Superboy-Prime, also known as
Superman-Prime, is a
DC
Comics superhero turned
supervillain, and one of several
alternate Supermen. The
character first appeared in
DC
Comics Presents #87 (November 1985), and was created by
Elliot S! Maggin and
Curt
Swan.
Superboy-Prime is from the universe which contained the parallel
Earth known as
Earth-Prime, in
which
Superman and the other DC superheroes
only exist as fictional characters. Unable to let go of his former
life and his "destiny" as Earth's greatest hero, his convictions
and morals are warped by years of solitude in a "paradise"
dimension.
The name "Superman-Prime" was first used by
Grant Morrison in
DC One Million (1998) for the mainstream
Superman in the 853rd century.
Character's Biography
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Superboy-Prime is from the
parallel world known as
Earth-Prime, a near-copy of the real world in
which the DC heroes are fictional comic book characters. He is the
adopted son of Jerry and Naomi Kent. Naomi wanted to name their
infant son
Clark, after her
maiden name, but Jerry, knowing he
will also be named like
Superman, a
fictional comic book character, initially refused, but finally gave
in. What the Kents do not know is that the baby, found abandoned in
a forest, is actually a young Kal-El, who has been teleported to
Earth moments before the planet
Krypton was absorbed when its sun went
supernova. Superboy is the second extraterrestrial from Earth-Prime
after the debut of
Ultraa several years
before.
Young Clark lives most of his life as a normal boy. However, one
night in his mid-teens, as he attends a costume party dressed as
Superboy, the passage of
Halley's
Comet overhead triggers his Kryptonian powers. At the same
time, Kal-El, the
Earth-One Superman, finds his way to Earth-Prime, and the two
Supermen meet.
Superboy-Prime is drawn into the
Crisis on Infinite Earths
after his universe is destroyed. Although the loss of everything he
knows causes him anguish, he finds peace in knowing that he fights
the good fight alongside other heroes. During the final battle
against the
Anti-Monitor,
Kal-L, the Earth-Two Superman, orders him to escape
with
Alexander Luthor, Jr. and
the other heroes. Fearing that Kal-L will die in battle and knowing
the new Earth isn't his true home, Superboy-Prime joins Kal-L in
the fight against the
Anti-Monitor.
After the destruction of the Anti-Monitor, Superboy-Prime joins
Alexander Luthor, Jr. of
Earth-Three, Kal-L, and his wife
Lois Lane in a "paradise dimension".
Paradise Dimension
In the "paradise dimension", Superboy-Prime secludes himself from
the others, using crystals to replay events from his life on
Earth-Prime. His favorite memory is of his ninth birthday party,
which he watches repeatedly. Superboy-Prime becomes frustrated and
angry, and he tries to reach out to Kal-L, whose attention is
focused on Lois' failing health. Alexander comes to believe that
the reason behind Lois' failing health is the paradise dimension
itself, and persuades Superboy-Prime to help him return to reality.
Alexander also shows Superboy-Prime the negative aspects of the
post-
Crisis Earth. Superboy-Prime hesitates until he
overhears Kal-L say: "I wish this world would let him grow up.
He'll
never be Superman here". Finally, Alexander shows
him the deaths of his parents and girlfriend in a car accident on
the post-
Crisis Earth.
Altering reality
Furious, Superboy-Prime pounds on the barrier of reality. This
assault causes ripples that alter reality, which is used as an
explanation for character changes and
retcons in DC
continuity.
These changes include:
As a result of these actions, "punching time", and "retcon punch"
have come to be
internet and comic-book fan
slang for retcons and changes to canon that do not make
sense.
Countdown to Infinite Crisis
Superboy-Prime becomes frustrated; since the paradise dimension
lacks a yellow sun, he isn't as powerful. Eventually, Alexander
reveals that his own powers are returning, and the two combine
forces to break through the barrier wall. Together, they set into
motion the events that culminate in
Infinite Crisis:
- Alexander takes control of Batman's
Brother Eye satellite, which allows
him to control the OMACs and
access Checkmate's files on
Earth's metahumans, identifying which of
them had origins in other realities.tomacp>The OMAC
Project (2005)
- After rearranging countless other planets, Superboy-Prime
pushes the planet Rann into Thanagar's orbit, destroying Thanagar's ecosystem,
sparking the Rann-Thanagar War.
