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 SUPERBOY-PRIME (Clark Kent)BIOGRAPHY
Created by Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan

Superboy-Prime (Clark Kent).jpg
The Original Universe


Clark Kent

PERSONAL DATA


Real Name: Clark Kent
Aliases: Superman-Prime, Superboy of Earth-Prime, Time Trapper
Occupation: Formerly Adventurer, Student
Homeworld: Earth-Prime
Place of Birth: Krypton (Earth-Prime universe)
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Jerry Kent (adoptive father), Naomi Clarke Kent (adoptive mother); Jor-El (father; deceased); Lara (mother; deceased)
Base of Operation: Smallville, Kansas, Earth-Prime
Group Affiliation(s): Legion of Super-Villains, Sinestro Corps
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 163 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #87 (November 1985): "Year of the Comet"
Creators: Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan


OVERVIEW

A Superboy from another world turned rogue after witnessing the destruction of his universe and experiencing the disappointment with the unified universe he had sacrificed everything to save.

HISTORY

Little is known about the life of the Superboy of Earth-Prime. He was only the second superhero known to have appeared on his particular parallel Earth (the other being Ultraa). On this Earth, Clark Kent assumed that he was just an ordinary boy, and that super-heroes were a thing of fantasy only. He had read Superman and Superboy comics from a young age, and his fondest wish was to get super-powers like his idols with the same name from his comic books. Mysteriously, on his 16th birthday he gained the full set of Kryptonian super-powers! This Clark Kent evidently was Kryptonian as well, but had never known it! Since super-heroes are truly a rarity on his world, this Superboy was never affiliated with a Legion of Super-Heroes.

The Earth-Prime Superboy became known to the other heroes of the Multiverse during the Crisis, as he was the sole survivor of his Earth, which was claimed by the Anti-Monitor's antimatter wave. After first encountering the Earth-1 Superman and sharing his first known adventure with him, Superboy of Earth-Prime joined the coalition of heroes gathered by the Monitor's assistant Harbinger to do final battle with the Anti-Monitor in the antimatter dimension of Qward. With Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 and the Superman of Earth-2, Superboy of Earth-Prime was instrumental in the final defeat of the Anti-Monitor.

Left without a world to call his own following the Crisis, the Earth-Prime Superboy joined the Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-2 and Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 in a "Paradise dimension".

In this dimension, the survivors were able to watch the unified Earth and its heroes, and over the years Superboy and Alex Luthor grew increasingly frustrated and disappointed with the brutality and actions of both heroes and villains. Was this the world they had sacrificed everything in order to save? The frustrated Superboy occasionally punched his fists into the walls of the Paradise dimension, sending ripples through space and time that caused minor time paradoxes and changes. Over the years the Paradise dimension began to deteriorate, and Alex Luthor began to manipulate Superboy Prime to his own ends, eventually discovering a way out into the unified world left behind after the Crisis. Here, Alex and Superboy began re-arranging things to their own liking, with Superboy's main job being to move planets in order to shift the centre of the universe to match more closely with previous worlds.

Aiding Alex in his plan to restore former worlds, Superboy Prime gradually went mad, and was unable to accept responsibility for his actions, not even when a battle with the current Superboy led to the deaths (at his own hands) of former Titans members Pantha, Wildebeest and Bushido. Impulse and Flash III forced him into the Speed Force, and were able to keep him busy for years, but the nature of time travel meant that he eventually sprang free. Now wearing an armor that fed him yellow sunlight, Superboy-Prime was stronger than ever and fought Superboy once more, ending in Superboy's death. Determined to destroy the universe, Prime next set his sights on Oa, battling and killing several members of the Green Lantern Corps on his way.

The two Supermen (Superman of Earth-2 and the current Superman) caught up with Prime and crashed him through the heart of a red sun. Leaving all three in a weakened state, Prime still managed to beat the Earth-2 Superman to death before eventually being subdued by Superman. Prime was then imprisoned and kept under constant guard on Oa in what may have been the most secure prison ever designed.

