Kal-El (Earth-Prime)



Real Name: Kal-El Nicknames: Superboy Former Aliases: Clark Kent Other Current Aliases: Superboy-Prime

Status
Occupation: None Legal Status: Superboy has no legal status on the planet Earth; still a minor Identity: Secret. The general populace of Earth is unaware of the fact that Superboy is from an alternate reality. Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: No known group affiliation Base of Operations: Formerly a New England hamlet on Earth-Prime; formerly a paradise realm in the Antimatter Universe; currently mobile on Earth

Origin
Superboy was born on the planet Krypton of a divergent reality.

Place of Birth: Krypton-Prime Known Relatives: Jor-El (father deceased); Lara (mother deceased); Jerry Thornton Kent (adoptive father, deceased); Naomi Clarke-Kent (adoptive mother, deceased) First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #87

History
Superboy was born Kal-El, son to Lara and Jor-El of the planet Krypton. When Kal-El was still a toddler, his scientist father made a grieve discovery. He learned that a massive solar flare from Krypton's red sun threatened to engulf their home world ultimately destroying it. Jor-El brought his concerns to the Kryptonian science council, but rather than offer solutions, they politicized the pending travesty and locked themselves in committee.

In the meantime, Jor-El labored to find a way to save the people of Krypton. Working alongside his scientist wife, Lara, they developed a technology, which would enable them to teleport samples of living tissue (weighing less than fifty pounds) across intergalactic distances. He presented his transportation device to the science council, but it was too late. Krypton was already beginning to suffer from the effects of the intense solar radiation. As Krypton shook in its death-throes, Jor-El placed his son inside of the teleportation device and transported him across the universe.

Kal-El rematerialized on the planet Earth. In a New England seacoast town, Jerry and Naomi Kent were hiking through the forests when they discovered the abandoned toddler. They decided to adopt him and raise him as their own. Naomi chose to name him Clark, despite the fact that Clark Kent was likewise the name of a popular comic book hero known as Superman.

Unlike his namesake however, Clark Kent grew up without the benefit of super-powers. His classmates at school would tease him and refer to him as Superboy. However, Clark took the ribbing in stride and soon cultivated a small circle of friends.

As Clark grew older, he became romantically involved with a fellow student named Laurie Lemmon. One evening, Clark, Laurie and several other friends decided to attend a costumed beach party. Being of good humor, Clark donned a Superboy costume similar to that worn by the fictional comic book hero. They drove down to Hampton Beach and sat by the ocean waiting to catch sight of Halley’s Comet.

Suddenly, a tremendous tidal wave rose up on the beachhead threatening to flood the small hamlet. At that same moment, a cosmic vortex opened up above them discharging the Earth-One super-hero known as Superman. At that critical moment, a bizarre transformation took hold of Clark. The physical characteristics of his Kryptonian heritage manifested for the first time and he discovered that he was gifted with flight and super-strength.

Superman quickly introduced himself to his alternate Earth counterpart, but there was little time for pleasantries. He gave Superboy a crash course in the use of his powers and together, they were able to divert the course of the deadly tidal wave.

With the immediate disaster abated, the newly crowned Superboy aided Superman in returning him to his proper world. He followed Superman through the cosmic vortex to Earth-One. Little did Superboy realize that he would never again see his adopted world.

The multiversal catastrophe known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths began consuming parallel dimensions in a deadly wave of antimatter energy. Superboy aided heroes from hundreds of different worlds, but none of them were able to save the Earth from his home dimension from destruction.

The Crisis finally culminated with the destruction of the multiverse. In its place existed a solitary static universe with only one version of the planet, Earth. Superboy remained as the sole survivor of not only his birth world, but his adopted world as well. He united with an aging version of Superman from the late Earth-Two as well as his wife, Lois Lane. Along with Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three, they traveled into the antimatter universe and forged a quiet, peaceful existence for themselves in a paradise realm.

Recent activity
Not long ago, Superboy, Superman, Lois Lane and Alexander Luthor broke free of their paradise realm and returned to Earth of the Post-Crisis reality. The weight of the destruction of his core reality finally took its toll on Superboy and drove him insane.

He first stopped at Earth's moon and destroyed the Watchtower, the headquarters of the super-hero team known as the JLA. He then flew to Smallville, Kansas where he encountered the Superboy of this reality. He chastised the clone Superboy and accused him of being unworthy of his name. The two fought one another and their epic battle raged across the state, eventually culminating in Keystone City. Members of the JSA and the Teen Titans arrived to lend a hand, but the power-mad Superboy thwarted even their efforts. Superboy brutally attacked the heroes, killing several including Pantha, Bushido and Wildebeest. Jay Garrick and Wally West, both inheritors of the name, Flash, grabbed Superboy and used their conjoined super-speed to propel him into the kinetic dimension known as the Speed Field.

Characteristics
Height: Unknown Weight: Unknown Eyes: Blue Hair: Black Unusual Features: No unusual features

Powers
Known Powers: Superboy has many of the powers characteristic of the average Kryptonian on Earth.
 * Physical powers:
 * Super-strength: Superboy has superhuman strength of an incalculable level. As he grows older, his strength level will likely equal that of Superman's.


 * Flight: Through an act of will, Superboy can fly without the aid of wings or other navigational devices. His speed while flying has never been measured, but is well in excess to that of the speed of sound.


 * Invulnerability: Under a yellow sun, Superboy is impervious to conventional physical attacks.


 * Vision powers:
 * Heat vision: Superboy can generate beams of intensified heat from both of his eyes. His heat vision is strong enough to melt through Titanium steel and other durable metals. His heat vision also generates concussive force, which can repel opponents away from him.


 * X-ray vision: Through an act of will, Superboy can perceive items in the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see through solid objects of varying depths and thickness. The exact range of Superboy’s X-ray vision is unknown.


 * Telescopic vision: Superboy can perceive objects at great distances. The range of his telescopic vision is unknown, but he can see objects from several hundred miles away. This ability operates independently of normal vision and can be activated or deactivated by an act of will.


 * Other powers:
 * Arctic breath: Superboy can generate a concentrated gust of wind from his mouth capable of freezing matter within a limited range.


 * Sensory capabilities: All of Superboy's natural senses are enhanced notably his sense of sight, smell and hearing. Superboy can localize the effects of each of his senses in order to pinpoint specific sensations, while ignoring extraneous stimuli. Example: Superboy can hear a woman crying for help from thirty miles away, without experiencing sensory overload from every other sound and echo vibration around him.

Limitations
 * Like all Kryptonians, the alien mineral known as Kryptonite is lethal to him. Kryptonite emits waves of radioactive energy that robs him of his powers, and ultimately kills him.


 * Superboy's vision powers are ineffective against lead or lead-based material.


 * Although it has never been demonstrated, it is safe to assume that Superboy is vulnerable to supernatural effects, much the same way that Superman is.

Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Prior to discovering his Kryptonian heritage, Superboy possessed the strength level equitable to that of an average healthy male teenager. As Superboy, his strength level is in the superhuman range (see Powers).

Miscellaneous
Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons.

Trivia

 * Superboy was not born with his super-abilties like most Pre-Crisis Kryptonians. For the early years of his life, he was as strong and as vulnerable as a normal human being.

Recommended Readings

 * DC Comics Presents #87 (first appearance)
 * Crisis on Infinite Earths
 * Infinite Crisis
 * Teen Titans (Volume 3) #32.

Related Articles

 * Crisis on Infinite Earths
 * Infinite Crisis
 * Jerry Kent
 * Jor-El
 * Krypton-Prime
 * Laurie Lemmon
 * Naomi Kent
 * Superman (Earth-One)