His efforts shift the center of the universe away from Oa.rtw>Rann-Thanagar War (2005)
- Alexander poses as Lex Luthor and
forms a new Secret
Society of Super Villains, using them to kidnap various people
from the former Earths to use as a beacon to bring the other worlds
back.vu>Villains United (2005)
- Alexander recruits the Psycho-Pirate to place Eclipso's Black Diamond in Jean Loring's cell at Arkham Asylum.s216>Superman (vol.
2) #216 (May 2005) As Eclipso, Loring seduces the Spectre, and convinces him to destroy all
magic. His actions create a raw form of magic that Alexander uses
to power his tuning fork device.dov>Day of Vengeance
(2005)
- Superboy-Prime destroys the JLA Watchtower and abducts
Martian
Manhunter.jla118>JLA #118 (September 2005)
Infinite Crisis
The Superman of Earth-Two breaks open a portal to the DC Universe,
and the four residents of the paradise dimension return, making
themselves known to
Power Girl and
Batman. When introduced to Power Girl, he
calls himself
Superboy-Prime for the first time.
Kal-L tells Power Girl: "When the universe was reborn, Earth-One
became the primary world. The scraps of the remaining worlds were
folded into it. But I finally realized — we saved the wrong Earth".
Superboy-Prime is jealous of
Conner
Kent, the modern Superboy, believing him to be living the life
he himself ought to have had. He also believes the Earth's heroes
act more like villains. As part of Luthor's plan, Superboy-Prime
abducts figures originally from the worlds that combined to form
the post-
Crisis Earth, including
Martian Manhunter,
Power Girl,
Black Adam,
The Ray,
Lady
Quark and
Breach to power the
vibrational tuning fork Alexander builds. Superboy-Prime confronts
Superboy, telling him that he (Superboy-Prime) is the only Superboy
the Earth needs. Superboy-Prime brutally attacks Conner, but not
before he can activate his
Titans homing
signal. The
Teen Titans, the
Doom Patrol, and the
Justice Society of America arrive
to help Conner. After accidentally killing
Pantha, Superboy-Prime is shocked and horrified. The
heroes try to contain Superboy-Prime, who kills and wounds several
of them.
Speedy traps Superboy-Prime in
the
Phantom Zone, using an "emergency
Phantom Zone arrow". Superboy-Prime breaks free, exclaiming that
the Phantom Zone is for "bad guys". Left with no other option,
Jay Garrick,
Wally West, and
Bart
Allen drive Superboy-Prime into the
Speed Force, and banish him to a world bathed in
red sunlight, where he remains for four years.
Hours later, an older
Bart Allen, dressed
in his grandfather's costume, emerges from the Speed Force and
tells the heroine
Doctor
Light to warn the other heroes that Superboy-Prime has escaped.
Superboy-Prime reappears during a battle between Alexander Luthor
and the heroes freed from his tower. Upon his return, he wears a
power suit modeled after the
Anti-Monitor's armor, which constantly feeds
him yellow
solar energy and boosts his
power levels. During the battle,
Black
Adam discovers that his magic has little effect against
Superboy-Prime. Superboy-Prime knocks Adam away from the tower, and
his opponent is transported to
Earth-S. Superboy-Prime insists
that Luthor reinstate Earth-Prime as the only existing Earth. After
Superboy-Prime attempts to kill
Wonder Girl, an enraged
Conner Kent attacks him. Conner and Superboy-Prime battle until
Conner's wrist is broken and he charges Superboy-Prime, sending
them both headlong into Alexander Luthor's vibrational tuning fork.
The machine explodes, and the alternate Earths merge into one.
Superboy dies from injuries sustained during the explosion while
Superboy-Prime survives.