Superboy-Prime was eventually freed by the newly founded Sinestro Corps, who invaded Oa in order to free him and the Cyborg Superman. Taken to the antimatter universe, Superboy was shocked to learn that the Sinestro Corps had revived the Anti-Monitor in order to act as the Guardian of their corps. Although eager to exact vengeance on the Anti-Monitor for the destruction of Earth-Prime, Superboy-Prime decided to bide his time until the Sinestro Corps had conquered the universe. Weakened from his time in prison, Superboy-Prime was equipped with special armor which stored and fed him with sun energy until his power levels had been fully restored. At this time, he also decided that he wanted to become known as Superman-Prime.

To everyone's surprise, the Sinestro Corps next invade Earth, instead of launching a full-scale attack on Oa. The Guardians of the Universe deduce that the goal if Sinestro is to access the newly restored Multiverse, and the focal point for the Multiverse has always been Earth. When the Anti-Monitor was wounded by the Guardians of the Universe and the Green Lantern Corps, Prime ruptured the Anti-Monitor's chest plate and hurled him into outer space to die. One of the Guardians then gave his life in order to destroy Prime, but Prime was instead lost in the Multiuniverse.

Donning a black suit, Superman-Prime started travelling the Multiverse, looking for his lost Earth-Prime and committing heinous acts such as destroying Earth-15. Establishing a base within the Source Wall, he unsuccessfully tried to recreate his lost world with the help of magicians such as Mister Mxyzptlk and Annataz Arataz of Earth-3. Next, he invaded the satellite of the Monitors who keep watch over the Multiverse and demanded that they help him find his lost world. Solomon, the Monitor of Earth-8 pointed him into the direction of the barren Earth-51), where Prime came into conflict with Monarch and the army he had assembled in his attempt to conquer the Multiverse. In the ensuing battle, Superman-Prime ripped open Monarch's containment suit, which resulted in the destruction of Earth-51's entire universe. Both Monarch and Superman-Prime were lost in time.

Eventually, Prime was found by the Time Trapper, and transported to the 31st century. He was now sligthly younger, a boy again, after depleting the energy he absorbed from the Guardian who died trying to stop him (during the Sinestro Corps' invasion of Earth). Finding himself relegated to a footnote in history, Prime vowed to become its greatest villain and freed the Legion of Super-Villains. In order to combat this threat, Brainiac 5 assembled the 21st century Superman, serveral versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes from throughout the Multiverse, as well as the resurrected Superboy (Conner Kent) and Kid Flash (Bart Allen), both of whom had died at the hands of Prime 1,000 years earlier. During this battle, it was revealed that the Time Trapper was in fact an older version of Superboy-Prime. He claimed to be an anomaly impossible to destroy. Superboy-Prime refused to believe this, and their clash resulted in the destruction of the Time Trapper while his younger self was somehow sent powerless back to Earth-Prime.

Back home, Prime found that people shunned him, having read about his crimes on other earths in the comic books. For a long time, he led a secluded life in his parents' basement, immersing himself in comics and debates concerning the DCU on the online forums. After a time, he also started to feel remorse. During the event known as the Blackest Night, Alexander Luthor rises from the dead and tries to recruit Prime. Overcome with despair, Prime puts on the black ring, but is then overwhelmed by all the colors of the emotional spectrum that destroy the Black Lanterns and the ring itself. His girlfriend Laurie then appears, embraces him and tells him that the writers of DC Comics have now agreed to leave him alone, to stop messing with his life, which they seemed to have some kind of power over.

But peace was short-lived for Prime, as he was later transported to New Earth through a wormhole by the villain Headcase, who was doing battle with the latest incarnation of the Teen Titans. Determined to return to his world and his girlfriend, Superboy Prime assembled a team of young supervillains and launched a full-scale attack on Titans Tower, but was defeated by Titans young and old. Prime was then imprisoned on the Source Wall.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The Earth-Prime Superboy has super-strength, the power of flight, super-speed, super-breath, super-hearing, super-vision (including X-ray, heat, microscopic and telescopic visions), and invulnerability to any other force than magic and Kryptonite. This Superboy is also assumed to have the power to travel through time under his own force.

At times, he has worn a special armor that collects and feeds him solar energy, during times that he had been weakened.

As the Time Trapper, he could control the flow of time.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Superboy-Prime in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006 (May 2006)