Lex Luthor was right, wasn't he? Superman really is evil.

Cafe Society
21

No, they wouldn’t. There are currently only two non-Monitors alive who recall the previous Multiverse - Power Girl and Superman-Prime. Because they are the only ones who existed in it.

The universe was rewritten twice before being rewritten as a multiverse again - immediately after Crisis, when Psycho Pirate was the only one who remembered, despite the anomaly of Power Girl (which resulted in her history being revised repeatedly), and in Zero Hour, which smoothed out some anomalies, and worsened others.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Batman - everyone, in fact, save the two above - is a completely new person.

Thanks to the existence of Power Girl and Prime (and the late Superman-2 and Alexander Luthor jr), they know that there was a multiverse, but they know little about it, and all of that is filtered through Peeg’s knowledge, and Prime’s psychosis.

The JSA currently has no room for doubt that there is a multiverse now - Superman-22 is currently staying with them.

Some quibbles with the OP:

We haven’t seen the Earth-1 Superman, yet - Earth-1 and New Earth are explicitly different universes, the latter invariably referred to as such.

Monarch is the New Earth Captain Atom - we have only gotten a single panel glimpse of Earth-4 or any of its characters, yet, and, save for Blue Beetle (who was shown in the Dan Garret uniform), they resemble the Charlton versions closely (on the other hand, their look should be taken with a grain of salt, as Earth-10’s Justice League analogues had their uniforms changed (for the worse, IMO)).

Also, Captain Atom is an archetype unto himself, not a Superman analogue.

Clark Kent never appeared in Planetary - only the Terra Obscura Elseworld, which is not Earth-50. The actual Earth-50 Superman analogue would be Majestic, The High, or Apollo. Or one of the half dozen versions Ellis murdered in Planetary proper, Stormwatch, and the Authority.

Re: Earth-15 - Zod and the Justice League created a utopia where they’re hardly needed - you’re going to call them incompetent because the most powerful (arguably) mortal being in the multiverse murdered them?

Supermen 2 and 22 are the very definition of ‘heroic’ to my mind - while they both screwed up (and big), they eventually realized it, and stood up to fix it. 2 died in the process, and 22’s attempt, while ultimately successful didn’t come without a price, but being right every time isn’t a quality necessary for heroes - but standing up to fix things - even - ESPECIALLY - if it was your mistake that screwed things up in the first place - is.

By the standard set up in these entries, nobody, on any Earth is even vaguely competent. (New Earth’s Batman especially, since you mentioned him.)

If you’re going to count Hank Henshaw as an ‘evil Superman’, then he’s balanced by Steel or Superboy (the other being balanced by the Eradicator).

Earth-9 - That title doesn’t actually sound particularly sinister. In fact, given that the only new Tangent material mentioned in anything I’ve seen from DC (or, doing a Google search, anywhere) is Global Decree, which deals with the death of their Superman, reference to ‘Superman’s reign’ seems a pretty blatant reference to the Reign of the Supermen.

Earths 3, 10, and Anti-Matter, Almost everybody who’s good on New Earth is evil - from Superman on down to Commissioner Gordon.

22

How does this square with the death of Barry Allen, which appeared to be common knowledge following the first Crisis? Possibly I’m deranged, but I could have sworn I’d seen references to his noble sacrifice. If everyone’s memories of the Crisis had been erased, wouldn’t people just remember him as “the superhero who mysteriously disappeared?” What did the Flash Museum have to say about his demise? In the wake of the second Crisis, does anyone even remember that a guy named “Barry Allen” used to be the Flash?

23

Scott, you just don’t get it, do you?

24

Please tell me you’re joking. I desperately want to believe something so soap-opera baroque doesn’t exist.

25

They remember the Crisis, they just don’t remember the Multiverse. None of the big aspects require them to remember the Multiverse.

They remember the Anti-Monitor trying to destroy the universe.

They remember Pariah warning them, and claiming it’s ultimately his fault.

They remember the Monitor gathering everybody and sending them off time-travelling.

They remember Barry dying on Qward.

