Carl Draper

Carl Draper
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superman vol.1 #331 (January 1979)
Created by	Martin Pasko (writer) Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte (artists)
In-story information
Alter ego	Carl Draper
Team affiliations	Checkmate
Notable aliases	Master Jailer, Castellan, Deathtrap; "Moosie"
Abilities	Skilled strategist and engineer

Carl Draper is a fictional character in DC Comics, an enemy of Superman. He has gone by the names Kator, Master Jailer, and Deathtrap. Draper made his first appearance in Superman Vol 1 #331 (Jan 1979), written by Martin Pasko and drawn by Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte.^[1]

Pre-Crisis

In Pre-Crisis comics, Carl Draper grew up in Smallville (see Kator below). He was in love with Lana Lang, who had eyes only for Superboy, much to Draper's resentment. As an adult, Draper became an expert locksmith and architect, designing an inescapable prison for super-villains. Impressed by the achievement, Superman augmented the prison's security by placing it on an antigravity platform. Initially dubbed "Draper's Island," it was informally renamed "Superman Island" by the adult Lana – with whom Draper remained smitten, just as she remained lovestruck by Superman – and it was the latter name, plus the novelty of the floating platform, that caught public attention, diverting recognition from Draper himself. This proved the final straw for Draper, who snapped and became the costumed super-villain Master Jailer. He attacked Superman and kidnapped Lana under the name the Master Jailer. Superman defeated him, and he was sent to his own prison.

Kator

In New Adventures of Superboy #17 (May 1981), at the prodding of Carl "Moosie" Draper, Superboy creates a robot named Kator as a sparring adversary (and gives the "safety cutoff switch" to Jonathan Kent). Kator, however, developed an artificial intelligence, and almost killed the Boy of Steel before being destroyed (in the New Adventures of Superboy #18). However, the robot apparently gave Draper its identity and powers before being destroyed. Draper (the new Kator) then engages Superboy in combat. However, Jonathan Kent presses the safety switch on the "cutoff" device, which removes "Kator's" super-powers from Draper, and Superboy removes the memory of Draper ever being Kator.^[2][3]

Post-Crisis

In Post-Crisis comics, Carl Draper first appeared in Adventures of Superman #517 (Nov 1994). This was during the Dead Again storyline, when Superman was suspected of being an imposter after his body was found still in his tomb (from The Death of Superman). Draper was hired by S.T.A.R. Labs to design a holding cell for Conduit, when his daughter, Carla, asked him if he could build a prison that could hold Superman. Draper initially designed a trap that only the real Superman could escape from, explaining this to Superman by way of a hologram of a costumed figure named Deathtrap. However, when Superman escaped the trap, Draper became obsessed with proving he could capture the real thing.

Draper made several other attempts to capture Superman, often programming the Deathtrap hologram in advance so he could be publicly elsewhere. On one occasion, in Superman: The Man of Steel #43 (Apr 1995), he programmed Deathtrap to appear during a Draper Security press conference, and display how Draper's devices were being "subverted", this both removing suspicion and acting as an advertisement.

Carla Draper

Carla Draper made an appearance in Superboy #26 (May 1996), under the name Snare. She responded to a request from the Hawaiian Special Crimes Unit to Draper Security for assistance in capturing the supervillain Knockout, who was on the run with a misguided Superboy in tow. Snare, aware of her father's obsession, tried to prove she could do something he could not by capturing Superboy. This led to a fight with the SCU, during which Superboy and Knockout escaped.

In Action Comics #739, Superman (in his blue energy form) was captured in an "energy hobble" by Deathtrap, now calling himself Locksmith. At the end of the story, it was revealed to the reader that Carla Draper was running the hologram this time, and her father was unaware of this.

The Master Jailer was one of the villains controlled by Manchester Black in the 2002 storyline "Ending Battle".

Checkmate

Main article: Checkmate (comics)

Carl Draper has recently appeared in Checkmate #17 (Oct. 2007). At some point, Checkmate discovered his multiple identities, and used this to force him into becoming a security consultant, protecting Checkmate itself from attack. In the issue, he prevents numerous assaults on Checkmate headquarters and is promoted to head of security, with the title Castellan. Although he has not told his superiors, he strongly suspects Carla is involved in the attacks. The issue also contains an easter egg – computer displays mention a website, http://www.gideonii.com/, a real site that can be accessed with the username "CARL DRAPER" and password "wilhelmina". The site is written from Draper's perspective as a combination journal/database. In his journal he claims to have only ever been Deathtrap and that he is unconnected with the Post-Crisis Master Jailer.

References

1. ^ http://www.supermanartists.comics.org/superwhoswho/Superframe.htm
2. ^ http://darkmark6.tripod.com/superboyind3.htm][http://obscure.dcuguide.com/m.htm
3. ^ http://members.tripod.com/~jrh7925/final-k.html