Morgan Edge clone (Earth-One)

You cannot hurt me! Your punches fall like soft rain to a man who's just... Passed through hell! I have become the perfect servant of Darkseid! I am driven by fear... Fear of spending an eternity in pain! And to escape that pain, I will do whatever he commands! Even kill you with my bare hands!

— "Morgan Edge" ^src

The Morgan Edge clone was created by Simyan and Mokkari under Darkseid's orders and took the place of his genetic template for an indeterminate period of time.

History

The clone of Edge was grown in the Evil Factory under the watch of Darkseid, who proclaimed, "The false Edge is more than a duplicate. More than just an identical twin. In a sense, he is the 'son' of the real Morgan Edge." After being artificially implanted with all the life memories of his progenitor, the clone was ordered by Darkseid to take the original Morgan Edge out back and put a bullet at the base of his skull. This was to be a test of loyalty to the purpose for which the clone was created, but the clone found himself unable to go through with his DNA donor's execution, due to thinking of the original Morgan Edge as an extension of himself. Instead, the clone knocked the real Edge out and had a cell created in his penthouse suite behind a two-way mirror to contain him.^[1] The clone usurped control of Edge's multimedia conglomerate Galaxy Communications and assumed the "Morgan Edge" identity unto himself. Subsequently, "Edge" used the wealth and resources at his disposal to set up the crime cartel called Intergang and bought out the Daily Planet newspaper, making it into a Galaxy subsidiary. The first task discharged by Edge on behalf of his Apokoliptian masters was to send Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion to the Wild Area on the outskirts of Metropolis, with the mission of investigating the urban myth known as the Mountain of Judgement. "Edge" already knew that the Mountain of Judgement was a powerful motorized tank operated by the Hairies and hid a bomb inside a video-camera entrusted to Scrapper. Clark Kent objected to Edge's assignment for Jimmy, in part due to concerns about the dangers of the Wild Area and in part due to holding privileged knowledge about the Mountain of Judgement as Superman that would lead to the DNA Project. In spite of Intergang's attempts to kill Clark Kent before he could interfere, Clark followed Jimmy as Superman and saved him from the detonation of the hidden bomb when the Mountain of Judgement captured Jimmy and the Newsboys' Whiz Wagon. Superman, Jimmy, and the Newsboys instantly suspected Edge of having set up the situation to deliberately attack the Hairies, a conjecture which was entirely correct.^[2]^[3]

From there, Superman was forced to reveal the existence of the DNA Project to Jimmy and the Newsboys, and several attacks on the Project by DNAliens bred by the Evil Factory soon established a link between them and Edge, though Superman and Jimmy were not yet aware that Darkseid was the secret master of both. Intergang warned Edge when the Four-Armed Terror was dispatched to destroy the DNA Project facilities by attacking their nuclear power plant and sent a helicopter to the Galaxy building to remove him from the projected blast radius, which would have engulfed just about all of Metropolis. Edge returned once word was received that Superman prevented the nuclear explosion and saved the Project labs.^[4] Edge's next decision was to appoint Clark Kent to TV journalism duties for Galaxy's Metropolis station WGBS, specifically by making him anchorman for the 6 o'clock news against Clark's own protestations.^[5] Before long, Edge had the Daily Planet globe removed from the roof of the newspaper's building and replaced it with the Galaxy insignia, to indicate that Galaxy corporate HQ was being relocated to the building. Edge also presented Clark with a tricked-out newsvan and played with the idea of sending Clark to cover stories on-the-spot with his own camera.^[6] Jimmy Olsen confronted Edge about the assignment to the Wild Area which almost got him killed, but Edge simply deflected and arranged for an Apokoliptian craft to land in Metropolis Park to create another story for Jimmy to investigate, hoping to get rid of the overly inquisitive cub reporter. Edge sent Clark and neurotic Goody Rickels, a Galaxy employee who had an uncanny resemblance to comedian Don Rickles, with Jimmy, but Clark made sure that the craft, actually a dimension-trap, closed around him alone. Consequently, Edge ordered Bruno Mannheim to kill Jimmy and Goody Rickels, but the Guardian thwarted Mannheim and his Intergang grunts. Meanwhile, Clark was rescued from the dimension-trap by Lightray and sent back to Earth via Boom Tube, further frustrating Edge.^[7]^[8]

