Into the Sun
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Pete Woods & Jerry Ordway
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: John J. Hill
Our cover by Ethan Van Sciver shows our old nemesis, Superboy-Prime, all grown up. Rumor has it in 2007 DC was locked in a bitter lawsuit over the rights of Superboy, so they couldn't actually bring back Superboy-Prime. But they really, really wanted to bring him back, so somehow, someway, they turned him into Superman-Prime. I don't know (or care) how he finally actually grew up because I never knew why he didn't age at all during the years between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. Anyway, this cover has a major error that bugs me to no end. The "S" scar on Prime's chest is not a simple "S" — it's the actual Superman logo with the shield and everything. I really wonder why nobody told Van Sciver he completely messed up the biggest, most important thing on this cover.
Our story begins shortly after the Starro/Titans of Tomorrow fight in Teen Titans. The Sinestro War is raging up in space, but Superman-Prime is down on Earth, having a quiet moment at the Flash Museum in the middle of the night. Wearing a Sinestro Corps uniform and Anti-Monitor armor, Prime flies up to the enormous statue of Bart in front of the museum, noting how quick Bart's career as the Flash went. Prime uses his heat vision to cross out the statue's inscription "Bart Allen: The Flash" and write instead "Bart Allen: The Stupidest Boy Dead." Prime says Bart never stopped being a boy, remembering how he mocked him for being stupid even while Bart was pushing him into the Speed Force.
Suddenly, a boom tube opens up near Superman-Prime, releasing the JLA, Teen Titans, Outsiders, Doom Patrol, and many more heroes in between. Leading the charge are Jay Garrick and Wally West, who says he can't believe Prime would be dumb enough to set foot on Earth again. Prime says there aren't any other Earths to go to, then he begins to stutter, saying he doesn't like speedsters.
Superman-Prime escapes the Flashes and charges right into the middle of the superhero army. Mr. Terrific warns Ray that yellow sunlight only makes Prime stronger, and Martian Manhunter realizes that Prime has been locked away on Oa for over a year, meaning his Kryptonian cells haven't fully recharged yet. Batman tells everyone to focus on Prime's Anti-Monitor armor, saying that's what's fueling his body. With his weakness exposed, Prime begins to fly away, making sure to crash through the statue of Bart, saying he just has to wait until dawn, then he'll be unstoppable.
We then get a flashback of Prime's origin story. He was a normal boy named Clark Kent, who grew up in a world where superheroes only existed in comic books. But one day, after a costume party where Clark just happened to be dressed as Superman, a mysterious comet lit up the sky and Clark discovered he could fly. He soon met the real Superman, who explained he was from a parallel universe. Superman called Clark's world Earth-Prime because it was the only world he knew about that didn't have any superheroes — except for Superboy-Prime, suggesting that his real parents teleported him to this planet from another world.
Superboy-Prime went off with Superman to battle the Anti-Monitor during Crisis on Infinite Earths, sadly watching as the only world he knew was destroyed. Prime studied the Anti-Monitor's armor with his X-ray and microscopic vision, learning how it collected energy to make the Anti-Monitor stronger. Eventually, the Anti-Monitor was destroyed, but Superboy-Prime ended up being one of four heroes stranded without a planet to return to. So Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 created a paradise outside of reality for him and the Superman and Lois Lane-Kent of Earth-2.
We know what happens next. After watching the outside world grow darker and grittier, Alexander and Prime tricked the elderly Superman into breaking out of their "paradise" and launch Infinite Crisis. Prime confronted Superboy, was attacked by the Titans, and ended up killing a handful of them before the Flashes took Prime away to the Speed Force. Prime eventually escaped with Anti-Monitor armor (which he likely stole from another planet), and returned to our Earth to kill Superboy. He got into a massive space battle against the Green Lantern Corps and the two Supermans, being forced through a red sun that destroyed his armor and robbed him of his powers. On the living Green Lantern planet Mogo, Prime killed the old Superman, but was defeated by the Superman from our world. The Green Lanterns imprisoned Superboy-Prime in a green cage in the middle of a red sun, where he insanely carved the Superman logo into his chest and vowed to find a way out.
