From Kal-L and Superboy-Prime's perspectives: did they meet one or two Kal-Els?

[Buried Alien]

From the perspective of Kal-L and Superboy-Prime, when they breached the barrier of the so-called "paradise dimension" during INFINITE CRISIS and entered the Post-COIE DC Universe, was the Kal-El they met and fought there the same Kal-El they had known before and during COIE, or would they have considered Post-COIE Kal-El an entirely different guy from the Kal-El of Earth-One they had known in Pre-COIE times?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Last Son]

I remember them referring to the post crisis Kal as being from Earth 1. I felt like the story was treating post crisis Earth and its characters as a reconfiguration of the pre-crisis Earth rather than an entirely new incarnation.

[Buried Alien]

I remember them referring to the post crisis Kal as being from Earth 1. I felt like the story was treating post crisis Earth and its characters as a reconfiguration of the pre-crisis Earth rather than an entirely new incarnation.

I noted that Kal-L's and Superboy-Prime's disposition towards Post-COIE Kal-L suggested that they perceived that they were meeting a Superman they had never encountered before (though they'd observed him for years through the crystal wall of the paradise dimension), not an old friend who had forgotten them due to alterations to the timeline created by the First Crisis. The way INFINITE CRISIS presented the story to us seems like Geoff Johns was trying to have it both ways, which further muddled the situation.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[TruthAndJustice]

They seemed to think of the post-1986 version of Superman as an altered version of the pre-1986 version.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

They seemed to think of the post-1986 version of Superman as an altered version of the pre-1986 version.

Yeah, from their perspective, the noble Kal-El of Earth-1 they had fought alongside during Crisis on Infinite Earths had been warped into the Post-Crisis Superman by the corrupting influence of the flawed imperfect singular universe formed around Earth-1. This is why Alexei had convinced Kal-L of Earth-2 and Superboy-Prime, who had ironically been corrupted and warped by their time in limbo, that a new reality had to be created with Earth-2 as its foundation.

[Last Son]

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow dealt with similar themes to Infinite Crisis and could almost fit into the idea that the post crisis Earth is a corrupted version of Earth 1, with the corruption beginning with Mr. Mxyzptlk's turn to pure evil and his magical influence on Superman's rogues gallery to become more sadistic and violent themselves.

[Buried Alien]

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow dealt with similar themes to Infinite Crisis and could almost fit into the idea that the post crisis Earth is a corrupted version of Earth 1, with the corruption beginning with Mr. Mxyzptlk's turn to pure evil and his magical influence on Superman's rogues gallery to become more sadistic and violent themselves.

And thematically, they could link it back to COIE itself, saying that when Kal-L shattered Anti-Monitor's physical form, he inadvertently unleashed the Anti-Monitor's evil essence, which corrupted the Post-COIE DC Universe. Hence, the changes to Jason Todd (new origin, death, and rebirth), Hal Jordan (turn to Parallax), etc.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[TruthAndJustice]

And thematically, they could link it back to COIE itself, saying that when Kal-L shattered Anti-Monitor's physical form, he inadvertently unleashed the Anti-Monitor's evil essence, which corrupted the Post-COIE DC Universe. Hence, the changes to Jason Todd (new origin, death, and rebirth), Hal Jordan (turn to Parallax), etc.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Cool idea. That would've been better than Superboy-Prime "punching the walls of reality" (although I may have been the only one who liked that idea too).