Superman was made more suspicious of Edge when a bank of hi-tech computers installed by Galaxy generated a rampaging creature of electrical energy. Although this had nothing to do with Edge's Apokoliptian superiors or Intergang cohorts, Superman barged into his apartment and throttled him in order to extract the location of the computer bank.^[9] Edge then made Superman a personal target. One such scheme involved gifting Lois Lane with a typewriter which was rigged to type up obituaries for specific people ahead of the times of their deaths, who were all secretly Intergang hit targets. The true objective in this was to spook Lois into calling Superman to analyze the typewriter, expecting that Superman would notice the one key that the typewriter never used and press it out of curiosity. This would have triggered a powerful Apokoliptian explosive designed to be sufficiently potent to kill Superman. Thinking better of his reflexive instinct to hit the one un-pressed key, Superman analyzed the typewriter with X-ray vision. This also set off the timer on the explosive, but Superman managed to remove the typewriter to the upper atmosphere, where it detonated harmlessly.^[10] Edge later gave air-time to Dave Stevens, the Daily Planet's first African-American reporter, to voice injunctions for the people of the city against The 100, believing that it would be in Intergang's best interests to give greater negative media exposure to the competition. Edge then had Intergang abduct Dave and bring him to the Happyland amusement park, which had been rigged by Desaad with torture-devices designed for Superman. Superman took the bait and was painfully physically distorted by the funhouse hall of mirrors until Lois and Dave Stevens fought off their captors.^[11] When NASA astronaut Colonel Sean Carter went adrift in outer space and Superman was prevented from saving him by a telepathic block, Edge used the media at his disposal to besmirch the Man of Steel's reputation.^[12]

Edge was faced with a desperate situation when the original Morgan Edge escaped his confinement and went into hiding in a Metropolis junkyard. Realizing that Darkseid would have him killed if it became known that the real Edge was still alive, the false Edge faked a nervous breakdown and went into hiding himself, using Intergang flunkies disguised as a psychiatrist and his orderlies to manipulate Superman and Lois Lane into recapturing the real Edge for him. Although the clone reappeared the next day to maintain his cover, his progenitor wrested control of the fake ambulance which Intergang was using to transport him back into captivity, causing it to veer off the road and into the river. The real Edge found the company of Yango and his Outsiders Biker Gang, taking refuge with them on their communal farm. The false Edge procured lifeless human bodies from the Evil Factory and planted them nearby the farm for the police to find and contracted Iron Mask and Vudu, the Outsiders' violent former leaders, to attack it as well. The latter attack was dissuaded by Yango's courage in pacifism, and Superman discredited the former attempt by confirming to the authorities that the bodies were never alive to begin with.^[13] Edge attempted to send Jimmy off on an assignment that would kill him for the third time, dispatching him to Loch Trevor, Scotland, in the company of the Newsboy Legion. There, they were supposed to meet up with Intergang killers disguised as Scottish locals, but Jimmy's execution in the middle of the lake was interrupted by the Loch Trevor Monster, who capsized the hitman's boat and drowned him. This excursion was furthermore counterproductive to Edge's interests, as it led to Jimmy and the Newsboys' accidental discovery and destruction of the shrunken Evil Factory facility.^[14]

Morgan Edge Clone Earth-One 0002 — The Morgan Edge clone meets his maker

After being party to a gruesome shootout between the Metropolis Police Department and Intergang hitman Tombstone Greer, Jimmy Olsen was approached by the original Morgan Edge and Yango, who revealed that the man Jimmy had always known as "Morgan Edge" was a clone imposter serving evil interests. More inclined to believe the story than Superman and Lois had been, Jimmy accompanied Yango and the real Edge as they headed for the Galaxy building to confront the false Edge. The clone was kept abreast of developments on the street by Intergang informants and ordered a small army of Intergang killers to chase them and take them out, especially his progenitor. The chase led back to the Galaxy building, and the seeming attack on the building drew Superman's attention. Meanwhile, the false Morgan Edge was visited by Darkseid, who at long last acknowledged his minion's insubordination and punished him by teleporting him to the Galaxy film library, where the original Edge was hiding, by way of Omega Beams. Although the experience lasted not even a second, the hellish, searing agony of the Omega Effect unbalanced the clone's mind, making him convinced that Darkseid was giving him a second chance to do penance for his sin and kill the original Morgan Edge. Though the clone appeared to be getting the upper hand in the fist-fight with his progenitor, they were disturbed by Tombstone Greer, who reduced the false Edge to atoms with an Apokoliptian energy-blaster. Greer recognized his error only too late, and Superman arrived just in time to stifle the blast meant for the real Edge, resulting in a backfire that killed Greer as well. At Superman's suggestion, all knowledge of the day's events was suppressed so as not to panic the public with information about the New Gods. Aside from Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and Yango, no one ever realized that there were two different identical people named Morgan Edge. The real Morgan Edge resumed control of his corporation and never gave any of his employees any reason to suspect he had ever been impersonated by an evil clone.^[15] While the Morgan Edge clone may have perished, Intergang lived on, falling under the new management of Joe Danton.^[16]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Weaknesses

Smoking

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Desk-hidden TV monitor

Notes

This version of Morgan Edge, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
In Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, this clone's role as a collaborator with Apokolips on Earth belonged to the real Morgan Edge, not a duplicate impostor. Pre-Crisis, the original Morgan Edge was not truly evil nor was he a criminal, just a hardnosed, ruthless business tycoon.

Morgan Edge clone (Earth-One)

Contents