And here's the part we don't know. Superboy-Prime was freed from his prison by the Sinestro Corps. Prime pretended to agree with Sinestro's plans to conquer the multiverse, all while secretly plotting to use Sinestro to help him gain revenge before then turning on him. Prime was furious to see that the Anti-Monitor had been reborn on the planet Qward and was having his armor rebuilt by a team of diligent workers. Prime swallowed his anger and stuck to his plan of playing the long game. He had those workers build him a new Anti-Monitor armor over his new Sinestro Corps uniform, which he wore on his return to Earth. The only thing that flashback didn't tell us was how Superboy-Prime suddenly became Superman-Prime.
All that backstory was interspersed throughout the main story, but I decided to put it all together for convenience's sake. When Prime initially escaped the throng of heroes, he began heading east toward the sunrise. Firestorm turned the entire St. Louis arch into kryptonite, not realizing that Prime is immune to this world's kryptonite. Prime freezes Elasti-Girl, and stops to complain about the new Aquaman using a sword. Wonder Girl then gets her lasso around Prime's neck, saying there's no way she's going to let him breathe when Conner's not. But Prime breaks free fairly easily and throws a bus at Cassie, mocking her for mourning the loss of a clone, saying he lost a whole world.
Red Star, whose wife and son were killed in Superboy-Prime's initial rampage, unleashes his full power on Prime and begins to even tear apart his armor. But Red Star wants to make Prime burn slowly for his crimes, which gives Prime an opening to defeat Red Star. Risk, who had his arm torn off by Prime, seeks revenge, but gets his other arm torn off.
Superman-Prime continues his journey east, landing in Metropolis, right in front of the golden statues of Superman and Superboy. For a brief moment, the only hero standing against him is Robin, who attacks with a loud whistle. Krypto responds to the whistle and ferociously attacks Prime. But Prime is too strong for the super dog, and probably would have killed him, too, if Cyborg Superman hadn't crash landed on top of Prime right at that moment. Cyborg Superman was involved in a big fight with Superman, Supergirl and Power Girl, who are right behind him and ready to take out Prime.
With most of his armor now destroyed, Prime retreats once more, seeking shelter on a bridge. As Superman, Supergirl and Power Girl approach him, they're shocked to see he's crying. Prime says he had everything he ever wanted right in front of him, but he gave it all away to help all of them, but they never said "thank you" or "we're sorry." Superman sympathetically says he is sorry for everything Prime has lost, but that doesn't excuse all the things he's done. Prime lashes out at Superman, saying he doesn't want to be lectured by a flawed Superman.
A group of heroes finally catch up, including Red Tornado, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl, and they launch one last attempt to remove Superman-Prime's armor before the sun comes up. Unfortunately, they fail. The sun rises, and Prime flies up into the sky, ripping off his Sinestro Corps uniform. He tells himself he used to be a stupid boy like Bart Allen, who didn't know any better. But he's not a stupid boy anymore. He vows he'll replace Superman and be even bigger and better than him. In the distance, we see the Anti-Monitor, just kind of chilling out in the ocean. And Superman-Prime is met by the Guardians of the Universe and what they deem their greatest weapon — Ion.
I enjoyed this comic a lot more than I should have. I mean, nothing really happened here. It was just one big fight scene. But I guess I sometimes crave something that simplistic. I also enjoyed seeing that Superman-Prime is still haunted by Bart Allen. Initially, he was obsessed with Superboy. But Bart was the first one to really scare him. And that fear is forever embedded in him, which I absolutely love. It warms my heart to see that Bart's most heroic moment does have some lasting consequences.
I was also appreciative to get Superboy-Prime's backstory, although I still want to know how he escaped from the Speed Force. And I was very disappointed in the showing by the Flashes in this fight. Wally and Jay made a quick initial attack, were merely shoved aside, then never seen from again. I get that we needed that nice moment with Prime and the Superman family, but those Flashes needed to be right on top of Prime as much as possible. Oh well. This was just a big, dumb fight scene tying into an event we won't be covering on this blog.
And that's it for comics published in 2007. Next time is our Year in Review, followed by a return to the Titans of Tomorrow storyline.
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