Alexander and Superboy-Prime join the Battle of Metropolis and
quarrel about their contingency plan. Since their tower has been
destroyed, Alexander is prepared to settle for taking over New
Earth instead of creating a perfect Earth. Upon hearing of the new
plan, Superboy-Prime refuses to help Alex, as he believes New Earth
to be hopelessly inferior.
When Batman,
Wonder Woman, Kal-El, and
Kal-L arrive to save Metropolis, Kal-L confronts Alex about his
role in the destruction. Meanwhile,
Superboy-Prime is attacked by
Bart Allen, who is outraged by Conner's death.
Superboy-Prime escapes Bart and flies toward
Oa
intending to destroy it and spark another
Big
Bang which would recreate the universe with himself as the sole
hero. Although the majority of the Earth's heroes are in pursuit,
Superboy-Prime eludes capture. He is confronted by the
Green Lantern Corps in deep space.
Superboy-Prime breaks through a 300-mile thick wall of pure
willpower generated by the Green Lantern Corps. Upon reaching the
other side, he battles and slaughters thirty-two Green Lanterns.
The battle provides the two Supermen time to attempt one final
plan. They grab Superboy-Prime and drive him through
Rao, the red sun of Krypton. The heat melts
away Superboy-Prime's armor, and severely weakens all three
Kryptonians, who then land on
Mogo. Though the
three are surrounded by Kryptonite, Superboy-Prime savagely beats
Kal-L, who is all but dead when Kal-El intervenes.
Superboy-Prime claims that he is better than Kal-El, and that his
Krypton was superior to Kal-El's. Kal-El responds: "It's not about
where you were born. Or what powers you have. Or what you wear on
your chest. It's about what you do... It's about action." Although
nearly powerless, Kal-El knocks Superboy-Prime out before
collapsing himself, but members of the Green Lantern Corps manage
to save Kal-El.
Superboy-Prime was then taken into the custody of the
Guardians of the Universe, who
placed him in a quantum containment field, surrounded by a red
Sun-Eater and guarded by fifty Green
Lanterns.
Sinestro Corps
A year later, Superboy-Prime sits in his cell and is watched over
by a special cadre of Green Lanterns, including
Guy Gardner, when the
Guardians of the Universe discuss
whether they should question him.
Geoff Johns stated on the scene, "It’s a subtle thing – he’s
looking at his belt, and he’s contemplating who and what he is...
for us, him being naked was an acknowledgment of stripping himself
down to being this kid again, and being completely absorbed in what
he’s done, and what he’s going to do."
When the
Sinestro Corps attack Oa,
Superboy-Prime is released from his imprisonment and joins them. He
becomes one of the Anti-Monitor's heralds, and wears the uniform of
the Sinestro Corps along with a variant of the power suit he wore
during
Infinite Crisis. Calling himself
Super
man-Prime (in part due to the
legal disputes over the Superboy
name), he arrives on Earth and battles a large group of heroes
while flashing back on his life so far. He reveals that he did not
believe Sinestro when he said that the Multiverse has been
restored, and has only gone along with the Anti-Monitor's plans so
that he may one day get revenge on him for the destruction of
Earth-Prime. Superman, Power Girl, and Supergirl arrive and stop
him, only to have him escape as the sun rises, restoring his
powers. Afterwards, Superman-Prime brutally battles
Ion.
Superman-Prime and the Green Lantern-powered
Daxamite have an all out battle throughout
the state of New
York
. Prime is already as powerful as Ion but
when he exposes him to lead, Superman-Prime gets the upper hand,
defeating him. When the Anti-Monitor is wounded by the Guardians
and the destruction of War World, Superman-Prime impatiently flies
through his chest and throws him into space, then battles both the
Sinestro Corps and Green Lantern Corps, until a
Guardian willingly sacrifices
himself to destroy Superman-Prime. However, instead of dying, Prime
is warped into another universe.
