Dev-Em
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| Dev-Em | |
 Dev-Em (Pre-Crisis) Art by Steve Lightle |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #287 (June 1961) |
| Created by | Jerry Siegel (writer) George Papp (artist) |
| In story information | |
| Team affiliations | Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps Legion of Super-Heroes |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, invulnerability, freezing breath, super hearing, multiple extrasensory and vision powers, flight, and intelligence. |
Dev-Em is a fictional character who appears in DC Comics. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #287 (June 1961).
Contents |
[edit] Pre-Crisis
In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, Dev-Em is a Kryptonian juvenile delinquent who was placed in suspended animation in an orbiting space capsule. When the planet Krypton exploded, Dev-Em's ship was blasted into space, where it eventually landed on Earth. Dev-Em imprisons Superboy in the Phantom Zone and assumes his identity in an effort to destroy the Boy of Steel's reputation. Eventually he frees Superboy and departs from the twentieth century, traveling through time to finally settle on the more advanced Earth of the 30th century.
Dev-Em returns in Adventure Comics #320 (May 1964), where it is revealed that the so-called "Knave of Krypton" has reformed and joined the Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps of the 30th century. He is reluctantly offered membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes but turns it down. Despite his occasionally abrasive nature, Dev-Em aids the Legion on several occasions, most notably in the "Great Darkness Saga" against Darkseid.
[edit] Post-Crisis, Pre-Zero Hour
In the limited series Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (April 1988), his post-Crisis background was changed. Since there are no more Kryptonians in the wake of the Superman reboot, his entry in this encyclopedia-like series says that he is David Emery, a resident of Titan, home world of Saturn Girl, who uses his mental powers to give himself Kryptonian-style super powers. This aspect of his background never appears in print outside of this Who's Who entry.
Dev-Em appears in the "Time and Time Again" storyline in The Adventures of Superman #478 (May 1991), in which the Man of Steel bounces between the 30th century (home of the Legion) and the 20th century. Superman encounters Dev-Em, now portrayed as an insane Daxamite, as a full grown adult whose powers rivaled Superman's. He tried to destroy the Earth's moon but was challenged by that alternate future's incarnation of the Legion. Dev-Em makes short work of Superman, Laurel Gand and the rest of the Legion. Dev-Em is finally stopped by Shrinking Violet as she shrinks to a small size and enters Dev-Em's ear, scratching his insides.
Dev-Em did not appear again in the pre-Zero Hour continuity.
[edit] Post-Infinite Crisis
In the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis in which Kon-El died, a man going by the name Devem is seen as part of a cult of Kryptonian worshippers in 52 #4 (May 31, 2006). He is revealed to actually be a "psych-ward refugee named Derek Mathers who has a history of fraud."
In Action Comics #851 (August 2007), Geoff Johns, Richard Donner and Adam Kubert present a new version of Dev-Em. This Dev-Em is a mass-murderer being held as a prisoner in the Phantom Zone inside a citadel made of solid matter in which time passes. He attacks Superman there but is eventually taken down by Mon-El.
