| Character Name: | Dev-Em |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Debut: | Adventure Comics #287 (June 1961) |
| Creators: | Jerry Siegel (writer) George Papp (artist) |
| Alliances: | Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps Legion of Super-Heroes |
| Powers: | 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), created by Jerry Siegel and George Papp. Various versions of the Dev-Em character have appeared over the years in Legion of Super-Heroes related comic books.
The original Dev-Em was a Kryptonian juvenile delinquent that attacked Superboy; after being thwarted by Superboy, Dev-Em traveled to the 30th century where he became an occasional ally of the Legion.[1] Once DC Comics re-wrote their history with Crisis on Infinite Earths Dev-Em was changed into a Daxamite instead of a Kryptonian. Post-Infinite Crisis, he was once again made a Kryptonian; a criminal sentenced to the Phantom Zone.
In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, Dev-Em is a Kryptonian juvenile delinquent who took Jor-El's warnings of Krypton's impending doom seriously enough to place himself 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. Since the people of Smallville will not believe Superboy's story of the impostor, he has to use a cover story that he was acting under the influence of Red Kryptonite to restore his reputation.
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. [2]
In the limited series Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (April 1988), his post-Crisis background was changed. Since Superman is now the only survivor of Krypton because of the Superman reboot, his entry in this encyclopedia-like series states 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 origin is never used in any actual comic story.
Dev-Em appears in the "Time and Time Again" storyline 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 the Legion. Dev-Em makes short work of Superman, Laurel Gand and the rest of the Legion. Dev-Em is seemingly stopped by Shrinking Violet as she shrinks to a small size and enters Dev-Em's ear, scratching his insides. However, he soon initiates the Dominators' covert Triple Strike program, destroying the moon and causing massive damage to cities across the Earth.[3] [4]
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 called the "Cult of Conner" 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".[5]
In Action Comics Geoff Johns, Richard Donner and Adam Kubert present a new version of Dev-Em. This Dev-Em is a renegade Kryptonian being held as a prisoner for murder and perversion. As with most Kryptonian prisoners, he is sentenced to the Phantom Zone. He attacks Superman there but is eventually taken down by Mon-El.[6]
In both his Daxamite and Kryptonian iterations, Dev-Em is possessed of the same superhuman abilities of both races while beneath the empowering light of a yellow sun such as that of Earth's solar system. His basic abilities are superhuman strength, superhuman speed and superhuman stamina sufficient to bend steel in his bare hands, overpower a locomotive, leap over a tall building in a single bound and outrun a speeding bullet; heightened senses of hearing and sight including X-ray vision as well as telescopic and microscopic vision; virtual invulnerability; accelerated healing; longevity; powerful freezing breath; heat vision; and flight.
In his Post-Infinite Crisis Kryptonian iteration, Dev-Em is never allowed to experience the full measure of his abilities as he is never permitted full exposure and absorption of the yellow solar radiation of Earth's sun before he is eventually defeated and banished back to the Phantom Zone. Like other Phantom Zone escapees, Dev-Em's abilities are insufficient compared to those of Superman due to his relatively short time in the Sun compared to Superman. His only advantage being his superior hand-to-hand combat prowess as a member of Krypton's military as well as his ruthless mindset and courage in battle.
In the prequel comic to Man of Steel (which is set thousands of years in the past), Dev-Em I is portrayed as a Kryptonian in training who begins killing his competitors but is caught and put on trial for doing so. Despite this, he was able to escape prosecution on Krypton and managed to make his way on a scout ship during a Kryptonian expedition to Earth. Dev-Em killed the entire crew on the ship, with the exception of Kara Zor-El. He is killed in a struggle with Kara, as the ship crashes on Earth. Kara is seen leaving the wreckage, which would later be known as the "Fortress of Solitude".[7]