Creation
Originally, Supreme was created by artist Rob Liefeld as a violent, arrogant version of Superman for his independent comic book line Image Comics. However, after 40 issues he handed to reigns of the character over to Alan Moore. Much like his work on Swamp Thing and Marvelman, Alan Moore wiped aside all pre-existing character continuity for Supreme. Moore is reported to have said that before he took over, the comic was “not very good.” He then reinvented Supreme not as a violent clone, but as a loving tribute to Silver Age era Superman. Heavily influenced by Mort Weisinger, the writer of Superman during the 50s and 60s, Moore used his run on Supreme to explore the Superman mythos. Each issue explored cliches and gimmicks that made the old Superman stories endearing.
In one of the first stories he penned for the character, Supreme discovered that he was literally just the most recent incarnation of a character that had undergone several revisions. All of the past versions of Supreme lived in a specific reality called the Supremacy. Moore would also go on to reconstruct the Supreme family, incorporating such characters as Supreme’s sister Suprema (a tribute to Supergirl) and his dog Radar (a tribute to Krypto). By the end, Moore had retconned Supreme with a mythos that stretched back several decades.
History
Ethan Crane, the adoptive son of Joe and Joanne Crane of Littlehaven, USA. He gained his exceptional powers through exposure to Supremium radiation in 1925, when he was only five years old. The radiation caused his hair to turn white and gave him a variety of formidable abilities including flight, incredible strength, near invulnerability, super-senses, the ability to project heat beams from his eyes and speed-supreme. Supreme is vulnerable only to Supremium radiation. Supremium has ties to Radar the Hound Supreme, Suprema, Darius Dax and the Supremium Man as well as to magic. As a boy Ethan Crane had adventures in and around the small town of Littlehaven as “Kid Supreme.” He also joined the time-traveling heroes of the League of Infinity. In 1939 he left Littlehaven for Omegapolis, changing his name to simply “Supreme.” He served in the military during World War II and joined the Allied Supermen of America, the first superhero team. Supreme later became a founding member of the Allies, the premier superhero team of the 1960s.
In 1968 Supreme left Earth to explore deep space. He lost his memory following a confrontation with the mystic being Jack O’Lantern, and only recently returned to Earth after years of confusion and amnesia.
Eventually Supreme managed to find his way back to Earth by 1996. Upon his arrival, he witnesses world flicking between the 1940s and 1990s. While he was baffled about his new surrounding, Supreme meets dimensional duplicates of himself (The Original Supreme, Sister Supreme, Superion, and Squeak the Supremouse). After a minor scrimmage, they take Supreme to Supremacy, a paradise limbo realm where every variant of Supreme resides along with their partners/sidekicks (also referred as “secondary Supremes”), supporting casts, and love interests. At the Supremacy, Supreme learns that his entire history is periodically revised with old versions of himself and his friends and foes being wiped from existence and replaced with new, updated incarnations. Once everything was explained by the ruler of Supremacy, King Supreme, Supreme decides to return to Earth after the revision was ready.
In his secret identity as Ethan Crane, he is a comic book artist for Dazzle Comics. He is in love with comics writer Diana Dane, who in eventually learns of his dual identity.
As his memories return, Supreme fights old foes like Groll the Living Galaxy, Hulver Ramik, Optilux, and the return of Darius Dax.
During the crossover series ‘Judgment Day’, Supreme allows Youngblood to use his Citadel for the murder trial. After the trial was over, he reforms the Allied Supermen of American as The Allies.
Characteristics
- Name: Ethan Thomas Crane
- Sex: Male
- Age: Mid-70s, appears in mid-30s
- Height: 6’2″
- Weight: 260 lbs.
- Hair Color: Silver-white (was black before exposed to supreium radiation)
- Eyes: Blue
Powers and Abilities
- Powers – Superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility and endurance, flight, heat vision, ice breath, x-ray vision, a massive array of superhuman senses, energy absorption, resistance to many different types of attacks, limited atom manipulation, immortality via superhuman adaptation, regeneration, able to come back from “dying” (due to immortality) and become stronger to adapt to new enemies, superhuman adaptation grants him new abilities, skilled with alien technology and has notable hand-to-hand and superhuman combat skill.
- Notable Abilities – Invulnerability, molecular adaptation, expanded consciousness (mimics enhanced senses such as microscopic vision, telescopic vision, hyper-hearing), electrokinesis through static buildup, skilled with advanced technology and can break the fourth wall and reality with his Will Supreme.
- Attack Potency – Easily destroyed the Khromium planet, was shown as slightly more powerful than Omni-Man.
- Lifting Strength – Somewhat stronger than his cousin Suprema who could lift an entire universe.
- Durability
- Stamina – Nearly infinite.
- Teleportation
- Intelligence – Super genius intellect, more intelligent than supercomputers, vast knowledge on aliens and the universe.
- Weaknesses – Supreium radiation.