Superboy Prime reminds of the ST:Voyager episode with the Q child, but he had his powers taken away and had a mentor teach him a different path. SBP is whiny for the sake of whiny, he might be a "fanboy in comicland", but they dislike being pointed out, so why do it?

I'd really like to point out that Superboy Prime was not only manipulated into his 1st conflicts, but his 1st killing was an accident.

Hes a teenager with the power level of pre-crisis Superman and practically none of the control.

Not only that but he'd watched his entire world and existence destroyed pretty much at the same time as he found out that the charcters in the comics he read are real!

Is it really so hard to imagine that hes insane from the trauma of reality doing a complete backflip?
Is it really so crazy to suggest that a teenager with the power to move planets might accidentally kill someone?
Is it just me that thinks its more crazy to suggest otherwise?

The most strange thing to me about all this discussion is how little thought has been put into Clarks perspective.

Not a single one of us can say that we'd deal with the loss of every single thing in our lives, and not a single one of us can say that we'd be fine if we lost not only everyone we know, but everything we know.

I think SuperBoy-prime is a brilliant take on a throw away character from the original Crisis saga who outside of Geoff Johns hands has been handled poorly.

Much like what was said before, Superboy Prime is a character I love because I hate him. He's quite easy to hate ... he's destroyed entire worlds, punched through reality, killed d-list characters on a whim, and beat the holy heck out of poor Sodom Yatt ( still one of my favorite comic book fights in the past 5 years ) and up until recently, he's felt no remorse what so ever for it.

But I feel like Superboy Prime is supposed to be poorly written. He's supposed to be a whiny, petty, selfish punk. Remember, he's emotional stunted at the age of sixteen ( even though according to Countdown, he's supposed to be around 19 years old now ) due to being in limbo for however long with no human interaction side from Kal-L, old Lois and Alexander Luthor. And you'd probably go crazy stuck in limbo with Alexander Luthor. I know I would.

So we have a character here who is emotionally stuck at 16 years old, who up until the end of Legion of Three Worlds had nothing left to lose since his whole world was thought destroyed and gone long ago, and is stuck in a world where everything around him is a comic book. Why should he care who he's killing? They're all just ink and paper to him! I firmly believe that the main reason Prime has no problem killing everyone around him is because he see's everyone as just a fictional comic character and not "real" to him. That and being uber powerful and not knowing his own strength ( as we saw with the first few kills in Infinite Crisis ).

My girlfriend's little brother is 15 just about to turn 16. And he's the most selfish, self absorbed, rude, negative and disrespectful person I know. And I used to volunteer with high school kids all the time! Nothing is ever "his fault". It's always everyone else's. If he can't get a ride to the mall to sit around with his girlfriend in the food court then he'll raise hell. I'm pretty sure if he had the power to do anything he wanted to like Superman, he'd be very much like SBP.

That's why I love Superboy Prime: He's a 16 year old with unlimited power throwing a temper tantrum. And I know the exact 16 year old he'd be.

You hit it on the head my friend. I was writing and posting my rant and BOOM! you beat me to it.

I like to think we we both did a good job of adding to each others points!

But why not create a new character to be hated? Why piss on a good character for the sake of cheap shots?

Thanks!!!!!

I believe that Clark Kent can be redeemed..just saying

I will disagree with this.

The way in which I loathe the Superboy-Prime character is absolutely unique in my decades of comics reading. This character is the most hideous combination of boring and offensive I have ever seen. When the Joker or Mr. Zsasz or Thanos or Bullseye do something heinous or offensive, they are usually at least interesting. That makes for a great read. When Superboy Prime does something terrible, though, it just makes me wish I didn't bother buying the comic. As a result, I skipped Legion of 3 Worlds. I have absolutely no interest in reading a story about that d-bag. There's no amount of crucial Legion continuity that is worth it.

While I will admit to liking Adventure Comics #4 (not enough to make me buy #5, though), in general, his simple presence in a comic is enough to make me skip it.

Making me want to skip a comic because of the inclusion of a boring, offensive character isn't what I would consider a writer doing his job well.

Superboy Prime is literally the only character out of tens of thousands that I have read, that can drive me away from a comic. I'm the kind of comic fan who supports the notion that even the biggest Mort has potential -there is a great story to be found in nearly every character. Superboy Prime is the exception.

