Pete Ross was a childhood friend of Superman (Clark Kent) in Smallville.
History
Peter grew up on the outskirts of Smallville. In his first day at school he met Lana and Clark whom he quickly become best friends with. Peter was always in love with Lana, but she saw him as a friends, but it did very little to dampen his relationship friendship with Clark, as Pete often joined Lana and Clark on double date, the three friends were often in each others' company that their classmates called them "The Three Musketeers".
They once survived a close call during their Junior year in high school, when they were involved in a serious traffic accident, Clark, Lana and Pete survived relatively unharmed while one of their classmate, Scott Brubaker, remained comatose and died years later.[2]
After graduation, Pete attended college where he obtained a law degree, back in Smallville he landed a job as a county agent for the surrounding area, when reunited with Clark and Lana, he saw firsthand how close Clark and Lois Lane were; moreover, he could tell that Lana saw it, too. Pete then began pursuing Lana more seriously, and when presented with the chance to go to Washington as an aide to Senator Caldwell they reallocated there.[3] Days later, the Senator Caldwell would get killed and Peter was appointed to take his place in congress.[4] As Senator, Pete continued Caldwell work and passed the gun control bill,[5] Pete entered the radar of the Sons of Liberty, they decided to kidnap Lana and use her to make Pete (the only person who could smuggle a gun in the intelligence committe) kill Charles Holcraft, who's testimony could end the Sons of Liberty, Ross could not go through with his orders, and instead Agent Liberty killed Holcraft.[6][7]
Pete eventually married Lana Lang, with the two having a son, Clark Ross. The two are presently divorced, even after briefly reuniting. Pete was Vice-President of the United States under Lex Luthor, and briefly served as President following Luthor's impeachment, but stood down at the end of his term.
Pete was not initially aware of Clark's secret. However, the secret was known by the villainous Manchester Black, who informed then-President Luthor of the secret, only later to wipe his memory of it. Prior to losing the knowledge of Clark's secret, Lex informed Pete that his close friend Clark Kent is in fact Superman. While Pete initially refrained from telling Clark about his knowledge he did eventually tell him.
Ross, Lana and young Clark were kidnapped by Ruin, Professor Emil Hamilton. Pete was framed for the crimes of Ruin; once Superman defeated the insane Professor Hamilton, he was exonerated.
Pete and Lana's marriage didn't last. After the divorce Pete returned to Smallville without Lana to raise their son. Pete and Lana both decided that they wanted to give little Clark the benefit of a good solid Smallville childhood, like they had. The two shared custody of their son. Back in his hometown, Pete was content with running the General Store.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Notes
- Pete Ross first appeared in Pre-Crisis Earth-One continuity in Superboy #86 by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. He was reintroduced in Post-Crisis New Earth continuity in Adventures of Superman #436 by John Byrne and Jerry Ordway.
Related
- 119 Appearances of Peter Ross (New Earth)
- 13 Images featuring Peter Ross (New Earth)
- 3 Quotations by or about Peter Ross (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Peter Ross (New Earth)
Footnotes
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