zone? Not a grand ol' time.