Superboy-Prime is awesome. Enough said.

Also, if I had SBP's powers. . . I'd have probably flown through the Earth already. Yeah, it's a kind of d-bag thing to do. . . but it'd look so freakin awesome!

That's a pretty strong statement.... I counter with Angar the Screamer.... complete with groovy fringe hippy boots, headband, chest hair, and disco necklace....... does he even beat Angar?


On a side note I have issues with stupid hero/villain names. I have no interest in reading anything with a character named The In-betweener (cue dramatic, threatening music clip) in it. Sorry but I just can't get past that name without a slamdunk of "that is stupid"..

Completely agree with krusticlese. Suicide is the most selfish act a person can do. It's basically saying- I can't handle life, I'm just going to leave all my responsibilities, and everyone else will be sorry and there's nothing you can do about it.

There can be lots of reasons for murder. Many are selfish, but many are not as well. It's probably more abhorrent, but it's certainly not the most selfish act.

Who else do you know that has punched TIME?

I rest my case!

Stupid characters are vastly superior to pointlessly annoying ones.

Johnny Guitar from Dazzler #20 was stupid. 27 years later, his 2nd appearance, in Avengers: The Initiative #27, was one of the most powerful comics I read this last year.

I don't know about that one... Even a few years ago they were setting it up to lead into the events of Final Crisis. I remember a panel in a book where Sups was talking w/ other JLAers and he mentioned something about time travel and memory being fuzzy - Sups said that their greatest story (the legion) was called Legion of Three Worlds. Honest, go back and check it out for yourself.

I have a simple view of what makes a story/character great. Either the story itself is great. Jeez, I donna know... I think of how epic a story like Ben Hur or Gladiator is. On the other hand, it is how the story is told that makes it great. You can take something completely mundane and the story can enthrall in such a way that it is like poetry.

Now, I might not be an uber-literature critic. I figure that if an author is around and still writing - they are making literature of value. Literature is not like law or science. We cannot say that one element is good or bad. It is much like music or art. The more we understand and the more we explore other perspectives, are we better than able to appreciate art/music/literature of different styles. Having a preference for one is only narrow perspective. But being able to appreciate more even when it is not a preference, that is a sign of an academic mind that can think critically.

I admit it. I lost out too. I missed out on seeing the same thing happen with Tony Stark because I was pissed at Brubaker for killing off Cap. Only now, after a few years since, have I been able to appreciate the story telling of CW/SI and how it affected Tony. It was my loss. Now, I am begging and borrowing books from friends and the library to be able to enjoy Tony's story. I am amazed at how far back the setup was also working for SI in the Marvel U. I am still disappointed in how pointless Caps death seems to me and his return doesn't feel right either.

If you didn't read something because of Prime, then you sure missed out. There is an amazing surprise at the end of issue 4. I enjoyed reading how the (mundane characters) Legions of three worlds were able to stop him, bring back Bart Allen and Conor Kent. Oh, and what a role we find out the insane Starman plays! (I like french fries - nom nom nom) The wait for issue 5 was crazy long and left many painfully anticipating it. But the end of issue 5 of Legion of Three Worlds had me laughing my tail off! This story definitely affected more that a few other books and characters continuity.

As others have already said, in eloquent or not so eloquent ways, and with their own observations: We should despise the character; at least in the current stories. Thats a good thing. Similarly, Norman Osborn was a trash character for a while there. Now, the guy practically rules the world! Would someone have quit reading Spidy because of Osborn? Who knows. But keep reading.

Dropping out because of something you don't like, only means you miss the rest of the story. And most certainly the big picture that is being created. It is so much like football at this time of the year with playoffs and huge college bowl games. Leaving at the end of the 3rd quarter, only to miss an amazing 4th quarter, really makes you feel stupid for changing the channel to watch reruns.

Why have a guy like Prime be hated and pissed on? Well... who knows... he just might have a rocky path to go from perdition to redemption. Wouldn't that be at least a bit interesting to read?

Have I quit reading Batman because he 'died' in Final Crisis? No. But I will stick around to see how the story progresses. I want to learn what kind of contingency plan Bats had planned and what it takes for a non-super character to fight back from the far reaches of time. The journey most certainly IS the destination. Until then... same bat-channel, same bat-time. And EXCELSIOR!



That is most certainly worthy of rep! ROFLMAO!