DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL THE SECRET ORIGIN #1

[superfangirl1]

Superboy prime goes off to fight the Batman who laughs by himself. He puts up a good fight. The Batman who laughs try to lure Superboy prime to his side.

Superboy prime considers taking the Darkest knight powers from himself to reshape the multi-verse in his version. But then krypto shows up and give Superboy prime kindness love.



The punch from Superboy prime was enough to very much weaken the Batman who laughs, giving the other heroes a fighting chance to win. Superboy prime falls to the ground dead, krypto stand by his side. Krypto is crying over his death.

Then all of a sudden. Superboy prime wakes up in his room back on earth prime. Reading the comic that he was just in.

Comments

[lordultimus]

Anyone else find it mildly hilarious that Superboy Prime could apparently punch out TBWL this whole time?

[scorntx]

A little, yeah.

[lucean]

If this is the way they write out SBP, I think it's kind of a nice way to do it.

[chalicother]

I want to believe...

I know we believe in karma, but damn...let this character rest peacefully.

[silverzeo]

Is karma really a factor for Prime in this case? I mean, some issues with him do bring up the issue of free will... is his actions his own or that of the writers themselves?

[themajesticmoose]

I don't like that they made Krypto sad

Krypto is a good dog :(

[thanekos]

It's a shame they had to fight - Superboy-Prime and the Batman Who Laughs could've been a heck of a World's Worst.

[silverhammerman]

There's certainly something to Superboy-Prime confronting the Batman Who Laughs/Darkest Knight, there are similarities and differences which are fun to think about. Both represent their creator's worst impulses, but Prime is from relatively early in Johns' career (at least in terms of his arrival as the definitive voice at DC) whereas BWL is from what seems more and more like Snyder's late-career flameout. Prime is an older character recontextualized as one of superhero comics harshest unintentional (?) self portraits, BWL is the incredibly on the nose realization of a specific idea of cool. Both are enmeshed in deeply tedious and self-important stories about the nature of the DCU... There's a lot to be gotten out of the comparison, if someone were to sit down with it.

Anyway, here's something that sticks out to me about Superboy-Prime the more I see him: The dude should be, like, 50 at this point. Every time we see him sent back to his Earth for a happy ending or a sequel tease, he's always a young man again, but if he was a teen in 1985, he should be much older, and that would consequently recentre the story in some significant ways that could be both narratively fruitful and more honest about what the character represents wrt comics, fandom, etc.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Is this... redemption?

[thezmage]

Or at the very least getting written out entirely?

[silverzeo]

Meh, worked for Gai in Kamen Rider 01 when he got his robo-puppy back...

[scorntx]

(Going by the cover, I did think at first this was going to be an anthology issue again. Ah, well.)

Turns out a way to make Superboy-Prime more tolerable is to just not having him murderizing everything in arm's range while screaming his head off like a colicky toddler every other line.
(Does this mean Scott Snyder's writing cancels out Johns' worse habits when writing Prime? Hmm...)

Not entirely convinced Johns won't succumb to the temptation to bring Prime back for something at some point, overriding this moderately upbeat ending for him.
Maybe the difference is this time while there is a sequel hook in it, it IS an upbeat one, rather than Legion of Three Worlds or Blackest Night's ones.

But a single one-shot isn't really time to acknowledge Prime's long, long list of horrific and petty deeds or the work redeeming him for them.
... though given what those deeds are, how do you start from there? And bringing them up, like Prime killing Laurie that one time, would make him seem, ooh, unsympathetic or something crazy like that.

To be honest...

[silverzeo]

This year is awful in the real world... I know WAY too many people who lost their puppies rather tragically this year...

So... it is painful to lose a pet like that... it just shows how much we truly care and love for them... say what will about how Prime was redeemed here... he needed a Superdog to make him feel again. That is what Krypto is to Superboy...

It worked for Kamen Rider Thouser and his dog... Thouser...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEfyGRbamC4

[cainofdreaming]

Superman taking notes: How to stop all villains forever -- Krypto.

Unless they're cat persons (Luthor?), then -- Streaky.

[donnblake]

Of course! No one could plot villainy and world domination while stroking a cat!

[jaxjyls]

Never thought I would be cheering on SBP but BWL beats him annoyance, and it pretty easy to identify with a jaded bitter comic fan