Superboy Prime

Earth-Prime was a world with no superheroes in which comic books told the adventures of heroes of Earth-1. Clark Kent, found by his adoptive parents in the woods, grew up believing himself a normal human. As a teenager, while wearing a Superboy costume to a party, his powers manifested. He was immediately caught up in the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. His own universe was destroyed, and Superboy left the combined universe with Alex Luthor and the Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-2. (Crisis on Infinite Earths, 1985–1986)

Exile

Their extra-dimensional “paradise” came to feel more like a prison, and the stress wore on all of them. Luthor showed Superboy a selective view of the new universe, making it seem a horrific, degenerate world. Convinced that this new world needed him, Superboy tried to escape. His attempts to break through the barrier between dimensions caused changes in reality. This gave Luthor the idea that they could alter reality on a larger scale, and create the perfect world. This one would have to be destroyed first, of course...

With Alex Luthor’s help, Superboy broke through into the new, combined universe. True to Luthor’s plan, Superboy began committing atrocities in the name of creating a better world. (Infinite Crisis Secret Files, 2006)

Killer

Convinced that Earth’s current Superboy, Connor Kent, was not worthy of the name, Superboy-Prime arrived on Earth and attacked him. The battle ranged across the state from Smallville to Keystone City, where a huge group of Teen Titans tried to stop him. Half-panicked, forgetting to check his strength, “Superboy” maimed or slaughtered several of the heroes. Finally, Flashes Wally West and Jay Garrick and Kid Flash Bart Allen grabbed him and forced him into the speed force. Bart and the Flashes imprisoned him on an alternate Earth, surrounded by machines that generated red sun energy, keeping him powerless (Flash: TFMA #6, 2007).

He built a suit of armor based on the Anti-Monitor’s, and used it to collect solar energy, restoring his powers. He escaped after four years, but because time passed at a different rate, only hours or days had passed for the rest of the universe. Enraged, he returned to Earth, where he battled and killed Connor. Two Supermen and most of the Green Lantern Corps finally subdued him, at the cost of the elder Superman’s life and the lives of several Green Lanterns. He was subsequently imprisoned by Green Lanterns at the heart of a miniature red-sun eater. (Infinite Crisis, 2005–2006)

Genocide

The Sinestro Corps freed him from his prison. He joined them, even working with the re-created Anti-Monitor, all the while planning revenge. During the war between the yellow and green corps, Clark, now calling himself Superman Prime, did eventually take his revenge on the Anti-Monitor, but was nearly killed by a Guardian of the Universe.

He survived, his physique and power enhanced by the energy he absorbed, and began traveling the new 52-world multiverse in search of the “perfect Earth”—the one he once called home. Instead he found world after world filled with heroes who were dark, unfamiliar, or in his words “lame.” He personally killed the members of Earth-15’s Justice League, then destroyed the planet out of sheer frustration (Countdown to Final Crisis #24, 2007)

Ultimately, “Superman Prime” arrived at Earth-51 during its invasion by Monarch. The Monitor called Solomon convinced him that this was the perfect Earth he had sought, and he went after Monarch in a fit of rage. In pitched battle, he ruptured Monarch’s armor, releasing a wave of quantum energy that destroyed everything in the universe (Countdown to Final Crisis #16–13, 2008). The otherworldly Kryptonian was then plucked out of time, sent to the 31st century, where he re-created the Legion of Super-Villains.

• Primary Sources
• Art Credits
• Origin Tales
• Profiles in Print
• Appearances
• Related Commentary

Primary Sources

• Infinite Crisis (2005–2006) - Geoff Johns
• Infinite Crisis Secret Files (April 2006): “Heaven,” Marv Wolfman
• Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime (December 2007): “Into the Sun,” Geoff Johns
• Countdown (2007–2008)

Art

• Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006) - Phil Jimenez and either Andy Lanning, Jerry Ordway or Art Thibert

Origin Tales

• DC Comics Presents #87 (November 1985): “The Origin of Superboy-Prime!” Elliot S! Maggin

Profiles

• Infinite Crisis Secret Files (April 2006) as Superboy Earth-Prime

Significant Flash Appearances

• Infinite Crisis (2005–2006) - Geoff Johns
• Teen Titans (third series) #32 (March 2006): “Doom’s Day,” Geoff Johns

Related Commentary

• Continuity Punches, Earth-Prime, and Plotting Power

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