Superboy-Prime (Clark Kent; colloquial: "Prime"; later CK Prime) is a supervillain-turned-superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A boy from the real world transported to the DC Universe, as an alternate version of Superboy, the character first appeared in DC Comics Presents #87 (November 1985) as part of the multiversal crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths, and was created by Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan. Superboy-Prime originates from the parallel Earth called Earth-Prime (representing the real world) in which superhumans like Superman and other comic superheroes only existed as fictional characters. Shortly before Earth Prime was drawn into Crisis on Infinite Earths (April 1985–March 1986), 15-year-old DC fanboy Clark Kent developed real Kryptonian powers and assumed the identity of Superboy. After his world was destroyed by the Crisis, he was one of the few characters to survive without being folded into the new Post-Crisis timeline, and withdrew with other survivors into a "paradise dimension" from which he was able to observe the new timeline, and the new living versions of fictional characters he had read about as a child. Superboy-Prime was brought back in Geoff Johns' Infinite Crisis (December 2005–June 2006) as an allegory of toxic fandom. Here Superboy-Prime was shown to have gradually become angry at the failure of the new versions of his heroes to live up to his idealized memories of them. He escaped his paradise dimension intending to fix reality but soon turned violent, murdering Conner Kent and several other heroes. In Countdown to Final Crisis (May 2007–April 2008) he entirely destroyed multiple worlds across the multiverse for failing to meet his expectations of them. He Joined the Sinestro Corps in Sinestro Corps War (June – December 2007) and was for a time afterwards imprisoned by the Guardians of Oa. After escaping, he forced Mister Mxyzptlk to restore his home reality, only for his loved ones to reject him, after having witnessed his monstrous actions through comicbooks. A redemption arc later played out in Dark Nights: Death Metal (June 2020–January 2021), in which he battled the Batman Who Laughs to save the multiverse and was rewarded with being able to return to his home reality, forgiven for his crimes and welcomed with open arms. Superboy-Prime returned in the sixth volume of Superman, where he is revealed to have actually been transported to a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper rather than a restored Earth-Prime and is recruited by Superman to battle the Legion of Super-Heroes of the Absolute Universe. The name "Superman-Prime" was first used by Grant Morrison in DC One Million (1998) for the mainstream Superman in the 853rd century (he is essentially the same Superman from the All-Star Superman storyline). Earth-Prime's Superboy first refers to himself as "Superboy-Prime" in Infinite Crisis #2 (January 2006).
Fictional character biography
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Superboy-Prime is from Earth-Prime, an analogue for the "real world" where DC heroes are fictional comic book characters. He is the adopted son of Jerry and Naomi Kent. Naomi wanted to name him 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 is a multiversal version of the fictional Clark Kent/Kal-El, who was teleported to Earth by his father Jor-El moments before the planet Krypton was destroyed. Young Clark lives the first fifteen years of his life as a normal boy before Halley's Comet passes by Earth, awakening his Kryptonian powers. At the same time, the Earth-One Superman finds his way to Earth-Prime and the two Supermen meet. Superboy-Prime uses his powers to stop a tidal wave. During Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superboy-Prime helps fight the Anti-Monitor after he destroys Earth-Prime. After the Anti-Monitor is killed, Superboy-Prime joins Alexander Luthor Jr. of Earth-Three, Kal-L, and his wife Lois Lane in a "paradise dimension". In that dimension, Superboy-Prime secludes himself from the others, using crystals to replay events from his life on Earth-Prime. Luthor later 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 overlap parallel timelines (Hypertime), which was used as an explanation for character changes, errors, and retcons in DC continuity.
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