In the comic book industry, it is difficult to find a single character that is as iconic, as well-known, and as popular as Superman. His status has come to the point that DC Comics, the company that publishes his monthly titles, has developed several versions and revisions of his character and his powers over the years. Most of them have followed the same general archetype established by the original Superman, which is that of a lawful and good superhero. However, every so often, there have been darker character versions that, unlike the good version, posed a threat to mankind. Arguably, the most dangerous of these evil versions is the one known as Superboy-Prime.
To understand Superboy-Prime’s rise as a hero and his subsequent fall to become the most dangerous individual the universe has ever known, it is necessary to first explore how he came into the DC Comics universe. Originally, Superboy-Prime was the only superhero on Earth-Prime, one of many alternate versions of Earth that existed in the world of DC Comics. According to the storyline, all the alternate Earths had to be destroyed to preserve one. At the end of that cataclysmic series of events,...