None of that requires the Multiverse in the big picture. The majority of the major players were folded into the combined Earth with no problem. (Although it took some time for a lot of them, since editorial policy on the matter hadn’t been set, yet.) Save for PG, those that weren’t - Superman-2, Prime, Alexander Luthor, Huntress, Robin-2, Supergirl - were forgotten, completely, until those first 3 reappeared at the beginning of Infinite Crisis. And PG’s origin ended up being something of an ‘open sore’, as editorial policy dictated she couldn’t be a kryptonian from the combined universe (because of the Superman reboot), or from another universe (there was no longer a multiverse, and it had been decided nobody would remember there had been one, save Psycho Pirate, who ended up in an asylum for it), and none of her revised origins stuck.

I think I got off point there… Anyway, issues with PG, aside, the Multiverse just wasn’t necessary for the Crisis to have happened. It doesn’t matter if the Anti-Monitor is destroying one universe, or infinite universes - the most powerful heroes and villain alive were gathered to fight him, some didn’t survive.

Actually, that bring up another point: Barry being OMG THE Noble Sacrifice to the survivors, rather than simply one of the fallen is partially a result of the original continuity (including the Multiverse) being forgotten. Supergirl also sacrificed herself, for instance - actually going toe to toe with the Anti-Monitor, even.

But she’s forgotten.

Barry isn’t.

So people talk about his death as though it were unique.

26

I seem to recall at least one story (I wish I could remember exactly which one) in which Superman notices somebody’s heart rate quickening (via super hearing) as they lied and calls them on it.

27

Wasn’t Qward in the Antimatter Universe though?

28

The Anti-Matter universe continued to exist post-Crisis. (In fact, Grant Morrison’s Earth-2 was the second attempt to retcon the Crime Syndicate into the AMU - it’s just that the prior one (which had them as actual Qwardians) was kind of stupid.) It was only the other matter universes that were lost.

29

The Anti-matter universe survived the Crisis. In fact, the Crime Syndicate, formerly of Earth-3, got moved to their earth equivalent. AFAIK, they’re still there, and the current Earth-3 now houses the Crime Society.

ISTR the heroes of Earth-2 origin all regaining their memories of Earth-2 during the Infinite Crisis, but that they were hazy and “less real” than their memories of Post-Crisis/New Earth.

30

Dammit, I opened this thread just to post that!

Mmm… maybe he feels that way, but in certain respects he is certainly very competent. When Brainiac (or whoever the hell it was, I can’t keep all the villains straight anymore, although come to think of it I think this might have been when Jakeem gave his spirit-pen to the guy he thought was his dead grandfather and turned out to be someone else entirely) tricked basically all of the superheroes into believing that they were living ideal lives, Batman was the only one who realized it, because he was so in tune with his body that he noticed that while he thought he was in his fifties, he was receiving signals more in line with a 30-year-old body. I’d say that’s pretty darn smart.

31

Psycho-Pirate is also from Earth-2. I know Black Adam “killed” him, but a Psycho-Pirate showed up in JLA last year.

32

I don’t keep up with comic books aside from buying the occasional graphic novel or bound compilation. What’s this about Batzy plotting the deaths of his allies?

33

There’s a comic where we find out that Batman has worked up plans to incapacitate (not kill), every other member of the Justice League, just in case any of them should be mind controlled/possessed/etc. an go crazy or evil.

34

Of course, the only one guaranteed not to be lethal also wasn’t guaranteed to work (Hypnotizing Kyle into thinking he was blind). The others combined potential lethality with near uselessness, as a method of dealing with a threat.

The others involved setting Martian Manhunter on fire (either kills him, or results in his being an extremely mad telepath once he’s somewhere where he can’t burn), making Aquaman hydrophobic (potentially lethal, and slow to work), giving Flash the grand-daddy of all grand-mal seizures (ultimately lethal, unnecessarily cruel, dangerous to others around him), making Wonder Woman fight imaginary enemies (nominally lethal, doesn’t actually make her less of a threat, given that it relies on her being up and fighting. It’s also how Max Lord manipulated Superman in Sacrifice), freezing Plastic-Man (no way of knowing it wouldn’t kill him at that point - I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that smashing him was a flourish added by Ra’s), and dosing Superman with an untested, hopefully less lethal, variant of Kryptonite (‘untested’ is too major a variable - it could have turned out to be more lethal, or it could have turn out to be useless - which it would have, had he actually been evil, as it amped his powers to uncontrollable levels).

