Dark Nights: Death Metal #4 Page 6. - Enter Superboy Prime!
Artists: Greg Capullo (Penciller) , Jonathan Glapion (Inker)
11 Comments - 442 Views - 17 Likes
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Published Page
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Artwork Details
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DescriptionSuperboy Prime is a character with a complicated and divisive history. A hero turned villain. It’s not a new story arc but it sure did anger so many when Superboy Prime was used as a villain in Infinite Crisis. For me, I felt it worked, but that said I was too young to read Crisis in Infinite Earths when it came out so I didn’t have an existing connection to the character when the villainous turn was made so it didn’t impact me negatively. I thought though that using Prime’s observations as a commentary on the darker turn in comics (an observation made by many older fans) actually made sense and done well. Now I do agree that it was taken too far and Prime, after the events of Infinite Crisu, was later twisted even further to just be a sadistic being of pure evil. He was driven, focused and yes evil, but gone were the motives for his initial turn.At his core, Superboy Prime believes heroes should act heroically. In Death Metal, this is the Infinite Crisis version of the character. He essentially has made a deal with The Batman Who Laughs, in return for his assistance,, Prime can live on an Earth built to be his perfect vision, blissful, peaceful, silver age vision of heroes being pure & good. This is the version of Prime that I understand, a “villain” with noble goals. That’s the best kind of villain, the one who truly believes they are the hero. So with that said, this page that sees Winder Woman waking up to be greeted by Superboy Prime, presented in such a powerfully still pose. It’s one that was always on my radar & in was finally able to bring it home to the collection! Capullo & Glapion are such a wonderful pairing and are the Batman creative duo of a generation. Thrilled to be able to acquire another example of their DC work! In addition to scoring the page I was also able to trade with a friend to get Caoulli’s preliminary sketch layout for this page. These layouts are obtained via Caoullo’s website & one is sold every Monday at a random time. We were pretty lucky that this one was the one my friend, Daniel, received when he was able to score one on that random drop. Always wanted to have the prelim & the published page for a Capullo page & quite happy it’s for a page I truly really wanted! As an another fun side, the image of Superboy Prime was also used on a trading card that was included with the Death Metal soundtrack vinyl record. Yes, a soundtrack to the story. It’s pretty wild but also conveys the crazy energy of the story quite well! Social/Sharing |
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Carl’s Collection 
Member Since 2018
Posted on 6/12/2024
Ernest Benevides wrote:
Capullo. Nuff said. Congrats
Thanks! His work always impresses me!
Kavi H
Member Since 2018
1 - Posted on 6/10/2024
nice Capullo Superboy Prime - pretty cool you paired it with the prelim too! I agree that villanious characters that have "noble" goals or truly believe what they are trying to accomplish is the right thing (for them, or the world, etc.) make for some of the best villains - Magneto in Marvel/X-Men comes to mind as well to that end
Carl’s Collection
Member Since 2018
1 - Posted on 6/12/2024
Kavi H wrote:
nice Capullo Superboy Prime - pretty cool you paired it with the prelim too! I agree that villanious characters that have "noble" goals or truly believe what they are trying to accomplish is the right thing (for them, or the world, etc.) make for some of the best villains - Magneto in Marvel/X-Men comes to mind as well to that end
I also think the evil Superman trope is a bit overdone but when it was done here, i absolutely loved it!
Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 6/10/2024
When he comes in, it has the legendary sense of dread that accompanies him. Just for his actions and how powerful he was in Infinite Crisis, Superboy Prime is so much heavier on the impact scale than how regular Superboy affects you with his positivity.
Carl’s Collection
Member Since 2018
1 - Posted on 6/12/2024
Marcus Wai wrote:
When he comes in, it has the legendary sense of dread that accompanies him. Just for his actions and how powerful he was in Infinite Crisis, Superboy Prime is so much heavier on the impact scale than how regular Superboy affects you with his positivity.
There is very much an "oh no" when Superboy Prime appears! He presence alone brings that dread!
Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 6/10/2024
"That’s the best kind of villain, the one who truly believes they are the hero."
Precisely! I can hear Superboy Prime asking "Wait....I'M the bad guy?!?". I hadn't been reading monthly comics for many years already when Infinite Crisis was published and I didn't read it as it came out. I actually waited a few years later when the art, which always drew me in, finally made me pick up the trade. I have to admit, I didn't really know what the hell was going on and couldn't understand why Superbiy was evil, but I LOVED it! And as a Titans fan, I was thrilled to see the gruesome page featuring Prime's decapitation of Pantha, which was included after initially being pulled from the regular monthly issues. I'd love to find and own that page!
Anyway, the way Superboy Prime is positioned here on this splash, it immediately gives off a sense of danger, like you know nothing good is about to happen. It's a beauty, which just goes to show that beauty can be found in anything, even in pure evil!
Carl’s Collection
Member Since 2018
1 - Posted on 6/12/2024
Ruben DaCollector wrote:
"That’s the best kind of villain, the one who truly believes they are the hero."
Precisely! I can hear Superboy Prime asking "Wait....I'M the bad guy?!?". I hadn't been reading monthly comics for many years already when Infinite Crisis was published and I didn't read it as it came out. I actually waited a few years later when the art, which always drew me in, finally made me pick up the trade. I have to admit, I didn't really know what the hell was going on and couldn't understand why Superbiy was evil, but I LOVED it! And as a Titans fan, I was thrilled to see the gruesome page featuring Prime's decapitation of Pantha, which was included after initially being pulled from the regular monthly issues. I'd love to find and own that page!
Anyway, the way Superboy Prime is positioned here on this splash, it immediately gives off a sense of danger, like you know nothing good is about to happen. It's a beauty, which just goes to show that beauty can be found in anything, even in pure evil!
I truly love, and agreed, the beauty in posing him in such a way that while quite still in nature...the evil presence is felt and shines through. Quite imposing and impactful! It usually doesn't bother me with modern art, but man imagine if that "SUPERBOY PRIME" lettering was actually on this page? That would be very fun however I also quite love the simplicity of the art pretty much conveying everything you need to know here!
He ended up being used too much (I didn't think he was necessary for the Sinestro Corps story, especially since they had Cyborg Supes involved too) but when used in impactful ways, I think his turn was quite brilliant. Also quite enjoyed that Death Metal served as a redemption arc for him.
Derek Crabbe
Member Since 2020
1 - Posted on 6/11/2024
I guess giving him the Key was a step too far? (noting the difference in the prelim to published page)
Carl’s Collection
Member Since 2018
1 - Posted on 6/12/2024
Derek Crabbe wrote:
I guess giving him the Key was a step too far? (noting the difference in the prelim to published page)
Nice cafch! Loved that about this prelim. The ? He put on there too. He actually used it later in this issue as a reestablishing panel when the story returned to Prime & WW. I think it was smart to save the location for later and instead open the page with WW coming to. Love seeing that thought process represented on the prelim!
Steve . M
Member Since 2017
Posted on 10/22/2024
Love your description and history lesson. You explained things I've long forgotten and helped enrich the Death Metal story for me. Can understand your affinity for the character. Congratulations!
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