Crisis on Infinite Earths '' #87 (1985).Art by
Eduardo Barreto.|thumb|left 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. Superboy-Prime is jealous of
Conner Kent, the modern Superboy, believing him to be living the life he himself ought to have had while not fighting for it. He also believes the Earth's heroes act more like villains. Superboy-Prime confronts Superboy, telling him that he (Superboy-Prime) is the only Superboy the Earth needs. Superboy-Prime attacks Conner, but not before Conner activates his
Titans homing signal. The
Teen Titans, the
Doom Patrol, and the
Justice Society of America arrive to help Conner, during which Superboy-Prime kills Titans members
Baby Wildebeest,
Pantha, and
Bushido.
Jay Garrick,
Wally West, and
Bart Allen banish Superboy-Prime to a parallel world and imprison him in a facility with artificial 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. During a battle between Alexander Luthor and the heroes freed from his tower, Superboy-Prime appears, wearing 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 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 (Cassie Sandsmark), an enraged Conner Kent attacks him. Conner and Superboy-Prime's battle sends them both headlong into Alexander Luthor's vibrational tuning fork with the effects causing the machine to explode and fuse the alternate Earths into one. Conner dies from injuries sustained during the explosion, leaving the rest of the superheroes devastated. 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 him, 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 has been left outraged by Conner's death. Superboy-Prime escapes Bart and flies toward the planet
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. Superboy-Prime is slowed down by a wall of pure willpower generated by the Green Lantern Corps. Breaking through, he battles 32 Green Lanterns, killing them. The two Supermen arrive and fly Superboy-Prime through Rao, the red sun of Krypton. The heat melts away Superboy-Prime's armor and severely weakens all three Kryptonians, who then crash on
Mogo. Superboy-Prime beats Kal-L to death, but is then attacked by Kal-El. 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 is taken into the custody of the
Guardians of the Universe, who place him in a quantum containment field, surrounded by a red
Sun-Eater and guarded by 50 Green Lanterns. While inside his cell, he carves the Superman symbol into his chest, vowing to escape.
Sinestro Corps A year later, Superboy-Prime sits naked 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. 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 he wears the uniform of the Sinestro Corps along with a version 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, and accordingly suddenly drawn to look more adult), 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 (
Sodam Yat) throughout the state of
New York. Superman-Prime gets the upper hand over Yat by exposing him to lead, and defeats 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. Instead of dying, Prime is infused with Oan energy and warped back into the multiverse.
Countdown to Final Crisis '' #14. Art by Pete Woods. In
Countdown to Final Crisis, following the conclusion of the
Sinestro Corps War, Superman-Prime is shown 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 is revealed that Superman-Prime is 19 years old. According to Mxyzptlk, his growth is the temporary side effect of his cells absorbing vast Oan energy from his last "
encounter". Mxyzptlk escapes with the help of 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 Prime what he wants; Prime 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, intending to confront Monarch. Superman-Prime fights with Monarch, finding out that this is an enemy who is on his level despite his boosted powers from the Guardian. 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 rips open the chestplate of Monarch's containment armor, causing an explosion of quantum energy that seems to destroy the entire universe of Earth-51.
Legion of 3 Worlds from
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #4. Art by
George Pérez. Shortly after the events of
Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes, 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. He encounters the elderly couple who own the farm, and they refer to him as Superboy, which enrages him. After being shot, he kills the farming couple, makes his way into Smallville, and visits the Superman Museum, where he discovers that he is regarded as merely a footnote in Superman's history. This sends him into 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 (LSV). During the war between the Legions of Super-Heroes and the Legion of Super-Villains, Prime battles several opponents with whom 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. Soon after, Conner Kent enters the battle, having been resurrected by
Starman using a Kryptonian restoration chamber. The resurrections of Kid Flash and Superboy are part of a contingency plan devised long before by Brainiac 5, who was forewarned of Superboy-Prime by one of
Dream Girl's prophecies. During the battle, Superman,
Lightning Lad,
Cosmic Boy, and
Saturn Girl are brought to the end of time by the
Time Trapper, Superboy-Prime's future self. The Time Trapper states that he became an anomaly that could not be killed after being shunted into the multiverse by the Guardians of the Universe and became the sole survivor of all creation.
Blackest Night Superboy-Prime continues to live his secluded life, unknowingly but constantly monitored by the prime universe Brainiac 5, still compulsively reading every comic book and message board post 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 eyes of the people of Earth-Prime. Upon reading
Adventure Comics #4 and the online solicitations for the 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 as Clark already read them, with Alexander Luthor, multiversal-hopping
Black Lantern, bestowing to him all of his 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. Unable to damage the Black Lanterns, Superboy-Prime flies to the DC Comics building in New York and attempts to take revenge on the writers he believes made him the way he is. Before he can do so, Alexander teleports him to his basement and begins destroying his comic collection. Superboy-Prime accepts the hopelessness of his situation and willingly puts on a black ring, which wills him to "die". However, the ring, reacting to his mixed emotions, switches between the powers of the emotional spectrum, creating a burst of light that destroys the Black Lanterns and the ring itself. Lying on the floor, he becomes overcome by the emotions forced by the ring and devastated that "they" have turned him into a monster and made it so he cannot ever have a "happy ending". Laurie enters the basement, sporting a broken arm. She comforts Prime, telling him that "they" heard him, and that they sent her to tell him that they are sorry for what they did to him, and are going to leave him alone—"they" previously mentioned as being the writers at DC Comics. As they embrace, a Black Lantern ring is shown on Laurie's hand that detects the hope within Prime's heart. However, he is defeated and sealed in the
Source Wall.
Dark Knights: Death Metal In
Dark Nights: Death Metal, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman encounter Superboy-Prime while fighting
Perpetua. After petting
Krypto and finally recognising there is nothing he can change about the nature of fiction, Superboy-Prime is convinced to reform and help battle Perpetua, during which he is transported to a restored Earth-Prime and presumed dead. Superboy-Prime returns to battle
the Batman Who Laughs, deeming him to be everything wrong with modern DC Comics, before returning to Earth-Prime and being welcomed by his family.
DC All In Superboy-Prime returns in the sixth volume of
Superman, where he is revealed to have been transported to a
pocket universe created by the Time Trapper rather than Earth-Prime. Superman and the Time Trapper enlist Superboy-Prime to battle the Legion of Super-Heroes of the
Absolute Universe. Following the events of
DC K.O., Superman disappears and Superboy-Prime steps up to replace him, mentored by
Lois Lane and gaining a new civilian identity, "CK Prime", which he uses to get a job at a comic-book shop he used to frequent. The character's
metafictional nature is highlighted; he addresses the reader and references events such as the death of
Jonathan and Martha Kent, who have since been resurrected. ==Powers and abilities==