Secret Origin
Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns Writers
Jerry Ordway (pp 1-7, 35-38) • Francis Manapul (pp 8-13, 32-34) • Ryan Benjamin & Richard Friend (pp 14-21) • Paul Pelletier & Norm Rapmund (pp 22-31) Artists
Hi-Fi (pp 1-7, 35-38) • Ian Herring (pp 8-13, 32-34) • Rain Beredo (pp 14-21) • Adriano Lucas (pp 22-31) Colorists
Rob Leigh Letterer
Ivan Regis, Joe Prado, & Alex Sinclair Cover
Gary Frank & Brad Anderson Variant Cover
Andrew Marino Editor
Superman created by Jerry Siegel with Joe Shuster. By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.
Our cover shows Superboy-Prime battling The Batman Who Laughs (or as Prime calls him, The Batman Who Barfs).This is a solid, dynamic cover, bringing me back to the old Infinite Crisis days. It also answers the question of what to do when confronted by an impossibly invincible villain — you throw another impossibly invincible villain at him.
This story makes no sense, and it really doesn’t involve Impulse, so we’re not going to worry about it too much. Suffice it say, Superboy-Prime has been recruited to battle The Batman Who Laughs and the 52 evil worlds he has created. Prime is shunned by heroes and villains alike, especially our own Superboy, Conner Kent. Curiously, though, Krypto has taken a liking to this somber, reflective Superboy-Prime, even though Prime nearly killed the dog back in Infinite Crisis.
Anyway, The Batman Who Laughs actually seems kind of scared by Superboy-Prime and tries to cut him a deal, offering to give him his own world where he is accepted and loved as a hero. I’m not sure if The Batman plants this image in Prime’s head, or if it’s just Prime using his own imagination, but either way, we see a happy world that oddly includes the original Teen Titans, members of the Green Lantern Corps and our lovable Impulse.
But Superboy-Prime refuses the offer and ultimately destroys all the evil worlds created by The Batman Who Laughs. The effort of this fantastic feat kills Superboy-Prime, but he suddenly wakes up in his old bedroom, reading this very comic book. Unlike the last time he was sent back home and everybody knew all the horrific things he did, this world seems to have been reset to before Superboy-Prime’s crimes. His friends and family still love him, and he even still has his powers, making this the perfect paradise for this troubled character.
I like how Superboy-Prime’s vision of an ideal world shows him happily frolicking with the very heroes who imprisoned him during Infinite Crisis — first the Flash family, then the Green Lanterns. But I wish we could have had a reminder of how Superboy-Prime is terrified of Bart Allen. And I always wish that somebody at DC had the courage to tell the story of how Prime escaped the Speed Force and acquired the Anti-Monitor armor. But we’ll never get that. As for Superboy-Prime’s “redemption” — I’m not opposed to it, but I don’t think this issue was big enough to do justice to an event that monumental. Overlooking the insane incomprehensibleness of this Death Metal story, what we got in this issue was actually pretty nice — especially the Francis Manapul and Paul Pelletier art, as always.
Now for the new house ads:
DC Future State: Teen Titans. Meet the new Nightwing and his partner … Red X.
The Flash. Can the fastest men alive outrun their destiny? (A version of Bart Allen will appear in this one.)
Legion of Super-Heroes. A Legionnaire betrays the entire galaxy!
Shazam! The power of Shazam corrupted and possessed by Raven!
DC Future State: Harley Quinn. She’ll have to secure her freedom and the future of Gotham!
Suicide Squad. Peacemaker goes to war with the Justice League!
Swamp Thing. He must wipe out humanity to save the planet.
Happy holidays from DC. Enjoy the season wherever you are in the multiverse!
Next time might be our final stop in the sprawling, obnoxiously titled Death Metal event. Unless Bart’s cameo is too small to be worth mentioning. In that case, we’ll skip ahead to Future State.
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