I just got a Superman comic with the newer Superboy in it.(Connor Kent) It has them fighting Eradicator who's gone bezerk after being trapped in a destroyed Fortress of Solitude. I haven't followed Superman comics much since the death and return storyline, but Eradicator was my favorite of the supermen. I was curious when did Eradicator get his new suit? For that matter, when did he get his powers back? I thought he lost them while he, Superman(in his regeneration suit) and Steel were fighting the Cyborg.(just before destroying Cyborg and getting his powers back) Also, is this Superboy suposed to be the same clone from the return storyline or another clone?
You must've stopped right after Superman's return, because the Eradicator was restored within a month or two after Superman defeated the Cyborg. The Eradicator didn't lose his powers, so much as he went comatose. Supes gave him to STAR Labs for them to study him and help him. There was an explosion, and the mind of one of the STAR Labs scientists, I think his name was David Connor, merged with the Eradicator, and he was restored to full health, with Connor now in complete control, and the true Eradicator's memories gone. He took over leadership of the Outsiders, and pretty much stayed out of Supes' life for a while. When he came back to Metropolis, he learned that Connor's mind wasn't transferred into the Eradicator's body, but instead it was duplicated and integrated into the Eradicator's programming. Connor began fighting a losing battle against the aggressive Kryptonian programming, eventually flying off into space to spare Earth the danger. He eventually returned, and Superman helped him overcome the more negative, aggressive aspects of the Eradicator program. As you may have noticed in that issue you just picked up, his personality has become more robotic, and he can manifest a gigantic armored form. As for the new costume, I'm not sure exactly when he got that, since it happened after I finally gave up on the Superman titles, but I can safely say it happened in just the last couple of years. As for Superboy, yes, that's the same one who was created by the Cadmus Project after Superman's death. Between the issue where Superman defeated the Cyborg, and the one where the Eradicator was revived, Superboy and Superman confronted Cadmus and forced them to reveal the truth about Superboy. It was revealed that he wasn't a true clone of Superman, which explains why his powers didn't work right during the Reign of the Supermen saga. He was grown from human DNA, which had been altered to give him Superman's appearance, and to duplicate many of Superman's abilities using tactile telekinesis, which is a fancy way of saying a force field that lets him do whatever he wants to whatever he touches. It was later revealed that he was grown from a DNA sample of Cadmus Director Paul Westfield, the sick bastard who wanted to cash in on Superman's corpse. Superboy's origin and powers have recently been rewritten, saying that he is actually grown from a mix of Superman's DNA and Lex Luthor's, and that Lex was secretly controlling the Cadmus Project. He does still have his tactile telekinesis, but is barely ever using it anymore as his Kryptonian abilities are growing stronger. Oh, and he's currently living on the Kent farm, and Superman has given him two names: Kon-El, after a Kryptonian cousin, and, more recently, Connor Kent, his new identity as Clark Kent's cousin. As for the other Supermen from that storyline, the Cyborg has returned several times, but has never been as cool as he was in that first storyline. The Man of Steel changed his name to just plain Steel, moved back home to Washington DC, eventually moved back to Metropolis, joined the JLA for a while, and eventually had to pass his hammer and armor to his niece Natasha, due to a heart condition he developed. I could've gone into more detail on them, but I've already spent way too much time showing off my geekiness.
From what I can tell from just googling.. Eradicator has had a few changes since his appearance in Reign of Superman After then end of Reign of Superman, the Eradicator's ruined and apparently mindless body is delivered to STAR Labs. In Action Comics #693, the body is examined by several scientists, including Dr. David Connor. Connor is a grumpy bugger whose problems are compounded by a nasty recent divorce and incurable cancer. He explains that the Eradicator's body has apparently restored itself, but that there is still no sign of any brain activity. Connor's illness causes him to stumble against the controls to the chamber containing the Eradicator's body and in the resulting explosion, Connor's mind apparently merges with and assumes control of the Eradicator's body. The Eradicator's face is now older and scarred, but otherwise the body is still powerful. Over the next period, he joins the misfit team known as the Outsiders (in their self-titled book) and occasionally joins Team Superman as the black sheep of the family. Connor Eradicator: The Eradicator eventually exile himself in space after merging the good and bad side of his programming. He returns in Superman: The Man of Steel #114 with warnings of a destroyer coming towards Earth (a prelude to the Our Worlds At War arc and the villain Imperiex). Eradicator is frozen by Superman at the end of the issue. Pre-Imperiex Eradicator: The Eradicator is freed and Jokerized in Superman: The Man of Steel #119 but is trapped within the fortress during that arc. Eradicator resurfaced again when Majestic appeared in the DCU wearing his new suit. Newest Eradicator: I can't seem to find an exact timeframe for when the suit changed... I don't know if the Eradicator got his new suit during the Joker thing or if he just started wearing it to go up against Mr. Majestic. Read the links below, I skipped a bunch of detail. Source: Superman Homepages - Special Report - Eradicator Superman Homepages - Who's Who - Eradicator Eradicator Mini-Series
Thanks for the info. I had no idea he was around before the Return storyline. I had pretty much stopped after the return since the art was great. That and I didn't like the Superman red/blue storyline. Out of curiosity, do we know why Superboy changed his suit? I've never been a fan of the just wearing a T-shirt type he and Supergirl had for a while. It'd be nice if they gave him a black trench coat or duster since his name is Connor.(like Connor Macleod in Highlnader)
Here's somewhat of a timeline Original: Starting at Superboy #55 (based on cover art) he sometimes went without wearing the jacket. From Superboy #76-#79 he wore blue jeans, a black tee with the yellow and red S shield. He then went back to the original again (with or without the jacket) until he changed in Superboy #84 (which also had a jacket) [Click cover art to enlarge] He stuck with that until the end of the Superboy and Young Justice series and finally we end up with the Teen Titans version