Countdown
In
Countdown to Final
Crisis, following the conclusion of the
Sinestro Corps War, Superman-Prime
is now wearing a costume similar to the black suit worn by Superman
shortly after his
resurrection
and has discovered the existence of the new Multiverse, traversing
it in the hopes of finding Earth-Prime. He arrives on Earth-15 and
attacks that world's Lex Luthor, blaming him for Alexander Luthor's
failure to make the universe "perfect". He promptly kills that
world's heroes and destroys the planet.
He then flies to his new base of operations in the
Source Wall where he had been torturing
Mister Mxyzptlk into helping him recreate
Earth-Prime. It was revealed that Superman-Prime is 19 years old
and according to Mxyzptlk, his growth is temporary and the result
of his cells absorbing energy from his last "
encounter". Mxyzptlk escapes with the
help of another prisoner, Annataz Arataz, an alternate version of
Zatanna from Earth-3. Annataz is killed when
Superman-Prime grows angry and gives up on using magic to achieve
his goals.
He appears on the
Monitors'
satellite headquarters and threatens Solomon to help him find
Earth-Prime. Solomon tells him that if he releases Forerunner, he
will show him what he wants, he does so. Solomon then tells Prime
that Earth-51 is his perfect Earth, and it is in ruins due to the
fighting between
Monarch's Army,
the Earth-51 heroes, and the Challengers. Prime leaves the
satellite with the intent to confront Monarch. Superman-Prime
confronts and fights with Monarch, finding out that this is an
enemy who is on his level despite his boosted powers from the
Guardian. These two vastly powerful men trade blows and energy
blasts for a time, as Monarch taunts Prime and tells him the scope
of his power. The two seem evenly matched until Prime becomes
slightly injured after Monarch exposes part of his suit and
releases some of his massive contained energies. In a fit of rage,
Superman-Prime redoubles his attack on Monarch and while his
temporarily Oan Guardian-boosted powers begin to fade he rips open
the chestplate of Monarch's containment armor, resulting in a huge
explosion of quantum energy that seems to destroy the entire
universe of Earth-51.
Legion of 3 Worlds
Shortly after the events of
Geoff Johns'
Superman and
the Legion of Super-Heroes storyline, the
Time Trapper finds Superboy-Prime lost in time.
He decides to use him to destroy the Legion and sends him to the
31st century, where he crashes in a farm outside of
Smallville.
He appears much younger than he did when he was last seen in
Countdown to Final
Crisis (having used up the power he had absorbed from the
dying Guardian, which made him look older), and appears to be
wearing the tattered remains of his black Superman-Prime uniform.
He encounters the elderly couple who own the farm, and they refer
to him as "Superboy", which enrages him. Despite returning to a
younger appearance after the events of
Countdown, he still
thinks of himself as a man, rather than a boy. After being shot he
kills the
xenophobic farming couple,
makes his way into Smallville and visits the Superman Museum, where
he is enraged that Superman is regarded so highly. His rage is
greatly increased when he visits the hall of villains in the
museum, and finds the statue commemorating him to be locked in a
back storeroom. Apparently he is regarded as merely a footnote in
Superman's history, an annoyance who was defeated by
Conner Kent,
Bart
Allen, and
Sodam Yat, and ultimately
has no impact on history as it stood. This sends him in to a
tantrum, in which he wrecks the museum and kills security guards
and police officers. In the middle of his tantrum, the museum tour
guide (a holographic recreation of
Jimmy
Olsen) tells Prime of the
Legion of Super-Villains.
He learns that the evil Legion followed a code of evil, inspired by
a dark being whose "name was never spoken". Prime, resolved to be a
villain with more of an impact than any other enemy of Superman,
sets out for the prison planet of
Takron-Galtos, and frees
Lightning Lord,
Saturn Queen, and
Cosmic
King. Unlike most denizens of the 31st century, they all
recognize Prime and seem overjoyed to see him. The dialogue seems
to imply that Prime was the dark being whose example the villains
follow.
After freeing the prisoners, Prime burns a huge
S shield into the prison planet, determined to
turn the shield from a symbol of hope into a symbol of terror.
