From H.P Lovecraft’s Mountains of Madness to Shiverpool’s surfing penguins, authors have always been inspired by Antarctica as a realm of adventure and mystery.

That’s why, after the recent hullabaloo about ‘secret Nazi ice bases’, we wanted to share our picks for the most interesting imaginary Antarctic bases.

1) The Fortress of Solitude
It’s moved a few times between the Arctic, Antarctic, the Amazon, outer space and other locations, which makes the location of Superman’s hideout up for debate. We think the Antarctic is the perfect spot for Clark Kent’s ‘off-grid fixer-upper’ bach too. After all, it wouldn’t be much of a secret base if he had a letterbox outside – and the commutes not so bad when travelling at super-speed.

2) Atlantis
There has been plenty of conjecture about where the mythical city of Atlantis actually is. The makers of TV’s Stargate decided that the ‘Ancients’ originally built the city in Antarctica before deciding several million years ago to move it to the Pegasus galaxy. We can only guess they got a pretty good rental deal on the new spot.

3) Lair of unnamed Watchmen character
If you’re going to plot world domination it helps to have a productive space where you won’t be distracted with neighbours popping in for a chat. In the 2009 film Zack Snyder recreated Alan Moore’s vision of Watchmen’s high-tech fortress, complete with the genetically engineered guard dog.

4) The Savage Land
This isn’t so much a base as an entire separate world in the Marvel comic universe – a “tropical prehistoric land surrounded by volcanoes deep in Antarctica hidden from the rest of the world.” Dinosaurs, mutants and Tarzan-types call the ancient forests home. You can probably expect Iron Man, Captain America, Squirrel Girl and the rest to visit the Savage Land in Avengers 12: This Time It’s Personal.

However, while weird and wonderful, these creations have lots of competition from real life bases both in the past and, with these cutting-edge new designs, into the future.