As the Suicide Squad ventures to Earth-3 for a confrontation with the villainous Crime Syndicate of America, a sinister, new Superboy has arisen.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Suicide Squad #6, on sale now from DC.
If there’s one thing Conner Kent has had to contend with throughout his tenure as the DC Universe’s Superboy, it’s the existence of other evil Superboys through the multiverse. As Conner reconciles the moral implications of being cloned from the genetic material of Superman and Lex Luthor, he has had to confront personifications of how deadly and destructive Superboy can truly be — sometimes with all of reality hanging in the balance. And as Conner leads the Suicide Squad on a daring mission to confront the Crime Syndicate of America on Earth-3, he finds that another seemingly evil Superboy is waiting for him on this morally inverted take of the main DCU.
Amanda Waller had been covertly running reconnaissance on Earth-3 for some time, dispatching Bloodsport to investigate the planet as she looked to expand her recruitment drive and influence to different worlds across the reborn multiverse. Hiding undercover on Earth-3 for months, Bloodsport was eventually discovered by the Crime Syndicate when he attempted to kidnap Black Siren, Earth-3’s Black Canary analog, and captured by Ultraman, the world’s sinister twist on Superman. And with Peacemaker already tasked on a mission by Waller to track down the new Swamp Thing, Superboy leads the rest of the Suicide Squad to recover both Bloodsport and Black Siren from Earth-3 instead, culminating in a showdown in Suicide Squad #6 by Robbie Thompson, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Dexter Soy, Alex Sinclair and Wes Abbott.
After Conner proves he can more than hold his own against Ultraman, the team — with the successfully rescued Bloodsport in tow — travels to an abandoned city in the middle of the Russian tundra for medication to cure a mysterious ailment affecting Superboy. As a frustrated Superboy ponders why inter-dimensional travel appears to have such a negative effect on his health, the team is ambushed by a flying figure that appears to be Earth-3’s version of Conner Kent. He confronts the team for answers as to who they and Superboy are, while another super-powered showdown looms on the horizon.
While this stern Superboy confronting Conner and the Suicide Squad has the leather jacket and red and blue costume that resembles Conner’s classic costume, this Superboy is more reminiscent of the Superboy that appeared during the New 52 era. The son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane from an alternate timeline, this evil Superboy grew to hate superheroes and traveled across the multiverse hunting them while posing as Kon-El on the Teen Titans before being exposed and defeated. Given that this Superboy was introduced following a battle against the Crime Syndicate during the New 52, Conner’s adventure on Earth-3 might be the perfect time to bring this supervillain doppelgänger back as Conner constantly faces how far he will go morally while serving on the Suicide Squad.
Conner Kent has paid the ultimate price fighting dark doppelgängers before, dying to thwart the plans of Superboy-Prime during the 2005 crossover event Infinite Crisis. Conner ended up returning to life sometime later, but the experience of facing down evil Superboys is likely one that still weighs heavily on his psyche while he constantly struggles with his own conscience. The Suicide Squad may have survived their battle against Ultraman and the Crime Syndicate, but this Superboy doesn’t appear to be a pushover. And with Superboy, the team’s biggest heavy hitter, starting to feel adverse health effects on this cross-dimensional trip, Task Force X is at a disadvantage against this evil supervillain.
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