Learning of the prison break, the Legion of Super-Heroes resolves
to call
Superman from the 21st Century.
Superman, and the historical records, imply that no one from New
Earth are aware of what happened to Prime after the
Sinestro Corps War (although being on
Earth-51 at the same time as him,
Kyle Rayner,
Jason
Todd, and
Donna Troy never
encountered or identified Prime themselves).
Superman and
Brainiac 5 decide to bring
in two other versions of the Legion to combat the new Legion of
Super Villains, led by Prime, with Superman convinced the only way
to neutralize the threat of Prime is to redeem him.
Superboy-Prime leads his Legion of Super-Villains to Sorcerer's
World, where he recruits Mordru and kills
Rond Vidar (the last Green Lantern) before
heading to Earth.
During the war between the Legions of Super Heroes and the Legion
of Super Villains, Prime battles with several opponents with which
he has a history. First, the immortal Sodam Yat (the last Guardian
of the Universe) is persuaded to end his self-imposed retirement on
Oa to battle Superboy-Prime. Then Bart Allen returns from the Speed
Force, wearing the Kid Flash uniform that he had not worn since
fighting Prime in
Infinite Crisis. Soon after, Conner Kent
(Superboy) enters the battle, his corpse dug up by
Starman in the present and placed in a
Kryptonian restoration chamber for the past 1000 years. The
resurrections of Kid Flash and Superboy were part of a master
contingency plan devised long before by Brainiac 5, who was
forewarned of Superboy-Prime by one of
Dream
Girl's prophecies.
During the battle, Prime kills two Legionnaires whose abilities
manage to hurt him:
Sun Boy of Earth-Prime's
"Threeboot Legion", who used red solar powers; and
Element Lad of Earth-Prime, who managed to turn
the ground around Prime into green kryptonite of the Earth-Prime
universe.
During the battle, Superman,
Lightning
Lad,
Cosmic Boy and
Saturn Girl are brought to the end of time by
the Time Trapper, who then attacks them. During the fight, the
Trapper's hood is pulled off his head, revealing an aged
Superboy-Prime underneath. The elder Superboy-Prime stated that he
became an anomaly that couldn't be killed after being shunted into
the Multiverse by the Guardians of the Universe and became the sole
survivor of all creation.
Back on Earth, Conner quickly begins gaining the upper-hand against
Prime. Using his heat-vision, Conner manages to create a deep wound
across the s-shield that Prime had carved into his chest,
disfiguring the symbol. Meanwhile at the end of time, the same
wound appears out of nowhere on Time Trapper's chest. Realizing
that Time Trapper's past is directly connected to his future,
Saturn Girl uses the Time Trapper's time portals to recruit every
Legion across the multiverse, who fight and defeat the Time
Trapper. Superman and the 3 Legion founders transport him to the
31st Century, where the Trapper faces his younger self. Superboy
Prime and Trapper start bickering which culminates with their
mutual destruction after Prime attacks Time Trapper, creating a
paradox.
The paradox created by Prime attacking himself returned him home to
the resurrected Earth-Prime. To his dismay, his girlfriend and
family, being in the real world, have read
Infinite
Crisis,
Sinestro Corps War,
Countdown to Final
Crisis, and
Legion of 3 Worlds. They have since
learned everything he's done, and are now terrified of him. Prime
lives in his parents' basement, who
support him out of fear for what he might do to them. He spends his
days collecting comic books and
trolling the real-world DC Comics
message boards, remarking that the DCU will
never be rid of him and that he "always survives." Despite the
physical depletion of his powers, he claims to have a new-found
power as his eyes begin glowing red again.
Blackest Night
Superboy-Prime continues to live his secluded life, unknowingly but
constantly monitored by the prime universe Brainiac 5, still
reading compulsively every bit of comic books and message board
posts pertaining to the DC Multiverse. The extended cool off period
forced on him has left Clark more regretful, aware of his
reputation as a joke character in the fellow public of Earth-Prime.