His ‘brilliant’ plans also involve the creation of Brother Eye, and keeping at least one OMAC (prototype, no human inside) viable. Neither of those ended well, either.

Given how that Psycho Pirate was mentioned (as though it were a drug, not a person), it’s unlikely to have been the same person.

35

Curiously, so far as anyone knows, Batman has apparently never bothered to design an artificial intelligence-guided satellite network for the purposes of monitoring all criminals in Gotham City, which seems like it would be higher on his list of priorities.

One is forced to ask: whence this obsession with exploiting the weaknesses of his friends? Where did Batman pick up this weird notion? The answer is unsurprising: he got it from Superman.

Yes, Superman: whose mere presence corrupts all he comes into contact with. Once upon a time, Superman gave Batman a chunk of deadly green Kryptonite and said: “Batman, my friend, I want you to know that I might suddenly become evil or insane at any time. If that happens, I trust that you won’t hesitate to put me out of my misery like a rabid dog.” (I’m paraphrasing slightly.) That’s when the seed was planted in Batman’s mind. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of this responsibility, Batman apparently interpreted the request as an open invitation to prepare Death Files for all superheroes, whether they want it or not. It’s a cautionary tale against entrusting such an important obligation to the judgement of an obsessive, secretive, basement-dwelling furry.

Yet Batman is hardly the only hero tainted by association with Superman. What about Wonder Woman? She recently suffered a massive loss of public trust when she executed a villain. Regardless of whether this loss of faith was warranted, why was she driven to such extremes in the first place? What was she trying to prevent? As usual, the problem was Superman. The villain had gained telepathic control of Superman’s mind and was threatening to send him on an insane rampage. Once again, the real threat is Superman’s perilously unstable grey matter.

Green Lantern? Surely no one could hope to subvert the noble, fearless Green Lantern… oh wait, they did! Somebody vaporized his hometown and drove him into an insane rampage! Which of Green Lantern’s enemies could have done such a thing? Sinestro? Doctor Polaris? Star Sapphire? Oh wait, who’s that caped figure hovering over the remains of Coast City? Why, it looks a lot like Superman! In fact, the entire destruction of Green Lantern’s life turns out to be a footnote in a Superman story arc!

(And when Green Lantern turns evil, what’s the first thing he dons? A great big cape! Now, that is odd… why would Green Lantern think he needs a cape now that he’s really powerful and evil? He never wore a cape before… Let’s see, who is most widely known for being really powerful and wearing a cape? Who is that iconic character? Hmm… Hmm…)

Who else’s life has been enriched by proximity to Superman? Of course! Alexander Luthor Jr.! Sole survivor of Pre-Crisis Earth-Three, heir to that world’s only true hero! Now, I consider the pocket universe that Luthor Jr. created as a useful sort of experiment illustrating the concentrated effects of Superman. Surely if the archetypal Superman is decent and heroic by nature, such a pocket universe would be a veritable haven of truth and justice! Fully half of its population were versions of Superman!

But what happens when it’s done cooking? Luthor Jr. and Superboy-Prime have both turned evil, and Earth-2 Superman is easily goaded into starting a war for selfish reasons! All three were heroes to begin with, but over time the true Superman qualities are distilled and purified: short-sightedness and villainy.

Superboy-Prime is really the apotheosis of this effect. As a survivor of a world like our own, where superheroes are only found in comic books, he should know how the rules work better than anyone else. There’s simply no excuse for a teenager named Clark Kent to be so ignorant of how good and evil operate in comic books. He’s a mass murderer, yet still can’t seem to grasp why people don’t regard him as a hero. He doesn’t even seem self-aware enough to realize that his black costume is in any way significant.

Earth-Prime’s Clark Kent started out as a seemingly bright, earnest young fellow from a world without superheroes. He wants nothing more than to be Superman, because he thinks of the character in terms of decency and heroism. Sadly, the multiverse disagrees; it turns out that Earth-1’s Superman is the weirdo. Prime’s quest to be like Superman is like somebody hoping to acquire a clownlike deformity at the hands of the local Batman-analogue, because they think it will turn them into a hero like the Jokester. So the more Superboy-Prime resembles the Superman archetype in terms of physical power, the closer he gets to the Multiverse’s idealized version of Superman’s mentality: thunderously stupid, savagely violent, a complete and utter screwup.