Upon reading
Adventure
Comics #4, and the online solicitations for the two-parts
storyline possibly dealing with his death, he embarks with his
fearful parents on a
wild goose
chase, hoping to find a comic book store willing to sell him a
copy of the fifth issue. However, since the fifth issue is not yet
on the shelves, the events unfold exactly as Clark already read
them, with Alexander Luthor, risen as a Multiversal-hopping
Black Lantern, bestowing to him
his Superboy-Prime powers in order to bring him to a higher
emotional state. Upon calling forth Superboy's victims, he
teasingly
reveals to him his impending death
in
Adventure Comics #5.
Powers and abilities
Kryptonian powers
Superboy-Prime has all the basic abilities of a
Kryptonian exposed to
yellow sunlight: super-strength, speed, breath, and hearing; the
power of flight; X-ray, heat, microscopic, and telescopic visions;
and invulnerability. His power is essentially at the same level as
the Silver Age "Earth-One" Superman, which makes him one of the
most powerful characters in the DC universe (and more powerful than
the current "mainstream" incarnation of Superman). As his Krypton
never exploded, there never existed any Kryptonite that affects him
(Some, however, has since been artificially created by beings of
his own world, like the
Element Lad of
Earth-Prime), and his only weakness is an increased need of a
yellow sun for his powers. His fight with the Guardians showed that
his Kryptonian-Prime physiology is capable of absorbing and
processing large quantities of Oan energy and Quantum energy in
addition to yellow sun energy. It is unknown what other energies
Superboy-Prime can absorb and metabolize for his powers.
Power suit
While imprisoned by the Flashes on an alternate Earth,
Superboy-Prime builds a power suit based on the one worn by the
Anti-Monitor. The suit collects and feeds him yellow solar energy
to maintain his power levels even when exposed to a red sun; in his
first appearance, he was shown to shrug off the effects of
artificial, localized red sun radiation, but he was not exposed to
an actual red sun. Although he claims to have made it himself,
Bart Allen remembers him stealing it
following his escape. It is destroyed when the two Supermen fly
Superboy-Prime through Krypton's red sun. After his escape from Oa,
Superboy-Prime is given a new power suit built by the Sinestro
Corps and reveals he created the original after seeing how the
Anti-Monitor's armor acted as a giant energy collector. In
Legion of 3
Worlds, Superboy-Prime dons his original armor once more,
taking it from a statue in the Superman museum. During the Blackest
Night, the Black Lantern Alexander Luthor provides Superboy-Prime
with a copy of his original armor.
Time power
As the Time Trapper Superboy-Prime has complete control over time
itself. He is able to freeze it, alter it, and even separate parts
of it, thereby creating his own pocket dimensions. He cannot,
however alter events in the present time.
Weaknesses
Whereas most versions of Superman have a weakness to magic,
Superboy-Prime appears to be highly resilient against it.
Additionally, most versions are affected by
Kryptonite; however, Kryptonite does not affect
Kryptonians from other universes. The Krypton of Earth-Prime's
universe—unlike other versions of the planet—was completely
absorbed by its sun, rather than being destroyed and fragments
ejected from the explosion which would have created kryptonite, so
there is no known kryptonite that can affect Superboy-Prime.
However, during his battles with the three Legions, the "Threeboot"
Element Lad was able to transmute the
ground around Superboy-Prime into a form of Kryptonite that
actually did hurt him. It is revealed that threeboot Element Lad
and the
threeboot
Legion of Super-Heroes are from Earth Prime.Superboy-Prime also
loses his powers when exposed to a red sun, as do other versions of
Superman. In his first appearance, he's shown to resist the effects
of red sun radiation; however, this radiation was artificial. Every
time Prime has been depowered it's taken an actual red sun, and not
merely localized red sun radiation.
His reaction to psionics has not been fully explored, although
Martian Manhunter is shown to be
able to read his mind. When
Nightshade attacks Superboy-Prime with
darkness, he shows a deep
achluophobia
brought about most likely from the darkness blocking his access to
yellow sunlight.
Superboy-Prime also has a fear of the Flash Family, due in large
part to them pushing Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force, where
they imprison him under red sunlight to depower him for several
years until he breaks out. He reveals his continued fear of them,
when during the
Sinestro Corps
War, he is confronted by Wally West and Jay Garrick, whom
he admits with a stutter "I d-don't like Speedsters!" This fear is
again on display in
Legion of 3 Worlds, when he
lapses into a fearful stutter while recounting his battle with the
Flashes during
Infinite
Crisis. While Prime seemingly has a fear of the entire
Flash Family, it is Bart Allen who he fears the most due to the
fact that Bart was the first hero to defeat Prime in a one-on-one
fight, sealing him within the Speed Force for years. During a later
battle in Infinite Crisis, Prime fled from battle in fear when
attacked by Bart. Upon learning of the Legion's attempts to bring
Bart back, Prime goes into a mad-panic, going so far as to fly
through his own Legion's forces as to attempt to stop Bart from
returning, yelling and stuttering, even whimpering to himself, in
fear as he does so. Upon realizing he was too late, Prime even
screams in fear upon seeing the returned Kid Flash racing towards
him.
Kal-El and
Kal-L
defeat Superboy-Prime by flying him directly through Krypton's red
sun Rao, destroying his armor and diminishing their powers in the
process. Afterward, the Green Lantern Corps imprisoned him inside a
"Junior" Red
Sun Eater, which similarly
depowers him.
Massive amounts of quantum energy have been shown to injure
Superboy-Prime as well, as seen in his battle with Monarch.
Personality
According to
Infinite Crisis writer
Geoff Johns, "Superboy-Prime's really frustrated
with what his life has turned into and, unfortunately, that
frustration is going to be taken out on the world". He also
mentioned that "He's been wanting to show the world what he can do,
because he barely had a chance to be Superboy. He was Superboy a
little bit before
Crisis on Infinite Earths and
then—BOOM!—his world was wiped out and that was it".
When asked how Superboy-Prime's battle with the Teen Titans got out
of control so quickly, editor
Dan DiDio
said "Superboy is a teenager raised in isolation, with raging
hormones, a huge chip on his shoulder, and the powers of a god. He
never learned how to keep his powers or emotions in check, so when
confronted, the situation escalated and he had no idea on how to
defuse it. Think of a situation where you, as a teenager, lost your
temper. Now imagine you have the power to crush a planet. Do you
think that situation would have ended differently? This is the
moment where Superboy-Prime crosses the point of no return and
becomes the greatest threat the universe will ever know".
After the publication of
Infinite Crisis #5, Johns said at
the
Wizard World LA convention: "That took me a long time
to break, because I thought Superboy-Prime needed to view the world
so narrow. You can see how his world view is so narrow and so black
and white and realistically that is not going to work anymore".
Originally, Superboy-Prime started out coming into Crisis as
corrupted and evil, but the take on the character didn't work for
Johns. "I said to Dan I think Prime does it by accident and is
horrified. That panel where's he's looking at his hands and goes 'I
didn't mean to do it', that for me is the entire story for
Superboy-Prime. He didn't mean to do this stuff. What's worse...
making a mistake and fessing up to it or doing something bad and
saying 'You made me do it?'. Superboy-Prime is a very simplistic
character who has become very complex".
When asked if Superboy-Prime was irredeemable or not, Johns replied
"I think it's a split. You saw his reaction when he did what he did
in
Infinite Crisis, but at that same time, he's walked
over that line. Does he think he can walk back? Should he? Does
this universe even matter to him anymore? Is it the fact that, now
that he's got a big dent on his car, another one won't matter? If
he's already on that path, is he going to continue on it, or is he
going to really try and work and go back?"
Much later Superboy-Prime, now on "
home
arrest" in his native dimension of Earth-Prime, receives his
shot at redemption, showing a genuine care for his parents, despite
his earlier misgivings and the implied kill of Lori, going so far
to protect them selflessly by an horde of dimension-hopping Black
Lanterns.
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